Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602-1665) of Soria, Spain, had numerous mystical experiences during her lifetime. Last year in August, Father Stefano Cecchin, OFM, vice postulator of Mary of Agreda’s cause for canonization, spent a week in San Angelo, Texas, and spoke with members of the Lady in Blue Committee. He returned there in May for a Marian conference and the unveiling of a statue of Mary Agreda.
Members of the Lady in Blue Committee have spent years documenting the testimony of the native Jumano people who claim to have been visited by the “Lady in Blue” in the 1620s.
Around 1620, Mary of Agreda went into an ecstasy during which she was shown the whole earth. She saw that among the different nations, only a small number of souls knew God. Vast numbers of people did not belong to the Catholic Church. It was revealed to her that the people of New Mexico and surrounding countries were least disposed to seeking the mercy of God. This caused Mary of Agreda to beg for the conversion of these people. God answered that in his eternal decrees the time was near at hand when these American peoples would be instructed in the faith.
One day, Mary of Agreda experienced the gift of bilocation. Without leaving her monastery in Agreda, she found herself being transported to America, where God commanded her to go among the natives and teach them the faith of Jesus Christ. She spoke in Spanish, but the natives understood her, and she understood them as well. She performed many miracles to support the doctrine she taught.
Mary of Agreda described herself bilocating to America over 500 times, sometimes several times a day, between 1620 and 1631, though mainly between 1620 and 1623.
In the summer of 1629, a delegation of 50 from the native tribe of Jumanos arrived at Isleta, a Pueblo mission near present day Albuquerque, requesting priests to return with them and baptize their people. Father Alonso de Benavides, who was investigating Mary of Agreda’s bilocation, decided to question the delegation and ask how they had come to have knowledge of the faith.
Father
Benavides wrote: “We called the Jumanos to the monastery and asked
them their reason for coming every year to ask for baptism with such
insistence. Seeing a portrait of Mother Luisa (another Spanish
Franciscan sister in Spain with a reputation for holiness) in the
monastery, they said, ‘A woman in similar garb wanders among us
there, always preaching, but her face is not old like this, but young
and beautiful.’”
The natives called the woman the “Lady in Blue” because of the blue mantle she wore. She would appear among them, the Jumanos representatives said, and instruct them about the true God and his holy law. It was this woman who had insisted they should ask the missionaries for baptism and told them how to find them. At times, they said, the Lady in Blue was hidden from them, and they did not know where she went or how to find her.
Father
Benavides sent two priests accompanied by three soldiers on an apostolic mission to the Jumanos. As the priests drew near the tribe,
they saw in amazement a procession of men, women, and children coming
to meet them. At its head were natives carrying two crosses decorated
with garlands of flowers. With great respect they kissed the
crucifixes the Franciscans wore around their necks.
The
priests learned from natives that the Lady in Blue had
instructed them as to how they should come out in procession to
welcome the priests, and she had helped them to decorate the crosses.
Many of the natives requested baptism. The priests found they were already instructed in the faith and eager to learn more. Messengers also arrived from neighbouring native tribes pleading for the priests to come to them. They said the same Lady in Blue had catechized them and told them to seek out the missionaries for baptism.
According
to records kept by the missionaries in the area, Mary of Agreda’s
promptings led to as many as 2,000 Jumanos natives being baptized.
奇妙地造訪美洲
可敬品阿格蕾妲的瑪利亞. 高洛良 (1602-1665),一生充滿奇妙的經歷。去年八月,列品案的一位負責人、德範.塞根神父到了德薩斯州的聖安哲洛,與藍衣女士委員會會談。委員會成員,經年蒐集了很多有關眾多祖汶勞族人,在1620年代,親眼目睹一位「藍衣女士」探訪他們的事實。
大約在1620年,阿格蕾妲的瑪利亞在神魂超拔期間見到整個世界,她看到不同國家中,大部份人都不屬於天主教會,只有少數的靈魂認識天主,特別是新墨西哥州及其鄰旁國家,絕少人懂得尋求天主的慈悲。這使阿格蕾妲的瑪利亞祈求他們的皈依。天主對她說明,在祂的永恆決定裡,這些美洲人很快會被授予真道。
一天,瑪利亞經歷「同一時間身處兩地」的恩賜。她沒有離開阿格蕾妲的修院,卻在天主的令下,被帶到遠遠的地方,向一批土箸,講授有關耶穌基督的信仰。她說的雖是西班牙話,但與土箸們的溝通,竟然沒有困難,互相都能明白對方;而且,她還在他們面前行了很多靈蹟,以支持她講授的信仰。
瑪利亞承認,在1620年至1631年間,多次以「同一時間身處兩地」方式,到訪美洲超過五百次,有時一日數次;其中1620年至1623年間為最多。
1629年夏天,祖汶勞族代表團一行五十人,來到伊斯萊塔的普韋布洛傳教處,即今日的阿爾泊克基附近,請求神父跟隨他們回去,替他們族人付洗。正調查有關瑪利亞的「同一時間身處兩地」神恩的類斯.貝納維德斯神父,決定詢問代表團如何認識真道。
貝納維德斯神父寫道:「我們叫那祖汶勞族代表團來到修院,問他們為何每年都堅持地要求接受洗禮。他們看到牆上掛著路西亞姆姆的畫像【她是另一位德高望重的西班牙方濟會修女】說:『有一位穿著差不多這麼一樣外衣的女士,在我們那裡來來回回,常常教道理;但她的面容不是那末老,是年青和漂亮的。』」
因為那位女士披著藍色的披風,故此土箸們稱她做「藍衣女士」。祖汶勞族代表謂這女士教他們有關真天主及祂的神聖法律;亦是這位女士堅持他們到來要求受洗,也指示他們如何去找傳教士。不過,這位「藍衣女士」來去無踪,不知她往何處,也不知如何能找到她。
貝納維德斯神父派遣了兩位會神父和三個士兵護衛著去祖汶勞族的地方作傳教工作。兩名神父差不多抵步時,只見祖汶勞族族人男女老幼都出來,以巡遊方式歡迎來客,並且有人舉起兩個飾以花環的十字架;他們來到神父面前,必恭必敬地低頭親吻掛在神父頸上的苦像。
神父們後來知道,是那位「藍衣女士」叫他們巡遊歡迎神父光臨,又和他們一起製做花環,裝飾十字架。
很多土著要求受洗。神父發覺他們已被教授道理,並切望再多學教理。鄰族亦派出代表,請神父稍後轉到他們處,給他們進行洗禮。他們一致都說,是同一位「藍衣女士」教他們道理,告訴他們找傳教士付洗。
根據當地傳教士紀錄,阿格蕾妲的瑪利亞促進了多達兩千祖汶勞族人受洗。