THE LADY IN BLUE
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October 7, 2021
When the missionaries came to Arizona and New Mexico, they encountered a strange situation. They were the first priests who had arrived in these areas. Yet, they met Indians who knew the Catholic faith to some extent, and they wanted to be baptized.
How did all this come about?
The TEGAS TRIBE of Indians from around the NECHES RIVER, the JUMANO TRIBE in New Mexico and tribes in Arizona came to the Franciscan Missionaries, “the Brown Robes”, at the PRESIDIO of San Antonio, in present day ISLETA, New Mexico, asking to be baptized. These are called the Texas missions.
They all had the same story. They said that a mysterious woman, dressed in a blue cape, came to them. She tended to the sick, comforted the afflicted, gave out rosaries and religious articles and taught about Jesus Christ, the Savior. She preached to the different tribes in their own language and told them to seek baptism from “the Brown Robes” when they would come.
Who was this Mysterious Lady in Blue?
One of the missionaries, Fra Alonzo de Benavides, arrived around 1629. He heard the reports of the Indians. He also had heard about a young Franciscan nun from the Spanish village of Agreda, which was north of Madrid, Spain. Her name was Sister Maria de Jesus. It was said that when she went deep into prayer, she would visit the New World and teach the natives.
When Fra Alonzo returned to Spain, he met with Sr. Maria. She gave him detailed descriptions of the mission territory in the New World, even though she had never been there in person.
She said that when she spoke to the Indians, God enabled them to understand her and she to understand them. She also said that whenever she went outdoors, she wore a blue cape and that she had made over 500 visits to the New World.
Those appearances continued for 11 years (1620-1631). She was only 18 years old when they began.
Sr. Maria died in 1665, and 350 years later her body has not decayed. Her life-like features still baffle the Catholic Church and modern science.
Image from Extension Magazine, May 2007, page 18
