In our church, we are blessed to have a replica of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos, or in English, “Our Lady of Saint John of the Lakes”. The famous and miraculous statue located in the Blessed Mother’s Basilica in San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico, draws countless pilgrims who come to reaffirm their faith and seek her intercession.
History of Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos
In 1542, Franciscan Friar Miguel de Bolonia founded the Mexican village of San Juan Bautista de Mezquititlán and built a local hospital and chapel. Inside the chapel, he placed a 50 cm (20-inch) statue of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, which was crafted by an indigenous artisan in Pátzcuaro using corn-paste (pasta de caña de maíz).
Over time, the statue deteriorated and was nearly forgotten in a corner of the hospital. Its only visitor was the chapel caretaker’s wife, named Ana Lucía, who affectionately called the statue “Cihualpilli,” or Lady. Ana had a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin, loved and venerated the image, claiming to have conversations with the Mother of God through the statue.
The 1623 Miracle
In 1623, a family of traveling Spanish acrobats passed through the village en route to Guadalajara. Tragedy struck when their young daughter was fatally injured during a trapeze act. As the family held a grieving vigil in the chapel before her burial, Ana Lucía placed the Immaculate Conception statue on the dead child’s body. The girl was miraculously resurrected and instantly restored to perfect health.
Feeling indebted to the Blessed Virgin, the little girl’s father asked permission to take the statue to Guadalajara to find an artist who could restore and dress the statue. It’s reported that when the family arrived in Guadalajara, they were approached by an unknown man who asked if they were looking for a capable artist to repair a sacred statue. The man would not have known of the family’s mission, so when he offered them his services, they believed it was the will of God that his offer should be accepted. The statue was cleaned, and the face and hands skillfully restored. After completing the restoration, the stranger left, leaving his identity a mystery. The family returned the statue to the chapel where the miracle occurred in the small village.
News of the little girl’s miracle and the statue’s restoration quickly attracted thousands of pilgrims. This sudden surge led Spanish officals to rename the village to San Juan de los Lagos. They kept San Juan (honoring its original patron saint, John the Baptist) and appended de los Lagos to reflect its ties to the incoming population and local jurisdiction.
The statue only became known as the Virgin of San Juan de los Lagos after the 1623 miracle. As thousands of pilgrims began traveling from all over Mexico to visit the specific chapel where the miracle happened, they referred to the image by its location.
The crowds that came to venerate Our Lady became so large that in 1732 construction began on a new church and then another–each larger, more splendid, more worthy of the Immaculate Virgin. On November 30, 1769, the Statue was installed in the third Church, which is now a Basilica. Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos was installed on a special platform displaying an upturned crescent moon, which is reminiscent of her image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In 1904, the Archbishop of Guadalajara, with the permission of His Holiness Pope Saint Pius X, crowned the statue of Our Lady.
Ever since the original 1623 miracle involving the acrobat’s daughter, the Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos statue has maintained a reputation for physical and spiritual healing.
Sources of Research:
roman-catholic-saints.com
anastpaul.com
holyfamilymodesto.org
