Our Lady of Toledo October 25: Dedication of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Toledo, Spain (1070) The Abbot Orsini wrote: “Dedication of Our Lady of Toledo, in Spain, about the year 1075, by Bernard, archbishop of that city. This cathedral has a revenue of more than 300,000 livres.” The city of Toledo in Spain was not reconquered until 1085, when King Alfonso VI, King of Leon and Castile, took the city from the Moors. This was an important step in the Reconquista, as Toledo had once been the capital of Visigothic Spain. The church had been a mosque, and was not actually consecrated until the year 1087. It was placed under the advocacy of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as King Alfonso wrote: “I, Alfonso, Emperor of all Spain by God’s Providence, convened with the bishops, namely, that for these ten will I preserve the papal honor of Saint Mary of the City of Toledo, which was formerly the See…” In 1225 a new cathedral was begun to replace the older one, for which King Fernando III laid the cornerstone. Fernando’s good friend, the Archbishop Rodrigo Ximenez de Rada worked very enthusiastically for the completion of the new cathedral where he was bishop. There are so many masterpieces of art and beautiful shrines in the city of Toledo, Spain, that a visitor may easily miss the White Virgin. She stands atop an altar in the choir of Toledo’s magnificent cathedral. The sacred image of Our Lady is a polychromed alabaster statue of French origin from the twelfth century. Both Mother and Child are clothed in white, their garments bordered with jeweled gold. Their faces darkened by time are framed with curly, strawberry-blond hair. The statue has also been called the “smiling Virgin of Toledo;” for the Child’s right hand caresses His Mother’s face. She responds with a smile that gives this image its popular name. It is also called the “Virgin of Prima,” and the “Virgen Blanca.” There is also another artifact worthy of special mention, and that is the ten foot tall great Monstrance of Arfe. It is made of both silver and gold, inset with precious gems. It took nearly 8 years to construct, and is done in a Gothic style that is truly a magnificent work of art. *from The Woman in Orbit and other sources __________________________________________________ Chasuble of Saint Ildephonsus December 19: Our Lady of Toledo, Spain (657) Saint Ildephonsus was a Visigoth born into a noble family, but the date of his birth in about 607 is not known for certain. He was tutored by Saint Isidore of Seville, and then became a Benedictine monk against the wishes of his father while at a young age. He was ordained a deacon in about 630, and in 657 was called to the archiepiscopal throne in Toledo, the Visigothic capital of Spain. One day in that same year of 657, while Saint Ildephonsus, now the Archbishop of Toledo, was saying matins, Our Lady appeared to him accompanied by a great number of the blessed. She was holding in her hand the book on the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary which Ildephonsus had composed in her honor. She thanked him for it, and out of gratitude gave him a golden chasuble that had specifically been woven from him in heaven. (The chasuble is the outer garment worn by a priest when celebrating Mass). Tradition claims that Ildephonsus’s successor, Siagrius, tried to use the alb, but died in the act of putting it on. The garment is said to have been seen and touched by Herbert Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, as late as the eleventh century. There are those who say the present location of this chasuble of Saint Ildephonsus is not known, or that the story is only legend, but neither of these assertions is correct. This celestial gift is still preserved and is now kept at Oviedo. Alphonsus, the chaste King of Castile, transferred it to the church of Saint Savior which he had built. It, along with the Sudarium of Jesus Christ, and many other relics, is contained in the Holy Chest of Oviedo. The Spanish hero Rodrigo Diaz, better known the Cid, was a living witness when the chest was opened in his presence. Chasuble of Saint Ildephonsus *from The Woman in Orbit and other sources
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 07:06:00 +0000
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