The Immaculate Infant Mary
(Divina Infantita)
Leon, Mexico
In the United States, the Virgin Mary is honored under hundreds of titles. Paintings and statues of her abound. Other than when she is pictured with Saint Ann, however, we rarely see her depicted as a child.
In Mexico, devotion to the child Mary thrives, especially through the work of the religious congregations established in her honor. Begun in the mid 1940s, the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary are one of the fastest growing religious orders in the Church today, Their charisma is the imitation of Mary as her loving slaves; their mission is to cooperate with the diocesan bishops in order to develop the Reign of Christ. . Their distinctive characteristic in the church is their obedience.
In 1985, Rev. Carlos Sandoval Govea, then Superior General of the congregation, wrote to the Bishop of Leon, "The venerated image of the most holy Virgin Mary as a child was brought to the city of Leon some thirty five years ago. It was carved in Mexico City in recognition of a favor received. The image has presided over the Motherhouse and the Major Seminary of the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary from the beginning of the order. Under the protection of the Infant Mary, the formation of the seminarians of this Congregation, the ordination and consecration of the priests and Brothers and the devotion of the faithful who frequent the chapel of our major seminary has flourished. All recognize from whence come the favors received and the advancement of our order."
The cult of the Immaculate Child Mary began with a little-known apparition in Mexico City in 1840 to a Conceptionist sister of the convent of St. Joseph of Grace. While in the world, Magdalena of St. Joseph had been a distinguished, educated and wealthy young woman. Humbly, she gave up her dowry so that another girl might enter as a choir sister, and she herself entered as a lay sister.
On the feast of the three Kings, she was praying in front of the manger scene, adoring the child Jesus, when she began to think, "Why isn't the Virgin honored in her infancy and celebrated with happy songs like the child Jesus?" Just as she thought this, she saw a beautiful little girl, dressed like a queen, floating in the air in a reclining position. The vision seemed to say, "I will give those who honor me in my infancy the things they ask me for because this is something the people have forgotten to do." Profoundly moved, Sister Magdalena wanted to begin the devotion at once.
She told the abbess, Sister Guadalupe of Saint Lawrence, what had happened in the oratory, and of her great desire to do as the little virgin had asked. She requested permission to have a little image made in the form of the apparition, but the superior did not give it. Instead, she seemed to receive the story with indifference. Sister Guadalupe felt that if the apparition was from God, He would insist.
Sister Magdalena prayed daily for God to manifest His wishes in the matter. One day while cleaning the sacristy, she found the head of a little angel that had broken off of a monstrance. Full of joy she took it to the Abbess who gave her permission to take it to a sculptor to make it into an image of the little virgin.
When Sister Magdalena explained to the sculptor about her vision, he did a beautiful job at a small cost, making the image as natural as a small girl. With fervor and great happiness, Sister Magdalena began to spread the cult; the devotion extended rapidly and graces and extraordinary favors began to be reported.
Opposition is always part of confirmation, and this came on the part of the Ecclesiastical authorities, who prohibited the new devotion. A pious and wealthy woman went to Rome to petition the Holy Father Pope Gregory XVI. He not only approved the devotion, but also enriched it with indulgences. After that, approval was gained from various bishops for novenas, prayers, tridiums, and other devotional practices which were richly indulgenced. Through the medium of this first image, the Immaculate Little Mary worked many miracles, including the conversion of sinners, and the restoration of sight to a blind girl.
Sister Magdalena was as simple in her faith as a child and made many childish demonstrations of her love for the little image of the virgin. She labeled one of the cells in the convent with a sign that read “cell of the Holy Little Mary.” Novenas were made with grand solemnity, especially on September 8, the Virgin's birthday. Money to clothe the image regally, and decorations for her altar, came from the generous gifts of wealthy devotees.
One September, the sisters had no money to buy new clothes for the image for the celebration of Mary’s feast. Sister Magdalena put a crate in the window with the door open, and asked the little Virgin for a bird that she could sell for the funds to buy the new clothing. A bird flew into the cage, singing beautifully. Sister Magdalena then took the bird to a wealthy friend who gave her enough gold to purchase a queenly new dress for the little image. The beautiful and mysterious bird that had charmed everyone with its lovely songs then disappeared from its closed cage. The devotion continued to grow.
In 1859, when she was 69 years old, God called Sister Magdalena. Shortly before her death, the pious sister charged the abbess to continue to spread the devotion. Although the abbess, Sister Guadalupe, intended to comply with Sister Magdalena’s deathbed wish, the devotion was stilled for more than twenty years. These were turbulent times in Mexico, so Sister Guadalupe had a sculptor make a small copy of the image which she planned to have taken out to the people, hoping in this way to continue the devotion. When the sculptor brought the copy to her, however, she thought it was ugly so she put it away in her wardrobe and the devotion began to languish.
Just as the cult had almost disappeared, a saintly mystic was born who would resurrect the glory and love of the enchanting Little Queen.
Rosario Arrevillaga was born November 12, 1860. Her pious parents named her after their favorite devotion, the rosary. The young girl followed her parents in their devotion to Our Lady’s beads and prayed her rosary daily until the end of her life.
At the age of nineteen, Rosario met the Conceptionist Sisters through an introduction by a friend. Because of the anti-religious laws of the reform, the sisters were not cloistered; instead, they lived in small groups in regular houses, hiding from the government. Only those persons well known to the sisters were invited to visit them. Rosario gained their trust and was invited to see the image of the Divina Infantita in the house where some of the sisters were living.
At the first sight of the little queen, Rosario fell to her knees saying “Here is what raises up my heart!” From that moment, Rosario became completely devoted to the nativity of Mary. Seeing her pious love, Sister Guadalupe decided to give her the little statue she had commissioned so many years ago and put away in her closet.
Rosario accepted the gift of the little statue happily, and took her treasure home. She wanted to spread the devotion and to do great things for the mother of God. She told the sisters, “many miracles will be worked before this image, and the grandest of people will ask for her favors.” Jokingly she predicted that one day there would be a great church in the little virgin’s honor, religious orders to serve her, and many good works done through her intercession. Although she was intelligent, sociable and attractive, Rosario was simply a poor, middle class girl. She was rich in the love of God and of the virgin, and before her death this simple girl was able to raise a temple, found a congregation and begin a work to care for orphans, and the most unhappy and discriminated against of God’s children. All of the things she had told the sisters, seemingly in jest, eventually came to pass.
Rosario and her mother lived in a modest house which was the first home for the little wonder working image of the child Mary. Rosario made an altar of boxes covered with paper and placed the statue in the largest room of the house. She made candlesticks out of bottles and crafted flowers from shiny paper. One day Rosario felt sad because she had no oil for the little vigil lamp before the altar. She went to her neighbor, a baker, and told him she had a miraculous image and that he should bring oil for the lamp and ask the virgin to grant him favors. His request was granted rapidly, and the news began to spread around the neighborhood. Soon the most distinguished persons began to visit, attracted by the news of the miracle working little queen. The image and the humble little altar began to be adorned with gifts from her devotees. Dresses of rich fabric, jewels, and a silver cradle were given in thanksgiving.
Rosario began to feel the voice of God urging her to build a church in the virgin’s honor. Frightened of such a great undertaking, she prayed constantly for His will. Although there were many difficulties to overcome, she was eventually able to obtain the permission of the archbishop, get property donated, pay a large tax to the government, and find the money for construction of a beautiful temple. Wealthy and influential people came to her aid, including the daughter of the President of Mexico.
When Rosario approached the archbishop, the prelate at first refused permission. He told the young woman, “When you have received $10,000 come for me to give you permission, but I advise you that you are prohibited from asking for alms. If you can, under that condition, get the money, I will give you the license."
Very discouraged, Rosario walked the way of humiliation, sacrifice and, above all, prayer. She begged God tearfully to send her helpers. Some wealthy devotees of the Divina Infantita suggested a raffle and the first one was so successful that they asked the governor if they could hold a public raffle. They were allowed to do this and soon Rosario was able to carry the necessary funds to the archbishop. The fact that such a poor girl could raise all that money in such a short time convinced him that the work was from God, so he gave his permission for the temple to be built. He blessed the cornerstone on January 15, 1900.
Once begun, it was a long and difficult endeavor to raise the funds to continue the construction. With great and simple faith, Rosario continued to beg God to give her the light to know how to continue. She formed an organization among the poor and middle class, and weekly the group donated small sums which kept the work going, raising just enough money to pay the bills. The little queen began to work more favors and miracles for her devotees, and in their gratitude they brought more alms.
At the same time that the material temple was being constructed, a spiritual temple also began to rise. Father Federico Salvador y Ramon and Rosario began to talk of the formation of a group of nuns who would dedicate themselves to the child Mary. The first refuge for orphans was opened in September, and by February of 1901, a new religious congregation, The Slaves of the Divina Infantita, was formed with the approval of the archbishop. The Slaves were dedicated to the educational and moral formation of children, and they opened refuges for the most underprivileged children and orphans. Today, their official name is the Slaves of the Immaculate Child, and their goal is to establish, through Mary, the reign of Jesus Christ in the world.
Although Rosario was not one of the original members, by June of the same year she felt called to this vocation and she received the habit in December. She made her solemn profession in May of 1902.
At last, the church was finished and solemnly blessed on August 29, 1903. Until the church's completion, the sacred image of the Divina Infantita was kept at the first home of the Slaves in Tacubaya. Here her devotees visited her in a small area of the house set up as an oratory. The translation of the little Queen of Love was made on August 30 in a lavish ceremony which included the orphans, dressed in their white First Communion dresses as well as the rich and famous of the city. The virgin was met at her temple by the ecclesial authorities and numerous clergy, and she was enthroned in her beautiful new home.
In 1910, sorrow and love began to walk hand in hand when Pope Pious X silenced the devotion by a Decree of Reprobation. Attacks had been made on the orthodoxy of the devotion and there were accusations that the work of the order caused friction in the diocese. For eleven years, the docile community suffered silently and prayerfully. Joyously, the work resurged when a Decree of Approbation of the devotion was issued in 1921, just as the persecution of the church in Mexico was beginning to boil up. Later, at the height of the persecution, the beautiful temple raised in honor of the Divina Infantita was confiscated by the government and destroyed.
Father Salvador had returned to Spain in 1907 and planted the seeds of the devotion in his homeland. He returned to Mexico in 1930 but died unexpectedly in 1931. He did not live to see the establishment of a religious community of men dedicated to the little virgin although he had written a constitution for them. The chaplain of the nuns attempted to continue Father Salvador’s work, but died in 1942. More than a year passed without a priest who would continue the work. Madre Almita (Maria del Carmen Muriel), who succeeded Mother Rosario as superior of the Slaves, inspired in the hearts of the children under her care the love of the priesthood and of the Divina Infantita.
The eventual founder of the men’s group dedicated to the Divina Infantita was Father Vicente Echarri Gil, who was born in Spain in 1903. When he began to study for the priesthood, he developed tuberculosis which threatened to stop his ordination. He begged the Virgin of Guadalupe to save him, promising that if he were cured he would go to Mexico as a missionary. He was cured, ordained in 1930, and left as soon as possible to fulfill his vow, arriving in Mexico in 1931.
In 1944, Father Echarri accepted a small group of aspirants who had been influenced by Madre Almita and formed a seminary in Tlalpan. The following year, he arranged with Bishop Emeterio Valverde y Tellez, for a group of them to be accepted at the Diocesan Seminary for Leon.
The first priests of the new institute were ordained on April 2, 1949 in the Cathedral of Leon. Here the saintly Bishop Valverde, told Father Echarri "Don't worry, Father, here you have your seminary." He also promised to stand as a father in aid of the young congregation. Bishop Valverde died in December of 1948, but before he died he put the congregation in charge of the Montana de Cristo Rey. and commended them to his successor, the blind Bishop Canonigo Villanueva.
Mexicans love monuments and the Catholics had erected a large statue of Christ the King in the geographical center of the country, high on a nearly 3,000 foot mountain called Cerro del Cubilete. Built in 1923, the statue was later destroyed by government forces.. The cornerstone to rebuild it was set in 1944 and today the statue is one of the largest images of Christ in the world.
In its earliest days, the community was known as the Congregation of Missionaries of the Slaves of the Divina Infantita or "The Infantitos."
The name of the order was changed to the Missionaries of the Nativity of Mary in 1970. Pope John Paul II gave pontifical recognition to the community in 1988. The growth of the congregation has been steady and today they continue to spread the love and devotion to the Little Immaculate Mary through their work in Mexico, the United States and Puerto Rico.
Prayer to the Immaculate Child Mary
Maria Niña, you are my friend, my guide, and my helper. As I look at your tender face, let me see the reflection of all the faces – born and unborn, young and old – that belong to God’s children. Remind me of the childlike simplicity that I need to have in order to love others as Christ wills. Human like me, you are a model for all humanity. Born without sin, you willingly said “yes” to face a sad and sinful world. Greatest of the servants of God, you reign now as Queen of Heaven. Help me to see and appreciate the beauty of life on this earth while living in faith, hope, and love. I place my hand in yours. Lead me to your adorable Son.
-Amen.- |
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