Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 8:07am

Columbus and the Virgin Mary

virgin-of-the-navigators

The Virgin of the Navigators is an alterpiece painted in 1536 by Alejo Fernandez for the chapel at the House of Trade in Seville.  Under the protection of the Virgin are depicted King Ferdinand II of Aragon, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and, kneeling on the viewer’s right are Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci and one of the Pinzon Brothers.  In the background are gathering the peoples of the New World.  The painting was made five years after the appearance of Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico in 1531, and I wonder if word of this miracle had made its way back to Spain.

At any rate, I know Columbus would have loved the painting.  All of his life he had a special devotion to Mary, as demonstrated by the name of his flagship, Santa Maria, and his strict observance of sailors singing Salve Regina at around 7:00 PM after saying their evening prayers.  ( The full name of the Santa Maria was Santa Maria de la  Imaculada Concepcion;  Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception, which indicates that Columbus believed in the Immaculate Conception of Mary.)  On the return voyage from discovering the New World, when supplies were rapidly running out, Columbus and his crew promised pilgrimages to various Marian shrines if they made it back to Spain.  In his will Columbus left a legacy to build a church dedicated to Saint Mary of the Conception on Hispaniola, a wish, alas, his executors did not carry out.  Columbus would rarely write a letter without inserting this phrase:  Jesus cum Maria sit nobis in via. (May Jesus with Mary be with us on the way.)  Not a bad hope for all of us.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
trackback
Monday, October 14, AD 2013 1:26pm

[…] Columbus & The Blessed Virgin Mary: Columbus and the Virgin Mary – Donald R. McClarey JD, TACatholic Columbus and the Pizza Theory – Robert Royal, The […]

Kyle Miller
Kyle Miller
Monday, October 14, AD 2013 3:04pm

Donald, do you have any articles which address the unbalanced beliefs about Columbus, especially those espoused by Howard Zinn and James W. Loewen?

HV Observer
HV Observer
Monday, October 14, AD 2013 6:58pm

Was Columbus a slave trader — of African slaves, that is? I know someone who is convinced of this, and refuses to celebrate Columbus Day because of this.

Kyle Miller
Kyle Miller
Tuesday, October 15, AD 2013 11:04am

Thanks for the links. The Reason article did a decent job proving Zinn was no historian. I was looking for something more specific in addressing the Columbus accusations, that he was a greedy and violent SOB who was out for gold and sex slaves, an article that goes like “Zinn says this….. This is what actually happened…”

This comic by a popular Internet artist summarizes Zinn’s beliefs and what is being fed to young minds.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day

Discover more from The American Catholic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top