It Can Not Be Fully Explained, But It Cannot Be Explained Away! Bill McCarthy

IT CAN NOT BE FULLY EXPLAINED, BUT IT CANNOT BE EXPLAINED AWAY!

By Bill McCarthy

MMaria of Agreda is like no woman in the history of the world. Of course, we can say that about anyone and everyone. All human creatures are totally unique. “There will never be another YOU.” In the case of Maria of Agreda, that is an understatement. She didn’t just break the mold, she shattered it into thousands of small particles. Her story is both highly exhilarating and thought provoking.

The biography of a woman from the Golden Age of Spain (The Mystical Lady in Blue), so rich in literature, so steeped in romance, with all the treasures of patriotic and religious fervor, heightened realism, and the explosive power of the call into the “New World”, should be taken seriously. Spanish Colonial adventure into the Western Hemisphere was on everyone’s radar in 16th and 17th century Spain, and this was certainly the world into which Maria was born. It was a part of the air she breathed from the moment she could take her first breath.

This biography by Marilyn Fedewa, of “Sor Maria,” is extremely well written, and exhaustively researched. More importantly, the story is absolutely astounding. Skeptics may write it off as a “fairy tale” but that would betray the empirical evidence, documentation, and the profound historical impact this extraordinary woman had on the Southwest United States…..all without ever leaving her convent in Northeastern Spain.

Known widely as Maria of Agreda, (Born April 2, 1602; Died May 24, 1665), she was recently announced as “one of the nine most influential women in the history of Spain.” Maria was an Abbess, spiritual writer, confident, and advisor to King Philip IV of Spain, with over 600 letters between the two. She also profoundly inspired by many Franciscan Missionaries to the New World over hundreds of years. Saint Junipero Serra, who established many of the famous California missions, just to name one.

There is a “justice in things” where the scales cry out to be balanced. Maria of Agreda played an essential role in the history of North America, the United States, and she is virtually unknown. That is an injustice. Now that I have studied a fair amount about Maria, (for her own sake, I doubt she would care one way or another. She was far too humble and self-effacing to seek notoriety. In fact, she shunned it), we cannot properly and honestly assert that we know our own history – especially those of us who live in the Southwest United States. The important point is that we should care. We should know who we are in our identity as the great melting pot, the paths we have walked, our life and experiences. We should know our own story, and Maria is an important part of that it.

A people and a civilization that does not know its history is like an old man who has lived a rich and full life but tragically has fallen into amnesia or Alzheimer’s. We should know Maria of Agreda, not only because of her enormous contribution in the Spanish coming to the New World, but also because her story is so vibrantly charged and compelling. One may not like her, one may take offense for everything she is, and was, and represents, but that does not mean she is unworthy of our study and scrutiny. On the contrary, by any measurement of objectivity, for any American who would consider themselves well informed or moderately educated, Maria of Agreda was a force that left a marked footprint, especially in the Southwest and Western United States. All of this is well documented in the Mystical Lady in Blue.

A second reason for consideration is timing. There have been a couple of recent

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developments regarding the Venerable Maria of Agreda that has put her back on the radar, at least in local and Church circles.

From the 16th to the 20th of November 2015, the Spanish Episcopal (Bishop’s) Conference resoundingly requested and petitioned the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican to reopen Maria’s Cause for the Beatification (the final step to being declared a saint in the Catholic Church) for this Foundress of the Monastery of Franciscan nuns in Agreda Spain in the early 17th Century. According to the working group of Spanish Bishops at the Plenary Assembly, Sor Maria de Jesus, “this is, undoubtedly, one of the most hopeful news developments so that the Cause of Beatification of Maria of Agreda may continue to come to fruition.”

The wheels for the cause must be moving forward as there was a recent development in August of 2017. Father Stefano M. Cecchin, the vice postulator of Sr. Maria de Agreda’s Cause for Canonization, spent a week in San Angelo, Texas. This is where Sr. Maria “reportedly” appeared and communicated with thousands of Jumano Natives in the early 17th Century. This is a significant development, as the cause is resoundingly supported, (not only by the Spanish Bishops), but Bishop Michael Sis of the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, and a large portion of his Native flock, that still have an intense devotion to the “Lady in Blue.” Bishop Sis spoke in a “matter of fact” fashion regarding the life and impact of Maria of Agreda, specifically with the Native communities of the Southwest, “She would have these prayerful, mystical experiences of coming here to the New World and visiting these people and evangelizing them.” Over 500 such bilocations were reported from the years 1620 to 1631. Fr. Cecchin is quoted as asserting, “There is a lot of proof that the Lady in Blue appeared to the Jumano Tribe.” Interestingly enough, Fr. Cecchin has recently returned to San Angelo for a second time. That usually (but not always) indicates a deeper interest and further study into the subject (the life and miracles associated with Maria of Agreda, especially the phenomenon of “bilocation,” being in two places at one time, e.g., in the Jumano village in the Southwest United States and her Convent in Agreda, Spain). When I started my study of Maria, I hadn’t the least idea of who she was. As a door of knowledge of her history would open, there would be three of four more doors in front of me. Her life is absolutely extraordinary, astounding, and thought provoking. The world and persona of Maria of Agreda gives so much more than it takes. The more you look at her life

Marilyn H and get to know her, the more she reveals

Fedewa is to you. If one comes

COMING TO to this study with full skepticism, my GALLUP to give guess is one would be disappointed. However, a talk on Maria if one is sincerely open minded, I am confident of Agreda at the Maria will reward the reader profusely. Spanish Market Yes, it is a magical at Sacred Heart world of levitation, (the Flying Nun), of Cathedral June knowing multiple Native languages 21st-23rd. More without formal training, bilocation details to come. or translocation... being into places at one time (502 visits to Native Peoples of the Southwest from 1620 to 1631, sometimes four trips a day), raising a man from the dead, healing, her body with no corruption after over 350 years, and the crowning jewel: the Mystical City of God (the Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary). “Rocks are hard, fire’s hot, and water’s wet.” Most knowledge is purely empirical and verifiable. However, there are mysteries in this world that cannot be explained. “It cannot be fully explained, but it cannot be explained away.” Signs and wonders, for anyone who is intellectually honest, are a part of the real world. My sincere hope is that you will give Sor Maria a chance. She is certainly worth the effort. It is a magical, mysterious, and wonderful world, but paradoxically, it is a “Real” World. Mystical Lady in Blue, a biography, is available at the Southwest Indian Foundation (Southwestindian.com).

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