Our Lady Of Deliverance
Country : Spain
Year :
Devotion to Mary under the above title is one of the most ancient of all Marian devotions. Madrid, Spain, was the scene of its popularization.
During the Spanish wars which occasioned the people to seek refuge in the New World, a looting soldier carried off a statue from one of the shrines in Madrid. The image depicted Mary cuddling at her breast the Infant Jesus whom she was lovingly nursing. A poor peasant returning from the fields and making a visit to the shrine, bought the statue for a small sum of money from the drunken soldier, carried it home and enshrined it in his humble cottage. His wife was nearing childbirth, and daily the couple knelt before the statue, begging the Mother of God to give the expectant mother a safe delivery. As the days passed, it was evident that the wife of the poor peasant was threatened with death. The father prayed most fervently before the image of Mary for his wife’s safety. His confidence was rewarded by a happy delivery vouchsafed the little mother. He named the statue accordingly, the Mother of Safe Delivery.
The news spread rapidly, and Mary’s devotees under similar circumstances as the peasant’s wife, frequented the home; until it became too small to accommodate all. A chapel was built, and later a church—that of St. Martin. The statue was removed with great pomp; nobility and peasant alike knelt in prayer in their personal and family needs. Our Lady recognized all as her children, bestowing safe deliveries where requested.
