FROM PASTURE TO PARADISE: The Guiding Presence of La Virgen Divina Pastora By Rev. Fr. Mark Ancheta     A.    ORIGINS   From a lovely vision in Spain…   Tracing the story of the devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora takes us back to 1703 to a devout Franciscan with a deep love for Christ and a profound reverence for His Mother. The Capuchin friar named Isidro or Isidore in the convent of Sevilla, Spain (not to be confused with St. Isidore of Seville who lived in the seventh century) was meditating on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd when he reportedly had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Divina Pastora de las Almas (Divine Shepherdess of Souls). Fray (Friar) Isidro later asked a painter, Alonso Miguel de Tovar, to depict what he saw in his vision. And he gave the following description:   “In the center and under the shade of a tree, the Blessed Virgin seated on a rock, radiating love and tenderness from her divine face. The red tunic covers the bust to the knees in white fur, cinched at the waist. A blue cloak, attached to the left shoulder, wraps the outline of her body, and towards the right, on the back, she wears the shepherd’s hat, and next to the right hand appears the staff. Her left hand holds some roses and her right hand rests on a lamb that is held onto her lap. Some sheep surround the Virgin, forming her flock, and all in their mouths carry pink paths, symbolic of the Hail Mary with which they venerate her. In the distance you see a lost sheep being chased by the wolf – the emerging enemy from a cave eager to devour it, but the sheep pronounces the Hail Mary, expressed by a label in its mouth, demanding help; and the archangel Saint Michael appears, coming down from Heaven, with the protective shield and the arrow, which he must sink into the head of the cursed wolf…” (translated and adapted from the “Divina Pastora de las Almas,” Wikipedia – La Enciclopedia Libre).   After some time, a statue of the Virgin according to the same description was commissioned and propagated by the Capuchins. They effectively spread devotion to this image through the confraternities they founded under the new title of the Mary, the Shepherdess of Souls.   It is no surprise that a Capuchin friar should spearhead such a devotion. For in Spain at that time, and everywhere else, up to the contemporary period, the Franciscans are a deeply Marian congregation and where they do mission work, they inculcate in people a reverence and love for the Mother of God. Fray Isidro’s community promoted the Rosary in Sevilla, and so it can be said that the new devotion to La Virgen Divina Pastora was but a natural flowering of the Franciscan zeal to spread love for the Virgin Mary.   The Shepherdess, an ancient Marian image…   However, the image of Mary as a shepherdess was not entirely a novelty started by Fray Isidro. Centuries prior, the Virgin Mary has been explicitly or implicitly mentioned in relation to Christ the Lamb and Shepherd, to the flock of God, or as one who leads to the nourishing pastures of faith.   Saints and mystics alike mentioned Mary in her role as a shepherdess of souls, leading people to Christ her Son. John Geometres, a Byzantine monk, St. John of God, St. Peter Alcantara and Venerable Maria Jesus de Agreda referred in their writings about Mary as shepherd.  As early as the 5th century, the ancient Eastern hymn called Akathistosrefers to Mary in this way:   (from the 3rd chant) “Hail, O Tendril whose Bud shall not wilt! Hail, O Soil whose Fruit shall not perish! Hail, O Tender of mankind’s loving Tender! Hail, O Gardener of the Gardener of Life! Hail, O Earth who yielded abundant mercies! Hail, O Table full-laden with appeasement! Hail, for you have greened anew the pastures of delight! Hail, for you have prepared a haven for the souls! Hail, acceptable Incense of Prayer! Hail, Expiation of the whole universe! Hail, O you Favor of God to mortal men! Hail, O you Trust of mortals before God! Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!”   (from the 4th chant) “Hail, O Mother of Lamb and Shepherd! Hail, O Fold of rational sheep! Hail, O Protection against unseen foes! Hail, O Key to the Doors of Paradise! Hail, for the heavenly rejoice with the earth! Hail, for the earthly meet the heavens in song! Hail, the Unsilenced Voice of the Apostles! Hail, the Undaunted Might of Martyrs! Hail, O Steadfast Foundation of Faith! Hail, O Shining Emblem of Grace! Hail, O you through whom death was despoiled! Hail, O you through whom we were clothed with glory! Hail, O Bride and Maiden ever-pure!” (from “Akathist Hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary,”  Catholic Online)   While Fray Isidro wrote about a vision of Mary, it was not clear in what form it came. Was it a vision that came in a dream? Did it occur as an idea through the imagination in prayer or meditation? Did Mary appear to the humble friar?   One of the disciples of Fray Isidro wrote that the vision he referred to was an idea, that had its root in divine inspiration. “Although some have wanted to say that Mary Most Holy appeared to him in a shepherdess dress, ordering him to have her paint in the same dress in which she appeared to him, I cannot approve of these voices, what happened here, as I heard him … It was more than a pious idea; although it is true that he assured me that he had had it by divine inspiration” (Rodriguez, 2012).   The former archbishop of Sevilla, the Blessed Cardinal Marcelo Spinola y Maestre seemed to believe that the vision must have been in some form of apparition of Mary … Continue reading DIVINA PASTORA OF GAPAN NUEVA ECIJA