Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle

Coordinates: 26°11′55″N 98°09′27″W / 26.1985°N 98.1576°W / 26.1985; -98.1576
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle
Brownsville
Clergy
Bishop(s)Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores
RectorRev. Jorge Gomez

The Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle is a

Diocese of Brownsville
.

History

The Rev. Jose Maria Azpiazu,

Guadalajara, Mexico, to reproduce the statue of the Virgin that was venerated at San Juan de los Lagos.[1]
He placed the completed statue in the San Juan chapel.

Upon the approval of Bishop Mariano S. Garriaga of Corpus Christi a new church and shrine dedicated to the Virgin of San Juan were built in 1954. On October 23, 1970, a low-flying airplane crashed into the shrine and exploded into flames. The shrine was destroyed with the exception of the tower, which still stands to the south of the new shrine.[2] Although there were people in the shrine, the pilot of the plane, Francis B. Alexander, was the only one killed. The loss was estimated at $1.5 million ($6.7M today).[3] The Rev. Patricio Dominguez, O.M.I., and the sacristan Pedro Rodriguez rescued the statue of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle. A diocesan priest, the Rev. Ron Anderson, saved the Blessed Sacrament from the fire. The shrine's dining room became the temporary home for the statue.

Brownsville Bishop

Boston was present for the dedication along with Bishop Fitzpatrick and an estimated crowd of 50,000 people on April 19, 1980.[3] Outdoor Stations of the Cross made up of 30 life size bronze statues were placed along a 3/4 mile path and were dedicated on October 16, 1993. The mural, Jesus Presents his Mother, on the shrine's exterior wall was blessed on February 2, 1995. The shrine itself was designated a national shrine by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops on March 24, 1998. Pope John Paul II designated the shrine as a minor basilica on June 12, 1999.[4]

The most busy days for the Basilica are Saturdays and Sundays when the church sees the highest number of pilgrims. The mass time are as follows for the weekend. Saturday 11:30 and 5:30 pm. Sunday 7:00 AM-SPANISH, 9:00 AM-ENGLISH, 10:30 AM-BILINGUAL, 12 Noon-SPANISH, 1:30 PM-SPANISH, 3:00 AM-ENGLISH, 7:00 PM-SPANISH.

References

  1. ^ "Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle National Shrine". Texas Tropical Trail Region. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  2. ^ "Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle National Shrine". Alamo Economic Development Corporation. Archived from the original on 2014-09-23. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  3. ^ a b "Our History". Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  4. ^ "Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle". GCatholic. Retrieved 2014-06-20.

External links

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