OUR LADY OF THE STAR

Villa Vicosa, Portugal

Feast Day - March 7

According to Abbot Orsini, “Our Lady of the Star, at Villa Vicosa, in Portugal, so called from a star, which a shepherd saw shining where the church is built.”

Vila Vicosa is a Portuguese village in the district of Evora of about 5400 people.

Our Lady of the Star translates roughly to Nossa Senhora da Estrela in Portuguese, and I located information about a convent, Convento Nossa Senhora da Estrela, in Portugal, but the convent is not located in Vila Vicosa. I also learned that there is an Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vicosa, which is a dynastic order whose Grand Master is the head of the Portuguese Royal family. The medal for the order is a kind of star. The order, however, was not instituted until the year 1818, and thus cannot be what the Abbot Orsini was referring to.

Then there is the Shrine of Our Lady of the Conception of Vila Vicosa, who is also known as the Patroness of the Sun. The church is located outside the wall of the town’s castle, and the date it was founded is unknown. The present church is the result of King Sebastian's reform in the year 1569.

The people of Portugal believe that they were the first in the world to accept the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It is known for certain that it was during the reign of King Don Juan IV when the University of Coimbra and all of the bishops approved his initiative of offering the Kingdom of Portugal to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. The image of Our Lady at Vila Vicosa was proclaimed Patroness of Portugal on March 25th, 1646. Since that time no Portuguese monarchs of the House of Braganca ever again put the royal crown on their own heads. This decision of the Portuguese people and their nation has never been revoked by any governmental agency, and thus it remains in force to this very day.