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BLUE LADY

(THE FLYING NUN)

During the 1600s Indians throughout New Mexico and parts of the Southwest encountered a Flying Nun who was dubbed “The Lady in Blue.” Here are the incredible facts, as best this writer has been able to research.

In 1629 a group of fifty Jumanos Indians came to Isleta, New Mexico, (South of Albuquerque) and demanded a meeting with the Padres who administered to this Rio Grande village.

The Jumanos claimed a Lady in Blue had descended from the sky and had instructed their tribe in the ways of Catholicism. The apparition had commanded the tribesmen to go to the Spanish settlement and ask for teachers of the Faith.

Inside the Isleta Mission the Indians came across a portrait of Catholic sister Mother Luisa De Carrion, who was dressed in a blue habit. The Indians told the Spaniards that the flying woman who preached to them was dressed like the woman in the picture, but her face was different. Their Lady in Blue was young and beautiful.

Partially convinced that the Indians had seen a vision, Franciscan Padres, Salas, Lopez and Ortega, warily went with the Jumanos to their Concha River settlements. Upon reaching the tribe’s northern village, the Padres came to believe these people had witnessed a miracle. A Flying Nun had descended from the sky and instructed the Indians in the ways of Catholicism.

Prior to the Padres trek to the Jumanos villages, Spanish Conquistadors who explored the Southwest (mainly New Mexico and Texas) had similar encounters with the local Indian populations. Whole groups of Indians would swear on their honor that a levitating lady had brought a new belief to their tribe. Some of these visited Indians carried crucifixes that the Blue Lady had given to them.

Padre Alonzo de Benavidez, who was the custodian of Missions in New Mexico, could not fathom what was going on. How did Indians who had no contact with Europeans know rudimentary Catholic liturgy? What could account for the crude village altars the Indians had constructed to honor Christ?

Had a renegade nun left Spain and was now preaching to the Indians in the unexplored lands of the Southwest? Since 1622, Padre Benavidez had been receiving reports of this lady or apparition. Were the tales of the Blue Lady lies, exaggerations, or the truth?

From his headquarters in what is now El Paso Texas; Padre Benavidez wrote letters of inquiry to his superiors in Spain. In 1630, Padre Benavidez sailed for Spain. Upon arrival he did his best to unravel this New Mexico mystery.

Padre Benavidez was sent to a cloistered monastery in Agreda, Spain; home of the Holy Order of the Poor, a Conceptionist Abbey. The nuns of this ministry wear blue habits.

The New World Padre was introduced to the abbess, Sister Agreda, who was in the midst of an examination by the Inquisition. The high sheriffs of the Spanish church were baffled by the Catholic nun’s miracles and testimonies. The theologians were concerned that Sister Agreda had become a tool for Mr. Scratch.

Sister Agreda was fair skinned, 5’8” tall, and strikingly beautiful. The nun was born in 1602, to a wealthy family in Fernandez Colonel, Spain. Upon taking her religious vows in 1619, Maria Fernandez Coronel y Arana was given the name, Sister Maria de Jesus de Agreda.

Soon after joining the monastery, the church superiors noted Sister Agreda’s immense devotion to her faith. In 1625, against her wishes, the Papacy decreed that Sister Agreda was to head the monastery. It was thought by many the Conceptionist nun was a living saint.

From 1620 through 1631, Sister Agreda would slip into catatonic trances as she slept or prayed, and would float about with a radiant smile. When awake Sister Agreda would claim she had been divinely transported across the sea, over unknown territories in all types of weather by the winds of God.

Sister Agreda’s destination was the unexplored provinces of Nuevo Mexico, which was also called Nuevo Espania. The Spanish nun estimated she was blown by the winds to the New World at least five hundred times.

A ministry of angels would accompany Sister Agreda as she traveled through space. Sometimes the Flying Nun would journey to what is now New Mexico three or four times in a twenty-four hour cycle.

In what is now Texas, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico, Sister Agreda would preach to the Indians in their native tongues, even though she was ignorant of these lingoes. The Flying Nun thought herself unworthy of this duty and prayed for this assignment to end.

While in the New World the Flying Nun, wearing her blue habit, would give the Indians crucifixes and rosaries. When unruly Indians threw rocks or spears at her, the Blue Lady was protected by some unexplainable invisible force field.

In response to the questions by the Inquisition, Sister Agreda could not explain how she could be in two places at one time (Spain and the New World), nor how she could levitate. Inexplicably, time and distance was altered around the Flying Nun when she was on these missions.

Cloistered away, Sister Agreda had no contact with anybody outside of the monastic order. Yet the Flying Nun gave exact descriptions of geographic areas in New Mexico and Texas.

Incredibly, the Lady in Blue knew some of the names of the Indians and tribes that had converted to Catholicism. Padre Benavidez verified the Flying Nun’s statements.

When asked by the authorities, “Why were you sent to the province of New Mexico rather than the Philippines or Florida?” The Flying Nun said, “I was told the people of New Mexico (Nuevo Mexico) were more inclined to conversion.”

The Franciscans, a Catholic Order, made its quickest progress in New Mexico as compared to any other place in the world, when it came to building missions and conversions. Interestingly, as of this book’s printing Catholicism is considered to be New Mexico’s unofficial religion, due to the state’s overwhelming Catholic population.

The Inquisition tribunal finally became convinced that Sister Agreda was not possessed by demons or insane. It was determined and accepted that the Spanish nun was the Blue Lady that Padre Benavidez had inquired about.

It was then accepted that the Flying Nun was part of some miracle that the canonical council could not understand or come to terms with.

The following volumes, “Divine History of the Virgin Mother of God” and “The Mystical City of God,” were authored by Sister Agreda. These books were written after The Lady in Blue had ceased her travels.

The Flying Nun died in 1665. Oddly The Lady in Blue was not beatified by the Papacy. Yet Sister Agreda’s body lies incorruptible in a coffin, with a glass cover over it, in the monastery of Agreda.

Some pundits claim that the 1960s television series “The Flying Nun” staring Sally Field is loosely based on Sister Agreda’s abilities and exploits. Others reject the concept of a levitating holy woman and label the miracles attributed to The Blue Lady as “hogwash.”

Yet some of Sister Agreda’s debunkers believe in astral projection or duality and bi-location. Are not The Blue Lady’s escapades a version of this phenomenon?

Words of wisdom; anything is possible when it comes to Divine intervention or unshakable faith. (4)