According to legend, in the early first century A.D. the Apostle James arrived in Spain from the Holy Lands and encountered the “Virgin Mary” coming down from heaven with thousands of angels close to the town of Zaragoza. She told him to spread the good news to Spanish towns about Jesus Christ and even asked James to build a chapel dedicated to God. But James thought Mary was back in Nazareth but saw in Zaragoza at the same time – a false phenomenon called “bilocation”.
James’ apparent visit from “the mother of God” marks the first time the “Virgin Mary” made herself known to many as a goddess. Since that encounter, news about the Virgin Mary spread in Spain and throughout the world. “Mary” continued to become an increasingly important figure of veneration, especially throughout Spain. James’ mission was to spread the news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Spain, which ultimately failed because he had an overwhelming “celestial” experience with an evil spirit who impersonated Jesus’ true human mother. The devil is a cunning spirit who chose the perfect time to mess with the Gospel of Christ by appearing as His human mother. Ironically the devil told the apostle to build a church dedicated to God, but cunningly told him to create a statue of “herself” to be placed inside the church as a sign of adoration to evil “Mary”.
As time went on, the Virgin Mary became almost synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church. Mary would make many more appearances around the globe, turning Roman Catholics to belief she was a deity as holy as Jesus, in many cases, holier than Him.
The “Virgin Mary” played an important role in Spain culture as source of inspiration, especially in literature. In the 13th century, Alfonso X, the Wise, king of Spain had been the most influential of the country’s rulers, who was a great devotee to Mary. He went so far as to write the Cantigas de Santa Maria, a collection of more than four hundred poems written in the language of medieval Galicia in praise of the Virgin Mary, declaring himself Mary’s troubadour, who appealed to her as his advocate and consoler -a title reserved only for Christ.
Although advocating maximum praise to the false goddess, Mary, Alfonso was also renowned for his invention of a new legal code, plus he wrote extensively about history, the arts and the influence of the Spanish language to replace Latin. Alfonso’s vernacular literature fused knowledge of Classical, Oriental, Hebrew, and Christian ideas.
Five centuries prior, Muslim armies invaded Spain and swiftly took control of the country. They spread Islam -a pagan religion throughout the land. They worshiped an evil false god named “Allah” who wished for them to spread Islam everywhere they conquered. “Christian” Spanish armies managed to fight the Muslim hordes for eight centuries until they were forced out of Spain in 1492.
Alonso’s son, Sancho IV continued in his father’s intellectual footsteps by cataloging vernacular literature which was heavily influenced by the culture and religion of the Muslim inhabitants. As a result, many Christians converted to Islam.
In the 13th century, a poet named Gonzalo de Berceo wrote heroic chronicles of miracles by Mary and also wrote about the lives of the Catholic saints. His works’ themes combined pagan religion, didacticism, and partly true history. During the 14th century, original tales abounded in the “Libro de los enxiemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (The Book of Count Lucanor and Patronio) by Juan Manuel These “enxiemplos” or “ejemplos” consisted of more than 50 moral tales, categorized as “didactic, amusing, and practical.” ( https://www.britannica.com/art/Spanish-literature ). These works originated partly from pagan Arabic, Oriental, and popular Spanish sources.
Also, the 14th century produced works by an Catholic “archpriest” named Juan Ruiz, who wrote a book called, “El Libro de Buen Amor” (“The Book of Good Love”) which dealt with “love” as a Godly love and the carnal love. The book describes both, but according to the Holy Bible, which nobody in Spain read, God might have referred to this work as a “double-edged sword” – a theme with both good and bad effects.
The medieval period in Spain was steeped in the culture literature and oral tradition of the Roman Catholic faith which many modern evangelical Christians consider pagan. The literature that was written by well-intention authors in Spain were magnificent works that also influenced and were influenced by Spanish society. Through literature, the Catholic church spread false ideas, such as endlessly long poems praising Christ’s mother more than Christ. Although “she” rarely appeared to people, she was considered a demi-goddess, “worthy” of being an idol for prayer. Also, Muslim, Jewish, Oriental ideas spread orally throughout the Spanish culture through vernacular poetry which were extensively written by Alfonso X, his son Sancho IV in the 13th century and Gonzalo de Berceo’s pagan moral fables.
Thanks to Johannes Gutenberg, the printing press was invented in the mid 15th century which established as a way to bring information and news to a majority of the known world. Gutenberg brought the Bible out of “uncirculation”, so that it could be read by a vast majority of legible people. At the same time, a growing number of small group of Protestants argued against the Roman Catholic Church about their false practices and beliefs. God’s mighty Word is the Holy Bible which had been slowly copied by monks over a period of one thousand years, suddenly was being translated by noble Godly men, such as Englishmen: John Wycliff, William Tyndale, and the translators of the King James Bible. In Germany, Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin to German. Juan Valera from Spain translated the Latin to Spanish. It brought about Protestant Reformation which should have been a sobering time for the Spanish Catholic Church to turn to the teachings of the Bible. However, like most of the population of Europe it was too late because most souls had been long lost to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
These ungodly ideas that circulated around Spain in the medieval period would have probably been quenched if the devil had not interfered with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Instead, the evil “Virgin Mary” had appeared to the Apostle James in some “celestial display”. The Bible refers to the devil who can disguise himself as an “angel of light” in over one hundred verses throughout the New and Old Testament. Nevertheless, James obeyed the disguised devil and had the church built. After he left Spain, he returned to the Holy Lands and was the first of Christ’s Apostles to be martyred for his faith. Yet, even today’s Spanish culture he is considered highly as their most famous national “saint”, which ironically makes him a “god” for Spaniards to worship.
