Maria Ignacio was the daughter of José Ramón de Azlor, espaňol, and Captain General of Coahuila-Tejas.

[5] She entered the order of the Company of Mary Our Lady in Spain, where she obtained permission to found a convent and school for young girls.

[6] She bought two houses on what is now Donceles Street (then Calle de Cordobanes), just north of the main cathedral of Mexico City.

[2] With Francisco Antonio Guerrero y Torres and Friar Lucas de Jesús María[7] as the architects, the church was built between 1772 and 1778.

[8] The church was consecrated in 1778 with Our Lady of the Pillar and Saint John of Nepomuk as patrons[2] by the Archbishop of Mexico, Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta.

[9] Since 1984, this church has been in the custody of Order of the Missionaries of the Eucharist of Nazareth, who give services and maintain the building.

[8] At the bottom, or first body, of the portal are the church’s main doors, which are topped by a curved arch, a common Baroque feature.

In the central section of the main altarpiece are images of the Holy Sacrament, the Our Lady of the Pillar, Ignatius of Loyola, and Benedict of Nursia.

[8] The church also has six side altarpieces, all of which are done in the 18th-century Mexican Churrigueresque style using estipite (inverted truncated pyramid) columns.

The frame of this doorway is made of stone and is carved with two mermaids with their tails crossed, supporting an oval with a well, a symbol of wisdom.

[2] The upper choir has an arch with bars decorated with iron foliage, in the center of which is the emblem of the Company of Mary Our Lady.

[2] Other features of the church include two windows showing scenes from the Old Testament and an allegorical fresco of the Our Lady of the Pillar covering the vault.