Walk with Mary throughout the Year

Day 346: April 24 Our Lady of Bonaria, Cagliari, Italy A ship, probably coming from Spain, was heading towards Italy when, suddenly, it was caught by a terrible storm. The captain, in a last attempt to save at least the crew, ordered to throw all the ship's cargo into the sea. There was also a large chest, whose owner and contents were unknown. It was thrown last. Suddenly, almost by magic, the storm stopped. An attempt was made to resume the predetermined course but the ship, almost forced by mysterious forces, followed the box which, after some time, ran aground on the beach, at the foot of the hill of Bonaria. A large crowd, including religious and civil authorities, rushed to the beach to realize what had happened. Everyone contemplated the coffin, wondering what mysterious secret it contained. Attempts were made to open it, but no one succeeded. An attempt was made to lift it, but every attempt was in vain. The crate was too heavy. Suddenly a child's voice, a little boy in...

Day 345: April 23 Our Lady of Sveta Gora, Nova Gorica, Slovenia The Holy Mountain (in Slovenian Skalnica or Sveta Gora pri Gorici) [681 m] is the most eminent of the "holy mountains" of Slovenia, it is precisely this one that is located on Skalnica (681 m) above Solkan and from where you can enjoy the view of the Adriatic Sea, the Friulian plain and the Julian Alps with Mount Triglav.  It owes its name to the apparition of Our Lady to the shepherdess Uršula Ferligoj of Gargaro in the year 1539. Our Lady said to her:  "Tell the people to build me a church here and ask for thanks!" The political authority, suspecting some trick, imprisoned the shepherdess, with the intention of making a thorough investigation, but the visionary was found on the Mount in prayer. She was locked up again but twice she was freed again by Our Lady. The Sanctuary of Sveta Gora was built starting the following year; during the excavations a squared and polished stone was found with the first...

Day 344: April 22 Our Lady of Splendor, Giulianova, Teramo, Italy "On April 22, 1557, it pleased the Lord to give a sign of his divine goodness by making known to the people of Giulianova the Virgin of Splendor."  This is what we read in the first chronicle that the prior father of the Celestine Monks, Don Pietro Capullo, wrote in the years 1657-1674 and which served as a source for Don Niccola Palma for his Ecclesiastical and Civil History ... of the city of Teramo and the Diocese of Aprutina (Teramo, 1832-1836). "On a small hill, outside the walls of Giulianova, a pious peasant, tired from having collected firewood to take to his house in Cotogna, went to rest around noon in the shade of a leafy olive tree. Bertolino, as the farmer was called, was about to fall asleep when he saw a dazzling light among the branches of the tree and, in the center, the Virgin Mary who said to him:  "Come, Bertolino, get up and go quickly to Giulianova and spread throughout the count...

Day 343: April 21 Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, Manaoag, Pangasinan, Philippines The shrine of Manaoag, built as a result of an apparition, is located about 200 km north of Manila. Here we find an ivory image of Our Lady of the Rosary from the 16th century, particularly venerated by the Filipino faithful. Pope Pius XI crowned the image on April 21, 1926, while Benedict XVI canonically approved the granting of a "special bond of spiritual affinity in perpetuity," through which pilgrims will have the guarantee of the same blessings and the right to a plenary indulgence equal to that received when visiting Rome's papal basilica of St Mary Major. Tradition has it that the name given to the city of Manaoag derives from the verb mantaoag , which means "to call". And indeed here the Blessed Virgin appeared calling a peasant. The statue of Our Lady of Manaoag is a 17th-century ivory image of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus placed on the main altar of the Basil...

Day 342: April 20 Our Lady of the Slap, Vercelli, Italy The ancient statue of Our Lady of the thirteenth century is made from a single piece of white marble. On the left cheek she has a large livid spot, as if she had received a blow. A tradition tells that in 1200 a certain scandalous drinker and blasphemer, for having remained without the possibility of satisfying his passion, with a sacrilegious gesture hit the statue with a strong slap right on the left cheek. The mark would remain indelible in the holy Image. Another legend of the foundation of the sanctuary tells that a player, in the first half of the sixteenth century, angry at having lost, would have hit the statue of Our Lady kept in the cathedral of Vercelli, which would have started to bleed. The player, unable to leave the church, would later be executed. Since then it has become a destination of devotion especially on the occasion of epidemics and calamities. The statue of the Virgin, after the miracle of the slap, was ke...

Day 342: April 19 Our Lady of Lyons, France St Pothinus, the Apostle of Gaul, is said to have kept a painting of Our Lady in an underground chapel that now sits beneath the church of St Nazaire in Lyons, where many Christians suffered death in the Ancient Forum on the hill called "Hill of Blood." In 1186 the Canons of the Cathedral began to build a larger church above the sanctuary. In thanksgiving for the care of his son by Saint Pothinus, King Louis VII of France made a pilgrimage to Lyon, where he had a votive tablet made in front of the sanctuary of Our Lady. In 1466, King Louis XI founded a daily Mass in perpetuity, always followed by the solemnly sung Salve Regina . Vast pilgrimages had come to seek Mary's help, especially in times of famine and pestilence. During the plague of 1643, it was decided to dedicate the city to Our Lady. Immediately all traces of the plague vanished and, until 1792, twenty-five Masses were celebrated every day in thanksgiving. During the ...