Walk with Mary throughout the Year

Day 351: April 29 Our Lady of the Kind's Blood, Vigezzo Valley, Verbania, Italy An hour before sunset a certain Giovanni Zucono (later nicknamed "Zuccone") together with his friend Comolo played the "piodella" on the square in front of the village church, dedicated to St Maurizio. The game consisted of placing a coin for each player on a wooden or stone compass (the "magician"). Conversely, whoever by hitting the "magician" with the piodella (a round stone splinter) "managed to scatter the coins around making those closest to the "piodella" his own, won. The Zuccone, already known for his furious character, was a loser that evening, "we don't know how much money, but enough to unleash in him the anger and irrationality that hides in each of us when we feel persecuted by bad luck." He took it out on the quiet image of Our Lady that was there a few steps under the portico of the church, painted on the façade, to the...

Day 350: April 28 Our Lady of the Chestnut, Bergamo, Italy The only account of the Apparition to which the historians of the Sanctuary drew until recently is the one that the notary Gerolamo Ceres Oli transcribed and, transcribing, summarized from an ancient "writing" about 1646, at the time of the dispute between Ossanesga and Fontana. Another recent document attesting to this apparition comes from a letter addressed to King Lodovico, a document dating back to April 1511. Tradition summarizes the account of the apparition as follows:  In the chestnut wood where the Sanctuary stands today, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to two men, probably father and son, intent on picking the leaf. Our Lady asked the two visionaries to tell all the population of the nearby villages about the exceptional event and to report that the Most Holy Mother of God expressly asked that a church be built in that isolated place in her honor. To give strength to her message and to dispel any doubt of ...

Day 349: April 27 Our Lady of Montserrat, Catalan region of Bages, Barcelona, Spain Our Lady of Montserrat, known as La Moreneta, refers to the wooden image depicting the Mother of Christ, carved by St Luke in Jerusalem, then it was entrusted to St Peter who in his long journey left it in Barcelona and following the Muslim invasion for security reasons it would have been taken to the mountain of Montserrat where it remained hidden in the Holy Cova until the year 880. It is also said that in this year, on a Saturday afternoon, some children who were looking after a flock saw a strong light descend from the sky accompanied by a melody. This was repeated several times. They looked for the place struck by the light, they found in a cave the statue of Our Lady that they called the Black Virgin, "La MORENETA." When the bishop heard of the discovery, he tried to have the small statue transported to Manresa, but it was not possible because the statue became too heavy. The bishop inte...

Day 348: April 26 Our Lady of Grushew, Ukraine The Blessed Virgin appeared in 1806, warding off a cholera epidemic and gushing healthy waters at the foot of a willow tree. In memory of this apparition and the miracle, a chapel was built. But the Virgin had already appeared in this village in the sixteenth century at the time of the war of the Cossacks against the King of Poland and pilgrims went there three times a year to ask for forgiveness or healing. On May 12, 1914, on the eve of the outbreak of World War, the Virgin appeared to 22 peasants. The vision lasted until the next day. The visionaries received a prophetic message, which foretold painful times for the world and for Ukraine in particular. She predicted to them the loss of Ukraine's sovereignty for 80 years: for eight decades there would be suffering and persecution, at the end of which Christendom would triumph and Ukraine would be free again. In addition, she told them that the outbreak of world war was imminent and t...

Day 347: April 25 Our Lady of Good Counsel, Genazzano, Rome, Lazio, Italy "In the year 1467 of the Incarnation of the Son of God, on the feast of Mark, on Vespers, the image of the Mother of God that you venerate in the marble tribune of this shrine, appeared from on high."  This is what we read on the plaque (written in Latin) under the tympanum of the door of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano. According to scholars, it is contemporary with the facts narrated, that is, it dates back to the end of the fifteenth century. There are still other documents that date back to the time of the prodigy. The internal chapel, where the miraculous image of Mary is kept, is surmounted by a beautiful tribune of rare marbles, also dating back to the end of the fifteenth century. On the arch of the tribune you can read this very simple Latin inscription that could be translated as: "Divinely appeared this image in the year 1467 on April 25th." Father Ambrose of ...

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...