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QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES

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Day 277: February 13 Queen of Apostles, Basilica of St Apollinare, Rome, Italy According to an ancient tradition, St. Apollinaris was the first Bishop of Ravenna, consecrated and sent to evangelize that region directly from St Peter. The first church built in his honor in Rome was completed between the middle of the seventh and the beginning of the eighth century, that is, in full Byzantine domination. Probably, the first religious who occupied the church were Basilian monks, who took refuge in Rome because of iconoclastic persecutions: it would be up to them to transfer some martyrs to the basement of the primitive Church. From 1284, however, it is the first evidence of a college of canons that lasted until 1576. The Basilica became a parish in 1562 and remained so until 1824. From 1574 until 1773 it was linked to the Germanic College (later Germanic-Hungarian College) which had as its seat the current University Palace. The original Basilica was demolished and rebuilt on the initiati...
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OUR LADY OF GROUCHIY

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Day 276: February 12 Our Lady of Grouchiv , Ukraine The story of Grouchiv ( Hrushiv or Grushew ) and its apparitions or events concerning the Blessed Virgin originates long before 1970, in fact it begins in the seventeenth century, when the Blessed Mother appeared for the first time, in the lower part of the village. The people, to commemorate the event, planted a willow tree in that place. A century later, a spring gushed out at the foot of the willow tree and people came to collect water. Many healings took place that made the sanctuary famous. In 1806, Stepan Chapowsky painted an image of Our Lady there. The villagers fixed it on the willow tree and the pilgrimages to that place intensified, so much so that the owner of the land, annoyed by the fact that the pilgrims were stepping on it, decided to call an unbeliever, J. Kina, to build a barrier around the willow. In 1856 a cholera epidemic broke out. A woman then saw the Mother of God in a dream  "My daughter, please clean ...
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OUR LADY OF LOURDES

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Day 275: February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes, France In 1858, there lived in the village of Lourdes, a small peasant woman, Bernadette Soubirous, 14 years old, ignorant, simple, poor and good. On February 11, she was sent with two other girls to collect wood. They went to the Rock of Massabielle , where the two companions crossed a mountain stream; while Bernadette was taking off her shoes to follow them, she realized a beautiful, enchanting Lady, standing in the hollow of the rock, looking at her. Bernadette fell involuntarily on her knees, looking enchanted at the beautiful Lady, who smiled lovingly at Bernadette and then disappeared. The mysterious Lady of Heaven appeared in all, eighteen times to the little girl and among other things told her to drink water from a mysterious fountain that had not yet been discovered. Bernadette scratched the sand at a point indicated, and the water began to flow through the earth; After a few days, 27,000 gallons of pure, clear spring water was pourin...
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OUR LADY OF GIBILMANNA

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Day 274: February 10 Our Lady of Gibilmanna, Cefal ù , Palermo, Italy The sanctuary stands in the middle of oak and chestnut woods, at 800 metres above sea level. The name itself indicates its position (Gebel, mountain) associated with the now disappeared production of manna. The image of Our Lady of oriental origin was venerated in an ancient monastery founded by St Gregory the Great. Feast of Our Lady of Gibilmanna , patron saint of the diocese of Cefalù (PA), is on the first Sunday of September. The celebrations take place at the beautiful Sanctuary of Gibilmanna , attracting pilgrims and devotees from all over the world. In this Sanctuary the Crucifix spoke to a monk saying, "Here my mother reigns... turn to her for graces." Inside the Sanctuary is kept the image of the Madonna under which a lamp burns incessantly. Every year, the oil that feeds the lamp is offered to Our Lady by one of the various municipalities of the Diocese. During the feast days, crowds of pilgrims ...
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OUR LADY OF THE CASTLE

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Day 273: February 9 Our Lady of the Castle, Fiorano, Modena, Italy The Sanctuary is located 18 kilometers from Modena, on the top of the Fiorano hill where, until 1510, there was an ancient and famous castle. The Sanctuary houses the prodigious image of the Madonna, which, painted on the external door of the castle since 1460, remained intact for many years, despite the bad weather and the vicissitudes of the times. In 1558, after the castle was destroyed, the image remained miraculously unscathed. Other miracles took place when, in 1630 and 1855, the people of Fiorano were unharmed first by the plague and then by cholera. In 1631, a first oratory was built, later a church. On October 12, 1659, the image of the Blessed Virgin of the Castle was transferred to the Sanctuary, built to a design by Bartolomeo Luigi Avanzino. The main façade of the Sanctuary is in Baroque style, inaugurated on September 8, 1889 and has details in common with the church of the Trinità dei Monti in Rome, w...
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OUR LADY OF HELP

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Day 272: February 8 Our Lady of Help, Minucciano, Lucca, Italy This shrine started as a small oratory at the end of the 1400's, dedicated to the Our Lady of Help (Madonna del Soccorso) , depicted by the Virgin who, with a serene face and a stick in her hand, defends a child who was about to be kidnapped by the devil. In 1550 the bishop of the diocese of Luni , to which Minucciano territorially belonged, approved a lay confraternity dedicated to the Madonna del Soccorso . The priors chose a suitable person to guard this oratory as a hermit. The hermits who have lived from then until today in the Hermitage of Soccorso amount to twelve: today three live there, one of whom is a priest. All of them have been buried there, with the exception of the last, Marco Cortesi . The Hermitage of the Blessed Virgin of Help in Minucciano is one of the sixteen hermitages that existed in the Garfagnana . It is about two kilometers from the village and, like many other Garfagnana hermitages, is lo...
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OUR LADY OF THE DOOR

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Day 271: February 7 Our Lady of the Door, Guastalla, Reggio Emilia, Italy In 1646 on the inner wall of the Porta di S. Francesco (Door of St Francis), near the guard post, the painter Damiano Padovani from Guastalla , commissioned by two officers and with the contribution of the same soldiers who were stationed there, painted a fresco depicting a Madonna and Child with St Francis and St Charles Borromeo at her feet. In front of this image, fires were often lit to warm up during guard shifts. The smoke progressively blackened the fresco. In 1689-90 the walls were demolished, but the gate was spared. The neighborhood was abandoned and the painting over the decades was lost in oblivion and damaged by the neglect of time. However, not everyone lost memory of the fresco. Among them was an ex-soldier who had often served there, Giovanni Battista Zagni of about 60 years old and suffering from severe blindness. The first miracle consisted in the complete recovery of Zagni's sight which ...
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