OUR LADY OF CARAVAGGIO

Day 16: May 26

    The story behind this title of Our Lady of Caravaggio (Madonna di Caravaggio or del Fonte) goes back to the first half of the fifteenth century. Giovannetta, daughter of Pietro Vacchi, wanted to become a nun as she grew up, but her father dreamt of marrying her off. She consented to marriage only to please her loving father. Her husband, Francesco Varoli, made her life miserable. On 26th May 1432, Francesco forced her wife to go to the fields to cut grass for the cattle, even though she was not feeling well. After gathering a few bundles of grass, she rested a while. Once she opened her eyes, she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary right in front of her. The Blessed Mother communicated to her the message of peace. She confided her that her troubles were to come to an end soon and that Jesus was really upset with the sins of the people. Unless they repent and mend their ways, they would be punished. The Blessed Mother mandated her to disseminate the message and build a church in honor of her. As a sign of Mary's apparition, she left her footprint on the stone on which she appeared. Besides, a spring of pure water gushed from the bottom of the stone.
    While some people believed in Giovannetta's words, many others doubted her story. However, it happened that some people bathed in the water gushing from the spring originating from beneath the stone. Those who used the water were healed of their maladies. The news about the miraculous stream spread far and wide. Now people started to believe in what Giovannetta said.
    As mandated by the Blessed Mother, a shrine was made eventually with the assistance of the Duke of Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti. The number of pilgrims that flowed to the shrine grew to such large numbers that the shrine could not accommodate all of them. As a result, St Charles Borromeo hired an architect, Pellegrinio Pellegrinis to enlarge he sanctuary in 1575. This new enlarged shrine of Our Lady enshrines the statue of Our Lady of Caravaggio blessing Giovannetta.
    Pope Clement XI granted a decree of Coronation to the statue on 10th September 1710. The saintly Pope Pius X raised the shrine to the status of a minor basilica on 7th May 1906 with the pontifical decree Templa Dei Antiqua. 

PRAYER


O Most Holy Virgin of Caravaggio,
inexhaustible source of graces,
honored since ancient times in this Sanctuary,
we pray to you that the hope of everyone who approaches you her
 will not be disappointed and that no one's prayer will be in vain.
That in this temple of yours and through your patronage
the blind will return to the light of faith,
the wavering and the indolent in the Christian path will learn to walk quickly
on the path of the divine Commandments,
that deaf ears will be opened to divine teachings,
that those who died through sin will return to true life,
where there is light of mind and peace of heart.
Whoever comes here to implore your help,
O Mary, our Heavenly Patroness,
may s/he leave stronger in faith, firmer in hope
and so inflamed with charity that,
no longer following the flattery of the world,
s/he never deviates from the right path.
O clement, O merciful, O sweet Virgin Mary! 

(Caravaggio, May 26, 1964 - Bishop Danio Bolognini)

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