OUR LADY OF THE OAK

Day 78: Jul 27



The Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Oak (Madonna della Rovere) occupies the remains of an ancient oak grove sacred to Diana. The Church was dedicated to the Annunciation on July 27, 1505, replacing a previous church. Her wooden statue of the Madonna and the Child, which is said to have been found in an oak tree, was dated to 1300.

The old devotion received new life after the miracles of April 1671. On the night of April 3, after having worked all day in the fields, Giacinto Perato di Rollo, 50, told his wife that there was something strange in his arm left, that it was numb and paralyzed. After doctors failed to cure him, on April 18, with his arm in a sling, he led his young donkey to pasture. Here are his words, “A few hours before noon, a few meters from me, I saw a woman dressed in intense blue, shining like the sun … she told me to entrust myself to Our Lady, who would help me”.

The next day, he went with his wife and a friend to Mass at the Shrine. At the consecration, he fell unconscious. When he woke up 45 minutes later, his arm was fine.

On May 10, Our Lady reappeared and asked that a chapel be built on the site of the apparitions, which was soon done.

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Be always mindful of us, O Queen of All Saints, O Mother of Divine Grace, O Mediatrix of All Graces, remember us always, now that you are in Glory. We beg of your compassion, generosity and power, fullness of grace in this life, that we may be, in heaven, stars of glory in that crown of your sweet heart, O Mary."

(Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Newark, Vocationist Fathers, 1996, p. 153)

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