​QUEEN OF THE HOLY MOUNT OF LUSSARI

Day 93: August 11



Mount Lussari is a jewel of incomparable beauty, offering a stunning natural panorama of soaring, majestic peaks. Besides being a site of natural interest, it is also a sanctuary, a sanctuary uniting Slavic, Italian, and German ethnic groups. As early as the 16th century, the mountain was a pilgrimage destination for all three peoples; today, it can undoubtedly be considered a European sanctuary.

According to an ancient tradition, in 1360 a shepherd from Camporosso  lost his sheep   on Mount Lussari  , which he found shortly afterward kneeling around a mountain pine bush. To his great amazement, he noticed that in the center of the bush was  a statuette of the Madonna and Child.

He took it, carried it down the valley, and handed it over to the parish priest of Camporosso.  The following morning, however, the statue was found again on Mount Lussari, once again surrounded by kneeling sheep.  This episode repeated itself once again. The parish priest then informed the Patriarch of Aquileia of the fact, who ordered that a chapel be built on the site where the statue was found.

There are no traces of the original chapel; it was replaced in 1500 by the current choir, made entirely of stone, including the vault. In 1760, the community of Slovenian believers celebrated the fourth centenary of the Sanctuary.

In 1786, the Emperor of Austria, Joseph II, banned the celebration of any religious services inside the church.  It was closed, the interior stripped of all sacred objects, and pilgrimages were prohibited. But by 1790, his successor, his brother Leopold, had the ordinance revoked: the Madonna was thus able to return to her home on Mount Lussari.

In 1807, lightning struck and destroyed the wooden part of the church: however, the industrious faithful   quickly rebuilt it, expanding it.

In 1915, the Sanctuary found itself on the front lines of the Great War.  On September 16, a bomb thrown at the church caused a fire, which destroyed it. On the orders of the parish priest, Padre Pio, the statue was carried to safety down the valley by the church custodian, Giovanni Kravina. From the day of Pentecost until July, it was kept in the rectory of Camporosso .  Later, it was taken to Villach, Klagenfurt, and to the Basilica of Our Lady of Grace in Maribor. In September 1920, it was also taken to the Church of the Pilgrims of the Holy Cross in Dravograd. In August of the following year, it was finally able to return to Camporosso.  On June 24, 1925, it returned to the little church on the mountain, which had been rebuilt in the meantime.

Even during the Second World War, the Sanctuary remained closed. The Virgin Mary once again found refuge in the rectory of Camporosso, where she remained from August 1943 until August 11, 1945, when she was returned to her home on Mount Lussari.

In 1960, the sixth centenary of the Sanctuary was celebrated. On that occasion, the church was restored and extensive modernization work was undertaken on the Sanctuary's buildings.  The most significant renovation, however, coincided with the Jubilee of 2000. On that occasion, significant maintenance work was carried out on the Sanctuary and the rectory was completely renovated. Mount Lussari has always been the pilgrimage site par excellence for the Slovenian population.

The interior of the church features valuable paintings by the Slovenian painter Tone Kralj. Among them are the depiction of Our Lady of Consolation, the Annunciation, the Flight into Egypt, the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple, Mary praying under the Cross, and the Coronation of the Virgin.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"We unite ourselves, O Mary, to the favor and love of the Holy Spirit for you. We salute you for all eternity on behalf of and in the name of the Third Divine Person: "Full of Grace! He, the Lord, is with you!""

(Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Newark, Vocationist Fathers, 1996, p. 155)

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