OUR LADY OF ALMSGIVING

Day 145: October 04

Our Lady of Almsgiving, Biancavilla, Catania, Sicily, Italy

The cult of the Madonna dell'Elemosina in Biancavilla has its roots in the very foundation of the city. In 1482, following the victory of the Muslim Turks in Greek-Albanian land, a colony of refugees, coming from the city of Shkodra and led by Cesare De Masi, landed in Sicily, bringing with them its most precious treasure: the Byzantine icon of the Mother of God "Eleùsa" (The Merciful), a relic of the martyred soldier of Arabia, St. Zeno, and a wooden cross in oriental style.

The final destination of the small group of exiles was Palermo, where they hoped to join their other compatriots in the current Piana degli Albanesi (once, Piana dei Greci). During their journey, the exiles stopped about 30 km from Catania, in a field called "Callicari", owned by the Counts Moncada di Adernò.

Here, according to tradition, after setting up camp, they hung the sacred Icon on a fig tree. In the morning, when it was time to resume their journey, the exiles found their icon entirely tangled in the branches of the fig tree, which had grown during the night, to the point that it was not possible for them to untangle it. The prodigious event was interpreted as the clear will of the Mother of God, who had guided them on their journey, to remain in that place where the small group could find a new homeland. So it was that Count Gian Tommaso Moncada, lord of the place, struck by the event, granted hospitality to the Greek-Albanian colony.

Since her arrival in the land of Callicari, the graces of the Virgin Mary bestowed on the people and on the territory have followed one after another in abundance. A popular tradition based on numerous testimonies and proofs, has it that every time the land of Biancavilla was afflicted by a particular drought or storms so violent as to threaten the crops, the intervention of the Most Holy Virgin was punctual. In the drought of 1876, against the predictions of many, the sacred image was carried in procession in clear weather; as soon as they reached the church of St Orsola, such a wave of rain poured down, that everyone had to take shelter in the church for several hours. A similar event happened again in more recent times; in May 1948, on the second day of a triduum in honor of the Blessed Virgin, according to the direct testimony of the provost Gaetano Messina. In 1576 the plague caused great casualities in Sicily, and the nearby Paternò had about 70 victims, while the people of Biancavilla, thanks to the pleas of the faithful, were completely exempt.

In the continuous eruptions of Etna, at the foot of which the town stands, nothing was ever suffered; so in 1536 and 1603; and again in the most frightening one of 1669, when thirteen Etna villages were destroyed. The eruption of 1879 was even directed towards Biancavilla. The people of Biancaville, however, firmly trusting in their Mother, addressed anguished pleas to her, until the lava had diverted its course "against all the laws of nature and the predictions of science" according to the illustrious volcanologist of the University of Catania, Prof. Silvestri. Biancavilla remained unharmed even in frequent earthquakes: a violent shock occurred in 1693, causing many victims throughout eastern Sicily (16,000 victims in Catania, 4,000 in Syracuse, etc.) and especially in the towns near Biancavilla, which remained unharmed.

From March 2, 1883, for several months there were many daily earthquakes without interruption, so as to force the inhabitants to take refuge outside the town, in improvised huts. The fervent prayers of the faithful obtained from Mary Most Holy that no house collapsed and that there were no victims. A further miraculous event was repeated on June 30, 1942, when a terrible earthquake and a lava eruption threatened the city again; the lava descended directly on Biancavillí; the people, animated by living faith, carried the image in procession on the lava front, and with wonder, this stopped at 9 pm on July 2nd, the day dedicated to Our Lady of Grace.

The Holy Mother was particularly close to her faithful also on the occasion of the anguished days spent during the landing of the Anglo-Americans in Sicily, in July 1943. Biancavilla, in the midst of the destruction of houses, palaces, churches, monuments, which took place elsewhere, seemed invariably destined to the same fate, since the German troops, connected with motorized units of the Italian army, after the retreat from Enna and the Plain of Catania, had placed the command there. The site of Biancavilla was judged to be very favorable for defense because it was naturally fortified by the high lava cliff, cut steeply and extended, as an insurmountable strip, to the south of the town, up to the edge of Adrano. The site of Biancavilla, unfavorable to the Allies, prompted them to position their artillery on the ridges in front of Regalbuto and Centuripe, in order to dislodge the Germans, avoiding the possible risks of ambushes of a direct confrontation on the field.

The Germans, for their part, had positioned their artillery in the surroundings and on the main square while waiting for the impact. The inhabitants, sad and silent, dragging a few provisions and a few clothes, climbed the slopes of Etna with little confidence in their hearts to find what they had left in the city. The only trust was in Mary Most Holy, who was left alone to guard the place of her blessing; many made promises, expressing on their lips the faint hope of finding in Her the desired safety. Unexpectedly, the Germans withdrew, deciding to organize the defense above Bronte, also to give the army the opportunity to cross the Strait of Messina. In this way Biancavilla not only miraculously remained unharmed, but there was no looting in the houses of its inhabitants. Only four or five houses were destroyed.

After occupying Biancavilla on August 7, 1943, the military found 52 unexploded bombs around and inside the town. The neighboring villages, Adrano, St Maria di Licodia and Paternò, suffered incalculable damage. The People, grateful to their Mother and Queen, poured en masse into their holy Temple to acclaim her "Sovereign of hosts" and "Mighty Liberator". On September 28, 1948, the City Council, meeting in extraordinary session, approved the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of the Most Holy Mary venerated in Biancavilla with the title of Mother and Queen of Almsgiving. Even in recent times, the Virgin of Almsgiving shows herself benevolent and compassionate; reaching out to protect and guard her children with the gaze of a provident and merciful mother. Many, even today, turn to her to ask for graces, protection and defense of the faith. Many Masses were celebrated in the Sanctuary "by grace received". In droves, faithful and devotees flock to pay homage to her during the days of the annual city festival (last Sunday of August and October 4).

The icon measures 67×86 cm. and is painted with egg tempera colors on cedar wood. The style is eminently Greek-Byzantine and its realization is placed in the Cretan context. The technique, style, details, historical and traditional sources allow us to date the icon to the beginning of the fifteenth century. The image (of the Elèusa type) is greatly affected by the influence of the well-known icon of Mary Most Holy of Perpetual Help, to which, with the exception of some chromatic differences, it is absolutely identical. Although not very visible, the icon bears two (of the three) stars typical of Marian iconography and a symbol of divinity.

On solemnities, the Icon is covered with a "riza" (manta) in silver, gold and precious stones that enhances its features with decorations in late Baroque taste. On the head of the Madonna and Child there are gold and precious crowns, the result of the votive offerings of the Biancavillesi. Our Lady of Almsgiving was solemnly crowned by decree of the Chapter of the Vatican Papal Basilica on October 3, 1948, while the Child Jesus received his royal crown on August 26, 1961. The riza was rebuilt in the years 1978-'79 by the Venetian artist Franco Mazzucco on the model of the original that was stolen in February 1979. Restoration and finishing work on the precious artifact was completed in July 2014; when the rich Baroque frame was finished, the silver sunburst and the "Baleen of the Child". At the same time, the precious votive offerings donated over time by ecclesiastical authorities, chivalric orders and the people have been added and rearranged.

The title "Mater Elemosinae" also translates the Greek "Eleusa" (merciful, compassionate, compassionate), and expresses a particular attribute of Mary: Mother of Mercy. This appellation was first attributed by St Odo (+ 942) to celebrate the Virgin who gave birth to Jesus Christ, who is the visible Mercy of the invisible merciful God: therefore Mary, as Mother of Christ, is also the Mother of Mercy, who offers through her arms for the salvation of all men and intercedes powerfully as the divine administrator of Graces. This trust in the powerful intercession of Our Lady is expressed in the celebration of her beauty; as she herself answered when questioned: "I am so beautiful because I love so much." In Mary, the true and the good are offered to contemplation and from their symbiosis the beautiful flows. Mary, in fact, for the Sicilians, even before "Saint" is "Beautiful", so she continues to be invoked among the common people with the title of "Bedda Matri" in particular in Biancavilla "Bedda Matri 'a Limosina" (the Beautiful Mother of Almsgiving).

The particular depiction of the sense organs (eyes without sparkle, ears of strange shapes, thin and long nose, small nostrils, mouth always closed), express the deafness to the manifestations of the world, a detachment from all excitement. The face appears transfigured, eternal, it belongs to the spiritual world; beauty is spiritual purity. The clothes follow the body in perfect logic, but do not show the real and concrete matter; The rhythm of the folds, the color and the distribution of light and shadow are subject to the laws of harmony and balance, and in the economy of the icon they express "the habit of incorruptibility".

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Oh, what a splendor of holiness is that human nature which became "Mother of God", the Immaculate Virgin Mother!"

(Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, New Jersey, 1996, p. 206)