OUR LADY OF SIPONTO

Day 185: November 13

Our Lady of Siponto, Mafredonia, Foggia, Italy



Siponto, a Roman colony, is the seat of an ancient diocese. Tradition has it that St Peter consecrated the first bishop of Siponto, St Justin; among its shepherds is San Lorenzo Maiorano, a relative of the Eastern emperor Zeno (474 – 491) and the protagonist of the story of the apparitions of the Archangel Michael.

The icon is preserved in the sanctuary of Holy Mary Major (today the cathedral of the "new" Manfredonia). The sanctuary stands on the Via Sacra Longobardorum that starts from Monte Sant'Angelo, next to the remains of an early Christian Basilica that dates back to Bishop Lorenzo; local tradition traces the origins of the church to St Justin (first century AD). The only documented date is 1117, the year of the solemn consecration and deposition of the relics of St Lawrence under the main altar. The question of the origin of the building is much debated among scholars; it was probably built between the eleventh and twelfth centuries under Bishop Leo, also using pre-existing materials: during the recent restorations (1973 and 1975) inscriptions were found with the name of the commissioning Bishop Leo, the artisans Acceptus and David, with the date 1039.

To the left of the church, excavations have brought to light the remains of an early Christian Basilica, with three naves with a semicircular apse and mosaic floor. Here, in 2016, the artist Edoardo Tresoldi created a spectacular fourteen-meter-high wire mesh installation that reconstructs the ancient basilica in 3D exactly above its remains.

The image of the Madonna, on cedar wood, is the classic one of icons inspired by the oriental tradition. Already assigned to the thirteenth century, a restoration in 1927 (in Rome by the hand of Aronne Del Vecchi) found at the vertical margins of the painting, two ornamental bands with very fine figures of saints of the purest Byzantine style, thus making it much older than previously believed (eleventh century).

There are mentions on the "Sacred Image of the Madonna of Siponto" in the Sarnellian Chronology: around 1300, Archbishop Sasso had had "tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin, whose miraculous effigy he frequently revered there"; another devotee of the icon was the archbishop Fra Dionisio De Robertis (1554 – 1560). From Mastrobuoni we gather that it was Archbishop Francesco Rivera (1742 – 1777), in 1745, who oversaw the silver covering of the icon. The appearance of the icon of the Virgin dates back to 1060 (?) and the tradition goes further: the icon would have been donated by Emperor Zeno to Bishop Lawrence after the apparitions of St Michael. For centuries, moreover, the legend circulated that the image of the Virgin had been painted by St Luke. Leandro Alberti visited the church in 1525.

The icon was carried in procession on the occasion of calamities and adversities. Gradually this processional practice was repeated on a fixed date until it became a real anniversary and patronal feast. According to some, the festival that still takes place originated between 1840 and 1841 after a cholera epidemic and starting in 1849 it was moved from September to August 30. In 1872, during the festival, the sacred image suffered serious damage due to a fire.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Glory to the Most Blessed Trinity in you, O Mary! Glory to you, O Mary, in the Blessed Trinity, for your flight to Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, for your exile in Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, for your return from Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, for your stay in Nazareth with Jesus and Joseph, for your ascension to Jerusalem with Jesus and Joseph, for the loss and search for Jesus by you and St Joseph, for the adolescence of Jesus with you and St Joseph, for the years of Jesus' youth with you and St Joseph, for your interior life."

(Ascension, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, New Jersey, 1997, pp. 396-397)

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