OUR LADY OF THE CASTLE

Day 273: February 9

Our Lady of the Castle, Fiorano, Modena, Italy



The Sanctuary is located 18 kilometers from Modena, on the top of the Fiorano hill where, until 1510, there was an ancient and famous castle. The Sanctuary houses the prodigious image of the Madonna, which, painted on the external door of the castle since 1460, remained intact for many years, despite the bad weather and the vicissitudes of the times. In 1558, after the castle was destroyed, the image remained miraculously unscathed. Other miracles took place when, in 1630 and 1855, the people of Fiorano were unharmed first by the plague and then by cholera.

In 1631, a first oratory was built, later a church. On October 12, 1659, the image of the Blessed Virgin of the Castle was transferred to the Sanctuary, built to a design by Bartolomeo Luigi Avanzino.

The main façade of the Sanctuary is in Baroque style, inaugurated on September 8, 1889 and has details in common with the church of the Trinità dei Monti in Rome, with its two bell towers inserted in the façade. The interior is in the shape of a Greek cross, with a central dome, frescoed by Sigismondo Caula and Adeodato Malatesta (1865).

It is rich in precious marbles and artistic decorations. The fresco on the vault, above the main altar, represents Mary in glory (1907). In 1932 two side staircases were built to reach the venerated image, representing the Madonna with Child. At the base of the central dome are four pendentives representing the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David, painted in 1681.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Bring about for us, O Mary, to enter, remain and grow in total consecration to God's Knowledge, Love and Service, in your material and spiritual temple, so that we ourselves, in body and soul, may become the sacred temple of His Glory, Love and Will."

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 156)

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