OUR LADY OF ARACOELI

Day 321: March 29

Our Lady of Aracoeli, Rome, Italy



The Virgin Mary appeared with the Child in the arms of Octavian Augustus saying "This is the altar of the son of God". Hence the birth of this church that contained the famous wooden "Holy Child" of Gethsemane.

The Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli is a church in Rome, Italy. It stands on the hill of the Capitoline Hill. The original name was Santa Maria in Capitolio; The church was part of the complex of buildings of the monastery that had settled on the Capitoline Hill while the rest of the ancient Roman buildings were in ruins.

In this place stood one of the residences of the emperor who summoned the Tiburtine Sibyl to ask for advice since the Senate intended to pay him divine honors. The Sibyl responded to Augustus' appeal with these words: "There are indications that soon the King of the ages to come will descend from the sun and true justice will be done" while this prophecy was being pronounced, Augustus saw the sky open and a woman appear with a child surrounded by light in her arms and heard two voices cry out: "This is the Virgin who will carry in her womb the Savior of the world. This is the altar of the Son of God."

Even St Anthony of Padua, in a sermon for the Epiphany, speaks of this tradition by writing: It is said that Octavian Augustus, on the Sibyl's instructions, saw a virgin in heaven, pregnant with a son and that from then on he forbade them to call him Lord, because he was born "the King of kings and the Lord of lords" (Rev 19:16).

In short, this would be the original nucleus of the Basilica, founded even before the birth of Christ and that is why Santa Maria in Ara Coeli is, probably, the oldest church in Rome and built on the ruins of the Temple of Juno Moneta, which stood on the Arx, one of the two hills of the Capitoline Hill. However, the identification of the site is not certain; according to other studies, the church would in fact stand where the ancient Auguraculum was located, a place from which the Augurs took their auspices by observing the flight of birds.

It is probably as a result of this legend that the Sibyls are represented together with the prophets, just think of the frescoes in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It is said in the Mirabilia: "This vision took place in the chamber of the emperor Octavian, where the church of S. Maria in Capitolio is now. For this reason the church of S. Maria was called the Altar of Heaven. (ed. altar of heaven)"

Today behind the chapel of Saint Helena, we find a real pilgrimage destination: the chapel of the Baby Jesus or, more confidentially for the Romans, "Er Pupo". A wooden sculpture of the baby Jesus carved in the fourteenth century by a Franciscan friar with olive wood from the Garden of Gethsemane and covered with precious votive offerings.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"You are most present, O most holy Mary, in all our domestic and external, manual and intellectual work, so that it may be of supernatural value, all glory, love and will of God, all service and benefit to the souls."

(Justin Russolillo, Devotional, Vocationist Editions, Pianura, 2009, p. 94)

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