OUR LADY OF REMEDIES

Day 290: February 26

Our Lady of Remedies of Palermo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy



Roger I, king of the Normans, conquered Calabria with his brother Robert Guiscard in the middle of the eleventh century, and moved towards Sicily, which had been in possession of the Saracens for two centuries. Victory accompanied him everywhere, and so from time to time he approached Palermo firmly held by the Arabs.

During the long and difficult siege, a terrible disease spread among the Norman camps, caused by poisonous insects (a species of spiders). Finding human remedies useless, the pious Roger turned to Our Lady. Our Lady appeared to him and suggested that he light a fire among the camps. The disease disappeared in 1064. In 1072 Ruggero entered Palermo and had a small chapel built for Our Lady, with the inscription: "To the Mother of God and of mercy" under the title of "Remedy of St Mary", which later became "Madonna dei Rimedi" (Lur Lady of Remedies).

At the beginning of the 1600's Don Fernando Paceco, Duke of Villena, was viceroy of Sicily. In an hour of great distress he brought from Rome a great friend and counselor of his, Rev Fr Dominic of Jesus and Mary, of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, and he had so much comfort that he offered Rev Father a "foundation." So in the years 1610-1611 the new monastery began where "Our Lady of Remedies" once stood.

Soon, however, Villena was succeeded by Don Pietro Giron, Duke of Ossuna, who was very opposed to such a foundation in that place for military reasons, and was determined to remove the monks without delay, who fearful and confident awaited salvation from Our Lady.

The viceroy had a vision or revelation, with the very clear words: "Why molest my children and drive them out of a place consecrated to me? Am I not enough to defend your palace and the city from the enemy?" From that moment on, the viceroy became a valid defender and generous benefactor of the monastery and the chapel, which rose large and majestic, in the Sicilian Renaissance style of the 600's: and was inaugurated with all solemnity in 1625 with the title of Our Lady of Remedies (Madonna dei Rimedi).

For over 200 years the chapel had a prosperous life, until the time of the Revolution of ideas and institutions (mid-1800's). In 1860 Garibaldi triumphantly entered Palermo, and the monastery was invaded by new soldiers, replacing those Bourbon royals who had occupied part of it for some time. In 1866, with the unification of Italy, a decree of suppression of religious orders expelled the last monks and extinguished the lamp of the chapel. This was used as a warehouse, a dormitory, a stable... Paintings, altars, furnishings, etc., everything was removed, everything was desecrated.

This outrage against religion and art ceased for the work of Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini who, with his usual courage, overcoming countless difficulties, also assisted by the President of the Region, Hon Alessi, managed to redeem the chapel from the Ministry of Defense: 1948, and shortly afterwards handed it over to the care of the ancient owners, the Discalced Carmelites (the monks of St Teresa) who at that time were coming down from Veneto to Sicily through the interest of Comm Bartolini of Rome and the Superiors of the Order. Thus Our Lady once again proved to be truly "the Madonna of Remedies."

On February 26, 1950, the Cardinal donated to the temple the greatest treasure, the simulacrum of the Madonna, an exquisite work by Gagini, which was in the courtyard of the Archbishopric. The attention and devotion of the faithful became enthusiastic, which was crowned on July 16 of the following year with a silver diadem.

On May 16, 1953, the feast of St Simon Stock (the saint who in 1251 received the Holy Scapular from Our Lady as a sign of protection and salvation: the chapel was officially declared by decree of the Cardinal Marian Shrine of the city and diocese.

The feast of Our Lady of Remedies is the Nativity of Mary, on September 8th.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"As every suffering of Jesus was your suffering, so too every grace, every glory, every child of those sufferings is also your grace, your glory and your child!"

(Justin Russolillo, Spirit of Prayer, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Fathers, Newark, 1996, p. 158)

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