OUR LADY OF SUASIA

Day 324: April 01

Our Lady of Suasia in Civitella, Romagna, Forli', Italy



The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Suasia is the most venerated place by the people of Civitella and is considered a center of meeting and Marian devotion of extraordinary importance for having managed over the centuries to involve and keep an entire community together. On June 4, the collection of offerings for the construction of the sanctuary began, of which the first stone was laid in July of the same year.

The laying of the first stone took place on July 27, 1556 in the place where there was a cell called the "Majesty of Suasia" and where, in April of the same year, the Madonna had appeared five times to the little Pasquino da Vignale to whom she had delivered a double message: to build a church on the site of the apparition and to exhort all the faithful to penance, to prayer, to atonement for the salvation of the world.

However, it took 39 years to see the construction completed, which was consecrated in 1595. The church escaped the serious earthquake of 1661 that destroyed Civitella and the fire of 1780 that burned the entire altar except the sacred image. After the suppression of the religious orders during the Napoleonic period, the Sanctuary was maintained for several years with the offerings of the faithful and on November 14, 1819 the constitution of the Confraternity was made official, formed by lay people and governed by nine councilors headed by a Prior, while the religious functions were entrusted to a priest Rector, function held today by the parish priest of the town.

The Confraternity represents the active participation of the laity in the life of the Church and has constituted for the Sanctuary an admirable example of good administration which, without its own resources and goods to administer, is supported by the offerings and donations of the faithful, relying on the commitment and work of numerous volunteers.

Over the years the church has undergone several restoration interventions, the last in 2000 and 2003 with the renovation of the façade and the square in front of the sanctuary. while in 2006 solemn celebrations commemorated the 450th anniversary of the apparitions.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"You, O Immaculate, you will always be our emblem and bulwark, our defense and victory! O Mary, we beg you, be with us in the last battle that definitive of our life, decisive of our eternity. Bring us with you to paradise!"

(Justin Russolillo, Devotional, Vocationist Editions, Pianura, 2009, p. 4)

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