OUR LADY OF TEARS

Day 292: February 28

Our Lady of Tears, Treviglio, Bergamo, Italy



Treviglio, in the diocese of Milan and province of Bergamo, houses a magnificent Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Tears, the result of the generous and grateful faith of a very religious population that feels it owes its salvation to a prodigious intervention of the Virgin.

In the first half of the 1500's, Lombardy paid the price of the struggles between Francis I, King of France, and Charles V, Emperor of Germany, who wanted to take possession of the French possessions in Lombardy. The lieutenant of the King of France, in Milan, was Marshal Lautrec, defined by the writers of the time as "harder than the diamond, cruder than the tiger, firmer than the rock." The French were forced to retreat to Como, and from there, through Lecco and Bergamo, to Cremona. Treviglio returned under the Duchy of the Sforza. Some inhabitants of Treviglio, incited by a certain Giovanni Landriano, of the faction in favor of the Imperials, threatened the retreating French troops on several occasions, so General Lautrec ordered the destruction of the city, also as a warning to the other towns.

On February 27, 1522, news reached Treviglio that Lautrec was moving from Cremona with the intention of sacking and destroying the city. All attempts at mediation by the Consuls and the clergy were useless. The population, having lost all human hope, placed all its trust in God and in the Virgin Mary: the churches were crowded, they kept vigil all night in prayer. At dawn on February 28, the city awakened, burdened by a funereal silence, broken only by sobs of despair. Suddenly a rumor spread through each district, welcomed by great emotion: "Miracle! Miracle! The image of the Virgin in St Augustine weeps and sweats!"

What happened? Around 8 am on that Friday, February 28, 1522, the Image of the Madonna painted on the wall of the church of St Augustine, annexed to the Augustinian monastery, began to shed abundant tears from her eyes and sweat from all over her body. Some women, closer to the Image, hearing drops falling, thought that it was raining; but from the window the sky appeared clear and the dripping was abundant. In addition, the wall next to the image was perfectly dry.

Amid the general wonder and emotion, it was noted that the eyes of Our Lady shed tears and that the whole body was sprinkled with abundant sweat. There was a cry of a miracle, people were rushing from everywhere! The French soldiers noted the fact and, deeply impressed, Lautrec informed him who, on horseback, immediately arrived at the church of St Augustin, entered it and noted that the Image of our Lady was veiled in tears and sweat, while the Child's wall remained perfectly dry, as was the surrounding wall. In great emotion, he bent his knee in front of the Virgin, tried himself to wipe away that crying with diapers, but the tears reappeared, and the miracle continued for six consecutive hours.

The whole city rejoiced with joy, and General Lautrec, very impressed, assured the inhabitants of Treviglio of his pardon. The bells of the city rang in celebration, everyone rejoiced! The general and most of the officers, on their knees, lay their weapons, armor and superb crests at the feet of Our Lady.

The grateful city raised a magnificent Sanctuary to the Virgin, a true monument of faith and art, the fruit of the love of the inhabitants of Treviglio for Mary. And the protection of Our Lady over Treviglio manifested itself in the course of history on many other occasions. On 14 June 1617, in the presence of Cardinal Federico Borromeo, the miraculous Image of Our Lady of Tears was transferred from the church of St Augustin to the new Sanctuary.

The date of February 28 was not forgotten, and it is still lived today with great faith and devotion. That morning, the bells fell silent, like Good Friday; people gathered silently in the Shrine to pray before the Image of Our Lady, covered by a veil. When eight o'clock strikes from the tower, all the bells of the city melt in a festive and long concert, the canvas that covers Mary's face falls and everyone's joy explodes in the song of thanksgiving.


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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