OUR LADY OF SVETA GORA

Day 345: April 23

Our Lady of Sveta Gora, Nova Gorica, Slovenia



The Holy Mountain (in Slovenian Skalnica or Sveta Gora pri Gorici) [681 m] is the most eminent of the "holy mountains" of Slovenia, it is precisely this one that is located on Skalnica (681 m) above Solkan and from where you can enjoy the view of the Adriatic Sea, the Friulian plain and the Julian Alps with Mount Triglav. It owes its name to the apparition of Our Lady to the shepherdess Uršula Ferligoj of Gargaro in the year 1539.

Our Lady said to her: "Tell the people to build me a church here and ask for thanks!"

The political authority, suspecting some trick, imprisoned the shepherdess, with the intention of making a thorough investigation, but the visionary was found on the Mount in prayer. She was locked up again but twice she was freed again by Our Lady. The Sanctuary of Sveta Gora was built starting the following year; during the excavations a squared and polished stone was found with the first words of the angelic greeting engraved in the midst of symbolic festoons: Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.

On the top of the mountain already in the fourteenth century a church was built then destroyed by the Turks and rebuilt in 1544. In 1786, Emperor Joseph II ordered the demolition of the church, which was then rebuilt again.

The mountain was an important strategic objective during the First World War, the scene of fierce battles. Near the summit there is a statue of St Francis and an exhibition of the Isonzo Front, dedicated to civilians and soldiers of all nationalities who lost their lives there, documents the events with the exhibition of objects and photographs that reflect the echoes of the battles of the Isonzo.

During the 1915-1918 war the church was razed to the ground. The current church, in neo-baroque style, was built between 1924 and 1928 according to the plans of the architect Silvano Barich and its bell tower is visible from the Soča plain above the summit of Mount Sabotin. The Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin of the Holy Mountain, seat of the Franciscan Convent (Frančiškanski samostan), has been a pilgrimage destination for the Slovenian and Italian people of Gorizia for centuries.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"Come, O Mother! May our house be filled with your presence, may our soul be filled to the brim with your grace and our life and our work resound all your Magnificat. Amen!"

(Justin Russolillo, Devotional, Vocationist Editions, Pianura, 2009, p. 195)

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