OUR LADY OF THE DOVE

Day 356: May 04

Our Lady of the Dove, Montespineto, Stazzano, Alessandria, Italy

The first important testimony we have is from 1155, when, on the occasion of the campaign of the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa against Tortona, one of the armies hired by the emperor, went as far as Stazzano, sacking it, setting it on fire and sword and razing to the ground the village and the nearby castle of Serravalle.

The inhabitants of the village then left their homes and, to escape the fury of the soldiery, took shelter on the heights of the mountain, then known as Monte Arimanno, recommending their escape to the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God. Their pleas were heard, and the protection they received was equally evident. When the enemy troops withdrew, the people of Stazzano wanted to build a small chapel on the hill, in honor of Our Lady of the Mountain who had protected them in that dramatic situation. This was the first chapel in the place dedicated to Our Lady.

Later, over the years, given the difficulty of climbing to the top along unsafe and steep paths, covered with dense vegetation of woods and undergrowth, with the presence of many wild animals, it was forgotten and fell and went into ruin.

Other times in the course of its long history the population of the valleys was forced to take refuge on the mountain, always following invasions and devastation of which the territory was subject and every time the small building went from a state of abandonment and decay to a renovation or even to a reconstruction and fluctuating devotion more or less long in time.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the great danger of centuries earlier was repeated for Stazzano and its surroundings, with a new violent military aggression, this time by French troops. The people of Stazzano fled again to the mountain, now called by the name of Mount Spigno due to the presence of a large quantity and variety of thorny bushes that covered and still cover the slopes of the mountain, among which the hawthorns stood out.

Here is what the rector of the Shrine, Don Sesto, tells in a book entitled "The mystery of the white dove": "It was the year 1620, during the invasion of the French, the miracle of the white dove occurred, of which tradition and the chronicles of the time speak, a prodigy that can be found in the Sanctuary in the painting that crowns the ceiling of the apse behind the altar (the reproduction dominates the frontispiece of the book) and in the stained glass window above the entrance door.

For several days, around the faithful who had taken refuge on the mountain to escape the invader and were praying, a white dove was seen fluttering, without any fear, which at a certain moment came to rest on a hawthorn bush, prodigiously blooming out of season, not far from the cross in front of which the faithful prayed. The people had a clear feeling that it was Our Lady herself who came to listen to the prayers addressed to her with trusting devotion. A particular circumstance underlined the tangible protection of Our Lady.

At the same time that the dove alighted and the tree bloomed, a young girl, who had also climbed with her fellow villagers, until that day considered deaf and dumb from birth, while praying beside the hawthorn, at the perching of the white dove, regained the use of the speech and spoke, or rather shouted the news to announce the event. For eight days the dove remained suspended and crouched on the bush."

Here they gathered again in trusting prayer and, since the primitive small chapel was no longer there, they raised a cross on the top. Despite the difficulties of the weather and the danger of the soldiers, the news spread quickly and many were the faithful of the valleys who wanted to see the event live and went on pilgrimage to the Cross. Even the bishop of Tortona saw the miracle in person.

Everyone considered and saw the episode as a symbol of hope at a time of great consternation of the population. As an expression of gratitude, devotion and love of the whole town towards the Blessed Virgin, it was a unanimous desire to rebuild the ancient chapel, larger and more beautiful. The Bishop then decided to build a real Sanctuary.

The most pious Bishop, Monsignor Paolo Arese, known as the Saint, who governed the Diocese of Tortona from 1620 to 1644, climbed the mountain for the laying of the first stone in 1629 and ordered that the high altar be raised on the same point of the flowering hawthorn on which the dove had rested. In the year 1633 and on the summit the construction of the Sanctuary was almost completed. The Sanctuary could only take its name from the hawthorn chosen by the white bird, the bush type of hawthorn, of the many that still cover the slopes of the mountain today. The Bishop wanted the Sanctuary to be dedicated to Our Lady of Monte Spineto.

Thus was born the current Sanctuary, in its primitive structure. Between 1839 and 1840 the Sanctuary underwent work in the presbytery. In 1853 the bell tower was built in exposed stone. In 1866 an arch was added to the front nave and side aisles and the façade was decorated, framed by pilasters and surmounted by the Marian monogram.

St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"O Blessed Virgin Mother of God, Our Lady of Divine Vocations1 Accept the homage of our daily rosary and enable us to present it to you always better and lively, always more meritorious of eternal life so that it can be offered, laid before the throne of God in the heavenly worship, among those of the angels and the saints at the court of the Lamb."

(Justin Russolillo, Devotional, Vocationist Editions, Pianura, 2009, p. 233)