Walk with Mary throughout the Year

 Day 11: May 21 Over the centuries, Our Lady of Sweat (Madonna del Sudore) has always been an object of great veneration by the people of Ravenna. Already in 1494, her image was remembered in the Cathedral of Ravenna when Canon Matteo Tosetti renewed, at his own expense, an altar in the cathedral dedicated to the Virgin: it was located, upon entering through the main door, on the back wall, to the left. Under the episcopate of Torreggiani, in 1659, a Chapel was built in her honor, where today the sacred icon is still preserved. If her cult has had, and still has today, its privileged context in the Cathedral of Ravenna, over the course of the centuries, devotion to the Madonna has crossed the very borders of the basilica itself. Within the city of Ravenna, her cult finds a clear echo in the Church of the Madonna del Torrione, while beyond diocesan borders, the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Sweat in Castel del Rio, in the Diocese of Imola, should certainly be remembered: In...

 Day 10: May 20 La Ferte Abbey La Ferte Abbey was founded by Stephen Harding in 1113 as the first daughter house of Citeaux Abbey, the mother house of the Cistercian reform. This was one of the four primary abbeys of the Cistercian Order to which all other Cistercian houses were affiliated. The abbey enjoyed the generosity of the entourage of the Dukes of Burgandy.  However, in the years 1165-1166, the abbey was caught up in conflicts between Hugh III, the Duke of Burgandy and Counts Gerard of Macon and William of Chalon. The roaming brigands known as the Tard-Venus occupied the abbey in 1362. Though it was fortified in 1415, it continued to be looted in 1562 and 1567. The Protestant troops of Gaspard de Coligny set the abbey on fire in 1570. The church, the sacristy, the chapter house and an adjoining room were the only surviving parts of the abbey. The abbot Francois de Beugre obtained necessary permission to sell lands for the reconstruction of the abbey. The reconstruction...

 Day 9: May 19 Erected in the 13th century on the orders of Marguerite of Constantinople, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, the abbey of Flines once took place in the town of  Flines-lez-Raches , in the North. Former Cistercian abbey, it was the burial place of several counts of Flanders.  Once considered one of the most beautiful abbey in the Netherlands, the Abbey of Flines was demolished during the French Revolution. Its last vestiges definitely disappeared in the course of the 19th century. St Bernard had established a religious Order of his own. Marguerite donated the Abbey near Douay to St Bernard. The Abbey had been dedicated by the Archbishop of Rheims as the Shrine of Our Lady of Flines. This Shrine became a famous pilgrim center after the miraculous cure of Marguerite's child. The child was playing in the stable-yard and got seriously injured. The doctors gave up on the child saying that the child would be lame for life. The pious Marguerite proceeded to Our Lad...

 Day 8: May 18 The abbey of Our Lady of Bonport was the result of the decision of Richard the Lion Heart, King of England during summer 1189. The King was in danger of death on the river Seine. He made a vow to found a monastery if he would arrive safely on the other side of the river (in French, a Bonport). The monks from the abbey Our Lady of Val, next to Paris, decided to move in at the end of 1189 and started the first constructions. Bonport belongs to the Cîteaux order; this religious order had an important cultural and architectural influence in Europe during the 12th century. The original charter of the foundation of Bonport is lost, but because of many donations, we know that Richard endowed the abbey with fields, vines, forests, mills The construction of cloistered buildings started in the first quarter of the 12th century, under the abbot Gerard. The architecture of the refectory, of the chapter house and of the scriptorium confirms that. The rapidity of the construc...

Day 7: May 17 Many believers may be puzzled about Our Lady's tears. Why does she cry? Marian tears are mysterious. Tears originate in her heart and find expression in the eyes. Today we commemorate Our Lady of Tears. The devotion has its origin in the Italian town of Spoleto. Diotelli D'Antonio Santilli has three children.  On October 4rd, 1483, Mr. Santilli had an image of the Blessed Virgin with the Divine Child in her arms painted on the north-east wall of his residence. Interestingly, the original painting also depicted Saint Francis at the left of the Blessed Virgin. The painting was completed on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, but the image of Saint Francis disappeared under the new ornamentation in which the Madonna and her Child was later enclosed in the s17th century. Two years later, on Friday, August 5, 1485, people saw tears of blood fall from the eyes of the Madonna. The date of the miracle is precisely confirmed by many contemporary documents of the muni...

 Day 6: May 16 In 331 BC, the Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, founded what would become one of the most important cities in North Africa—Alexandria, Egypt. By the time that Alexandria came under the control of the newly formed Roman Empire in 30 BC, it was a flourishing city of great culture, learning, religious diversity, trade, and influence. In the third century, Alexandria emerged as one of five major patriarchates in early Christendom. The others were Rome, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. Alexandria was a center for Christian scholarship, liturgical development, and theological discourse. It was in this important city that an extraordinary noble girl was born, Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Saint Catherine’s life comes to us from legendary sources, of which the historicity is questionable. Because legends about her have inspired the faithful for many centuries, we will ponder those stories. As a member of a noble family, Catherine received an excellent education ...

Day 5: May 15 The title of the Blessed Mother as Our Lady of Harvest may evoke the memories of the innumerable deities venerated in different cultures of the world under different names and titles from time immemorial. This cult emerged and developed in mostly in agrarian societies. Agriculture, as we know, depends mostly on nature. Famers would pray for the absence of natural calamities as well as for the presence of conducive elements like rain and good weather conditions. Devotions to Our Lady of Harvest also may have roots in the pagan cult but has been Christianized. The devotion to Our Lady of Harvest, or of the Seeds is found in the Maronite Church. In its ancient text of the divine office, we read: "The dew spread all over the region where John wrote the Book of the Virgin, in which is found: Let the memory of the blessed One be celebrated three times a year: in January, for the seeds, in May, for the ears of wheat, in August, for the grapes which symbolize the sacrament o...