{"id":3985,"date":"2011-06-06T05:27:11","date_gmt":"2011-06-06T05:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2011\/06\/maria-santissima-del-bagno\/"},"modified":"2011-06-06T05:27:11","modified_gmt":"2011-06-06T05:27:11","slug":"maria-santissima-del-bagno","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/2011\/06\/maria-santissima-del-bagno\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Santissima del Bagno"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_0371.JPG\"<\/a>
\nLast night’s festivities in honour of la Madonna del Bagno<\/em> began with Holy Mass at 7:00 p.m. The Father Guardian of the Franciscan Solitude of San Pasquale was present together with the assistant Maestro dei Novizii<\/em> and three fine novices. The little shrine church was absolutely full, with the overflow standing in the piazza outside. The procession with the statue of the Madonna del Bagno followed. A group of stalwarts carried the statue of the Madonna, crowned (together with the Bambino Gesù in her embrace), and clothed in a veil of blue silk with golden stars embroidered over it. A brass band began to play and a volley of fire works announced the arrival of the Madonna in the piazza.
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\nThe devotion to the Madonna del Bagno in Gioia Sannitica grew up around a little church adjacent to a hermitage (there are many of these in Southern Italy) built in about the year 1700. There are documents revealing that the church and hermitage were constructed at the expense of the faithful in the place where, according to local tradition, shepherds found an image of the Madonna on canvas in a well. The well, still producing fresh water, is present near the church. The miraculous image is preserved in a frame of carved stone in the apse of the church.
\nThe feast of this particular Madonna coincides with the festival of the Ascension. It is customary for the faithful to enter the church and make their way on their knees to the altar of the Madonna, where they wipe their faces with a towel that has been passed several times over the miraculous image.
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\nAgain, according to the local tradition, the finding of the image of the Madonna was the occasion of numerous miracles. Many persons stricken by leprosy and other diseases were cured after having been washed in water from the well. The curious title, Madonna del Bagno<\/em>, meaning “Our Lady of the Bath,” is related to these prodigies.
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\nThe church itself is a temple devoid of any particular artistic interest. It has a single nave; the ceiling is adorned with paintings of the Madonna. There are many ex-votos, including offerings of gold and jewelry, that bear witness to the graces received. A crowned statue representing the Madonna of the original image on canvas is enthroned above the altar.
\nEmmigrants from Gioia all over the world and, in particular, in and around New Haven, Connecticut, remain attached to the devotion to the Madonna del Bagno, and still send their offerings to contribute to the annual feast.
\nThe sanctuary of the Madonna del Bagno remains a holy place where the Mother of God makes her presence known, touching hearts, bringing healing to souls and bodies, reconciling sinners to her Divine Son, and uniting families in the bonds of a common faith.
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\nLast night, a number of offerings of gold and jewelry were pinned to a blue cushion at the Madonna’s feet. Women and children threw handfuls of rose petals at the statue as the Madonna passed. There were several resting places during the procession, each one marked by an altarino<\/em> constructed and decorated by a family. At each of these stations, a priest led a decade of the Rosary and invocations to the Mother of God for particular intentions.
\nThe procession wound its way all through the countryside, past vineyards, fields, olive groves, and grazing cattle. At various poInts along the way the faithful had prepared carpets of flower petals artistically arranged to form the monongram of the Ave Maria, a heart, a crown, or other Marian symbols. Only those bearing the sacred image of Madonna could walk over these floral carpets of devotion.
\nThe phenomenal display of fireworks at the end of the procession was also a tribute of love and devotion to the Madonna. The statue was set on a base facing the fireworks display so that the Madonna could enjoy it, as Mother and Queen, in the midst of her children. At the end of the fireworks display, I was given the very great honour of offering the final incensation to the Madonna. The photograph of this is very dark. It was, of course, well after 11:00 p.m.
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\nDuring the procession the brass band played the popular hymn attributed to Saint Alfonso Maria de Liguori, Evviva Maria<\/em>. You can listen to it here<\/a>.
\nEveryone, old and young, knew the words of the hymn by heart, and sang with tremendous devotion, vigor, and simplicity:
\nO Maria, quanto sei bella,
\nTu sei la gioia, Tu sei l’amore;
\nTu hai rapito questo cuore,
\nnotte e giorno io penso a Te.
\nTu hai rapito questo cuore,
\nnotte e giorno,
\nnotte e giorno penso a Te.
\nO Mary, how beautiful thou art,
\nthou art joy, thou art love;
\nthou hast ravished this heart;
\nnight and day I think of thee.
\nThou has ravished this heart,
\nnight and day,
\nnight and day I think of thee.<\/em>
\nEvviva Maria,
\nMaria evviva.
\nEvviva Maria,
\ne Chi la creò.
\nHurrah for Mary,
\nMary, Hurrah!
\nHurrah for Mary
\nand for He who created her.<\/em>
\n\"IMG_0410.jpg\"<\/a>
\nQuando il sole è già lucente
\nle colline e il mondo indora,
\nquando a sera si scolora
\nTi saluta il mio pensier.
\nQuando a sera si scolora,
\nTi saluta,
\nTi saluta il mio pensier.
\nWhen the sun is already gleaming,
\nthe hills and the world shine like gold,
\nwhen at eventide all grows dark
\nmy thought greets thee,
\nmy thought greets thee. <\/em>
\nEvviva Maria,
\nMaria evviva.
\nEvviva Maria,
\ne Chi la creò.
\nHurrah for Mary,
\nMary, Hurrah!
\nHurrah for Mary
\nand for He who created her.<\/em>
\n\"IMG_0413.jpg\"<\/a>
\nE un bel giorno in Paradiso
\nGrideremo: Viva Maria!
\nGrideremo: Viva Maria!
\nViva Lei che ci salvò
\nGrideremo: Viva Maria!
\nViva Lei,
\nviva Lei che ci salvò.
\nAnd one day in Paradise
\nWe will cry: Hurrah for Mary!
\nWe will cry: Hurrah for Mary!
\nand long live her who saved us.
\nWill will cry: Hurrah for Mary!
\nLong may she live who saved us.<\/em>
\nEvviva Maria,
\nMaria evviva.
\nEvviva Maria,
\ne Chi la creò.
\nHurrah for Mary,
\nMary, Hurrah!
\nHurrah for Mary
\nand for He who created her.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night’s festivities in honour of la Madonna del Bagno began with Holy Mass at 7:00 p.m. The Father Guardian of the Franciscan Solitude of San Pasquale was present together with the assistant Maestro dei Novizii and three fine novices. The little shrine church was absolutely full, with the overflow standing in the piazza outside. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blessed-virgin-mary","category-italian-heritage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paVypq-12h","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vultuschristi.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}