The Diocese of Vicenza has 22 Vicariates and 354 Parishes, some of them turned into Pastoral Units. In the Province of Vicenza, whose borders, as it is known, have been different than the diocesan ones since before the year 1000, there are 374 parishes. In the 121 municipalities of Vicenza more than 50 different patrons are proudly celebrated even though since 1978 the Madonna di Monte Berico has become the patron of Vicenza and its diocese.
So here are the main ex voto sanctuaries and the most visited places of our province by the residents, but most of all by pilgrims and tourists, often built for popular initiative after the Madonna’s apparitions, like the Sanctuary of Monte Berico, or that the popular piety has transformed into places of widespread worship because they preserve the childhood memories of a Saint, as in the case of the birth home of the nun Maria Bertilla Boscardin in Brendola.
A common thread linked to popular tradition rather than to the artistic or architectural importance of the buildings. These are visits that can be made for religious reasons or for mere curiosity, to know more about the community’s events, the traditions and the cultures, that fix in the memory also historical events such as wars, plagues, floods. The tradition of the so called ex-voto suscepto, votive offerings, dates back to the ancient times and to different religions, but even though they are forms of theatricalization for having averted or overcome situations of suffering and precariousness, even today, in various ways, they are widespread and practiced throughout the world.
It is a proposal of slow tourism to take time to dedicate to contemplation, knowledge, listening…even to ourselves.
Certainly, the most important one is the Sanctuary of St. Mary of Monte Berico, located just a few kilometres away from the historic centre of Vicenza.
The Madonna appeared to a peasant Vincenza Pasini on the 7th of March, 1426 and the 1st of August, 1428. Since the first days of the apparitions and while the Church was still being built as requested by the Madonna to free the population from the plague. The place turned into a pilgrimage destination until it became, even today, one of the most important of the Marian faith in the world.
Still today the requests for intercessions are numerous and the bond of Vicenza’s people and the Marian Sanctuary is very strong, as proven by the many ex voto collected in the important Museum where there are also historic pieces from the 15th century to the 20th century and up to the present day.
The gothic church, to the west of the complex, was built in just 3 months, with the help of the population, convinced of the prodigious liberation from the plague that had lasted for about a quarter of a century. The current façade is not the original one, because a radical renovation carried out in 1860 made its appearance heavier. The 17th century church was made by Carlo Borella from Vicenza, the construction started in 1688 and ended in 1703. The construction of this impressive work was also carried out at the behest of the city of Vicenza, as a sign and expression of the continuous bond of faith between the citizens and the Madonna. On the outside the architecture is identical on the three sides, East, North and West. Three wide symmetrical stairs introduce the church which, majestic and incisive in its masses and its numerous statues, throws its aerial dome high above the three sources, giving the building a marked slenderness.
Do not miss the room of the painting where you can admire the precious canva by Paolo Veronese “La Cena di S. Gregorio Magno” with Jesus, disguised as a pilgrim, reveals himself to the 12 poor people that the Saint used to host. During the war in 1848, the canvas was cut by the Austrian into 32 pieces. It was restored and put again in its original place 10 years later. On the sides there are two important paintings by Alessandro Maganza, while in the gothic church there is ‘La Pietà di Bartolomeo Montagna’.
SCARICA LA MAPPA DELL'ITINERARIO PGR
THIENE
La Madonna dell’Olmo
Via del Santuario, 9 – 36016 Thiene
Tel. 0445 361353 – www.cappuccinivenezia.org/thiene.org
Origin of the worship: In 1530 an invasion of locusts destroyed the countryside of Thiene. St. Mary appeared to 3 little girls, promising protection if a temple in her honour was built. Nobody believed the three little girls and also the second and third apparitions were not taken into account even though the Virgin promised a miraculous sign: the big elm tree suddenly lost its bark while maintaining its green leaves. The situation changed when St. Mary appeared to a cripple man, who later recovered. Because of his sudden recovery, this apparition led to the construction of the Church. Inside it there are many ex-voto, symbols of the devotion of the population. Every year, the farmers celebrate Thanksgiving as a sign of gratitude for the year's harvest.
The ex-voto: the popular devotion handed down for centuries is testified by the presence of the ex-voto present inside the Church, where every year the Thanksgiving celebration desired by the farmers is celebrated as a sign of gratitude for the year's harvest. The help of the friars is requested to bless the salt for the livestock, the t-shirts of sick children and the apples on the day of S. Biagio.
Custodians: the Capuchin friars were called in 1610 and in 1613 the Church they built together with the Convent was consecrated. In 1972 the liturgic autonomy was granted and in 1980 it became parish with Father Giorgio Bonato da Salcedo, who started an intense activity with the community until the acquisition also of a mountain building in Fiorentini.
Architectural information: the complex was built in 1602 with the consecration of the Cappella by the Bishop of Padova. Later, a new Convent was added (now only the Cloister is still present). In 1854 the ancient church was partially demolished and reconstructed under the direction of Engineer Dino Altieri. Inside the little choir there are two canvases by Alessandro Maganza, son of Gian Battista.
BRENDOLA
Casa Natale di Santa Maria Bertilla Boscardin
Via S. Bertilla, 71 - 36040 Brendola
Tel. 0444 601842
Birthplace of the humble nun of the Congregation of the Dorothean Sisters of Vicenza, where multiple pilgrims still go and prey in the little church built precisely next to her house. Pope Pius XII beatified her in 1952, she was subsequently sanctified by Pope John XXII on 11 May 1961.
Ex-voto: there are numerous testimonies of ex-voto that refer especially to intercessions for children to whom she was very dedicated as a nurse.
Custodians: the Congregation of the Dorothean Sisters cherish with love what has now become a place of worship of Saint Bertilla in Brendola. The religious organization was established by Mons. Antonio Farina in 1836. Today it gas 1.400 nuns divided into 120 communities in different part of the world outside Italy, such as in Ecuador, Colombia, Brasile, India e Terra Santa.
Architectonic and arstistic information: the birthplace of the Saint has been preserved almost intact in all the spaces where her family and she lived in poverty. You can measure yourself with the small doors of the farmers' houses of the time, the same beds and everyday utensils, including some civil and religious clothes that belonged to the Holy Nun.
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SCALDAFERRO DI POZZOLEONE
Santuario della Madonna Salus Infirmorum di Scaldaferro
Via Vallazza, 7 – 36050 Scaldaferro di Pozzoleone
Tel. 0444 462251 – www.mariaoggi.it
The origin of the worship dates back to 1665 when an image of St. Mary was found on the wall of a farm. Immediately, it was venerated as a divine sign and pilgrimages started. In 1715 the owners built a small octagonal temple and in 1756 a Franciscan hermit arrived as a guardian. Several owners followed one another and it was only in 1910 that the Church was given to the Parish Priest of Pozzoleone Don Elia Dalla Costa, future Cardinal, himself pardoned by the Madonna, who dedicated himself to the expansion of the building and the diffusion of the worship. In 1923 he blessed the new Sanctuary that turned into a Parish in 1954. Every second Sunday of the month the Day of the Sick is celebrated.
Ex voto: Many ex-voto tablets and silver hearts, present in the Sanctuary, testify the numerous miracles that happened through her intercession.
Custodians: the first custodian of the Sanctuary of Scaldaferro dates back to 1756 when it was still a private farm. This is Gian Maria Violin, a Franciscan hermit under whose influence the image of the Virgin was crowned. Different proprieties followed one another, since, despite being a consecrated place, it was inserted in a private context. The future Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa ended the ius patronatus that had lasted for centuries by receiving the Church as a donation. The Parish was established in 1954. Today it is officiated by a Marian Community called to manage the Sanctuary in 1993 by the then Bishop of Vicenza Pietro Nonis.
Architectural information: The Church has an inscribed cross plan extended from the presbytery which is located in what was the ancient Tempietto. Here there is the eighteenth-century main altar that frames the holy image of St. Mary. In 1971 an extraordinary Christmas nativity scene was inaugurated and today the entire community still contributes to its creation. In 2006 a mosaic was made by Slovenian Jesuit Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, artist that decorated the ‘Cappella del Papa’ in Vaticano as well.
LONIGO
Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli
Via Madonna di Lonigo, 18 - 36045 Lonigo (Vicenza)
Tel. 0444 830502 – www.madonnadeimiracoli.org
Origin of the worship: it all started with a crime in 1486, after killing their fellow two criminals took refuge in the old Church of S. Pietro, where one of them attacked the painting of St. Mary in the left eye and in the chest. After that she started to bleed and moved her hands to cover her wounds. Since then, this place became a pilgrimage destination. For this reason, the Bishop of Vicenza started to investigate if the miracle really happened. In 1492 the trial ended because seven witnesses confirmed that not only St. Mary moved, but she went on to make miracles.
Ex voto: the 350 precious ex voto tablets cover the period between 1486 and 1893 and testify the popular pity for the intercessions that took place. In 1997 an important Museum of ex voto was inaugurated, it consists of painted tablets but also chains, hearts and silver foil images donated by humble class pilgrims, even though there are also bigger donations occurred in 1500 and 1600.
Custodians: the current Sanctuary stands on the ancient Church of S.Pietro Lometende or in Lamentese, the exact origin of which is not known. It seems that between the 10th and 11th centuries the Benedictine monks had built a monastery there that depended on the Abbey of Santa Maria Organo of Verona. For this reason, after the episode of 1486, the Olivetan, the white benedictine reformers of this Abbey, arrived. They obtained the right to officiate it and built, on the ruins, a large monastery, expanding it until it actually had 3 churches: a votive one with a thaumaturgic image, one used as a vestibule and one which is wider and decorated for the big celebrations. With suppression of the order, the Church became a private residence and then in 1826 returned to a Marian devotional centre due to the insistence of the faithful. The Parish was established in 1955, it is now officiated by the diocesan clergy. Thanks to some papal privileges, it celebrates the annual feast on the fourth Sunday after Easter.
Information about the architecture: the religious complex consists of three different churches inside the same structure: one contains the thaumaturgical image, the other one serves as a vestibule and the last one, wider and more decorated, is used for big celebrations. In the votive chapel the fresco of the Miracle is contained in a red marble aedicula from the Alvise Lamberti period. Whereas the grate on which the papal triregnum rests in memory of the Coronation of the Holy Image, belongs to the following era. The other decorations were added during the Baroque era. The central nave and the apse host beautiful frescos, canvas and sculptures.
