marian
anniversaries february
February 4
Madonna del Fuoco, Forlì, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
During the night of February 3- 4, 1428, fire broke out in a school in Forlì, and burned over a few days. The gathered townspeople were astonished to find, intact in the rubble, a woodcut of the Virgin and Child which had presided over student devotions. By order of the city governor and the papal legate, the miraculous picture moved to the cathedral the following Sunday. In 1636, a magnificent marble chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of Fire in the cathedral's left aisle. Throughout the region, her image was often reproduced on doorways and carts to protect against fire.
The Madonna of Fire is the patron of Forlì, where her festa lasts from February 4 to the nearest Sunday. The city is ablaze with the blooms of yellow acacias, and stalls in the piazzas sell loaves of sweet Madonna del Fuoco bread baked with anise and raisins. (Image and some information from it.wikipedia.org.)
Also commemorated this date:
 | Notre-Dame de Confiance, Paris, France. Chapel established in a building in a developing area (17th arondissement), 1966. |
| Virgen de la Piedad, San José Acatempa, Jutiapa, Guatemala (Virgin of Pity). Town's patronal fiesta. |
| Our Lady of Lanka, Ragama, Gampaha, Western Province, Sri Lanka. Foundation stone laid, 1951. Feast Sunday following. |