marian anniversaries     march

March 9

Madonna dei Miracoli, Motta di Livenza, Treviso, Veneto, Italy

On the morning of March 9, 1510, Giovanni Cigana, aged 79, went to get a friend's help plowing his field. On the way, he stopped to pray at a wayside shrine, saying seven Our Fathers and seven Hail Marys. Walking on, he was surprised to see a beautiful girl in white seated on the green wheat. "God give you a good day," he said. "Good day and good year," she answered. They spoke a little, when suddenly he had an understanding that this was the Mother of God and fell to his knees. The radiant girl stood up and asked that he, his family, and the people of Treviso fast for three Saturdays in repentance to obtain Christ's pardon for their sins, and that a church be built on the site. "My Lady, no one will believe me," the old man said. "This evening, I'll give you a sign in the sun," she replied. After his friend agreed to plow the field, Cigana went home and told the story. That evening, the sun appeared blood red. Within a few days, the people of the area had built a wooden church, soon known as Our Lady of Miracles for the many blessings dispensed there. On September 16, 1513, a new stone church was consecrated, placed under the care of the Friars Minor of the Observance. The shrine celebrates the feast of the Madonna dei Miracoli annually on March 9. 

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