Nostra Signora del Pilastrello, Lendinara, Rovigo, Veneto, Italy
On May 9, 1509, a storm destroyed Giovanni Borezzo's home, sparing only an olivewood statuette of the Madonna and Child found intact beneath a hedge. A small pillar for the statue was erected on the spot. During work for a little chapel there, water from the spring the builders used reddened and showed therapeutic benefits. The water was channeled and, protected by a canopy, came to be called the Bath of the Madonna. Begun two years earlier, a large church was finished in 1579, and on May 16 of that year the Madonna's image was brought in solemn procession from the small chapel to the new temple, where Bishop Caani set it on a marble altar. So it was established that every year on May 16, the day the Madonna moved to the church, a solemn mass would be held and procession from the small chapel to the church. In 1584 the temple was consecrated and dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, celebrated liturgically on Sept. 8. The Black Madonna, about a foot high, represents the Virgin seated on a throne, holding the child in her left arm. The original statue was stolen September 4, 1981 and never found. Pope John Paul II blessed its replacement in his general audience of December 30, 1981. The new statue, of wood of the Swiss pine, was installed January 1, 1982. It is usually clothed in a gold robe and veil.Source: Antonio Guerra, "Santuario del Pilastrello - Lendinara," Primo Portale socio-culturale del Polesine - 2001/2010, www.polesineonline.com