August 8
Santa Maria della Querce, Lucignano, Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
In 1417 Feliciano Batone painted a fresco of the Pietŕ on a wayside shrine beneath a great oak. Fifty years later, there was a surge in devotion to the Madonna of the Oak after the story circulated that on August 8, 1467 a man from Siena, running from his enemies, stopped there to pray to Mary, who made him invisible to his pursuers. A small wooden chapel was built to protect the image and consecrated that year. Located on a hill northeast of the old city center, beyond the Medici Fortress and the cemetery, the present church was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1558 and consecrated in 1617. On the third Sunday of September, near the feast of the Sorrowful Mother on September 15, Lucignano celebrates St. Mary of the Oak with religious services, food, games, and fireworks.
Sources:
 | "Turismo - Guida Turistica," Comune di Lucignano, www.comune.lucignano.ar.it/it/turismo.php?sezione=Guida Turistica&id=21 |
| "La storia di Lucignano in Val di Chiana," Lucignano in Val di Chiana - Toscana Italia, www.lucignano.com/storia.html |
| "Paesi Toscana," Lucignano-Web, www.lucignanoweb.it/info/immagini2.html (picture) |
Also commemorated this date:
| Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Thuyne, Ypres, West Flanders, Flanders, Belgium. Siege ended, 1383. Celebrated first Sunday in August. |
| Notre Dame Miraculeuse, Muno, Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium. Man invoked Mary during an accident, 1987, vowing to build the shrine. |
| Navštívení Panny Marie, Rusín, Bruntál, Moravia-Silesia, Czech Republic (Visitation of St. Mary). Chapel rebuilt after WWII dedicated, 1993. Pilgrimage first Sunday in August. |
| Notre Dame Panetičre, Aire-sur-la-Lys, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France, France (Our Lady, Bread Supplier). Statue crowned, 1954. Pilgrimage Sunday after August 15 (Assumption). |
| Onze Lieve Vrouw van Lourdes, Sint Willebrord, Rucphen, North Brabant, Netherlands. Grotto consecrated, 1926. |