Last Saturday in April

Madonna Incoronata, Foggia, Apulia, Italy

The town of Borgo Incoronata lies in southeastern Italy, five miles from the city of Foggia, of which it is now a frazione or district. Borgo Incoronata honors the Crowned Madonna on this date because in the year 1001, on the last Saturday in April, she appeared on an oak tree in the woods by the Cervaro River. Two people saw her: the Count of Ariano Irpino, who was hunting, and a herder named Strazzacappa. The Virgin showed them her statue and asked that a church be built there, promising many blessings to those who would come there to pray before the image. The rustic shrine became a place of pilgrimage, near which a monastery arose (extant in 1066). Somewhat abandoned in the 1800s after the Napoleonic invasion, the sanctuary revived after the Sons of Divine Providence took it over in 1950s. In 1958-9 they completely rebuilt it in modern style. The religious celebration begins on the preceding Wednesday when the statue is dressed and exposed to the faithful. On Friday the Parade of Angels takes place: costumed children ride on floats representing events of the Marian tradition. Many believers watch all night, waiting for the first solemn mass on Saturday.

Sources include:

	Madonna Incoronata, Santa Croce di Magliano, Campobasso, Molise, Italy. Apparition, 1001; festa, blessing of animals.
	Madonna dell'Incoronata, Avellino, Campania, Italy, S. Andrea di Conza district. Pilgrimage, festa, fair.
	Madonna dell'Incoronatella, Acerenza, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy. Pilgrimage to rural chapel.
	Maria SS. Incoronata, Ruvo del Monte, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy. Festa; mass, music.
	Virgen del Arrabal, Laguna de Negrillos, Páramo, León, Castile and León, Spain (Virgin of the Outskirts). Fiesta del Voto.
	Virgen de la Cabeza, Nerpio, Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain (Virgin of the Head). Mass & procession.
	Nuestra Señora de Begoña, Almáciga, Anaga, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Fiesta commemorates the 1949 finding of a bottle, thrown by Basque pilgrims en route to Compostela over 1,000 miles north, containing a message and five holy cards of Our Lady of Begoña, which prompted the Canary Islands village to adopt the Basque devotion.