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 marian
anniversaries april
Last Sunday in April
Virgen de la Cueva Santa, Altura, Castellón, Valencia, Spain
Sixty-six feet deep, the Holy Cave was once known as the Cave of the
Brazier, a place of refuge for herders and their livestock. In 1416,
Carthusian Brother Bonifacio Ferrer, of the nearby Charterhouse of Vall de
Crist, made an alabaster image of the Virgin's head and molded wax copies
to distribute among the herders, who could carry them in their rucksacks
because of their 8" size. One of the herders left his statuette in a
corner of the cave, where it lay forgotten for decades. In 1503, another
herder, sleeping there, dreamed the Virgin showed him where to
find her image. But the cave did not become a place of pilgrimage until a
leper was healed there in 1574. In 1592, Carthusian monks took charge of
the cave shrine and replaced the wax copy with the alabaster original in
the place of honor. Beneath a rayed crown, the Virgin's face is aged,
framed in a widow's veil. That it hasn't deteriorated in its humble, humid
cave is considered miraculous. In 1955 Pope Pius XII named the Virgin of
the Holy Cave the patron saint of Spanish speleologists, who place her
image in every cave they explore. Healings continued through the 20th
century.
Sources:
Also commemorated this date:
 | Maria Himmelfahrt, Tuntenhausen, Bavaria, Germany |
| Nostra Signora delle Grazie, Massa, Toscana, Italy |
| Madonna della Lanna, Villavallelonga, Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Santa Maria Incoronata, Vasto, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Madre del Divin Amore, Cerasa, Pesaro, Marche, Italy |
| Madonna del Cerro, Arlena di Castro, Viterbo, Latium, Italy |
| Madonna del Castagno, Marta, Viterbo, Latium, Italy (Madonna of the
Chestnut). Festa: children's first communion, blessing of cars. |
| Madonna della Vittoria, Montalto di Castro, Viterbo, Latium, Italy
(Madonna of the Victory). Festa: mass, procession. |
| Nostra Signora delle Grazie, Calangianus, Olbia-Tempio, Sardinia,
Italy |
| Madonna dell'Olio, Bivona, Agrigento, Sicily, Italy (Madonna of the Oil).
Festa, procession, mass. |
| Madonna della Catena, Mormanno, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy |
| Madonna di Porto Salvo, Porto Salvo, Reggio Calabria, Calabria,
Italy, Melito district (Madonna of Safe Harbor) |
| Madonna Incoronata, Tavenna, Campobasso, Molise, Italy |
| Maria Santissima Incoronata, Sant'Ilario, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy
(Most Holy Crowned Madonna) |
| Madonna della Consolazione, Ferrandina, Matera, Basilicata, Italy |
| Madonna di Roca, Melendugno, Lecce, Apulia, Italy |
| Madonna di Roca, Vernole, Lecce, Apulia, Italy |
| Virgen de la Peña, Santa Cilia de Jaca, Huesca, Aragon, Spain |
| Nuestra Señora de los Milagros, Mérida, Extremadura, Spain |
| Virgen de la Cabeza, Casas Ibáñez, Albacete, Castile-La Mancha,
Spain (Virgin of the Head) |
| Virgen de las Viñas, Tomelloso, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha,
Spain. Romería. |
| Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, Andújar, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain |
| Virgen de los Remedios, Campotejar, Granada, Andalucia, Spain. Town
patron. Fiestas. |
| Virgen de la Cabeza, Capileira, Granada, Andalucia, Spain. |
| Virgen de la Cabeza, Zújar, Granada, Andalucia, Spain |
| Virgen de la Cabeza de Monteagud, Benizalón, Almería, Andalucia,
Spain. Romería. |
| Virgen de la Cabeza, María, Almería, Andalucia, Spain |
| Virgen de la Peña, Puebla de Guzmán, Huelva, Andalucia, Spain |
| Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, Andújar, Jaén, Andalucía, Spain. |
| Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta, Alcaudete, Jaén, Andalucía,
Spain. Statue processes from sanctuary to town church. |
| Virgen de la Fuensanta, Montoro, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain |
| Virgen de la Estrella, Espiel, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain |
| Virgen de la Cabeza, Valenzuela, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain. |
| Nuestra Señora de Gracia de Alcantarilla, Belalcázar, Córdoba,
Andalucía, Spain. Town patron. Romería. |
| Virgen de la Cabeza, Exfiliana, Granada, Andalucía, Spain |
| Our Lady of Sorrows, Colusa, California, USA. Mass at shrine. |
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