marian anniversaries     may

First Sunday in May

Notre Dame du Liban, Harissa, Keserwan, Mount Lebanon, Lebanon

In 1904, the Catholic Church celebrated the 50th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854. As in Chile and elsewhere, Catholic leaders in Lebanon decided to mark the occasion in a really big way, by erecting a monumental statue of Mary Immaculate. Elias Hoyek, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, and Carlos Duval, apostolic delegate to Lebanon, chose the name Our Lady of Lebanon and the site on the Rock of Harissa overlooking the city of Jounieh near the Mediterranean Sea. The bronze statue made in France depicts Mary with outstretched hands, as on the Miraculous Medal and the Immaculata Column in Rome. Weighing ten tons, it stands 28 feet high atop a 66-foot stone pedestal of spiraling conical shape. Patriarch Hoyek inaugurated the shine on May 3, 1908, the first Sunday in May, celebrated as Our Lady of Lebanon's feast day ever since, not only in Lebanon but in the Lebanese Catholic Diaspora throughout the world.   

Sources: 

The Lady of Lebanon, www.harissa.info
"Harissa, Lebanon," Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harissa,_Lebanon (photo by FunkMunk, 2005)

Also commemorated this date:

Mare de Déu, Meritxell, Canillo, Andorra. Pilgrimage and floral offering. Main feast day September 8.
Onze Lieve Vrouw van Jezus-Eik, Overijse, Flemish Brabant, Flanders, Belgium (Our Lady of Jesus Oak). Procession.
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Lissewege, Bruges, West Flanders, Flanders, Belgium. Procession.
Notre Dame du Chêne, Guerlange, Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium (Our Lady of the Oak). Annual pilgrimage.
Nossa Senhora do Sagrado Coração, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil (Our Lady of the Sacred Heart). Romaria: procession, mass, statue crowning.
Notre Dame de Lorette, Plogonnec, Finistère, Brittany, France. Pardon.
Notre Dame des Enfants, Châteauneuf sur Cher, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France (Our Lady of Children). Pilgrimage.
Notre-Dame de Belle-Vue, Tronchoy, Yonne, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. Pilgrimage.
Notre-Dame de Prompt Secours de Bellor, Cormoz, Ain, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (Our Lady of Prompt Help). Pilgrimage.
Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours, Castex, Gers, Occitanie, France (Our Lady of Perpetual Help). Regional pilgrimage: mass, meal, rosary, procession.
Mãe de Deus, Saligão, North Goa, Goa, India. Feast day: procession, fireworks.
Makkos Mária, Budakeszi, Pest, Hungary (Mary of Acorns). Pilgrimage. Also Sunday after July 2 and Sunday after September 24.
Our Lady of Happy Voyage, Bandel, Hooghly, West Bengal, India. Feast day, pilgrimage. 
Madonna di Oropa, Biella, Biella, Piedmont, Italy. Eleven-mile walking pilgrimage to alpine shrine.
Maria Santissima della Libera, Carano, Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy. Festa.
Madonna del Buon Consiglio, Pignone, La Spezia, Liguria, Italy (Madonna of Good Counsel). Festa; procession takes painting from parish church to shrine.
Madonna del Lago, Bertinoro, Forlì-Cesena, Emilia Romagna, Italy (Madonna of the Lake). Festa, pilgrimage, masses, rosary, games, citron stalls.
Madonna della Stella, Poggiodomo, Perugia, Umbria, Italy (Madonna of the Star). Pilgrimage to cliffside shrine.
Madonna del Buon Consiglio, Collepepe, Perugia, Umbria, Italy. Festa.
Beata Vergine della Colonna, Fano, Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, Italy. Festa.
Madonna del Castello, Petrella Guidi, Novafeltria, Pesaro e Urbino, Marche, Italy. Festa.
Madonna della Libera, Pratola Peligna, Abruzzo, Italy. Procession with statue.
Madonna di Quintiliolo, Tivoli, Roma, Latium, Italy. Painting processes by oxcart from shrine to cathedral, returns first Sunday in August.
Madonna del Buon Consiglio, Caccamo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Madonna dei Peccatori, Camporeale, Palermo, Sicily, Italy (Madonna of Sinners)
Madonna di Loreto, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Madonna della Catena, Castiglione di Sicilia, Catania, Sicily, Italy (Madonna of the Chain)
Madonna del Carmine, Cosoleto, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy
Madonna di Setteporte, Rocca di Neto, Crotone, Calabria, Italy. Festa.
Madonna della Neve, Castroregio, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy (Madonna of the Snow)
Santa Maria dei Santi, Rapone, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy (St. Mary of the Saints)
Madonna del Bosco, Castelmezzano, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy (Madonna of the Woods)
Madonna del Sacro Monte, Viggiano, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy (Madonna of the Holy Mountain)
Madonna di Pierno, San Fele, Potenza, Basilicata, Italy
Madonna dei Fiori, Accettura, Matera, Basilicata, Italy (Madonna of the Flowers)
Maria Santissima della Misericordia, Ascoli Satriano, Foggia, Apulia, Italy (St. Mary of Mercy)
Maria SS. della Sanità, Volturara Appula, Foggia, Apulia, Italy (St. Mary of Health)
Beata Maria Vergine della Fonte, Conversano, Bari, Puglia, Italy (Blessed Virgin Mary of the Fountain)
Madonna di Roca, Calimera, Lecce, Puglia, Italy. Festa, pilgrimage to shrine.
Onze Lieve Vrouw in 't Zand, Aarle-Rixtel, Laarbeek, North Brabant, Netherlands (Our Dear Lady in the Sand). Procession from church to chapel.
Nuestra Señora de la Natividad, Medrano, La Rioja, Spain Fiesta de la Hermedaña. Main fiesta Sept. 8.
Virgen de los Remédios, Villalba, La Rioja, Spain
Virgen de Arcos, Tricio, La Rioja, Spain
Virgen de la Peña, Binacua, Huesca, Aragon, Spain
Nuestra Señora de Salas, Huesca, Aragon, Spain. Romería. 
Virgen de la Peana, Borja, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain
Virgen de la Sagrada, La Muela, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain
Nuestra Señora del Olivar, Lécera, Zaragoza, Aragón, Spain. Fiesta: Sunday, mass, procession, play; Monday, 8 km romería to Rebollosa chapel. 
Mare de Déu de la Fontcalda, Gandesa, Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain 
Virgen de Valsordo, Cebreros, Ávila, Castilla y León, Spain
Nuestra Señora de Bótoa, Badajoz, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain
Virgen de la Montaña, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
Virgen de la Vega, Moraleja, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, Alía, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. Romería; fiesta Aug. 15. 
Virgen de La Estrella, Buenache de Alarcón, Cuenca, Castilla La Mancha, Spain (Virgin of the Star). Romería.
Mare de Déu del Roser, Montitxelvo, Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Reina del Mundo, Aljaraque, Huelva, Andalucía, Spain
Señora del Buensuceso, Los Corrales, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain
Virgen del Rosario, El Rubio, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain. Romería.
Nuestra Señora de Fátima, Tocina, Sevilla, Andalucia, Spain
Nuestra Señora de Araceli, Lucena, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain
Virgen de Linares, Córdoba, Córdoba, Andalucia, Spain
Virgen de Guía, Hinojosa del Duque, Córdoba, Andalucia, Spain
Nuestra Señora de Loreto, Dos Torres, Córdoba, Andalucia, Spain
Divina Pastora,Villaralto, Córdoba, Andalucia, Spain. Romería.
Virgen del Valle de Aguascebas, Mogón, Villacarrillo, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain. Romería.
Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, Ronda, Málaga, Andalucía, Spain (Our Lady of the Head). Romería; mass, procession.
Virgen de Monte Toro, Es Mercadal, Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain. Patron of Menorca.
Notre-Dame des Grâces, Geneva, Switzerland
Santa Maria delle Grazie, Gannariente, Ticino, Switzerland
Nossadunna dalla Glisch, Trun, Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland 
House of Mary, Yankton, South Dakota, USA
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Perryville, Missouri, USA
 

Where We Walked ~~~ Mary Ann Daly