Marian devotion
Where is he?
The Sanctuary of Madonna della Cornabusa, also called Madonna della Grotta, is located in Cepino, Sant'Omobono Terme, province of Bergamo (Lombardy, Italy). It is a rock sanctuary located in a natural cavity.
Documented history
The history of the sanctuary places the origins of the place between the struggles of Güelfos and Gibelinos of the 14th and 15th centuries. The venerated Marian statue was linked to the cave and, since the 16th century, the sanctuary was developed there. The coronation of the image was held in September 1908, according to the history published by the sanctuary itself.
Tradition
Tradition tells that a family that sought refuge during the struggles carried or left in the cave an image of the Virgin. The name cornabusa it refers, in local use, to a natural cavity.
Legend
The story of a deaf-muda pastoralist who would have recovered the voice and the ear after praying before the image belongs to the devotional tradition of the sanctuary. The sources consulted do not contain a formal statement on the supernatural nature of that healing.
Ecclesial State
They have a Catholic sanctuary, public veneration and the authorized coronation of the image. There is no formal declaration of the supernatural nature of traditional healing; therefore no more precise ecclesial state is assigned.
Anecdotes and stories
The history of the sanctuary presents the exvotes as part of the devotional memory of the place. The feast of Madonna della Cornabusa, suspended during the world wars, resumed in September since 1958.
Prayer
Madonna della Cornabusa, pray for those who seek refuge in the midst of their difficulties. He intercedes before Jesus Christ so that faith, hope and charity support our families and communities. Amen.
Sources
Sanctuary of the Cornabusa, history; Visit Bergamo, Cornabusa Sanctuary; OpenStreetMap, Cepino village.
Documented extension
The story published by the sanctuary describes the Cornabusa as a natural cavity on the side of Mount Albenza, in the Valley Imagna, at 658 meters of altitude. The cave, according to this source, measures approximately 96 meters in length and 20 meters in width; water, light and rock are part of the material experience of the place. The page also explains that water became a sign of link to the land of origin for migrants from the Imagna Valley. It is preserved as an institutional description of the sanctuary, not as a miraculous affirmation.
The same story dates the size of the Madonna Adolorata, by scientific analysis cited by the sanctuary, in the first part of the 15th century and attributes it to a Tuscan provenance, although it recognizes that the route of the image to the area is not known. The story of the deaf-muda pastor, the permanence of the statue in the cave and the transfers that it would have miraculously undone belong to the devotional tradition; the fact sheet maintains that it does not contain a formal statement about the supernatural of healing.
The 1908 coronation was preceded, according to the source, by more than nine thousand signatures collected since 1898 and by a request submitted in 1900. The September party was suspended during the world wars and resumed in 1958. The exvotes of the grotto are part of the material memory of devotion. The sanctuary also recalls the visits and retreats of Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, especially in 1956, and the subsequent pilgrimage of his urn through the Valley Imagna; they are data of the history of the place, not an elevation of his traditional account to a recognized miracle.
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