Our Lady of Capocolonna

Marian Invocation of Crothone (Calabria)

La advocación de Our Lady of Capocolonna (Madonna di Capo Colonna or di Capocolonna) is historically linked to the city of Crotone, in the region of Calabria (Italy), at the end of the Promontory of Capo Colonna, ancient Lazio, by the Ionian Sea. It is not a Colombian advocation: devotion is born and developed in Crotone (Italy), where the image is patron of the city.

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of Capocolonna (Madonna di Capo Colonna or di Capocolonna) is historically linked to the city of Crotone, in the region of Calabria (Italy), at the end of the Promontory of Capo Colonna, ancient Lazio, by the Ionian Sea. It is not a Colombian advocation: devotion is born and developed in Crotone (Italy), where the image is patron of the city.

According to the tradition, the Marian icon would be of origin bizantino, brought to the Crotonese coast in medieval times and guarded in a small church near the ruins of the temple of Hera Lacnia. Popular piety reports that the "Virgen Negra" by Capo Colonna was miraculously saved from destruction during an attack and fire in the year 1519and to preserve himself prodigiously in the promontory where his sanctuary is raised today. Other traditions attribute to the intercession of the Virgin Crotone protection during the 1832 earthquake, grace that further strengthened the roots of this devotion in the population.

As for the documented history, a multi-secular Marian cult is found in Capo Colonna linked to the ancient marine sanctuary and the city of Crotone, with written references throughout the Modern and Contemporary Age. In recent times, the diocese of Crothone has consolidated the sanctuary as a Marian pilgrimage centre, and the image - originally guarded in the sanctuary of the tip of the promontory - has been kept stable in the Catedral de Crotonefor safety reasons, while the coastal sanctuary remains a place of worship and a goal of pilgrimages. Devotion has continued to live to this day, with processions, novenas and public acts of faith, also at critical times such as the COVID19 pandemic, when the image was taken to a hospital as a sign of comfort and protection.

The image and the sanctuary

The image of the Madonna di Capocolonna is described as a Marian icon of Byzantine type, traditionally venerated as “Virgen Negra”. It is a painting on board (icon), of oriental style, whose most outstanding feature is the representation of Mary as Mother who carries the Child, with dark features and great solemnity, according to Byzantine Marian iconography. Precise technical details (exact dimensions, concrete pictorial technique, restorations) do not consist of the sources consulted; it does emphasize their character as an ancient image, of great veneration, and their insertion into an ornamental framework that has been preserved and recently restored for veneration.

Today the original icon is kept in the Catedral de Crotonewhile the Sanctuary of the Madonna di Capocolonna is raised in the promontory of the same name, within the National Archaeological Park of Capo Colonna, in the municipal term of Crotone. The present sanctuary is located next to the remains of the famous Greek temple of Hera Laciniain an area where classical history, archeology and Christian faith converge. The church is a coastal Marian sanctuary, dependent on the local diocese, and is one of the most significant places of Pumpkin spirituality. The sources consulted do not indicate that they have the title of minor basilica ni de National sanctuaryIt is a Marian sanctuary with diocesan and regional scope.

Sponsorship and coronation

La Madonna di Capocolonna is recognized as patron of the city of Crotone, and its protection is felt in a very deep sense by the inhabitants, who resort to it especially in times of difficulty and in the face of dangers to the city. It is not known that he is a patron of the entire region of Calabria or of a nation; his patronage is mainly over Crotone and its environment.

On the canonical coronationthe sources consulted on the sanctuary, the diocese, as well as the religious press available, do not provide clear and verifiable data on a specific canonical coronation with date and decree. No reliable documentation was found on a coronation by Saint Pius X in 1912. Therefore, following the criterion of historical rigour and the absence of an explicit ecclesial document: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The main holiday of the Madonna di Capocolonna se celebra en May and is marked by a great procession that links the Catedral de Crotone with the coastal sanctuary in the promontory. The local tradition places this great party around the Third Sunday of Maywith a very busy procession that reaches the coast, where acts of prayer are performed by the Ionian Sea. The procession includes the solemn transfer of the icon from the cathedral (or its "descent" to be exposed to veneration), in a climate of intense popular piety.

It's a devotion. secular and deep-rooted, described as "a cult that runs through the veins of every inhabitant of Crothone." The whole city is mobilized: cofradies, families, fishermen, associations and civil authorities participate in the celebrations, in which the protection of the Virgin is implored on the city and on the sea. Although no exact figures of influx are provided, local chronicles and testimonies present this feast as one of the most important religious events of the year in Crotone, with the presence of thousands of faithful and pilgrims from all over Calabria.

Link to the Rosary

Sources consulted on the Madonna di Capocolonna above all the procession and the protective character of the Virgin over Crothone, but do not indicate a specific and documented relationship with the Rosary prayer (for example, a rosarian fellowship of this sanctuary, a particular feast of the Rosary or miracles directly linked to this practice). Therefore, no consta a particular historical link of the sanctuary of Capocolonna with a rosarian devotion of its own and differentiated.

However, as in most Marian shrines, the Rosary It is a natural part of the spiritual life of the faithful: pilgrimages, vigil and processions often include the prayer of mysteries, especially in May, considered Marian. In the contemplation of Mother of God who protects the city and its peopleThe Rosary offers a way to meditate on the mysteries of Christ with Mary, welcoming in each Avemaría the pleas of a people who, in Crotone, have experienced the closeness of the Virgin of Capocolonna to wars, earthquakes and diseases. In this way, even if there is no unique rosarian tradition documented, the Rosary is integrated in an organic way into devotion to the Madonna di Capocolonnaas a prayer that unites the community and maintains its confidence in the maternal intercession of Mary.