Mary Most Holy of the Dolores of Castelpetroso

Marian devotion of Castelpetroso (Molise)

La devoción a Mary Most Holy of the Dolores of Castelpetroso nace en 1888, en Castelpetroso (Molise, Italy)from the account of a the apparition of the Dolorosa a dos campesinas, Bibbiana y Serafina. This is the devotional tradition which gave rise to local veneration and future sanctuary.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Mary Most Holy of the Dolores of Castelpetroso nace en 1888, en Castelpetroso (Molise, Italy)from the account of a the apparition of the Dolorosa a dos campesinas, Bibbiana y Serafina. This is the devotional tradition which gave rise to local veneration and future sanctuary.

La documented history places the subsequent development of devotion in the ecclesial recognition of the phenomenon and in the construction of the sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Dolorosa. The Catholic revelation consulted points out that, following the episcopal recognition, the place was consolidated as a center of Marian pilgrimage and that 1973 Paul VI proclaimed it Celestial patron of Molise. The materials consulted do not contain here a more detailed historical narrative with the exact date of the first ecclesiastical investigation, so that point should remain as no consta.

The image and the sanctuary

Devotion is venerated in the Sanctuary-Basílica dell'Addolorata di Castelpetroso, also known as Basílica de la Addolorata o Sanctuary of Mary Most Holy Adolata. The temple is of style neogótico and has become the main cultural reference of this advocation in Molise.

On the image In particular, the sources consulted do not safely provide a sufficient technical description - material, authorship or exact typology - to be drawn up with documentary precision; therefore, such data should be shown as no consta. The iconographic core of the advocation is clear: the Virgin Dolorosa, asociada a los Mary's seven pains and the mystery of the Mother's compassion with the Passion of Christ.

Sponsorship and coronation

Mary Most Holy of the Dolores of Castelpetrosus is venerated as Celestial patron of Molise. The sources provided do not contain an additional diocesan or municipal patronage that can be affirmed without risk of confusion with other homonymous claims.

On the canonical coronation, there is no safe and direct data on the exact year of a canonical coronation of this particular image; by rigour, it should be indicated: does not contain a documented canonical coronation. If a coronation appeared in any local repertoire, it should be expressly verified in the sanctuary or in the diocese before it was incorporated.

Party and devotion

The sources consulted indicate as devotional dates the 22 March y el 15 September, the latter traditionally linked to the Memory of Our Lady of the Dolores. For a devotional sheet, the main party can be presented as the 15 September, leaving the 22 March as a local or commemorative date, provided that this is confirmed by the sanctuary in its official calendar; in the documentation provided, this detail is not sufficiently explained and should be kept with caution.

The shrine of Castelpetroso is a place of Marian pilgrimage of strong popular roots, especially for the faithful of the Molise and other regions of Italy. The material consulted also states that San Juan Pablo II visited the site on 19 March 1995, which underlines the relevance of the sanctuary in the life of devotion of the country.

Link to the Rosary

A specific and exclusive historical relationship between this advocation and a co-fradia, ninth or text of the Rosary. However, the spirituality of the Virgin Dolorosa is naturally harmonized with the Rosary, especially with the painful mysteriesbecause both lead to contemplating the Passion of Christ from the compassionate look of Mary.

In a form of devotion, it can be expressed that the Rosary accompanies this advocation as a school of contemplation: by praying it, the faithful join Mary in the redeeming suffering of her Son and learn to meditate on pain not as defeat, but as a way of faith, hope and union with Christ.