Our Lady of Crea

Marian vocation of Serralunga di Crea (Piedmont)

La devoción a Our Lady of Crea (Madonna di Crea) is connected al Sacro Monte di Santa María Assunta or Sacro Monte di Crea, a Marian sanctuary located in Serralunga di Crea, provincia de Alessandria, Piamonte (Italy), recognized by UNESCO as part of the group of Sacri Monti de Piedmont and Lombardy.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Crea (Madonna di Crea) is connected al Sacro Monte di Santa María Assunta or Sacro Monte di Crea, a Marian sanctuary located in Serralunga di Crea, provincia de Alessandria, Piamonte (Italy), recognized by UNESCO as part of the group of Sacri Monti de Piedmont and Lombardy.

TRADITION / LEYENDA Local tradition maintains that in Crea already existed from very ancient times a place of Marian devotion, to which is associated an image of the Virgin of great veneration, considered by some as very ancient and linked to a primitive Christian presence. In some devotional sources it is suggested that the sanctuary was raised over an earlier place of worship and that the image was the object of continuity in the faith of the people, but these stories belong to the field of popular piety and are not supported by precise documentation of late or altomedieval times.

HISTORIA DOCUMENTADA It has historically been noted that the Sacred Mount of Crea se desarrolló from 1589when the chapels began to be built around an existing Marian sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The church was built at the end of the 16th century around that pre-existing sanctuary, and over time the whole became one of the most important Sacri Monti of the Piedmont. The Sacro Monte di Crea and its surroundings are part of a regional natural park and, since 2003, the complex has been recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Site within the group of the Sacri Monti del Piedmont and Lombardy.

No documentation has been found that officially links this advocation to a sanctuary of the same name in Piamonte (Colombia); the canonically recognized cult of the Madonna of Crea refers to the shrine of Serralunga di Crea in Italy. Therefore, any reference to "department of Piedmont, Colombia" does not record as official historical data related to this advocation.

The image and the sanctuary

The image of Our Lady of Crea es una Marian image venerated in the shrine of Santa Maria Assunta in Serralunga di Crea. According to a specialized Marian index, it would be an image of 70 cm high, venerated as “Our Lady of Crea (Nostra Signora di Crea)” inside the shrine of Santa Maria Assunta. The same source mentions that some authors attribute a very high age, possibly late, but this data belongs to the field of the erupted hypotheses and is not based on a clearly documented public archaeological dating. A detailed, unanimous and documented description of the material (wood, stone, etc.) nor a complete description of its iconography (type of Madonna, child position, colors, etc.); therefore, these precise data no constan for sure.

The sanctuary where the image is venerated is known as Sacred Mount of Santa María Assunta o Sacred Mount of Crea, situado en Serralunga di Crea, en el territorio del Monferrato, Piamonte. El complejo comprende: – Una Iglesia-sanctuary principal dedicada a Santa María Asunta, construida en su forma actual a finales del siglo XVI alrededor del antiguo lugar de culto mariano. – Un Sacro Monte with a devotional journey that ascends on the hill, jolted by numerous chapels and sculptural groups dedicated to episodes of the life of the Virgin and of Christ, among them mysteries of the Rosary.

The sources consulted present it as Marian sanctuary and as one of the Sacred Mountains recognized by UNESCO, but no consta in the accessible documentation that the church has been elevated to the title of minor basilicanor that it has a recognition as a national sanctuary; it is a sanctuary of regional relevance, integrated into a diocesan natural and spiritual park.

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of Crea is considered patron of Monferratothe historical region of Piamontesa in which Serralunga di Crea is located. The sanctuary is a spiritual point of reference for the populations around Alessandria and Monferrato, and is among the main Marian centers in the area. No reliable references have been found to an official national patronage or to a specific patronage of diocese or city outside the context of the Monferrato.

As for the canonical coronation, in the sources consulted (including divulgative materials on the Holy Mount and regular lists of canonical coronations of Marian images) does not contain a documented canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of Crea, no date, bull or pontifical delegate associated with a solemn rite of coronation is indicated with certainty. For the purposes of historical-liturgical rigour, it must therefore be stated: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The sources available on the Sacro Monte di Crea focus mainly on its artistic, landscape and spiritual value, but do not explicitly and unanimously reflect the date of a main liturgical feast of "Our Lady of Crea". In the Roman liturgy, the solemnity of Saint Mary Asunta (Asunción de la Virgen, August 15)and it is reasonable to assume that this solemnity has great relevance in the sanctuary, but no clear reference has been found to present it as a specific feast of "Our Lady of Crea" with a separate title of the Assumption, so, as regards a feast of its own with a different date, no consta.

El Sacred Mount of Crea is described as an important destination of Marian pilgrimages, starting point to discover the works of art of the Holy Mount and place of devotion where many faithful walk the chapels in prayer. The flow of pilgrims increases particularly in the summer and in the great Marian parties, although the sources consulted do not provide precise numerical flow figures. La devoción se caracteriza por: – La visit to the sanctuary y la participación en la Eucaristía. – El prayer tour por las capillas del Sacro Monte, contemplando los misterios representados. – Una fuerte vinculación con la identidad espiritual del Monferratowhere the sanctuary is a sign of the Mother's protection over the region.

No specific references have been found to very specific popular traditions (processions with well-documented dates and forms, singular promises, etc.), beyond the use of the Holy Mount as a path of prayer and penance, typical of this type of sanctuaries.

Link to the Rosary

El Sacred Mount of Crea is part of the group of Sacri Monti del Piedmont and Lombardy, many of which were conceived as a kind of “Rosario en piedra”, that is, a journey through chapels that allows to contemplate, mystery after mystery, the main episodes of the life of Christ and of the Virgin. In Crea, the set of chapels and sculptural groups is mainly dedicated to mysteries of the life of Mary and Jesus, which has historically favored the meditative prayer and prayer of the Rosary, even though the sources consulted do not describe in detail a specific regulation or co-fradry of the Rosary.

Although no consta an official regulation that declares this sanctuary as "sanctuary of the Rosary" nor a feast of its own explicitly linked to the Rosary, the very structure of the Holy Mount - with chapels that remember evangelical scenes - accompanies and facilitates