Our Lady of the Letter

Marian devotion of Messina (Sicily)

La advocación de Our Lady of the Charter (Madonna della Lettera) is closely linked to the Marian tradition of the city of Mesina, in Sicily (Italy), where she is the main patron and is venerated in the cathedral-basilica and in the great Marian monument of the port. According to tradition gathered from local sources, St. Paul would have arrived in Mesina by the year 42, preached the Gospel and many inhabitants embraced the Christian faith. Some Mesinese were reportedly travelling to the Holy Land to visit the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem, and upon their return they took a Letter of Blessing attributed to the Virginin which Mary praised her faith, assured her protection and blessed them. This letter is the symbolic core of the advocation of the "Madonna della Lettera" or "Our Lady of the Charter."

Main data

Origin and history

La advocación de Our Lady of the Charter (Madonna della Lettera) is closely linked to the Marian tradition of the city of Mesina, in Sicily (Italy), where she is the main patron and is venerated in the cathedral-basilica and in the great Marian monument of the port. According to tradition gathered from local sources, St. Paul would have arrived in Mesina by the year 42, preached the Gospel and many inhabitants embraced the Christian faith. Some Mesinese were reportedly travelling to the Holy Land to visit the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem, and upon their return they took a Letter of Blessing attributed to the Virginin which Mary praised her faith, assured her protection and blessed them. This letter is the symbolic core of the advocation of the "Madonna della Lettera" or "Our Lady of the Charter."

Historically documented is the development of veneration in Mesina from the 16th century. Initially the Marian party was held on 8 September, in memory of the alleged return of the Mesina embassy that would have received the letter. On July 30, 1636, a law of the Senate of Mesina officially set the date of the feast on 3 Junein memory of the visit of the messengers to the Virgin. Later, in 1716, the Basilian Gregorio Arena brought to Mesina a translation of the so-called Marian letter, from an Arab codex preserved by the Bishop of Mardin and the Patriarch of Antioch, which reinforced the cult: since then the Madonna della Lettera was officially recognized as Patron of the city of Mesina.

In the city of Mesina (Department of Sicily, Colombia) There is a presence of this invocation in spiritual continuity with the Sicilian patron, but they do not contain in accessible sources historical data of their own sufficiently documented (temple foundation, date of canonical erection of the sanctuary, etc.). It therefore refers to the historical origin and development of the advocation in Mesina (Italy), which inspires local devotion in Colombia.

The image and the sanctuary

In the iconographic tradition of Mesina, the Madonna of the Letter is usually represented as an image of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus, bearing in the hand or on the knee a letter who remembers the message of blessing to the city. A modern devotional description explicitly mentions an image called "Virgin of the Charter" in Rome (Saint Pietro in Monterio), where the Virgin appears with a letter on her knee, a sign of the protection promised to the faithful; this reflection also applies to the spirituality linked to Madonna della Lettera. However, for the concrete image venerated in Mesina (Colombia) no constan in public sources precise details about the type of image (size, painting, exact material) or an official iconographic description.

In Messina (Italy), the main sanctuary of the advocation is the cathedral-basilica of Mesinawhere the hair belt associated with the tradition of the letter is preserved and where the exhibition of the relic is performed annually during the solemnity of Corpus Domini. In addition, at the entrance of the port the great Marian monument crowned by the statue of the Virgin, with the Latin inscription of the blessing attributed to Mary to the city ("Vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus"), recalling the protection of Our Lady of the Charter.

En Mesina (Sicily, Colombia) venerates Our Lady of the Charter in a local temple; however, no constain verifiable sources, the official name of the temple or its canonical rank (parish, diocesan sanctuary, etc.), or that has been declared minor basilica or national sanctuary. Therefore, in the absence of documentation, the Colombian sanctuary dedicated to this advocation cannot be further specified.

Sponsorship and coronation

En Mesina (Salah), la Madonna of the Letter is officially recognized as Patron of the citythe title that was especially consolidated from 1716, when the translation of the letter attributed to the Virgin was spread in the city and the solemnity of June 3 was strengthened in his honor. The monument of the port and the presence of the hair relic in the cathedral reinforce its status as a protective patron of the city.

Para Mesina (Department of Sicily, Colombia)the sources consulted do not explicitly record a canonical decree of diocesan or municipal patronage under the title of Our Lady of the Charter. Since the Colombian municipality took the name of Mesina (Sicily, Italy), a devotional and cultural relationship with the Italian patron is likely; however, no constaIn accessible documentation, there is a canonical patronage formally proclaimed under this title in the local Colombian Church.

As for the canonical coronationno secure documentation has been found to record for the image of Mesina (Colombia) a canonical coronation approved by the Holy See or by pontifical delegate. Nor does it record in the documentation here consulted the date and form of a possible canonical coronation of the main image of Madonna della Lettera linked to Colombian devotion. Therefore, following the requested indication:

does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The fiesta principal de Our Lady of the Letter se celebra el 3 June, date officially set by the Senate of Messina in 1636 in reference to the visit of the ambassadors to the Virgin. In Mesina, Italy, this day is lived with great solemnity, processions, liturgical acts in the cathedral and intense popular participation, around the memory of the letter and the invocation of Mary as the protector of the city.

In the context of Mesina (Sicily, Colombia), June 3 is held as reference date for the commemoration of Our Lady of the Charter, in tune with the Sicilian tradition, though no constan specific statistical data on the influx of pilgrims, or detailed official descriptions of local processions or devotional practices. However, by analogy with other Marian advocates present in Colombia, it is often a devotion characterized by:

– Celebración de la Solemn Eucharist en su fiesta. – Procesión o traslado de la imagen, cuando las condiciones pastorales lo permiten. – Rezo de novenas, plegarias de consagración y peticiones de protección sobre la comunidad, inspiradas en la imagen de María que bendice a la ciudad con una carta de amor y cuidado maternal.

More specific routes specific to the municipality of Mesina (Colombia) under this title no constan in documented sources.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted on the Madonna della Lettera focus on the tradition of the letter and in his patronage over Mesina, but no consta a specific historical or liturgical link between this advocation and the prayer of the Rosary (for example, a Rosary fellowship officially linked to the image, or a Rosary feast united to this advocation).

However, in the Marian spirituality of the Church, the Rosary It has been consolidated as one of the most widespread ways of meditating the mysteries of Christ from the hand of Mary, particularly since it was promoted and spread with force from the 16th century, and reinforced by Pope Pius V after the battle of Lepanto. The Rosary thus accompanies the devotion to Our Lady of the Charter in several ways:

– In the Joyful Mysteries, it allows us to contemplate Mary's openness to the Word of God, of which the letter of blessing is a symbolic sign. – In the Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries, the Rosary helps us discover Mary as the Mother who sustains us in trials and blesses us in hope, as we recall