Our Lady of Montevergine

Marian title of Mercoliano (Campania)

La devoción a Our Lady of Montevergine was born around the Benedictine sanctuary erected in the 12th century by San Guillermo de Vercelli on Mount Vergine, on the present Mercogliano (Avellino, Campania). The local tradition links the origin of the sanctuary to a providential intervention of the Virgin in that high place, which became the Marian pilgrimage centre for Irpinia and Naples.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Montevergine was born around the Benedictine sanctuary erected in the 12th century by San Guillermo de Vercelli on Mount Vergine, on the present Mercogliano (Avellino, Campania). The local tradition links the origin of the sanctuary to a providential intervention of the Virgin in that high place, which became the Marian pilgrimage centre for Irpinia and Naples.

La documented history places the development of the cult in the Middle Ages, with the consolidation of the monastery and the veneration of the Marian image in the Benedictine complex. The sources consulted point out that the table of the Virgin of Montevergine is a medieval work venerated in the sanctuary, and that the whole was aware of further enlargements and transformations, especially between the XII and XVII centuries. Wikipedia collects that the cult dates back to the early 12th century and associates the image with the popular names of Mother Schiavona o Mother Slave.

The image and the sanctuary

The venerated image is a painted table of the Virgin and the Child, of medieval tradition. Italia.it describes it as the "table of the Virgin of Saint Guglielmo"of the late 12th century, attributed to Mount of Area; the portal of the tourist system of Irpinia presents it as the painting of the "Virgen de Monteverigine', also called “Mamma Schiavona”. The iconography corresponds to the Entonized Virgin or presented with the Child, in the context of an intense Marian popular devotion.

The official sanctuary is the Sanctuary of Montevergine, en Mercogliano (Avellino, Campania, Italy), integrado en la Benedictine abbey of Montevergine. The complex includes the Old Basilica - reconstructed with Baroque features on an earlier Gothic factory - and the nueva basílica catedralbuilt in the 20th century to welcome more pilgrims. The sources consulted present it as the first Marian santuary of Campania and as one of the six territorial abadiah of Italy.

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of Montevergine is venerated as a traditional protector of the Irpinia y de Paleaccording to the information provided. It is also presented as a very deep-rooted advocation throughout Campania, with special concentration of pilgrims from the region.

On the canonical coronation, in the sources provided it is found that the image was coronada en 1712. The name of the Pontiff or of the delegate who made the coronation is not safely recorded in the sources consulted; therefore, this is not added.

Party and devotion

The devotion presents two particularly marked dates: the February 2 party y la del 12 September. The tourist and local sources particularly highlight the pilgrimage of February 2associated with Candelaria, popularly known as the Million a Montevergine or go up to the sanctuary.

The influx is remarkable: Italia.it states that the table is venerated each year by more than a million pilgrims to go up to the sanctuary. Popular devotion to Mother Slave It is very rooted in the religious culture of Campania and is expressed in pilgrimages, votive visits and the popular memory of the Benedictine sanctuary.

Link to the Rosary

In the sources consulted no consta a specific and specific historical relationship between this advocation and the prayer of the Rosary. Even so, like any authentic Marian advocation, Montevergine is naturally integrated into the spirituality of the Rosary, which with Mary looks at the mysteries of Christ and accompanies the great devotions of the Marian calendar, especially in shrines where the pilgrimage, the contemplation of the image and repeated prayer converge into the same popular piety.

Sources: tradition of the sanctuary, diocesan information and Wikipedia in Spanish. The distinction between popular piety and documented ecclesial history is specific to this fact sheet; extraordinary accounts are presented as devotion and not as doctrinal pronunciation.