Our Lady of Sinj

Patrona de Croacia

According to the tradition local, the image of Our Lady of Sinj was taken to the city by Franciscan friars from Rama (Bosnia-Herzegovina)who fled the Ottoman advance in 1687, bringing with them a painting of the Virgin to which miraculous powers were attributed. In popular religiosity, the conviction was spread that the Virgin was particularly protecting the Christian population of the region and that her intercession would become evident in times of danger.

Main data

Origin and history

According to the tradition local, the image of Our Lady of Sinj was taken to the city by Franciscan friars from Rama (Bosnia-Herzegovina)who fled the Ottoman advance in 1687, bringing with them a painting of the Virgin to which miraculous powers were attributed. In popular religiosity, the conviction was spread that the Virgin was particularly protecting the Christian population of the region and that her intercession would become evident in times of danger.

As for the documented historySinj's defense of the Turkish army took place in 1715, when a numerically lower garrison was able to reject the Ottoman siege. The inhabitants of Sinj attributed this victory to the intercession of the venerated Virgin in the local sanctuary, and as an expression of gratitude the military leaders ordered to make a gold crown for painting, with the Latin inscription: «IN PERPETUUM CORONATA TRIUMPHAT – ANNO MDCCXV» ("crowned, triumphs for all eternity - Year 1715"). Since then, the protection of Our Lady of Sinj was closely linked to the memory of that victory and to the Christian identity of the inner Dalmatia.

The image and the sanctuary

The image of Our Lady of Sinj is a painting of the Virgin with the Child, late Renaissance style or early baroque, brought by the Franciscans from the Rama region. It is considered a miraculous icon, strongly associated with the history of the city and the region. The painting is presented today coronatewith the crown of gold ordered to do after the victory of 1715, and it is preserved in a solemn frame on the main altar. The exact support and technique (table / canvas, author) do not clearly reflect the sources consulted; therefore, no consta the authority and the technical details of its execution.

The main place of worship is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Sinj, annexed to the convent of the Franciscan friars, in the city of Sinj. The present sanctuary was raised at the beginning of the 18th century, after the victory of 1715, and consolidated as a centre of Marian pilgrimage towards 1771, the date around which the stable presence of the sanctuary and the construction of several side chapels that enriched the whole are documented. The present temple is a sober-style church with a wide ship, side chapels and an important major altar that welcomes the image of the Virgin; it is one of the most significant Marian shrines in Croatia. It is not recorded in the consulted sources that the temple has received the title of minor basilica or other specific pontifical title; it is usually designated as Marian sanctuary and Franciscan convent.

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of Sinj is invoked as of the city of Sinj and the whole Dalmacia interior, and in popular devotion it is also recognized as a sign of protection for the Croatian people in times of trial. Several Croatian sources refer to it as "a symbol of the faith and protection of the Croatian people," underlining its roots in national religious identity. However, the sources consulted do not mention a formal pontifical decree that proclaims it as the main patron of Croatia; it does venerate it in a special way as a patron of the inner region of Dalmatia and the city of Sinj.

As for the canonical coronation, it is known that, in gratitude for the victory of 1715, the military commanders ordered to make a gold crown to adorn the painting, with the inscription already cited and explicit reference to the year 1715. Some local traditions point to the date of 1716 as a time when this image coronation would have been solemnly performed, but the accessible documentation does not clearly specify the canonical coronation act with a pontifical decree or the name of a papal delegate who made it. Therefore, with the available data, does not contain a documented canonical coronation in the strict sense, even if the image was to be seen crowned from the first years after the victory over the Turks.

Party and devotion

The main party in honor of Our Lady of Sinj is held August 15, solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, known in Croatia as Velika Gospa (the Great Lady). On that day the image is the subject of a massive veneration: solemn masses, processions and religious acts are held that bring together thousands of faithful from not only Sinj and the inner Dalmatia, but also from other regions of Croatia and the Croatian diaspora. The shrine of Sinj is among the main destinations of the Marian pilgrimage of the country on that day.

A unique element of local devotion is the historical career of the Alka of Sinj (Sinjska Alka), which is held each year primer Sunday of Augustin memory of the victory of 1715. The riders, in traditional suits, compete with the gallop trying to get a small metal ring ("alka") in a ritual that unites national identity, historical memory and thanks to the Virgin. The Alka of Sinj is intrinsically linked to devotion to Our Lady of Sinj and the city lives those days with a marked religious tone, linked to cultural and patriotic celebration. Throughout the year, the sanctuary receives pilgrims and is a very living Marian spirituality center in the inner Dalmatia.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted on Our Lady of Sinj above all highlight the pilgrimagethe solemn masses, processions and the historical commemoration of the victory of 1715, but no consta in an explicit way a particular link of this advocation with a specific fellowship, association or practice of Rosary similar to other Marian shrines.

However, as in most of the great Croatian Marian shrines, the prayer of the Rosary It is a regular part of the piety of the pilgrims, especially around the feast of August 15 and during the great novies and Marian vigil. The Rosary, by contemplating the mysteries of the life of Christ with Mary, naturally fits the spirituality of Our Lady of Sinj, which has historically manifested itself as a sign of protection in the trial and of firmness in the faith; to pray the Rosary before this image helps the faithful to unite the memory of the protection of the Virgin over Sinj and the inner Dalmatia with the contemplation of the mysteries of salvation and persevering confidence in the intercession of Mary.