Our Lady of the Remedy

Marian title of Oristano (Sardinia)

En Oristano (Sardinia, Italy) se venera a Our Lady of the Remedy in a country sanctuary that is one of the main Marian pilgrimage centers on the island. Devotion has been attested at least since the Modern Age, although the title of "Remedies / Remedies" is medieval and spread widely throughout Europe and America. A precise date for the foundation of the sanctuary and the documented beginning of the cult under this title in Oristano has not been located in accessible sources, so no consta with certainty a year of origin.

Main data

Origin and history

En Oristano (Sardinia, Italy) se venera a Our Lady of the Remedy in a country sanctuary that is one of the main Marian pilgrimage centers on the island. Devotion has been attested at least since the Modern Age, although the title of "Remedies / Remedies" is medieval and spread widely throughout Europe and America. A precise date for the foundation of the sanctuary and the documented beginning of the cult under this title in Oristano has not been located in accessible sources, so no consta with certainty a year of origin.

According to the local tradition (collected on devotional and divulgative Italian pages, but without support in critical documentation), the Virgin would have intervened in times of need of the people - diseases, calamities or droughts - so that the sanctuary was growing as a place of pleas and thanks, associated with Mary's idea as a "remedy" of spiritual and material evils. Since these news comes from pious stories without explicit archival references, they should be considered tradition / legend and not proven history.

In the historical - documented plane, sources indicate that Nostra Signora del Rimedia is patron of the Archdiocese of Oristano and that its sanctuary is an important center of pilgrimages in Sardinia, especially around its September feast. The acts or decrees of erection of the sanctuary or of the formal recognition of this patronage have not been found on an official basis.

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The image and the sanctuary

The sources consulted do not accurately describe la image holder of Our Lady of the Oristano Rimid (type of size, material or detailed iconography), so no consta in a verifiable manner a technical description. By analogy with other images of the Virgin of the Remedia in the Mediterranean area (where they are usually represented as Virgin with the Child, standing or sedent, bearing the Child in arms and sometimes with attributes of queen), a similar iconography may be assumed, but this is only a inferencia general, not a specific Oristano data, and should be maintained as such.

The main place of worship is the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Remediumlocated on the outskirts of Oristano, surrounded by a characteristic set of "cumbissies", small houses or accommodation for pilgrims that are used especially on the days of the party and novena. This model of sanctuary with villages of pilgrims is typical of some sardine shrines. No official mention has been found to indicate that the temple is elevated to minor basilica or declared National sanctuary; the sources simply present it as Marian sanctuary and great diocesan / Archdiocesan pilgrimage center.

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Sponsorship and coronation

The sources identify a Nostra Signora del Rimedium as patron of the Archdiocese of Oristanoon the island of Sardinia. This patronage is one of the most prominent elements of devotion: the Archdiocese, its clergy and faithful are recognized under the special protection of the Virgin of the Rimedium and come to its sanctuary in the main celebrations.

On the canonical coronation of the image of Our Lady of the Rimedium of Oristano, in the documentation accessible online no consta with certainty neither the year nor the pontiff or delegate who gave it. Since no reliable reference to a specific canonical coronation of this image has been found, it should be indicated: "does not contain a documented canonical coronation".

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Party and devotion

The fiesta principal de Our Lady of the Rimedio in Oristano is held in the month of September; the general sources on the advocation of the Remedies also point to the September 8, coinciding with the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, as a traditional date of celebration in many places. Some local resources refer to a great party with novena and pilgrimages to the sanctuary in September, but no consta in a single way, in easily accessible official sources, the exact day of the Archdiocesan celebration.

The sanctuary is described as a great pilgrimage centerwho come to the faithful of Oristano and other areas of Sardinia, especially around the annual feast. The "cumbissies" allow the pilgrims to remain for several days, giving an almost "Marian people" character to the celebrations: novies, processions with the image, solemn Eucharist, confessions, and manifestations of popular piety that are typical of the sardous religiosity (songs, promises, exvotes). No official flow figures have been found, so no constan fiable numerical data.

In the mercy of the people, the Virgin is invoked as "Remedy" of diseases, family, work and spiritual difficulties, in continuity with the universal sense of this Marian advocation as help and comfort in the tribulations.

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Link to the Rosary

The specific sources of Our Lady of the Rimedio de Oristano no documentan a particular and specific link of this sanctuary with the prayer of the Rosary (for example, historical rosarian copradies, special indulgences or unique forms of Rosario). It should therefore be indicated that no consta a special relationship beyond the general practice of the Church.

However, the invocation of the Virgin of the Remedy has often been associated with the intercession of Mary in the needs of the Christian people, and the Rosary It is one of the most characteristic ways of welcoming and expressing that trust: in the mysteries the "remedies" that God has given to the world in Christ, from the Incarnation to the glory of Mary are contemplated. In a Marian sanctuary like that of Oristano, it is reasonable that the pilgrimage usually includes the prayer of the Rosary, the meditation of mysteries and the personal and family consecration to the Virgin, although these concrete practices, for this sanctuary, no constan detailed in the sources consulted.

In this sense, the Rosary presents itself as a simple way to join the Mother of the Remedy: in the confident repetition of "God save you, Mary," the faithful learns to come to it "in life, in death and in any tribulation," leaving Christ, through his Mother, to be the true and definitive. Average for every heart wound.