Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The bullet that did not destroy the Carmine of Naples"

Naples (Italy) (1439)

In Naples, in the old market district, stands the basilica-sanctuary of Santa Maria del Carmine Maggiore, with the tallest bell tower in the city. There, the Madonna del Carmine, affectionately called Madonna Bruna for the dark complexion of her image, is venerated in a Carmelite church deeply beloved by the Neapolitans.

Local lore recounts that during the Aragonese siege of Naples on October 17, 1439, Prince Pedro of Aragon ordered a large cannon called the "Messinese" to be fired at the church. The enormous shell struck the building, but did not cause the expected devastation: it neither destroyed the statue nor harmed the faithful. The people considered it a miracle of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The cannonball is still preserved in the church's crypt. A more devout version adds that the head of Christ on the large crucifix tilted and the crown fell, thus saving the church.

Let us distinguish between these two things. The existence of the basilica and its great devotion, the Aragonese siege of 1439, and the use of the "Messinese" bombard, whose projectile is preserved in the crypt, are all well documented. The bowing of Christ's head and the falling crown, as well as the purely miraculous nature of the firing, belong to a widespread devotional legend, though it has not been proven by critical sources. It is not definitively established that the impact was specifically on the bell tower; the sources refer to the building in general. The pious notion that the Madonna Bruna is the same image from Mount Carmel brought by persecuted monks is legend, not historical fact.

The devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is linked primarily to the Scapular and Carmelite spirituality, more so than to the Rosary. While the Rosary is prayed as a common practice, there is no record of its origin in Naples being linked to the events of 1439.