Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"The Madonna of Divine Love: the Virgin who watched over Rome in the war"

Rome (Italy) (1944)

South of Rome, in the Castel di Leva area, stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Divino Amore (Madonna of Divine Love). Its name derives from a medieval image of the Virgin and Child, above which is depicted the dove of the Holy Spirit: Divine Love. The founding tradition recounts that a traveler, in grave danger from dogs or bandits near a tower in the area, invoked the Virgin painted there and was miraculously rescued, thus beginning the site's fame as a place of grace.

This account has variations regarding the type of danger and the details, revealing its pious tradition. What is historically documented is the existence of the image and a local devotion in Castel di Leva in pre-modern times, and its continuity throughout the centuries.

Following the liberation of Rome and its preservation from greater destruction, the fame of Our Lady of Divine Love as the city's protector was cemented. This episode is not an isolated legend, but a verifiable and widespread devotion, attested to by chronicles of the time, diocesan documents, and ecclesiastical records, with processions and vows. The sanctuary preserves numerous votive offerings commemorating healings, protection, and conversions.

The connection to the Rosary is real, especially in the context of the 20th and 21st centuries: Roman Marian spirituality is closely linked to the Rosary in times of crisis, war, and pandemics, and popes have repeatedly visited this shrine to pray, often with the Rosary in hand. However, the devotion did not originate as "Madonna of the Rosary," but rather as an image of the Virgin with the Child and the dove of the Holy Spirit; the Rosary is here a privileged instrument of prayer, not a constitutive element of the title or the founding legend.