With all our love for the Virgin Mary
Stories of the Virgin Mary
Little stories, full of love, which the people keep in their memory: the Mother who comes out to meet the fire, who listens in times of drought, who walks with her people. Traditions and devotional accounts from every village, told with respect and always distinguishing popular piety from documented history.
«You, in the thorn bush?»: the astonishment of the shepherd of Aránzazu
A shepherd found Our Lady among the thorns, beside a cowbell, and his exclamation gave the shrine its name.
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Atocha, protectress of kings: from Gracián Ramírez to the mantle of Isabella II
The founding legend of Gracián Ramírez, the patronage of Philip IV and the mantle offered by Isabella II after surviving an assassination attempt weave together the story of Atocha and the Crown.
Read the story«Australia under the Help of Mary: a nation consecrated from its origins»
Australia was the first nation in the world to choose Mary Help of Christians as its principal patroness, when the Church there was barely a seed among settlers and convicts.
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«Bartolo Longo and Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii»
A lawyer who had renounced the faith found peace in the rosary and raised a shrine for the whole region.
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«The condemned man’s medal: Claude Newman on death row»
In a death cell, a small medal received almost by chance opened to a condemned man the way of faith.
Read the storyThe Rosary Hill of Namyang, where the Mother welcomes the martyrs
On a hill in southern Seoul, declared a Holy Place on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Korean pilgrims pray the Rosary united to the witness of their martyrs.
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Korea grows hand in hand with Mary
In a country where Catholics are a minority, more than a hundred thousand adults ask for baptism each year, and the Rosary beats in families and pilgrimages like a silent current.
Read the storyFrom the oracle of Arochukwu to the Rosary of the Igbo
Where a feared oracle was once consulted, the Igbo people learned to pray the Rosary and became one of the most Marian lands of Africa.
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Good Counsel in the land of the Albanians
In Shkodër, the heart of Albanian Catholicism, there beats a devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel that links it to distant Genazzano.
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The shrine where John Paul II left his heart
A Baroque calvary among the hills, where the boy Karol Wojtyla learnt to pray with Mary at his parents’ side.
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The path of lights of Our Lady of the Snows
A great Marian shrine on the plains of Illinois where faith is told in votive offerings and in a way of lights that brightens Advent.
Read the storyThe hunter believes, and Good Counsel
Lost in the snow, a hunter promised to visit Our Lady of Good Counsel if he returned safely to his own; he found a path and kept his word.
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The little pig and the rosary
A priest entered his church and found a pig chewing a rosary. From that curious moment was born the greatest Marian shrine in Canada.
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«The written sky of Pontmain: ‘But pray, my children’»
On a night of war and snow, some children saw a Lady from heaven who had them pray while a message was written out letter by letter beneath her feet.
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«The Círio de Nazaré: the image that kept returning to the igarapé»
A caboclo found a small image beside the water, and from that discovery was born the greatest Marian procession in Brazil.
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«Mont Sion Gikungu: a shrine of peace in the midst of war»
In Burundi’s most sorrowful year, when all was weeping and war, a Marian shrine was inaugurated that became a refuge of consolation and reconciliation for an entire people.
Read the story«The scapular of Aylesford: Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Saint Simon Stock»
Carmelite tradition sees the Virgin giving the scapular to Saint Simon Stock as a sign of her motherly protection.
Read the storyThe fresco that bled from the forehead
A stone hurled at a humble fresco of Our Lady made blood flow, and gave rise to a shrine.
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The finding of the Almudena: the Virgin hidden in the city wall
The tradition of an image hidden within the city wall that appeared with its candles still burning.
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«The hymn that is sung standing throughout Constantinople»
After being saved from the siege, the city kept vigil all night, standing and singing a long hymn of praise to the Mother of God, whom it held as its living wall.
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«The buried icon and the Lourdes of the Aegean»
A nun dreamt of a luminous lady who asked for a hidden icon to be unearthed, and from that excavation was born the greatest Marian shrine in Greece.
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The icon that wept at Nicula
In a monastery in Transylvania, an icon of the Virgin shed tears for several days, and ever since the people have never ceased to come on pilgrimage.
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The icon that wept at Máriapócs
During Mass, before dozens of witnesses, the eyes of the painted Virgin filled with real tears.
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«The icon of Kykkos that no one looks upon»
High in the Cypriot mountains is kept an icon of the Virgin so venerated that it remains covered by a veil, so that no one may look upon it directly.
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The spring where the first Catholics of Java were born
Beside a spring in the shade of some trees, a handful of Javanese received baptism, and that quiet corner became a shrine for all Indonesia.
Read the storyThe spring of the fugitive monk of Zarvanytsia
A monk fleeing from the Mongols dreamt of Our Lady beside a spring and awoke healed, with an icon in his hands.
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The blood that sowed the faith in Futuna
A Marist missionary died a martyr on a Pacific island, and shortly afterwards almost all of Futuna embraced the faith he scarcely saw flower.
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The ship’s mast offered to Our Lady of Bandel
In the oldest shrine of Bengal is kept the mast of a ship, offered by grateful sailors to Our Lady of the Rosary.
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«The miracle of Calanda: the leg restored»
A beggar whose leg had been amputated had his limb restored to him one night, and the Church recognised it after a formal process.
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The miracle of the lake on the steppe of Kazakhstan
In the depths of the Stalinist famine, some deportees prayed to the Virgin and, it is said, a lake full of fish sprang forth and saved them from death.
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«The miracle of the sun at Fátima»
Seventy thousand people saw the sun dance on the day Our Lady presented herself, saying: «I am the Lady of the Rosary».
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The shepherd of Licheń and the Virgin of the cholera
The Virgin asked a humble shepherd that the people should pray the Rosary and be converted, foretelling an epidemic that soon arrived.
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The convert shepherd boy and the image that kept returning to the rocks
A young, newly baptised shepherd found the dark-skinned Virgin among the rocks, and she insisted on staying there.
Read the storyThe Virgin who halted the smallpox
After a novena to Our Lady, an epidemic that was ravaging Haiti ceased, and the grateful people proclaimed her their patroness.
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«The well of Sabana Grande and Our Lady of the Well»
Some children said they had seen Our Lady beside a well, and a whole village came to pray at the spring.
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The Virgin who answered promptly in New Orleans
A nun promised an image to Our Lady if the Pope’s permission arrived quickly, and the answer flew from Napoleon’s Rome.
Read the storyThe ice bridge of the rosaries
The river would not freeze, and there was no way to carry the stone across for the church. They prayed the Rosary… and a bridge of ice formed over the St Lawrence.
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The reunion of the hidden Christians of Nagasaki
After more than two centuries without priests, some peasants approached a new church and, in a low voice, asked after Holy Mary.
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«The refuge of sinners of Laus: the shepherdess who listened to Our Lady for half a century»
To an illiterate shepherdess of the Alps the Virgin spoke for fifty-four years, asking for a house to welcome sinners.
Read the story«Refuge of Sinners: the title of mercy in Mexico»
A title taken from the litanies that became a house of reconciliation for those furthest away.
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«»Give me my weapon»: the Rosary in the hands of Padre Pío»
A Capuchin friar who lived with the rosary wound around his hand and called it, quite simply, «my weapon».
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«Bernadette’s rosary and the Lady dressed in white»
A poor little girl and a Lady from heaven prayed the rosary together beside a grotto, and from there a spring welled up.
Read the storyThe Rosary in the heart of the Congo
In a land wounded by war, the Rosary prayed in the local tongue has become the people’s prayer of consolation and resistance.
Read the storyThe Rosary that fled with the Christians of Iraq
When they had to flee their villages by night, the Christians of Iraq took their icons with them and prayed the Rosary in the darkness.
Read the storyHow the Rosary reached the islands of the Pacific
Marist and Picpus missionaries brought medals, images and rosaries to the islands, and the Rosary became the people’s prayer in their own tongue.
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The Rosary that consecrated North Korea to Fátima
On 15 August 2020, a diocese with no bishop and no open churches was entrusted to Our Lady of Fátima for peace and religious freedom.
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The face that appeared in the glass at Absam
A Tyrolean girl was sewing by the window when she saw the smiling face of Our Lady form upon the glass.
Read the story«The Psalter of Mary: Saint Dominic and the origin of the Rosary»
Tradition sees the Virgin giving the Rosary to Saint Dominic; history, a long school of prayer which the Order of Preachers made flourish.
Read the story«Santa María de los Páramos: the Miraculous Medal in Perryville»
From a humble Vincentian mission on the prairies of Missouri sprang the national shrine of the Miraculous Medal, heir to the promise the Virgin entrusted in Paris to Saint Catherine Labouré.
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«Washington: the patronal church and Our Lady of America»
The largest church in the United States and revelations the Church studied with caution share a single Marian story.
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«Don Bosco’s two columns: Mary Help of Christians and the Eucharist»
In the midst of the storm, the barque of the Church finds harbour only by mooring herself to two columns: the Eucharist and Mary.
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Matrona’s dream and the icon of Kazan
After a great fire, a little girl dreamt three times of Our Lady, who told her where an icon lay hidden, intact among the ashes.
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«The cowherd Gil Cordero and the image hidden beside the river»
The cow that came back to life in a herdsman’s hands opened the way to the great monastery of the Hispanic world.
Read the story«The vow that saved an island: Our Lady of Lanka»
In the most fearful years of the war, an archbishop promised the Virgin a great shrine if the island were preserved; today that church is a sign of unity for all Sri Lanka.
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«Elijah and the Star of the Sea on Carmel»
On the mount of the prophet Elijah, looking out over the Mediterranean, the Carmelites keep the memory of Mary as Star of the Sea and of the sign of the scapular.
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«She did not appear: she is at Sameiro»
With no apparitions or prodigies, the second Marian shrine of Portugal was born of a simple monument to the Immaculate Conception and of the love of the people of Braga.
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Star of the Sea and Southern Cross, the Virgin who guides seafarers
For the seafaring peoples of the Pacific, Mary is the star that guides them through the storm to safe harbour.
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Father Laval and Our Lady of Peace in Mangareva
In the remote Gambier Islands, the missionaries raised a great church to the Virgin and taught the Rosary as the prayer of every day.
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«Kazan, the Protectress of Russia, and the liberation of Moscow»
A militia entered a liberated Moscow, and the people wished to place that victory in the hands of the Mother of God of Kazan.
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«Kolbe in Nagasaki: the Garden of the Immaculate»
A Polish friar planted in Japan a «Garden of the Immaculate» and a Marian magazine, years before giving his life at Auschwitz.
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«The princess, the knights and the joy of Liesse»
A medieval legend tells that some captive knights and a Muslim princess returned to France with an image of Our Lady, and the joy of their arrival gave the village its name.
Read the storyThe Amatxu and the voice of the «pie quedó»
Tradition tells that the image would not be moved from its holm oak, and from there, they say, came its name.
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«The apparition of Coromoto: the little holy card in the cacique’s hand»
An indignant chieftain tried to drive away the luminous Lady, and when he closed his hand a tiny image remained within it.
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«The silent apparition of Knock»
In the rain and without saying a word, the Virgin showed herself to fifteen villagers who prayed the rosary for two hours.
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«One hand fired and another guided the bullet: John Paul II and Fátima»
On the feast of Our Lady of Fátima, a bullet passed through the Pope; years later that same bullet would gleam, set in the Virgin’s crown.
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«The bullet that did not destroy the Carmine of Naples»
During the Aragonese siege of Naples, an enormous cannonball struck the church of the Carmine without causing the havoc expected, and the people held it to be a miracle.
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The boat that arrived alone, bearing the Virgin
Tradition tells that a small boat with neither sails nor oars arrived at the harbour bearing an image of Mary.
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«The beautiful Lady of La Salette: the Virgin who wept on the mountain»
To two little shepherds in the French Alps there appeared a Lady who wept as she spoke to them with tenderness and reproach.
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The blessing of the grapes in honour of the Mother of God
Every August, in the spiritual heart of Armenia, the first grapes are blessed on the feast of the Dormition of Mary.
Read the storyThe little image found in the window
Cantabrian tradition remembers some children who discovered the Virgin at the window of a hermitage.
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The image that returned by itself to the tree in the marsh
A hunter found her among the brambles, fell asleep on the way, and when he awoke Our Lady had returned to her tree.
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«The Bonne Mère of Marseille: the sailors’ forest of ex-votos»
On the hill that watches over the harbour, the sailors of Marseille hang silver ships and plaques of thanksgiving to the Good Mother who brings them home from the sea.
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«The little donkey that lay down before the church: Our Lady of Peace of San Miguel»
A sealed box came floating in from the sea, and the little donkey carrying it lay down on the ground before the church, as if choosing the place where Our Lady wished to stay.
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«The Black Virgin of Rocamadour and the bell that rings by itself»
Tradition tells that on the cliff of Rocamadour a bell rings by itself each time the Virgin saves a sailor in peril, far, very far from the sea.
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The house on the hill of the Nightingale
A little stone house that Christians and Muslims venerate together as the last dwelling of Mary.
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«Mariazell: Mary’s cell in the mountains of Austria»
A monk crossing the mountain with a small carving of Our Lady built his cell there, and the great shrine was born.
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«A miracle!: the little tablet of La Chinita of Maracaibo»
A humble washerwoman took a small wooden board from the lake to cover a jar, and one day saw it light up with the image of Our Lady of the Rosary.
Read the storyLa Churona and the drought of El Cisne
When famine was forcing the people to abandon the village, the Virgin promised bread for the whole year if they raised a church to her.
Read the storyThe City of Mary in the heart of Pakistan
An entire village consecrated to Mary in the Punjab, where Christians and Muslims climb together to ask for her graces.
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«The consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary»
Since 1917, a request made at Fátima has united several Popes in one same gesture of trust: placing Russia and the world in the Heart of the Mother.
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«The Consoler of the Afflicted of Kevelaer and her wall of ‘Danke, María’»
In the depths of the Thirty Years’ War, a pedlar and his wife raised a chapel to a little print of the Virgin; three centuries later, thousands of small tablets still say «Thank you, Mary».
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«The Virgin «just as on the Medal»: the conversion of Ratisbonne»
A Jewish banker without faith entered a Roman church with no intention of praying, and left asking for baptism.
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The sick woman who rose up healed
A young laywoman given up by the doctors was suddenly healed, and the Church recognised the supernatural character of her cure.
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The American Częstochowa of the Polish emigrants
The Black Madonna of Jasna Góra crossed the ocean with the Poles and found a new home in the hills of Pennsylvania.
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«The siege of Jasna Góra and the Queen of Poland»
A handful of monks and soldiers withstood an army, and the whole of Poland proclaimed Our Lady its Queen.
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The Virgin comes down from heaven: the chasuble of Saint Ildephonsus of Toledo
Toledo’s best-loved tradition: the Virgin Mary came down from heaven, sat upon the cathedra of the bishop Saint Ildephonsus and placed a chasuble upon him for having defended her virginity.
Read the storyThe Mother shared by Catholics and Hindus
One and the same image is venerated as the Virgin Mary by Catholics and as the «Mother of Siparia» by the Hindus who come to her.
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«The steps of the Remedios of Lamego»
Above Lamego, a monumental Baroque stairway climbs up to Our Lady of Remedies, and many pilgrims ascend it praying the Rosary, sometimes barefoot.
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The statue of Kolbe and the land of the Immaculate
He was seeking land for a city of the Virgin. He left an image of the Immaculate there… and the owner refused to take payment for land where the Mother already dwelt.
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«The fountain of Caravaggio: the Virgin who asked for peace beside the spring»
Beside a spring on the Lombard plain, the Virgin is said to have appeared to a simple woman, asking for peace, prayer and penance.
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«The graces of Cotignac and the spring of Saint Joseph»
On a hill in Provence, tradition recalls the Virgin asking for a church and, later, Saint Joseph making water spring from a rock for a thirsty shepherd.
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«The little Virgin hidden beneath the maguey»
A tiny image brought from Spain was hidden beneath a maguey in hours of danger, and years later came back to light to become the devotion of a whole people.
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Our Lady of la Granada and the Master of Santiago
Tradition tells that in 1241 the Virgin appeared to the Master of the Order of Santiago, bearing the Child in one arm and a pomegranate in the other, a sign of the endeavours that would flourish in that land.
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The little boats of the Mellieha grotto
In a grotto in northern Malta, sailors saved from shipwreck left model ships in thanksgiving to the Virgin.
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The image the fire did not touch in San Juan del Valle
A light aircraft crashed into the burning shrine, but the image of Our Lady was found intact among the rubble.
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«María Plain: the image that escaped the fire above Salzburg»
On a hill above Salzburg is venerated an image of the Virgin which, according to tradition, was miraculously saved from a fire.
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«The Crowned Lady of the fields of Foggia»
In the countryside of the Capitanata, tradition venerates the «Crowned» Virgin, who appeared to a humble shepherd, in one of the most beloved shrines of Apulia.
Read the storyThe Immaculate amid the ruins of Quebec
When the siege set the Lower Town ablaze, tradition tells that an image of the Virgin appeared intact among the rubble.
Read the story«The lamp that went out: the Buen Suceso of Quito»
In the choir of an enclosed convent, an extinguished lamp became the sign of an announcement concerning the faith.
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The lava that halted before the Virgin
The «priest of the volcano» asked Our Lady of Fátima that the lava not reach the village. The flow stopped before the chapel and parted to either side.
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La Leche y el Buen Parto in the first land of America
In the place where the first Mass in North America was sung, a nursing Virgin has accompanied mothers for four centuries.
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The neo-Gothic Lourdes of Trichy
In the heart of a city in southern India, a church of European air gathers faithful of many religions before Our Lady of Lourdes.
Read the story«The shared light of Warraq»
A light above the domes of a Coptic church in Cairo gathered Christians and Muslims night after night, who lived it as a sign of peace and unity.
Read the story«Our Lady of the mountain of Polsi»
In the harshest reaches of the Calabrian Aspromonte, a shrine of difficult access gathers multitudes of pilgrims around Our Lady of the Mountain.
Read the story«The fresco that came to Genazzano on a cloud»
An elderly woman spent her whole fortune on a church in ruins, certain that Our Lady would finish it; and one day the image arrived.
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«The Madonna del Divino Amore: the Virgin who watched over Rome in the war»
When Rome feared destruction in 1944, the people flocked to Our Lady of Divine Love, and the city was spared.
Read the story«The Virgin who holds a bicycle»
On a hill above Lake Como, a Virgin who protected travellers became the patroness of cyclists, with an eternal flame for fallen riders.
Read the story«The Madonna dell’Arco: the irreverent player and the severed feet»
An old Neapolitan story tells of the punishment of a gambler who profaned the image of Our Lady, as a warning against irreverence.
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«Our Lady of the Guard and the peasant Pareto»
Genoese tradition recalls an apparition of the Virgin to the humble peasant Benedetto Pareto, on Mount Figogna, from which a great shrine was born.
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«The Madonna di Montenero: the lame shepherd and the devil’s mountain»
A crippled shepherd found an image of Our Lady and, obeying a voice, carried it up a feared mountain, and was healed on reaching the summit.
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«The Madonna di San Luca: the icon that comes down to the city and stopped the rain»
Every year the icon of the Virgin comes down in procession to Bologna, and tradition remembers the year when her presence stopped the rains.
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«The Madonna of Tirano and the end of the plague»
The tradition of the Valtellina recalls an apparition of the Virgin to Mario Omodei in 1504, after which the plague that was ravaging the district ceased.
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«I am black, but beautiful: the Madonna of Tindari»
On a Sicilian promontory, a Black Madonna answers one who doubted her beauty with a miracle of the sand.
Read the storyThe Mother of All Peoples in Nyaunglebin
In a country of Buddhist majority, Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims make pilgrimage together to Our Lady of Nyaunglebin, praying for peace.
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The Virgin of the Volcanoes and the mark of the hand
They carried the painting of the Virgin before the lava flow of Timanfaya. A man drove a cross into the ground and the lava halted at its feet. And the Mother left a sign.
Read the story«The Miraculous Medal of the Rue du Bac»
The Virgin asked a humble religious sister to strike a medal, and through it she poured out graces without number.
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Mary’s mountain at Levoča
For centuries, even under communism, the Slovak people have climbed Mary’s hill on foot by night.
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The Holy Mountain of Příbram
Above Příbram rises a Marian shrine dearly loved by the Czech people, whose history must be told with prudence and without invention.
Read the storyLa Moreneta, who would not come down from the mountain
Some shepherds followed lights among the crags and found Our Lady, who chose to remain on the heights.
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La Morenita, whom the simple folk made their own
A small dark image of the Immaculate Conception, of uncertain origin, became the close Mother of the miners and travellers of north-western Argentina.
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The mule that chose the Virgin’s house
An ownerless mule fell dead with a crate on its back, and in that place the sorrowful Mother of Oaxaca chose to remain for ever.
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«La Naval de Manila: the vow of the Rosary on the high seas»
Some overwhelmed galleons promised the rosary to Our Lady, and returned from five battles without losing a single ship.
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«The snow of August: the miracle that traced out Saint Mary Major»
Tradition tells that a snowfall at the height of the Roman summer traced upon the Esquiline the outline of the oldest Marian basilica in the West.
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The night Catherine spoke with the Virgin
A 24-year-old novice rested her hands on Our Lady’s knees and they spoke for almost two hours. It is, perhaps, the most tender conversation on record.
Read the story«The Octave of Luxembourg: the keys of the city in Mary’s hands»
A city symbolically handed its keys to Our Lady, and a feast of eight days was born that still fills the country with pilgrims today.
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The Virgin of la Paloma and the boy from Calle del Lobo
An old Madrid legend tells how the Virgin of La Paloma saved a child in danger in the old Calle del Lobo; whether history or devotion, it says well who this Mother of the people is.
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The Virgin of la Paloma, patroness of the people and of the firefighters
A humble painting rescued from a doorway that became the beloved traditional patroness of Madrid.
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«The Peña of Vila Velha: the shrine upon the rock»
On a crag facing the sea, a Spanish friar kindled the oldest living Marian devotion in Brazil, where pilgrims still climb to the summit in penance.
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«The rock of the fevers of Le Puy»
On a rock in the Auvergne, tradition tells that a woman sick with fevers was healed by the Virgin, who asked for a shrine there; today it is a gateway of the Way of Saint James.
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«The Little One of El Quinche and the promise of the cave»
A small carving that the indigenous people exchanged for cedar planks ended up becoming the Patroness of Ecuador.
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«Popenguine: Senegal’s simple love story with Mary»
Without great apparitions or celebrated miracles, an African village weaves each Pentecost a beautiful love story with Our Lady, helped even by its Muslim neighbours.
Read the storyThe canoe pilgrimage of Rigaud
Young people and families would paddle down the Ottawa River by canoe, with banners and hymns, to climb up to the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes.
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The pearl in the shape of a leg
A fisherman promised Our Lady his first pearl, and the sea returned one to him in the exact shape of his healing.
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«Mariä Vesperbild: the Mother who holds her Son in Bavaria»
In a Bavarian shrine is venerated an image of the Pietà, Mary receiving in her lap the body of her dead Son.
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The stone that kept returning: la Negrita of Cartago
A humble girl kept a tiny image and, time and again, Our Lady returned to her rock.
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«She is already on the hill!»: the little stone of Urkupiña
A little shepherdess was playing with the Child on the hillside, and from that cry in Quechua was born the name of the Mother of Bolivia.
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«The Gate of Dawn: the Mother of Mercy above the city wall»
Above the only surviving gate of the walls of Vilnius keeps watch an icon of Our Lady, whom the city held as its protector.
Read the story«The Virgin to whom the king gave his crown»
After regaining independence, King John IV proclaimed Our Lady of Vila Viçosa Queen of Portugal, and from then on no Portuguese king ever wore the crown again.
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Medjugorje, between the fruits and the prudence of the Church
Six young people said they saw Our Lady in an unknown village that soon drew multitudes; the Church values the fruits without pronouncing on the apparitions.
Read the storyThe hill of Mvolyé, the Marian heart of Cameroon
On a hill in Yaoundé, Mary Queen of Apostles became the great Marian refuge of an entire nation.
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«The Queen of Palestine who prays for peace»
In a shrine in the Holy Land, the Christians of the region invoke Mary as Queen of Palestine and entrust to her their prayer for peace.
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The Queen who evangelises from the hill of the Maya
Upon the platforms of an ancient Mayan ceremonial centre, an image from Seville became Mother and Queen of all Yucatán.
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«The Queen of Lebanon: the white Virgin who embraces Beirut»
Above the bay of Jounieh rises a great white image of Our Lady with her arms open towards the country that was consecrated to her.
Read the story«The renewal of Chiquinquirá: the torn canvas that shone again»
An old canvas of Our Lady of the Rosary, faded and full of holes, recovered its colours by itself before a woman at prayer.
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The image they were going to bury: the Renewal of Talpa
An old, worm-eaten image, on the point of being buried, was transformed amid light and wonder into something new and beautiful.
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«The Salud of Pátzcuaro: the Virgin of maize cane»
A lightweight image, made of maize-cane paste for a hospital for the indigenous, became the healer of the Purépecha people.
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«The Sancta Camisa of Chartres: the tunic that survived the fire»
When fire devoured the cathedral, the canons came out of the crypt with the relic of the Virgin intact, and the devotion was reborn.
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«The Holy House of Loreto: the home of Nazareth that crossed the sea»
Tradition says that the house of the Annunciation was carried by angels from Nazareth to a hill in the Marche.
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«Walsingham: the Nazareth of England»
An Anglo-Saxon noblewoman saw the house of Nazareth in a vision and had it reproduced on English soil.
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La Santina of the cave and the battle of Don Pelayo
In a cave in Asturias, tradition unites the little Santina with Pelayo and the dawn of Christian hope.
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«The Lady of All Nations of Amsterdam: a lawful title, visions not recognised»
A Dutch woman recounted 56 visions of a «Lady of All Nations»; the Church accepts the Marian title, but does not recognise the apparitions as supernatural.
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The Shaghoura, the icon that unites Syria
In a monastery born of a vision, an ancient icon of Mary gathers Christians and Muslims in the mountains of Damascus.
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La Tirana, converted by love
From a legend of love and conversion in the desert was born one of the great Marian shrines of Chile.
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«The coming in mortal flesh of Our Lady of the Pillar»
Tradition says that Mary, while still living in Palestine, came to console Saint James on the banks of the Ebro upon a pillar of jasper.
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«Lepanto: the Christendom that turned to praying the Rosary»
While the Christian fleet was risking its life at sea, Saint Pius V had asked all Christendom to take the rosary into their hands.
Read the storyThe white Virgin above the Saguenay fjord
A merchant who fell through the ice promised to raise a statue of Our Lady if he lived; today she watches over the fjord from the heights of Cap Trinité.
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«The Virgin of Andacollo, treasure of the mountain»
In a mining town of the Norte Chico, the people’s faith and the dances offered to the Mother are now part of the landscape.
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«Our Lady of Caacupé: the carving hidden behind the tree»
A persecuted native hid behind a tree invoking Our Lady, and from that wood he carved the image that became patroness of Paraguay.
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«Our Lady of Champion and the fire: the Rosary on the night of flames»
The only approved Marian apparition in the United States, and a shrine that survived the country’s worst fire unscathed by praying the rosary.
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«Our Lady of the desert of Chapi»
In an arid valley of southern Peru, the faith of the people of Arequipa walks for miles to meet their Mamita.
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«Our Lady of Copacabana: the carving of the Indian who would not give up»
A native with no training as a sculptor carved, by sheer perseverance and faith, the image that would become Queen of Bolivia.
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«Gietrzwałd: the Virgin who spoke in Polish»
The Virgin spoke to two girls in their mother tongue, Polish, in times of intense Germanisation.
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«Our Lady of the crag of the Paraná»
On the banks of the great river, in a Guaraní land, an advocation so beloved that an entire town bears her name.
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«Altagracia: the travelling painting of the orange tree»
A painting of Our Lady which, according to the people, returned again and again to the orange tree where she wished to be honoured.
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«La Merced, captain of the Peruvian sea»
Patroness of armies and comfort of sailors, Our Lady of Mercy is held in a deep and ancient affection in Peru.
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«The Mamita of Otuzco, gateway of the city»
When pirates were feared, the town placed its Virgin above the city gate and prayed for three days.
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The Virgin of the little tablet above the Danube
On a hill above the Danube rises one of the great Baroque shrines of Austria, born, tradition says, of an image fixed to a tree.
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«Our Lady of La Vang: consolation in the jungle of the martyrs»
To a group of starving Christian refugees in the jungle there appeared a Lady dressed in an áo dài, bringing remedies and consolation.
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«The journey on one’s knees to Lo Vásquez»
Every 8 December, thousands of Chileans walk and kneel along the route to fulfil their promises to the Immaculate.
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«The Virgin of the Poor: the spring for all nations»
To a village girl the Virgin showed a spring and presented herself as the Mother of all the poor.
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The little carving that saw the birth of a nation
An image barely thirty centimetres tall, carved by the Jesuits, became captain and guide of an entire people who placed her at the head of their independence.
Read the story«Our Lady of Madhu: refuge in the jungle of Sri Lanka»
Deep in the forest, a Marian shrine has for centuries been a refuge for the persecuted and a house of peace for an entire people.
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«The horse that stopped at the edge of the abyss»
Chasing a stag through the mist, a knight found himself on the edge of a precipice; he called upon the Virgin and his horse stopped short.
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«Our Lady of Ocotlán: the healing water and the burning ocote»
In the midst of a plague, the Virgin led a young indigenous man to a healing spring and let herself be found in the heart of a burning ocote pine.
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«Ina, the Mother of Bicol, and the river of Naga»
Patroness of the Bicol region, whom the people carry along the river amid a multitude that calls her simply «Mother».
Read the storyThe Silver Virgin of Guatemala
A silver image, beloved of the Dominicans since colonial times, was crowned amid the fervour of a whole people.
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«The Virgin’s footprint on the rock of Pochaiv»
On a mountain in Ukraine, tradition holds that Our Lady left her footprint in the rock, and from it a spring flowed forth.
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The Virgin who went up the mountain against the cholera
When cholera was decimating Oran, the city carried the Virgin in procession to the top of the mount, and there she remained as its protectress.
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«The voice that called from the chapel of Ta’ Pinu»
A peasant woman heard Our Lady calling her as she passed an old chapel, and from that call a national shrine was born.
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«Our Lady of Vailankanni: the milk that never ran out»
A Hindu boy shared his milk with a Lady and her Child, and the pitcher came home intact.
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«The Generala who journeys through Guadalajara»
A small image of maize cane, named «Generala» of the people, returns each year to her basilica amid an immense crowd.
Read the story«Our Lady of Zeitoun: the light above the domes of Cairo»
For months, crowds of Christians and Muslims saw a luminous figure of the Virgin above the domes of a Coptic church.
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«The vow of Maipú: a temple for a grateful homeland»
Before the decisive battle, Chile promised a temple to its Mother; the people still keep that promise every year.
Read the story«The Virgin of the Golden Heart: five children beside the hawthorn»
Five children saw a beautiful Lady above a hawthorn, who showed them a radiant golden heart upon her breast.
Read the storyThe Virgin of the fishermen at Talawila
On the north-west coast of Sri Lanka, the fishermen entrust their sea and their storms to Our Lady of Talawila.
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Our Lady of the Mount who looks out over the sea of Bombay
On a hill facing the Arabian Sea, Christians, Hindus and Muslims climb together to entrust their supplications to the Mother.
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The Virgin of the Holy Mount who journeyed into exile
A shrine on the summit of a Slovenian mountain accompanied its children to the other side of the world, into exile.
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«The forgotten Virgin who returned: the Rosary of San Nicolás»
An ancient image of Our Lady of the Rosary, set aside and almost forgotten, returned to the centre of the piety of a whole Argentine people.
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The Star of the Altiplano at the mouth of the mine
At the very entrance of a mine, the Virgin watches over the miners and receives each year the danced Carnival of an entire people.
Read the storyThe Black Virgin hidden in the wall
Walled up to save her from the Turks, the image was found intact behind the wall and became the Marian heart of Croatia.
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«The drowned child of Altötting»
A mother brought her drowned son before the Black Madonna, and from that plea was born the Marian heart of Bavaria.
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«The scars of the Black Virgin of Czestochowa»
A sabre wounded the face of the Black Madonna, and the scars were never erased, faithful to a people who suffer with her.
Read the story«The chapel of graces of Einsiedeln»
In the Swiss abbey where a hermit was martyred, a Black Madonna has welcomed the pilgrims of Europe for centuries.
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«The Black Virgin of Oropa: the image hidden beneath the rock»
Tradition says that Saint Eusebius hid this Black Virgin of Piedmont beneath a rock to save her, and there a great shrine was born.
Read the storyThe Virgin who journeyed on the shoulders of a devout Indian
A native devoted to the Virgin of Copacabana carried an image of her to his homeland, and from that journey was born one of the great Andean shrines.
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The Virgin who goes on pilgrimage in Telgte
In green Westphalia, a much-loved Marian image has drawn pilgrimages on foot for centuries.
Read the storyThe Virgin who opened her eyes
On the night the chapel was dedicated to the Virgin, three witnesses declared they had seen the image open its eyes.
Read the storyThe Virgin who defended Sinj
Croatian tradition recalls that, during an Ottoman siege, the intercession of the Virgin saved the town of Sinj.
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The Virgin the fire spared: Juquila
A fire razed the whole village, but the little image of the Immaculate Conception appeared intact among the ashes.
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The Virgin who waited, on the hill of Maghdouché
On a hill in Lebanon, a tender tradition remembers the Mother who waited, patiently, for the return of her Son.
Read the storyThe Virgin who came floating to Miscou
An Acadian tradition tells that some fishermen found a small image of Our Lady floating near the coast.
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The Virgin who wept upon the rock of Šiluva
To some shepherd children there appeared a Lady weeping upon a rock, because no one there adored her Son any longer.
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The forgotten Virgin who called once more, at Tà Pao
A statue abandoned amid the undergrowth of a Vietnamese mountain gathered an entire people once more around their Mother.
Read the storyThe Lady who protected Donglü
While Catholics prayed the Rosary under the Boxer siege, tradition tells that a luminous Lady appeared above the church.
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«The travelling Virgin of Antipolo: the image that crossed the Pacific»
A dark-skinned image brought from Mexico protected for a century the voyages of the galleon between Manila and Acapulco.
Read the storyThe healing waters of Lac Ste. Anne
Near Edmonton, thousands of Indigenous pilgrims gather each July at a blessed lake, praying the Rosary and seeking healing.
Read the story«The tears of Akita: the Virgin who wept 101 times in Japan»
A wooden statue of Our Lady bled, sweated and wept for years before a deaf novice who recovered her hearing.
Read the storyThe Virgin who wept blood in Jordan
Beside a grotto where tradition says the Holy Family rested, an image shed two tears of blood.
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«The tears of Syracuse: the Madonnina who wept in a humble home»
A small image of Our Lady, hung above the bed of a young married couple, began to shed human tears.
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«Las Lajas: the deaf-mute girl who saw the Mestiza on the rock»
A deaf-mute girl spoke for the first time to point out the image of Our Lady of the Rosary on the wall of the canyon.
Read the storyThe young women of Songkhon who would not renounce their faith
In a village in north-eastern Thailand, two religious sisters and a group of adolescent girls chose to die rather than renounce the faith.
Read the story«The doves of light of Assiut»
Above a Coptic church in Upper Egypt, multitudes of Christians and Muslims beheld, night after night, lights and luminous doves which they saw as a sign of Our Lady.
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«The fifteen promises of the Rosary and Blessed Alan de la Roche»
A Dominican friar restored the Rosary to the people, and his name remained bound to fifteen Marian promises for those who pray it with faith.
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The roses of Castile on Juan Diego’s tilma
The Virgin filled the tilma of a poor Indian with roses in the depths of winter, and left her face upon it for ever.
Read the storyThe night Lyon was filled with lights
A grateful city lit candles in its windows and, without intending it, the Festival of Lights was born.
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«Loreto among the Guaraní: the face darkened by faith»
A Jesuit reduction bore the name of the Holy House, and its image was darkened by the soot of the people’s candles.
Read the storyThe little ships hung at Bon-Secours
From the ceiling of the sailors’ church hang model ships: each one is a «thank you» returned to the Virgin of the river.
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«The oxen that would go no further: Our Lady of Luján»
A cart stopped for no reason beside the river, and Our Lady chose to remain for ever in that corner of the pampa.
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The house of the Mother who suffers with her children
In a great Servite basilica in Chicago, the city’s emigrants and poor find consolation beside the Sorrowful Mother.
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«The ex-votos of Notre-Dame des Victoires: the walls that say thank you»
In the heart of Paris, an almost empty church was reborn until its walls were covered with thousands of small plaques bearing a single word: thank you.
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The Virgin who guards Baños from the volcano
At the foot of a restless volcano, a village covers the walls of its shrine with paintings of graces received.
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The Virgin over the land of the martyrs and of Kateri
On the Mohawk soil where three Jesuits died and where, according to tradition, Saint Kateri was born, a Marian advocation honours the blood that sowed the faith.
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The miracles of Our Lady of Atocha in the Cantigas of the Wise King
In the thirteenth century, King Alfonso X sang of two miracles of «Holy Mary of Atocha of Madrid»: a labourer with crippled hands and a child choking on an ear of wheat.
Read the storyThe healed eyes of Berthe Blais
Before the great signs at the Cape, a young woman with diseased eyes saw again after praying before the little Virgin.
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«The fishermen of Aparecida: the small broken image that filled the nets»
Three fishermen with no catch drew from the river a broken image of Our Lady, and when they cast their nets again they overflowed with fish.
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«The three Juans and the floating board»
Three fishermen found floating on the water a dry image of Our Lady with a sign that bore her name.
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The three pilgrims who carved the Geperudeta
Three mysterious pilgrims shut themselves away to carve an image and, when the door was opened, they had vanished, leaving the Virgin finished.
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Mamã Muxima, the Mother of the Heart on the banks of the Kwanza
On the banks of a river that witnessed the sorrow of slavery, the Angolan people call Mary «Mother of the Heart».
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The dark-skinned Madonna of Mount Partenio
High on Mount Partenio, the Neapolitan people climb to visit their dark-skinned Mother, whom they tenderly call Mamma Schiavona.
Read the story«Mary, Ark of the Covenant at Abu Ghosh»
Where tradition places the resting of the Ark of the Covenant, Christians venerate Mary as the new Ark who bore within her the presence of God.
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Mary Help of Christians of Brezje, «Marija Pomagaj»
Slovenia’s principal shrine was not born of an apparition, but of a people’s love for a miraculous image of the Mother who comes to our aid.
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«Mary Undoer of Knots of Augsburg»
In a German Baroque painting, the Virgin patiently unties the knots of a long ribbon, an image of the bonds she undoes in the life of whoever calls upon her.
Read the storyMary, Tabernacle of the Most High, beside the seven springs
To a humble Benedictine nun, the Virgin is said to have presented herself beside seven springs with a new, Eucharistic name.
Read the storyMarienberg, the mount of Mary in Cameroon
The first missionaries of Cameroon gave their hill a name that was already a prayer: Marienberg, the mount of Mary.
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The miracle of the snow
When the lava threatened the island, they carried the Virgin down in a midnight procession. By dawn, the mouth of the volcano had appeared covered in snow.
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«All to Jesus through Mary: Montfort and the origin of the Totus Tuus»
From a Marian treatise almost forgotten for years there sprang the motto of a Pope: Totus Tuus, all thine.
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The dry staff that grew green again beside the spring
A fifteenth-century Lombard apparition crossed the ocean with the Italian immigrants and flourished in the Serra Gaúcha as their greatest shrine.
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«Nossa Senhora dos Navegantes: the Star of the Sea of the fishermen»
Every 2 February, Brazilian fishermen decorate their boats and carry the Virgin in procession over the water.
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The great Marian shrine of the Baltic
In the heart of Latvia, a white basilica gathers the pilgrims of the Baltic each summer before the Mother of God.
Read the storyOur Lady of Bangladesh in Mary’s village
In one of the oldest Christian communities of the subcontinent, the national shrine of Bangladesh welcomes pilgrimages that cross cyclones and frontiers of faith.
Read the story«Our Lady of Bechouat: the Lebanese shrine of Christians and Muslims»
In a rock niche in the Bekaa valley, an image of the Virgin with the Child draws together Christians and Muslims who come to ask and to give thanks.
Read the story«Our Lady of Kibeho: the Mother of the Word who wept for Rwanda»
Some adolescent girls at a boarding school saw Our Lady and, weeping, described scenes of violence years before the genocide.
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«San Pedro de África: the basilica of peace»
In the midst of the African savannah rises one of the largest churches in the world, an offering to the Queen of Peace.
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«The Lady of the tree of Manaoag»
A woman’s voice called to a peasant from the top of a tree, and there the Lady of the Rosary remained for ever.
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«Our Lady of Sheshan: the Help of Christians upon the hill of Shanghai»
On a hilltop near Shanghai, a basilica crowns the Virgin as the help and hope of the Catholics of China.
Read the story«Our Lady of Soufanieh: oil and unity in Damascus»
In a humble home in Damascus, phenomena of oil and exudations spread around a small Marian icon.
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«Our Lady of Suyapa: the little one that fitted in the hand»
A farmer slept in the field and, on waking, found beside him a tiny image of Our Lady.
Read the story«Yagma: the national shrine of Burkina Faso»
At the gates of Ouagadougou, a humble town is home to Burkina Faso’s principal Marian shrine, the goal of great national pilgrimages.
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«Our Lady of Bzommar: the clandestine Rosary of the Armenian people»
In the mountains above Beirut, Armenian Catholics found in Mary a refuge of hope, and in the Rosary a prayer that sustained their faith even under persecution.
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Wanjin, the oldest house of the Mother in Taiwan
In southern Taiwan, the oldest Marian shrine on the island gathers Han, Hakka and indigenous peoples praying the Rosary together in many tongues.
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Mary, Mother of the martyrs of Korea
In Korea the faith was born at the hands of laypeople, before the priests arrived, and Mary accompanied a Church of martyrs.
Read the story«Mercy, mercy!»: the finding of the patroness of Almendralejo
Tradition tells that in 1507 a farm labourer, while digging, heard a voice crying out «mercy, mercy!» and found buried the image of the Virgin, today patroness of Almendralejo.
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Poondi Madha, the little Lourdes of Tamil Nadu
A simple church founded by a Jesuit poet came to be a basilica, and at her feet Christians, Hindus and Muslims pray today.
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Pyongyang, the lost Jerusalem of the East
A city that overflowed with churches before 1945 keeps today, in silence and remembrance, a Marian faith that has not entirely died.
Read the storyWho causes such joy? La Purísima of El Viejo
An image brought from the sea by the brother of Saint Teresa remained in El Viejo, and a whole people shouts its joy to her every December.
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«Pray for us and for the Muslims»
Above the bay of Algiers, a basilica bears engraved a prayer that embraces Christians and Muslims alike.
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Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, the first priest of a people in love with Mary
The first Korean priest was born in a land where the faith had entered through books, and among those pages travelled also the name of Mary.
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«The «Memorare» and the Virgin’s milk: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux»
One of the best-loved Marian prayers bears his name, though the pen was not his; and a beautiful legend portrays him being nursed by Our Lady.
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Saint Isidore the Labourer, the Madrid saint who trusted in Our Lady
A humble, prayerful farm labourer, devoted to Mary, whom Madrid embraces as its patron.
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«San Juan de los Lagos: the little girl of the acrobats»
The little image restored to life a girl from a troupe of acrobats who had died falling upon daggers.
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The mystic of the north and Our Lady of Vadstena
A great Swedish mystic founded a monastery on the shores of a lake, and left her order a Marian spirituality that still beats in the north.
Read the storySanta María la Antigua, the Marian memory of Panama
The patroness of Panama links the faith of the people with the earliest Christian days of the isthmus.
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Santa Marian Kamalen, the Virgin found in the sea off Guam
A Chamorro fisherman found the image floating in the sea, escorted by two crabs bearing lighted candles.
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«Our Lady of Smolensk before the army, on the eve of Borodino»
On the night before one of the bloodiest battles in their history, the Russian soldiers prayed before the icon of the Mother of God.
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Suzanne Aubert and Our Lady of Compassion on the Whanganui River
At a mission on the banks of the Whanganui River, the venerable Suzanne Aubert prayed the Rosary with the Maori children before the Mother of Compassion.
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«Takashi Nagai: the rosary in the ruins of Nagasaki»
A convert doctor, a survivor of the atomic bomb, spent his last years praying the rosary for peace in a little hermitage.
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«Vienna 1683: Sobieski’s charge and the Sweet Name of Mary»
After the victory that saved Vienna from the Ottoman siege, the Pope extended to the whole Church the feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary in thanksgiving.
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«The icon of Vladimir and Tamerlane’s unexpected retreat»
When an invincible conqueror was advancing on Moscow, the city went out in procession to receive the Mother of God.
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«Yna Maimo, the Mother of all in Piat»
In the north of the Philippines, a dark-skinned image called «Mother of us all» overcame a drought and won the heart of a people.
Read the storyThe great historical miracles of the Holy Rosary
From Lepanto to Hiroshima, the praying of the Rosary has been bound up with the most decisive moments of history: a presence acknowledged by millions of witnesses.
Read the storyMarian stories of ordinary people in the twentieth century
A girl from Rwanda, an Austrian peasant, Italian children: Our Lady also works through unknown people. Verified testimonies from the twentieth century.
Read the storyMedically verified Marian miracles
The Church subjects miracles to rigorous scientific verification. Cases studied at Lourdes and other shrines by committees of doctors, many of them non-believers.
Read the storyThe Virgin Mary in the lives of saints and contemplatives
Mystics of the 17th–20th centuries for whom the Virgin was a living, motherly presence in their daily prayer, not merely a devotional ideal.
Read the storyConversions through the Virgin Mary: verified testimonies
From utter unbelief to faith: documented cases from the 19th–20th centuries involving anticlerical Jews, atheists and sceptical journalists.
Read the storyThe Rosary that halted the sea: the 2004 tsunami at Vailankanni
On 26 December 2004 the tsunami devastated the Indian coast, but it stopped at the steps of the basilica of Vailankanni, with 2,000 people at Mass inside.
The Rosary and the atomic bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The eight Jesuits of Hiroshima and Saint Maximilian Kolbe’s friary in Nagasaki survived the bomb; they attributed it to the Rosary prayed every day.
The Rosary that freed Austria (1955)
Half a million Austrians prayed the Rosary every day for eight years; in 1955 the USSR withdrew its troops without a single shot.
Sister Lucia: «There is no problem that the Rosary cannot solve»
In 1957 the seer of Fátima affirmed that in these times the Virgin has given a new efficacy to the praying of the Rosary.
Our Lady of Bisila, Mother of Bioko (Equatorial Guinea)
On the island of Bioko, an ancient Bubi maternal figure came to be recognised in the Virgin Mary: Our Lady of Bisila, crowned in 1987.
The first shrine of Fátima in Africa (Namaacha, Mozambique)
In 1942, Mozambique raised the first African shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fátima; today it gathers tens of thousands every 13 May.
The Sultana of Africa (Lodonga, Uganda)
In the Muslim north of Uganda, a basilica venerates Mary as «Sultana of Africa, Reconciler of all Graces».
Kidane Mehret, the Covenant of Mercy (Ethiopia)
Ethiopian tradition venerates Mary as the «Covenant of Mercy»: Jesus is said to have promised to forgive those who seek her intercession.
The grotto of Our Lady of Arigbo (Dassa-Zoumé, Benin)
After the discovery of a Marian image in 1954, a grotto among the rocks became the greatest shrine of Benin.
Deir el-Muharraq, «the Second Bethlehem» (Egypt)
The monastery where Coptic tradition places the Holy Family’s longest stay during their flight into Egypt.
The footprint of the Child Jesus at Sakha (Egypt)
A stone from the Nile Delta preserves, according to Coptic tradition, the footprint of the Child Jesus; Pope Shenouda III recognised it in 1984.
Our Lady of Cuapa (Nicaragua)
In 1980 the Virgin is said to have appeared to the humble sacristan Bernardo Martínez at Cuapa, asking for the praying of the Rosary; an apparition approved by the bishops.
Our Lady of the Valley (Margarita Island, Venezuela)
The oldest Marian advocation in Venezuela: her image was miraculously saved from a storm that devastated Cubagua in 1541.
Our Lady of Itacuá and the boatmen (Paraguay)
Above the River Paraná, a shrine shaped like a ship remembers the boatmen who asked Our Lady to bring them safely through a dangerous passage.
Nyakijoga, the Lourdes of Tanzania
Near Bukoba, a grotto with a spring reminiscent of Lourdes became a shrine in 1958, encouraged by the first African cardinal.
The hill of Kabiyet, Queen of Peace (Kenya)
An ancestral sacred hill of the Nandi people was consecrated in 2023 as a Marian shrine: Mary Queen of Peace, among native trees.
The Rosary of Cidade Velha, Africa’s first Marian bridge (Cape Verde)
The oldest colonial church in sub-Saharan Africa (1493) is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Loango and Linzolo, Marian cradle of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)
The oldest missions of Central Africa, founded by the Spiritans in 1883; Linzolo is today a Marian shrine.
Ngou-Komba, the Virgin of reconciliation (Central African Republic)
On the outskirts of Bangui, a national shrine gathers thousands every feast of the Immaculate Conception —Christians, Protestants and Muslims— to pray for peace in the country.
Notre-Dame de la Paix, N’Djamena (Chad)
A Marian cathedral destroyed in the civil war of 1980 and fully reopened for worship in 2023: a symbol of the resilience of the faith.
The National Shrine of Peace in Namibia
Consecrated in 2025 by the Oblates, Namibia’s national Marian shrine was born as a house of prayer for peace.
Nossa Senhora do Monte de Lubango (Angola)
In the Serra da Chela, pilgrims climb to the top of the range praying the Rosary every 15 August.
The Servites and the Assumption at Manzini (Eswatini)
Catholicism came to Eswatini with the Servants of Mary; its cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption.
The pilgrimage on foot to Ambohimanga (Madagascar)
Some 21 km from Antananarivo, Madagascar’s young people make the pilgrimage on foot to this Marian destination; the island was consecrated to the Immaculate as early as 1844.
Gabal el-Tair, the Mountain of the Birds (Egypt)
Above the Nile, a fourth-century church preserves the tradition that the Child Jesus stopped with his hand a rock that was about to fall upon the Holy Family.
The Cathedral of the Assumption in Tangier (Morocco)
Morocco’s foremost Marian cathedral, dedicated on an 8th of December, with stained-glass windows by the Alicante-born artist Arcadio Blasco.
Las Mercedes de Paita, saved from the pirates (Peru)
In the port of Paita, the image of Our Lady of Mercy was saved from the corsairs’ fire thanks to the daring of a devout soul.
La Candelaria of Puno and the siege of 1781 (Peru)
During Túpac Catari’s siege of Puno, the image carried out in procession made the besiegers fall back; ever since, she has been patroness of the city.
The Virgin in North America: the most astonishing Marian stories (USA and Canada)
The river that froze in spring to build a church, the lily of the Mohawks, the rosary of the migrant workers: Marian stories from the United States and Canada that still astonish.
The Virgin in Russia and the Slavic world: the most astonishing Marian stories
The icon of Kazan that freed Moscow, the icon of Vladimir that halted Tamerlane, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa who checked the Swedish «Deluge», and the rosary prayed in secret in the Soviet gulags.
Miracles of the Rosary in North America in the twentieth century
The eyes that opened at Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Father Patrick Peyton and his rallies of half a million people, and the first Native American saint whose canonisation was preceded by a medically documented miracle.