The miracles after the discovery of the image of the Madonna of Fossolovara

La Our Lady of Fossolovara is a figure venerated in the city of Bologna, located in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its history dates back to the XNUMXth century, when the territory was governed by the Bentivoglio family, one of the most important in the city.

Legend has it that a group of shepherds was grazing their sheep in the Fossolovara area, when they saw an image of the Madonna that shone with light. Immediately, they knelt down and began to pray, but the image disappeared. The following day, the shepherds returned to the place where they had seen the Madonna and discovered a wooden statue depicting her Virgin Mary. He was surrounded by a beam of light and seemed to emanate a feeling of peace and serenity.

The shepherds carried the statue to the nearby church of San Giovanni in Persiceto, but the Madonna continued to return to Fossolovara. The local population understood that the statue wanted to be venerated there, so they built a chapel in her honor. Over the years, the chapel transformed into a larger church, which became an important center of Marian devotion.

The Madonna of Fossolovara between miracles and legends

Over the centuries, this Madonna was the subject of many legends and miracles. It is said that in 1391, during an earthquake, the statue moved by itself to protect the faithful who had taken refuge in the church. Furthermore, it is said that during a plague in the fifteenth century, Our Lady appeared to a woman in a dream and ordered her to fetch water from a nearby spring to cure the sick. The woman followed the order of the Madonna and miraculously the plague stopped.

In 1789, Pope Pius VI visited the church of Fossolovara and granted plenary indulgence to the faithful who visited the Madonna. In the 1936, the church was restored and enlarged and the statue of the Madonna was placed in a new Baroque-style altar.

In 2006, the image of the Madonna was stolen by unknown persons during a mass. The thieves took away the safe that contained it without even knowing what it was.