The miracles of the MADONNA DELL'ARCO

The Sanctuary of the Madonna dell'Arco and the popular cult given to it is part of the three major poles of Marian devotion in Campania: Madonna del Rosario di Pompei, Madonna di Montevergine and Madonna dell'Arco.
The beginning of the cult is linked to an episode that occurred in the mid-fifteenth century; it was an Easter Monday, the day of the so-called 'Easter Monday', that is the famous trip out of the door and near Pomigliano d'Arco, some young people were playing in a "mallet ball" field, today we would say bowls ; at the edge of the field there was a newsstand on which an image of the Madonna with the Child Jesus was painted, but more properly it was painted under an arch of the aqueduct; from these arches come the names of Madonna dell'Arco and Pomigliano d'Arco.

In the course of the game, the ball ended up against an old lime tree, whose branches partly covered the frescoed wall, the player who had missed the shot, practically lost the race; at the height of anger the young man took the ball and cursing it violently against the sacred image, hitting it on the cheek that began to bleed.
The news of the miracle spread in the area, reaching the count of Sarno, a local nobleman, with the task of 'executioner'; behind the fury of the people, the count set up a trial against the young blasphemer, condemning him to hanging.

The sentence was immediately executed and the young man was hanged at the lime tree near the newsstand, which, however, two hours later still with his body hanging, dried up under the gaze of the bewildered crowd.
This miraculous episode aroused the cult of the Madonna dell'Arco, which spread immediately throughout Southern Italy; crowds of faithful flocked to the site of the prodigy, so it was necessary to build a chapel with the offerings of the faithful to protect the sacred image from the weather.
A century after April 2, 1589, a second prodigious episode took place, this time it was also a Monday after Easter, now consecrated to the feast of the Madonna dell'Arco and a certain woman Aurelia Del Prete, who from nearby S. Anastasia, today the Municipality of which belongs to the area of ​​Madonna dell'Arco, was going to the chapel to thank the Madonna, thus dissolving a vow made by her husband, cured of a serious eye disease.

As she slowly advanced in the crowd of the faithful, a piglet that she had bought at the fair escaped from her hand, in trying to catch him, elusive among the legs of the people, she had an unusual reaction, arrived in front of the church, threw the ex-vote of the husband, trampled on him cursing the sacred image, who had painted it and who venerated it.
The crowd was horrified, her husband tried in vain to stop her, threatening her the fall of the feet, with which she had profaned the vow to the Madonna; her words were prophetic, the unfortunate began to have excruciating pain in her feet which swelled and blackened visibly.
On the night between 20 and 21 April 1590, the night of Good Friday, 'without pain and without a drop of blood' one foot came off cleanly and the other during the day. The feet were exposed in an iron cage and are still visible in the Sanctuary today, because the great resonance of the event brought a large crowd of pilgrims, devoted, curious, who wanted to see them; With them the offerings arrived, it became necessary to build a large church, of which he was appointed rector s. Giovanni Leonardi by Pope Clement VIII.
On May 1, 1593 the first stone of the current Sanctuary was laid and the Dominican fathers took over the management of it today and still are. The temple was built all around the chapel of the Madonna, which was also restored and embellished with marble, in 1621; the image after these works was partially covered by a marble, so that only the upper part of the fresco, the half-bust of the Madonna and Child remained visible all this time; recent works have brought to light and to the veneration of the faithful the whole image.

Various wonders were repeated around the sacred effigy, which began to bleed again in 1638 for several days, in 1675 it was seen surrounded by stars, a phenomenon also observed by Pope Benedict XIII.
The Sanctuary collects in its rooms and on the walls, thousands of silver votive offerings, but above all thousands of painted votive tablets, representing the miracles received by the offerers, which constitute, besides the testimony of the devotion, an interesting historical and costume overview of the centuries passed.
The cult of the Madonna dell'Arco is supported by ancient popular devotion, propagated by lay associations, scattered throughout the Campania area, but above all Neapolitan, its components are called 'battenti' or 'fujenti' that is those who flee, run; the companies of these devotees are called 'paranze' and have an organization with offices, presidents, treasurers, flag bearers and members.
They have flags, labari, dressed in white, men, women and children, with a red and blue shoulder strap, which characterizes them. They organize pilgrimages, usually on Easter Monday, which starting from the various places where they are located, carry simulacra on the shoulder large enough to employ thirty, forty men and always all on foot and at a run, they travel many km to converge at the Sanctuary , many are barefoot; along the way, offerings are collected for the Shrine, which they have been doing for a couple of months before, turning to groups with flags, music band and devotional clothes for the neighborhoods, neighborhoods and streets of cities and towns.
But if the Sanctuary with the adjoining grandiose Dominican convent is the center of worship, in many streets and corners of Naples and the villages of Campania, chapels, newsagents, churches dedicated to the Madonna dell'Arco have arisen, which everyone takes care of guard, look after and beautify, so as to continue devotion all year round and close to one's home.
Prayer
O Mary, welcome me under your mighty Arch and protect me! Invoked with this title for over five centuries, you explain to us open and solemn the affection of Mother, the power and mercy of Queen towards the afflicted. I, full of faith, so I invoke you: love me as a Mother, protect me as a Queen, lift my pains, O Merciful.