Our Lady of the Day (12 July 1586) – Our Lady of the Fields (Madonna dei Campi – aka (also known as) Nostra Signora della Preghiera – [Our Lady of Prayer]), Stezzano, Bergamo, Italy
History of the Marian shrine of “Our Lady of the Fields” and first appearance:
In the twelfth century in the fields west of Stezzano, about 2 km from the town center, a shrine was built in honor of the Mother of God. Most of the population was in fact dedicated to agricultural activity and often during the working hours they used to stop their word for prayer. In the following century, the first apparition took place in front of this votive chapel / shrine: the Madonna with the Child Jesus in her arms appeared to a pious woman of the village.
Following this prodigious event, the population built the first church called “Our Lady of the Fields” (Madonna dei Campi). The years of construction of the church were part of a historical period characterized by important political, economic, cultural and religious changes.
Our Lady of Prayer and the second apparition:
On 12th July 1586 the Virgin appeared to two peasant women, Bartolomea Bucanelli, aged 10, and Dorotea Battistoni, aged 11, at a Church located in the Stazzanese countryside. The temple was built over an ancient thirteenth-century shrine following the apparition of the Mary to a woman who was in prayer. One of the frescoes in the Church, depicting the Virgin holding the Child Jesus in her arms, began to ooze water in the early summer of 1586. The phenomenon repeated itself with an interval of two or three days, but with such intensity as to flood the floor.
It is here that on July 12 the two visionaries, intent on grazing their cows in the surrounding meadows, wanting to enter the small chapel to pray, could not do it because the door was closed. They then began their prayers facing the windows, closed by grates, when they saw a noble figure of Woman, dressed in black and with a very white veil that came down on her shoulders, and reading a booklet held in her hands. Of course, the two girls mentioned it to their families. Several people, in different hours and times, were able to see the same beautiful woman praying, now on her knees and now in midair, to immediately disappear and then reappear. The episcopal investigation ascertained the extraordinary nature of the events. The small church was transformed into a sanctuary in the late 1600s.
PRAYER
O Virgin Mary,
chosen by the Father to be the Mother of the Redeemer,
Bride of the Holy Spirit,
image of the Church and perfect model of Christian life,
we praise you and thank you
because you deigned to manifest your presence in this place
as a minister of piety and Queen of love.Perfect disciple of Christ
and model of those who welcome the Word of God
and put it into practice,
obtain for your children the gift of unceasing prayer,
that all our daily life
maybe transfigured by the presence of the Spirit.Lady of immense goodness,
visit, comfort and enlighten our families,
your sons and daughters,
especially the sick, the elderly,
the suffering in body and spirit.You who are the cooperator of the Redeemer,
support our faith with your intercession
and revive our hope,
that no obstacle may deviate us from the road
which leads to salvation,
and we can come,
with our deceased brothers,
to praise our God with you,
Father and Son and Holy Spirit,
for all ages.
Amen.
Imprimatur by Fr. Antonio Locatelli – Vicar General, Bergamo 11-3-1986
VIDEO PILGRIMAGE & DOCUMENTARY:
Sources:
Sito Ufficiale: http://www.madonnadeicampi.org/.
https://parrocchiastezzano.it/.
http://www.mariadinazareth.it/apparizione%20stezzano.htm
https://biscobreak.altervista.org/2014/07/madonna-dei-campi/.
