In today’s Sanctuary of Capodigiano the Virgin and Baby Jesus donated the “white sandwich” to San Garardo
Il Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie of Capodigiano, a hamlet of Muro Lucano, returns to celebrate. After years of inactivity due to the pandemic, we return to celebrate a celebration that is dear to the people of Mures, that of Our Lady of Grace. Holy Masses and liturgy unite with the deep faith of the faithful who go to the feet of the Virgin and her Child.
The Sanctuary is a place with a double religious significance: the statue that dominates behind the altar is in fact the protagonist of one of the miracles concerning the Patron Saint of Basilicata, Gerardo Majella of Muro Lucano.
Here in fact in 1732, at only six years old, Gerardo receives a white sandwich from the hands of a “smiling child” and in the background you can see a beautiful lady.
Inside the church there are fragments of medieval frescoes (among which an Angel and a Madonna enthroned between two unidentifiable Saints), the 15th century statue of the Madonna delle Grazie placed on the main altar, and the canvas painted by Louis Moser from Viennawhich recalls the apparitions of the Madonna and the Child Jesus with the white bread to San Gerardo: the painter in 1943 he used as a model for the painting, a child from Muro, who is still alive today.
The day of celebrations is not lacking in lights and festive activities. A day that has been repeated and renewed for hundreds of years, in a place that has experienced profound transformations: In Numistrone, Dr. Martuscelli tells that where the Sanctuary stands today, “there was a lovely and delightful site. Ancient oaks crown the heights surrounding the plain where the church is… in the shade of those majestic trees after the mass has been heard and the procession has returned, tables are set on the grass. At vespers we return to church, after which we dance on the lawns until late.”
With a leap even further back in time, This church was built between the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th centuryu a pre-existing place of worship, precisely an ancient pagan temple in which the god Janus was venerated. Il the builder was the master Sarolo da Murofamous architect and builder who created numerous religious buildings in Basilicata.
Lions and the Funerary Sacrificial Altardating back to the Roman imperial age, embellish the two entrances, equipped with historiated bronze doors.
