The bishop mgr. Aurelio Marena was linked to the young Nunzio Sulprizio as postulator of his cause of beatification, who died at the age of just 19 in Naples due to a serious bone pathology (left leg), the then bishop of Bitonto wanted to promote his cult in the diocese of Bitonto with a group marble statue dedicated to him in the Basilica dei Santi Medici.
He was beatified in the presence of all the bishops of the world gathered in the Second Vatican Council by Pope Paul VI on 1 December 1963 and was canonized by Pope Francis on 14 October 2018.
Yesterday May 5th the liturgical calendar marks the memory of San Nunzio Sulprizio, the parish priest-rector Don Gaetano Coviello with dedication he saw fit to embellish the chapel dedicated to him by placing a glass lamp with a scented burning wick, a symbol of authentic faith, a fine white silk cloth, a floral decoration well lit by spotlights.
In the liturgical memory of San Nunzio Sulprizio the Holy Masses were celebrated, the faithful of Bitonto during the pre-holiday Mass (Saturday evening) and the morning Mass received the sacrament of confirmation (confirmation) from mgr. Angelo Garofalo episcopal vicar for school and culture, who brought cordial greetings with an affectionate embrace of mgr. Giuseppe Satriano archbishop of Bari-Bitonto, concelebrated Don Gaetano Coviello parish priest-rector e Don Tommaso Genchi parish vicar.
The former parish priest-rector mgr. Francesco Savino bishop of Cassano all’Ionio and vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference took care of the triduum in preparation for the feast of Nunzio Sulprizio with the recitation of the meditated rosary and the Eucharistic celebrations.
On the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy the former parish priest-rector mgr. Vito Piccinonna bishop of Rieti thought it best to embellish the chapel by eliminating a low golden aluminum railing, then in 2022 he had a reliquary containing the relics set at the base of the pedestal of the marble group, which were donated by mgr. Domenico Battaglia archbishop of Naples, a bone fragment and some hair threads, on the oval case with the inscription: “Sancti Nuntii Sulprizio… ex Ossibus… ex Capillis”.
In the valuable volume “The charisma of the bishop Msgr. Aurelio Marena (1950-1978) in the Pontifical Basilica of Saints Doctors Cosma and Damiano”the author of the volume was the prof. Giuseppe Cannito president emeritus of the archconfraternity Immaculate Conception, Patron Saint of Bitonto, sponsored by the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto and by the Municipality of Bitonto Department of Culture, devotional, artistic and architectural news of the marble group depicting the young worker Nunzio Sulprizio with Colonel Felice is reported Wochinger,
It is located in the east side, near the entrance door of the Basilica dei Santi Medici, is of marvelous finesse, was commissioned in 1973 by Bishop Marena and is the work of the sculptor Mario Colonna from Bari. You can see the young worker standing in mystical conversation with God, next to an anvil, a hammer rests on the pedestal below, kneeling in front of him in an attitude of prayer is Colonel Felice Wochinger, his protector, who welcomed him from the Incurable Hospitals of Naples in the last years of his life in his home and treated him like a son. From their faces shines the joy and happiness that one feels in fulfilling one’s duty, an expression of divine will and a means of sanctification.
The city of Bitonto boasts of possessing a treasure of Christian art in the Basilica of the Saints Medici, in which the valuable group echoes marble of San Nunzio Sulprizio venerated by the Bitontini.
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