On a spring day in 1740, a pilgrim on his way to Rome gets lost in the countryside south of the city. There are some ruins, a farmhouse and an old one ruined tower with a painting of the Virgin Mary on it. The wanderer heads in that direction, looking for someone to ask for directions, when he is surrounded by a group of rabid dogs. Terrified, the man rolls his eyes and turns to the isacred image. “My Madonna, grace!” She screams. The dogs immediately become meek and go away just as some shepherds arrive, summoned by the cries. The pilgrim tells them about the miracle that has just saved his life; his word spreads and reaches as far as Rome.
The history of the sanctuary is intertwined with the great history
Thus began the story of the most beloved shrine to the Romans, that of Madonna of Divine Lovein Castel di Leva, which has often been intertwined with the “great history”.
As in the Second World War, when Pope Pius XII he had the Marian image brought from the sanctuary to the center of Rome to preserve it from bombing. First it was housed in the homonymous church in Piazza Fontanella Borghese, and then, in May, given the enormous influx of faithful, it was moved to San Lorenzo in Lucina and again to Sant’Ignazio di Loyola.
On June 4, the Romans by the thousands gathered in the church and made the vote to Our Lady so that Rome would be spared. “And so it happened: the city was abandoned by the Germans and the Americans entered without a shot being fired. Then, on 11 June, Pius XII went to St. Ignatius in prayer to thank Mary ”.
To tell it is the cardinal Enrico Ferociwho at Divino Amore is parish priest and rector of the Seminary of the Oblates of the Madonna del Divino Amore.
The image of Our Lady of Divine Love
“The image of the Madonna del Divino Amore is probably from 1300, perhaps from the Cavallini school – explains the cardinal -; it was a painting placed on the tower of a castle and some historians say that it was already born as a sort of vow, in memory of pacification between great Roman families of that time. It has remained there for many centuries and in 1740 there was the first great miraculous manifestation ”.
Right from the start, “shepherds and wayfarers went to the area to bring candles and flowers to I remember of that first miraculous event – underlines Cardinal Feroci – and so great was the influx of pilgrims that a church was built as early as 1750 ”. This is the Ancient Sanctuary, which still remains open for most of the day today. The door closes at 10 pm “but the windows remain open – he explains -, so much so that there are those who stop to pray from outside during the night”.
The new sanctuary
The sanctuary of the Madonna del Divino Amore is however composed of two churches, the old one of 1745 and the new one on the occasion of the Jubilee of 2000, under the impulse of card. Camillo Ruini. Saint John Paul II consecrated it, an image of which is placed near the entrance.
“John Paul II said that Divine Love was’ there Maria’s country house‘- the cardinal still remembers -, because even in the center of Rome there are great Marian shrines such as Santa Maria Maggiore or Santa Maria in Portico, to name a few ”. But the sanctuary of Castel di Leva has always kept a special place in the hearts of the faithful: “The Eucharist is continuously displayed, then there is the chapel of penance for confessions, the chapel of Mary … they are the two points of reference of spirituality for those who come here to visit or on pilgrimage “.
A ten-year tradition
Many arrive on foot: from May to October, every Saturday, a night pilgrimage on foot, which concluded with Mass at 6 am. A ten-year tradition interrupted due to the pandemic, but which resumed last Saturday 19 March, thanks to the night pilgrimage for peace promoted by the diocese of Rome, presided over by the Cardinal Vicar Angelo De Donatis, in which almost ten thousand people participated.
“Very interesting is the fact that there were not only Romans, but people of all nations,” Feroci points out. A night itinerarywhich started from the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, where the image of the Madonna del Divino Amore had been brought.
The Decanto House
In the complex of Castel di Leva there is also Casa Decanto, wanted by the diocese of Rome: a large structure in front of the Ancient Sanctuary that “offers Roman priests – explains the manager Don Mauro Cianci – the opportunity to take care of themselves, allowing themselves a kind of pause from everyday life, through a family experience for listen again and get back in touch with your humanity. We welcome those who want to indulge in different spaces and times than usual for a short period at the Decanto ”.
Every year the sanctuary of the Madonna del Divino Amore stages a spectacular theatrical representation outdoors, known as the Sacred Representation of the Via Crucis of Divine Love, on Palm Sunday and Good Friday.
Over two hundred people recite in this, for a show that shows the last events in the life of Jesus. The presence of Roman soldiers on horseback, the fires that light up the night and the numerous special effects as well as sophisticated costumes worn by the actors make the scene still more suggestive.
The Sanctuary of the Gypsies
In the vast area of Divino Amore, on a hill outside the enclosure of the sanctuary, there is also the sanctuary of the Gypsiesdedicated in 2004 to a Catholic gypsy shot in 1936, during the Spanish civil war, named Zeffirino Giménez Malla, then beatified in 1997.
Every year, on May 4th, a pilgrimage of Catholic gypsiesformer patrons of the ancient sanctuary.
Itineraries of the Spirit / 2. The sanctuary of the Madonna del Divino Amore | The New Torrazzo