Our Lady of the Fire
Our Lady of the Fire (Italian: Madonna del Fuoco) is an image of the Madonna and Child, venerated in Forlì and considered the protector of the city.
This early Italian devotional print was displayed in a school in Forlì, starting in 1425. It survived the 1428 fire that destroyed the school, and was subsequently venerated and moved to the city's cathedral, Santa Croce. The print is a hand-coloured woodcut, one of the oldest woodcuts extant. It depicts annunciation and crucifixion scenes, as well as various saints.
In memory of the fire, one or more red candles are displayed from the windows of the houses of Forlì, left to burn down during the night on 4 and 5 February. Where once was the school, now stands the Church of the Miracle of Our Lady of the Fire.
History
The image of the Madonna, a woodcut on paper supported by a wooden tablet, was exhibited from 1425 on the wall of a school in Forlì where a certain Mastro Lombardino da Riopetroso taught. During the winter, a fireplace was lit inside the school so that the pupils could be heated. It is probable that on that fateful evening, at the end of the lessons, they did not make sure that the ashes were well extinguished. During the night of Wednesday 4 February 1428, a fire then developed that engulfed the school, destroying it. The population rushed to contain the fire and save what was possible. The fire, however, lasted several days and only blackened rubble remained of the school. It was therefore a great surprise to find the image of the Madonna practically intact. Among the witnesses, there was also the famous Ugolino Urbevetano of Forlì.
The governor of the city, the papal legate Monsignor Domenico Capranica ordered the image to be brought to the cathedral of the city with a solemn procession, held on 8 February.
At the end of the fifteenth century, Caterina Sforza decided, in honour of the Madonna del Fuoco, to give life to the Compagnia dello Spirito Santo ('Company of the Holy Spirit'), made up of eight priests, and to the Congregazione di Carità ('Congregation of Charity').
The image was exhibited for the first time in the Chapel of San Bartolomeo, in the city cathedral; later, from 1619 to 1636, the construction of a chapel was commissioned in the left aisle of the church to house and venerate the patron saint of the city.
On 26 August 1601, the image of the Madonna del Fuoco was crowned for the first time, according to the pious practice of crowning the Marian images that the Capuchin Girolamo Paolucci de' Calboli da Forlì was spreading in those years. According to the writings of Cardinal Barberini, the Solemnity of the Madonna del Fuoco of Forlì was celebrated for the first time on 20 October 1636, coinciding with the translation of the miraculous image.
In honour of the Madonna del Fuoco, a column was erected in Piazza Maggiore (now Piazza Aurelio Saffi) with the marble statue of Clemente Molli dedicated to the Madonna (removed in 1909 and later, at the time of Bishop Raimondo Jaffei, re-erected in Piazza of the Duomo.
Two days earlier, the children of all the schools of Forlì came in procession from the nearby church of San Filippo Neri and attached a drawing (relating to the story of the Madonna del Fuoco) and a flower to the railing that is located around the statue of the Madonna.
The traditional Fiorita della Madonna del Fuoco was founded in 1984, by a small group of families from Forlì who wanted to make their children understand, with a language understandable to children and adults, the importance of the event that is celebrated on 4 February.
Piadina della Madonna
The Fiera della Madonna del Fuoco ('Fair of Our Lady of the Fire') takes place on 4 February in the square in front of the Cathedral of Forlì and in the nearby streets.
Along with stalls of all kinds, stand out the stalls selling the traditional Piadina della Madonna del Fuoco, a simple and ancient sweet bread, with aniseed and sugar.
The piadina is also found in the city's ovens in the days close to the festival.
The sweet bread recalls the distribution of bread, during a period of famine, mixed with flour purchased with the proceeds from the sale of the Treasure of the Madonna del Fuoco, formed by votive gifts made by the faithful for the graces received by invoking Mary in her manifestation of Blessed Maiden of Fire.
As a work of art
The image of the Madonna del Fuoco is a woodcut on plain paper, of uncertain dating, glued and probably also nailed, for unknown reasons, to a wooden board.
The long studies conducted confirm with certainty that the image can be dated before 1420. It therefore seems possible to affirm that the woodcut was produced between the end of the fourteenth century and the early years of the fifteenth century. It is probably the oldest woodcut on paper in all of Italy and one of the oldest in Europe.
The image measures 49 x 40 cm. The engraving shows multiple figures: the main figure is that of the crowned Madonna holding the baby Jesus in her arms; on the sides of the face of the Virgin there are reproductions of the sun and the moon, ancient reminiscences of an ancient pagan cult, re-signified by the Fathers of the Church. The ancient Christians not only knew how to see in the sun (Helios) the shining image of what they thought to be the true Sun of justice, but, comforted in this also by many recurrences in Scripture, they saw in the moon (Selene) "the symbol of that maternally welcoming, humbly receptive entity of light, which has become a living reality in Mary and in the Church". On the sides of the Madonna and below there are numerous and various figures of saints while above the head of the Virgin there is the scene of the Crucifixion, between the Angel and the Virgin of the Annunciation.
Other works of art
The miracle of the Madonna del Fuoco is the subject of a lunette by Giovanni di Mastro Pedrino, painted in 1438 for the tenth anniversary of the event, and is present in the Cathedral of Forlì.
In Pescara, a painting of the Madonna del Fuoco is venerated in the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Fuoco, built in the eighteenth century.
In literature
The successful prose work Il Fuoco Trionfante, by Giuliano Bezzi, is the oldest monograph on a printed picture.
Spread of the cult
The devotion also spread outside Forlì, reaching, among other things, Cervia, Cesena, Rimini, Ancona, Rome and Uganda.
In Cervia, she is considered the patron saint of salt workers, who in ancient times, on 4 February, made a pilgrimage on foot to Forlì. Today the tradition is resuming, even if the walking route has not yet been reintroduced.
In Ancona, where she is venerated in the collegiate church of Santa Maria della Piazza, she became the protector of bakers.
In Rome, on 4 February, the Romagnola family celebrates the feast in the church of San Marcello al Corso.
In addition, the International Museum of Cinema and Entertainment (Museo internazionale del cinema e dello spettacolo) in Rome considers her the patron saint of MICS itself and, more generally, of all the visual and sound archives. Likewise, the International Federation of Archives of Images and Sounds (Internazionale degli Archivi delle Immagini e dei Suoni), which also has its headquarters in Rome, considers her the patron saint of these types of archives.
In Abruzzo, in July, the statue of the Madonna del Fuoco is venerated in Pescara, in the sanctuary of the same name (mentioned above) in the Villa del Fuoco district. According to some, the devotion spread in the 16th century during the repopulation of the Pescara fortress.
In 1926, in preparation for the celebrations for the fifth centenary of the miracle, it was decided to erect a mission dedicated to Our Lady of the Fire in Uganda.
In 1928, the explorer Umberto Nobile launched an image of the Madonna del Fuoco on the ice of the pack ice from the airship Italia, bound for the North Pole.
The memory of the cult is also preserved by the local cuisine of the region, and in particular by the piadina of the Madonna del Fuoco, a type of sweet aniseed focaccia.
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3842611
References
Sources
- XXX
This article "Our Lady of the Fire" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Our Lady of the Fire. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
|
This page exists already on Wikipedia. |
