Pope commemorates 1500th anniversary of Roman Marian apparition
July 18, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis has written a message for the 1500th anniversary of devotion to the image of Santa Maria in Portico, patroness of Rome.
“The cult of St. Mary in Portico in Campitelli was born following a prodigious apparition of the Mother of God on 17 July 524, in the house of St. Galla, a Roman patrician, in the presence of the Pontiff St. John I,” Pope Francis wrote. “Since then, the Portico where the noble Galla welcomed the poor and pilgrims became a Marian shrine and hospice of charity.”
“The Holy Virgin manifested herself at a particularly difficult moment for the Church, extending her mantle to Pope John I, who suffered and died for peace without repudiating the faith, taken hostage by political plots and fratricidal violence,” the Pope continued. “In view of the current situation, how can we fail to grasp the urgency of promoting peace, of praying for peace?”
Pope Francis addressed his message to the rector general of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God, which has been entrusted with the pastoral care of the shrine since 1601. In his message, the Pontiff also paid tribute to St. John Leonardi, the order’s founder.
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