Bologna

Our Lady of St. Luke without the covers

Madonna della Guardia (Our Lady of the Guard)
Madonna di San Luca (Our Lady of St. Luke)

In her Santuario Madonna di San Luca, Via di San Luca, 36, 40135 Bologna BO,  possibly 5th century original painted over in the 11-12th century, tel: +390516142339

By Anasuya Isaacs with Ella Rozett

ARE YOU A BLACK MADONNA?

Although none of the Catholic Church sites call her a Black Madonna, the Italian Wikipedia article, the University of Dayton Ohio, and plenty of others on Black Madonnas, do. Everyone calls her the Madonna of St. Luke (the evangelist) and as far as we know, all the Madonnas attributed to him (18 in this index so far) are black. Certainly noteworthy that the first iconographer and portraitist of the Virgin Mary portrayed her as black!

Having the illustrious pedigree of a Madonna painted by St. Luke himself, she carries immeasurable sanctity and blessings. In many recent photos she appears to be white, but in older photos she seems darker. Maybe she was recently renovated/bleached/got a face lift – whatever you want to call it. And maybe she was never real dark, but only what Europeans call “oriental”, i.e. Middle Eastern looking, just dark enough to get labeled as “black”. As an Italian friend once explained to me: “To Europeans any Virgin, who is NOT white, is a Black Madonna, whether she looks yellow, tan, beige, cafe au lait, caramel, chocolate, or coal black.”

There is something else to consider: even though the icon is small in size, it surprises those who get close enough to see a holy mystery right before their eyes. To those who have gone and paid homage to this Black Madonna with pure hearts, it is said that her gaze followed them, reminding us that she never leaves us. We leave her.

Some also say that one can see a second portrait “even more ancient” behind the icon that is “more oriental.” Could she have been blacker in the original? Could the Mother have had revisionists alter her being to look more like the parishioners than her holy black self?

The Roman Catholic church says that “The icon shows the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus in blessing. She wears a blue-green robe, with a red tunic. The nose, eyes and fingers appear somewhat elongated. The Divine Child wears a tunic of the same color as His mothers’, with his right hand in a gesture of giving a blessing, and his left hand being closed. In 1625 the image was covered with a silver panel which leaves only the faces of the figures uncovered.

The icon was crowned in 1603 by Archbishop Alfonso Paleotti. The sanctuary of Saint Luke, where the icon is kept, was declared a national monument in the year 1874. In 1907 the church was raised to the dignity of a minor basilica by Pope Saint Pius X.”[1]

The history of Our Lady of the Guard is quite fascinating. As is often the case, there are contradictory accounts and legends associated with this Black Madonna. She has several dates for when her story begins, but they all agree that she was brought from present day Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople). Officially, the Roman Catholic church supports what Abbot Orsini wrote: “This picture was in the Church of Santa Sophia, at Constantinople, with this inscription: “This picture, painted by Saint Luke, must be taken to the mountain of La Garde, and placed over the altar of the church. … A Greek monk set out for Italy about the year 433, with the picture entrusted to him, and deposited it on the mountain of La Garde.”[2]

According to several other sources, the Greek pilgrim, Teocle, in the mid 12th century, was entrusted with the valuable icon of the Madonna and child, to be brought to the Colle Della Guardia in Italy. When Teocle made it to Rome, he asked all around where he could find the “hill of the Guard” and was told it was in the city of Bologna. The Bishop of Bologna Gerardo Grassi (who died in 1165) received the icon from Teocle, and in 1160, put it into the reverent care of two pious sister hermits, Azzolina and Beatrice Guezi, who lived in the small monastery with a small chapel that had been there a thousand years overlooking the city on the mountain top of Colle della Guardia (the Mountain of the Guard). The sisters took great care to adorn La Madonna with reverence, love, flowers and jewels.[3]

The icon depicts a Madonna and Child according to the classic oriental (Middle Eastern) type called Hodegetria which in Greek means, “She who Shows the Way.” Hodegetria icons are of the “Theotokos,” (Greek for ‘Mother of God’, a title of the Virgin Mary). Hodegetria Madonnas point to Jesus in their arms as the source of salvation for humankind as baby Jesus holds up his hand in the blessing posture. The style of her icon is Middle Eastern, honoring the confluence of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in Constantinople at the time. Painted in the Byzantine school of the 9th and 10th centuries, the icon was most likely created between the 12th and 13th century by a Middle Eastern artist,[4] although it could have been painted over a more ancient version.

 GOT MIRACLES?

It is said that many miracles were granted by Our Lady of the Guard. The one that is most cited is the “miracle of the rain” which occurred on July 5th, 1433. Extremely heavy spring rains came in the Summer, threatening to destroy the crops. Facing the prospect of famine, a member of the City’s ruling council, Graziolo Accarisi, suggested that the icon of the Madonna and Child be brought down to the city to implore the Madonna to save Bologna from devastation. When the procession of the miraculous icon arrived down from the mountain and into the city of Bologna, the storm and rains stopped immediately. This saved the crops and prevented a famine. Since that day, in gratitude for the miracle, the icon is led by a procession down from her sanctuary into the city every year on the first Sunday of July. This is the source of both great pride and great faith for the Bolognese. Pilgrims come from all over the world to celebrate this Black Madonna during this week of festivities. This has been going on uninterrupted for almost 600 years!

 THE HISTORY OF YOUR SANCTUARY

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Guard has been the symbol of Bologna as well as a place of religious worship for centuries and it was all the idea of a woman! In 1192, Angelica Bonfantini, a Bolognese noblewoman, asked Pope Celestine III for permission to build and pay for a place of worship on Monte della Guardia for the Blessed Virgin of St. Luke, guarded by a skete, a settlement of monks or ascetics she also founded. In 1193, the Pope heeded her offer and sent the first stone for the new building to the Bishop of Bologna with the mandate that it be the cornerstone of the cathedral on top of the mountain.[5]

At the end of the 15th century, the sanctuary was completely restored. The current temple was completed in 1765 in the Baroque style, its dome, facade and outer side stands were added in 1774. In 1815, new marble altars were erected, and in the 20th century, the dome was decorated. Inside the temple, you can see works by Donato Creti, Guido Reni, Giuseppe Mazza, Vittorio Bigari and Guercino. In 1874, the Basilica received the status of a national monument.[6] 

Her sancutary is round as a womb and to Ella Rozett the Black Madonna is the womb of God.

 YOU AND THE DEVIL?!

In the 18th century, the sanctuary was connected to the city walls by the world's longest portico. It is almost four kilometers in length and was created to protect the icon and those in the annual procession from the elements.[7] This wonder had the Basilica included 0n the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in 2021. Most websites state that there are 666 arches in this portico,[8] which makes one wonder why this “number of the beast”? Some speculate that the length and shape of the portico resemble a snake and the number of arches was chosen to symbolize the Madonna’s victory over the the Devil.[9]

Maybe so, certainly Our Lady is often shown standing barefoot on a living Snake, sweetly smiling, with the Devil not dead, but under control in its place: under her feet! It makes me think of a statement by Our Lady of Medjugorje: “Wherever I go, Jesus is there, and also Satan.”[10] To me, that says something about the Yin and Yang nature of the universe, where you can’t have God without the Devil, good without evil, night without day, and everything has its place. After all, Matthew 4:1 says that the Spirit led Jesus into the desert or wilderness to be tempted and tested by the Devil.[11] God knows that we need testing in order to grow and allows the Devil to tempt us. Our Lady is there to assure us that ultimately, with her help, we will pass the test.

For more on Our Lady and Evil, read on the Black Madonna of Ronzieres.

 Footnotes:

[1]  https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-la-guarde.html
[2]  https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-la-guarde.html
[3]  https://www.threemonkeysonline.com/bolognas-santuario-della-madonna-di-san-luca/
[4]  https://www.threemonkeysonline.com/bolognas-santuario-della-madonna-di-san-luca/
[5]  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_di_San_Luca,_Bologna
[6] https://usefultravelarticles.com/7156-madonna-di-san-luca-description-and-photos-italy-bologna.html
[7] https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/emilia-romagna-and-san-marino/bologna/attractions/basilica-santuario-della-madonna-di-san-luca/a/poi-sig/419325/359887
[8] Only  https://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/blog/the-porticoes-of-bologna counts 664 arches.
[9] ItalyMagazine.com
[10] https://www.medjugorje.com/radiowave/south-be-ready
[11] For a decent article on testing and tempting sometimes used as synonyms in the Bible see: http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/special_topics/greek_terms_testing.html
Other source: website of the sanctuary Madonna di San Luca