Chiesa Madonna del Pericolo

The Church, to which the Vizzinesi are deeply devoted, was in ancient times a simple cave dug into the rock, where during the persecution the Christians took refuge to pray. It is said that St. Gregory celebrated Mass there and left a relic, a small piece of wood belonging to the Cross of Our Lord. "The relic was later taken to the Matrix (Church of St. Gregory the Great), but it was carried out every year on May 3rd in a procession in the church of the Holy Cross". The reliquary bears the date of 1597, after the case. During the sixteenth century the first bishop of Syracuse commissioned various artists to propagate the devotion to the Madonna with murals. It is said that the bishop himself, San Marziano, ordered that the face of the Madonna be painted in the cave to be venerated. The church is very small, with a single nave, and has an eighteenth century façade, restored in 1837. To the left of the church is the original cave, at the entrance of which there is a plaque bearing the following inscription: A PERICULUS CUNCTIS FREE NOS SEMPER VIRGO GLORIOUS ET BENEDICTA. Inside the cave there is an oil painting on canvas of half a figure of the Madonna with the Child Jesus. There are various paintings in the rock including the face of the Madonna delle Grazie surrounded by angels. It is said that the painting was restored in the nineteenth century by the Vizzinese painter Francesco Inquanti. There was also a brotherhood. The present Pericolo church was built only in 1850, and its name derives from an ancient tradition: a local woman being accused of adultery, was seriously injured with a knife by her husband; she went in serious condition to the grotto of the Madonna del Pericolo to ask to be miraculous. The Madonna then appeared to the woman and by removing the dagger she healed her wounds on the spot. The building, rebuilt several times, passed under various dedications, including "S. Elena ”and the“ Santa Croce ”and over the centuries the sanctuary has become a destination for pilgrims from all over Sicily. This Madonna has been venerated for many centuries and is famous for miracles. Every Saturday the population still goes to the cave to pray and recite the Holy Rosary. In ancient times and up to a few decades ago, many devotees, for promised penitence or for grace received, also made long journeys barefoot to the grotto of the Madonna.

Bellissims