ROME PILGRIMAGE TO HODEGETRIA AND MARIA AVVOCATA ON THE FEAST OF ST. LUKE THE EVANGELIST
I lead this Hodegetria Pilgrimage in Rome every year. If you didn’t make it for October 18, 2023, plan for 2024 and 2025, ANY DATE, any day. This information is so important for those who have to give advanced notice at work. Note that I can lead this Hodegetria Pilgrimage any day as it is not seasonal. Any day you are in Rome and would like to visit Hodegetria and Maria Avvocata attributed to St. Luke, they are available for viewing.
Otherwise, if you’re in Rome Italy on October 18, 2024, come join me for a 3 hour half day Pilgrimage to the Icons of the Virgin Mary painted by St. Luke. These LIVING ICONS, PAINTED IN THE PRESENCE OF MARY WHILE SHE WAS ALIVE, painted in Old Style Byzantine. These are the icons preserved in Rome Italy. This is not an exhaustive list of Luke’s icons of the Virgin Mary the world over, and it is not an exhaustive list of Living Icons of the BVM attributed to Luke in Rome. I selected 7 icons because of their famous history and famous Churches housing them in Rome. I mention copies of Icons and where they are housed. We will visit other famous features of each Church and see as many ICONS as we have time for. If after reading all my posts on these LIVING ICONS and you would like to see a different assortment please inform me.
Rome houses these 7 Virgin Mary icons. The most famous is the SALUS POPULI ROMANI in the Borghese Chapel in LA BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE. Luke painted this icon on a cedar table top from a table made by Jesus. This was after Mary went to live in the home of St. John in Ephesus.
Action history of the SALUS POPULI ROMANI connects the painting to Castel Sant’ Angelo in 590 A.D. when the icon was part of a procession in April at Eastertime to stop the deadly Bubonic Plague. Pope Gregory the Great heard Angelic voices singing the Regina Coeli and at the same time saw a vision of Archangel Michael sheathing his sword atop Hadrian’s Fortress, signifying the end of the Plague. The statue of the Archangel Michael on top of Castel Sant’ Angelo memorializes Pope Gregory I’s vision of the Archangel at the same time he was parading SALUS POPULI ROMANI through the streets of Rome. Heaven heard the pleas and prayers of the people.
The icon has an illustrious history and continues to be visited by Pope Francis as he leaves and returns to Rome. The Pope recently left THREE GOLDEN PAPAL ROSES AT THE FOOT OF THIS ICON. St Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine I, had a hand in transporting this icon to Rome.
You can see THE THREE GOLDEN PAPAL ROSES ON THE MANTEL AT THE FOOT OF THE ANGEL. I took these fotos the day after the Pope’s visit to SANTA MARIA MAGGIORE.
CLASSICAL PANTHEON ODIGITRIA
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9M-O0-MsAX/?igsh=MThoMzdlbXh0MTJndg==
The MADONNA DEL CONFORTO is based in LA BASILICA DI SANTA FRANCESCA ROMANA. This Basilica is at the Roman Forum but can be accessed from outside the Forum. This is an example of an Icon made and remade over a long history. At one point an artist cut out Mary’s head and the baby’s head and placed them on another form. So it became a matter of restoring the heads over the cutouts. As you can see, the new attempts didn’t exactly line up with old lines. An example of preservation of something very precious.
The MADONNA di SAN LUCA IN SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO is in LA CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DEL POPOLO at Piazza del Popolo, at the north end of Via del Corso.
The MADONNA DELLE GRAZIE is in LA CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE and has been at various address locations in Rome, this particular depiction shown here is ON A STREET CORNER just outside VATICAN CITY, ROME. This is the only suckling Icon I know of.
LA CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DELLE GRAZIE, Via Foro Romano, Via della Consolazione 4, al Trionfale, ROME.
There is another famous Virgin Mary icon painted by St. Luke, known as The MADONNA DI SAN SISTO, later known as MADONNA DEL ROSARIO, the MARIA AVVOCATA. The original was given by St. Dominic to the Dominican Nuns at LA CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DEL ROSARIO a MONTE MARIO. Monte Mario is a very high hill in Rome, the back of the Church faces the street and the front of the Church overlooks the grand panorama of Rome in the valley below, a surprising and glorious sight. This icon is preserved behind a grille and the Nuns display it from their convent. It also appears as a copy on the walkway to the Church doors. This icon is considered the oldest Living Icon of Mary.
Copies of the MARIA AVVOCATA are also found in LA CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA IN VIA LATA. VIA LATA is the Church built over St. Luke’s house in Rome so we can see where Luke lived in Rome. Via Lata was the ancient name for Via del Corso, a street from Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo. Yet other stories say that Luke painted this icon when he lived at Via Lata during the time Paul spent in a basement cell under house arrest in Luke’s house, so it’s not exactly a copy when the Master paints it.
Another copy of MARIA AVVOCATA is found in SANTA MARIA IN ARA COELI at Piazza Venezia. Note this icon has subtle differences from other MARIA AVVOCATA. This Mary Icon is the Icon of the GOLDEN HANDS.
And yet another copy of MARIA AVVOCATA is in Palazzo Barberini at Piazza Barberini. The MARIA AVVOCATA ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY POINT TO MARY AS INTERCESSOR.
The Virgin Mary icon of OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP is in LA CHIESA DI SANT’ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI on the lovely street of Via Merulana. This Church has a lovely large gift shop with various items emblazoned with this colorful meaningful icon.
These Virgin Mary icons in Rome are attributed to St. Luke, the stuff Legends are made of. Carbon dating may say something else but the techniques date back to the 1st century.
For information on Account Details email me at sandra.panici@hotmail.com or text me on Messages or WhatsApp at 01139 338 744 7764. 0039 is area code if texting from Europe. I live in Rome.
I arrange for all transportation and tickets if needed to the Roman Forum and to underground areas of churches where relevant to the Pilgrimage, and other relevant entrance fees as exacted. Cost of Pilgrimage is a flat charge of 500 Euro. This base price per Pilgrimage may be adjusted for a group depending on its size.
Sandra Panici, the Roman Pilgrim in Person in Rome
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