The apparition
We are in Genoa, having lived much of my childhood in a school that bears his name we could not stop visiting the place where Our Mother asked a humble peasant a chapel in his honor, this happened on August 29, 1490.
We talked about the Monte Figogna where Benedetto Paretto used to take his sheep, until one day while waiting for someone to reach him the lunch, he suddenly saw a majestic Lady, that by the beauty of his face, the sweetness of his ways was not manifested as a character of the earth, but as Queen of Heaven.
He was so afraid that he was speechless, and the Lady says:
“Do not be afraid, Benedetto. I am Mary, the Mother of Jesus. “And indicating a place with his hand, he said: “I want you to make me build a Chapel”. ”Lady,” replied Paretto, “I am ready to do whatever you entrust to me. But I am so poor, and to build on this mountain so high, it will take so much expense that I hope to be able to do it “.
“Benedetto,” replied Maria, “do not fear; With my help, everything will be easy for you. “
“Well,” Paretto concluded, “in you I trust, oh, my Lady, I will put my hands to the work entrusted to me”.
And the Virgin, rising towards the sky, left the soul of Benedetto full.
Only eager to let everyone know what happened quickly descended from the mountain to his own house, but his wife, when he heard him incredulous told him not to talk to anyone about the subject because others would take him for insane. And Benedetto, he was so humiliated, that I do not talk about it anymore, for some time. One day, in his daily chore, Beneddetto climbed the branch of a fig tree for breakfast.
The branch broke, and he fell to the ground, being so bad of that fall that he was carried in his arms by his housemates to his house, the doctors said it was very serious. The poor man thought to prepare himself with the acts of religion for his departure and he was sorry he had not obeyed the Queen of Heaven, so much so that in that fall he recognized the punishment for his disobedience.
But Maria appeared a second time and sweetly reproached him for his disobedience and reminded him of his request for the chapel, leaving him perfectly healthy. Since then he began collecting alms saying he wanted to build a Chapel in honor of the Virgin, which he said he had an order to make.
The name of the invocation:
The reason for the name is presumed to come from a time when the Greeks and Romans dominated the region and placed guard posts on the mountains, with Mount Figogna being one of these mountains. But the Virgin showed the facts to be truly guard and protector of the Genoese people. From Mount Figogna, devotion spread throughout the world, highlighting the sanctuaries of Piedmont, America and Africa.
The experience
Now let’s live it. We arrived with my wife without having much detail of what was in the place, only that it was the place where Maria had made an appearance.
We began to visit the Shrine admired for its beauty and with deep emotion given, under this dedication the parish is consecrated where we prayed with my wife many times, even when the temple is closed we have stopped near his image to ask or thank something.
After a few minutes we realized that the Mass was beginning and of course we stayed despite not speaking Italian, the Mass is understood anyway, since the Word of the Lord transcends languages.
The priest gave a simple but profound homily, one of those that touch your heart. We left the full mass, went to the chapel of the apparitions (about 200 meters from the Basilica) and bought some souvenirs in the business.
We had the grace to see the priest of the homily talking with some people, we waited for him to ask for the blessing of the newly purchased gifts.
The priest agreed immediately and we talked, it turned out that he had been in “our” temple in Bernal (where we usually go to pray with my wife) and not only had been there, but who had blessed the image where we pray.
Finally he had a gesture of maximum humility when we asked for a blessing and took our hands and kissed our wedding rings.
Traveler’s tips
- Genoa is a difficult city, but everything can be done with care.
- Arriving at Monte Figogna is cumbersome, and by public transport you lose almost three hours for a few km, as advice to share a taxi.
- The place is special for everyone, but even more so for those who passed by a house with the name of Our Lady of the Guard or some house of Don Orione, for whom it was very important.
- Try to meet Father Marco Granada, a very special being.
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