Marian Feast Days June 1 - Our Lady of the Star, Aquileia, Italy (15th century) The present Cathedral at Aquileia, the location of the miracle of Our Lady of the Star, was built by the Patriarch Poppo in the 11th century, and rebuilt in the beautiful Gothic style in the 14th century. As the cathedral was built over the remains of the previous church, the floor has magnificent mosaic paves dating from the 4th century, as well as ancient frescos. This feast day, Our Lady of the Star, is so called because of a miracle that occurred at Aquileia when Saint Bernardine arrived and began to preach. It is affirmed that a bright light similar to a star was seen on the head of St Bernardine, a star that was easily visible even during the hours of daylight when he preached at Aquileia, applying to the Blessed Virgin that passage of the Apocalypse where it is said that there were twelve stars on her head. 2 - Our Lady of Edessa, in Asia Minor (400) Saint Alexis, also known as Saint Alexius, is reputed to have been the son of a prominent Roman senator. Living in Rome in the 4th Century, Alexis was given an excellent education in his youth and saw his parents use their wealth to help the poor. As an adult, Alexis left Rome secretly and sailed to Syria and then journeyed to Edessa, where he began living as a common beggar at the entrance to a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Edessa. His family searched for him in vain for many years. Saint Alexis lived a beggar’s life, surviving off the meager alms he obtained each day after praying before the image of the Blessed Virgin at the shrine. He spent much of the rest of his time caring for the sick and infirm at Edessa’s hospital. He never his past or his name. One day the image venerated by Saint Alexis spoke to a sacristan, defending the saint while also revealing that Alexis was a “Man of God” and making known his holiness to all the people of Edessa. Suddenly venerated as a holy man by many, he fled the city for a place where he could remain unknown. He boarded a ship to Tarsus, but a storm forced the ship to the Italian coast. Seeing the hand of God in this he returned to his boyhood home in the city of Rome. His parents did not recognize their son but gave him modest employment and a miserable corner beneath the stairs where he could sleep. He revealed himself to no one, and never asked for anything more. Saint Alexis spent the remaining 17 years of his life as a stranger in his own home, suffering the contempt and buffets of his father’s servants in patience and humility. When Saint Alexis was found dead he held a scroll detailing the account of his life that God had commanded he put down in writing, and this document also revealed his identity. Alexis' parents were deeply saddened to learn that the beggar who had lived beneath the stairs and eaten the scraps from their table had actually been their own son, though they also realized that he was a saint who had suffered all for the love of God. He has also long been considered the patron saint of pilgrims and beggars. 3 - Our Lady of Sasopoli, Italy (14th century) As the stories put it, “in ancient times” a little shrine stood on a hill and it contained a tablet depicting the Blessed Virgin and the Child. And the plaque is, according to experts, a work of the Giotto School. Two young girls were praying at the shrine for their father to be healed when Our Lady appeared to them. Their father was healed and brought to the shrine where Mary told him to build a church on that spot. The man and his daughters spread the story of his recovery and of how the Virgin had appeared, but few believed them and nothing was done about the church. Then on August 15, the feast of the Assumption, when a goodly number where gathered at the shrine, the Virgin appeared for the third time. She told them she was displeased at the delay and demanded that they get busy and build her a church. Since the Virgin had appeared on the stone, and moreover, insisted that the church be erected on that very spot, it was natural the church and the image be called Madonna del Sasso or Our Lady of Sasopoli, Our Lady of the Stone. 4 - Our Lady of the Hill or Mountain, Lombardy, Italy (4th century) The sanctuary of the Sacred Hill at Varese in Lombardy, Italy, is said to have had its origin in a chapel built there to commemorate Our Lady’s appearing to Saint Ambrose of Milan during the later fourth-century. Saint Ambrose, a bishop as well as an early Church Father, fought heroically against the Ayrian heresy for a good part of his life. The heresy of Arianism takes its name from a heretic named Arius, who taught falsely that the Son of God was a mere creature, created by God and distinct from the Father. Saint Ambrose was also a great proponent of Mary, the Mother of God. It is believed that the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Ambrose during the time of the Ayrian conflict, and that the saint built the first chapel, Our Lady of the Hill, in that place at the request of the Mother of God, but also in thanksgiving for his victories while theologically refuting the heretical propositions of Arianism. 5 - Our Lady of Haut In 1428, Our Lady of Haut, in Hainault, France, restored a child to life after it had been dead several days to receive Holy Baptism. He lived five hours after receiving the sacrament and then melted away by degrees, like snow, in the presence of seventy-five persons. The Benedictines have perpetuated Haut or Hainault by erecting a monastery where daily and hourly the praises of Mary are sung in the canonical hours. Miracles still occur at the shrine of Our Lady of Haut. 6 - Institution of the Nuns of the Visitation of Our Lady, by St. Francis de Sales (1610) The Institute of the nuns of the Visitation of Our Lady, or the Order of the Visitation, were founded at Annecy, in Savoy, on June 6th of the year 1610, by Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, who was the first religious of the order. The institute was a contemplative order founded for young women and widows who felt they were called to the religious life, yet also felt that they did not have the ability to bear the austerities demanded by the other major religious orders. They were all women dedicated to prayer who sought to serve God in spirit and in truth, but the order especially honors the Blessed Virgin in the mystery of the Visitation. Initially, the order had no name, but was formed as a refuge for women who desired to dedicate their lives to doing works of charity. It began with four religious in a house that Saint Francis de Sales provided the new order that was located close to Lake Annecy, and soon there were ten more who joined as novices. St Francis decided upon the name of the order. The foremost virtue he exhorted the sisters to practice was humility, as he said himself, “humility is the fountain of all other virtues; don’t limit humility, make of it the principal one of all your actions.” 7 - Our Lady of Marienthal, Germany (13th Century) Marienthal is located perhaps an hour from the city of Hagenau, and is one of the many famous places of pilgrimage in the Alsace region of France. Our Lady of Marienthal has been visited by pilgrims for many centuries, and an old chronicle tells of wonderful miracles that were granted on behalf of many of the believers who visited the ancient church. The benevolent Virgin Mary obtained grace there for all of the afflicted, and when sinners called upon her for assistance they would inevitably find comfort and mercy. There was no pain which was not relieved, no accident that was not mended, not a hope that was disappointed. The crippled and lame could pray there in that time and return home healed, leaving their crutches behind in the church. The blind were illuminated and regained their sight, and the deaf heard again. Mothers obtained the health of their children; young people who had lost their peace of mind through sin found forgiveness and regained their peace of mind; sailors in the dangers of the sea and the soldiers in the bloody battle called upon the assistance of the loving mother of Marienthal, and never in vain. The church was destroyed during the Protestant Reformation and French Revolution but restored by Jesuits. Most young Alsatian and Lorraine soldiers go to the church at Marienthal before they begin their service to implore the protection of the Blessed Virgin. Even today you can see the parents of those who miraculously escaped death in battles and engagements kneeling before the altar to thank God and to read their thanks aloud. 8 - Our Lady of Alexandria, Egypt (4th Century) This feast day celebrates Our Lady of Alexandria, commemorating a church built in Alexandria, Egypt, to honor the Blessed Mother, by Saint Peter, who was patriarch of the city in the year 310.