23rd April :Our Lady Of Mende
23rd April
Our Lady Of Mende
Country :
Year : 1579
The episcopal city of Mende, although it no longer has properly speaking, a place of pilgrimage dedicated to the Mother of God, has for centuries honored in the cathedral a statue of the Virgin that is completely black.
In 1579 the Calvanists destroyed the basilica, built by Francis and clement de la Rovere, bishops of the city and nephews of Pope Julian II. The statue was thrown into the flames, but a pious woman seized it and saved it at the peril of her own life.
The statue formerly venerated on the main altar, was placed in a side chapel when Catholicism was restored to Mende.
