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HISTORY of NOVENA to
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The image of Our Lady of Miracles was discovered on June 21st, 1547 in Vallone del Mulinaccio, north of Alcamo, Sicily.
Click Here to see pictures of the Procession At the foot of a cliff there was an unrefined arch, that with the passing of time and the growth of bushes, weeds and shrubs had been concealed and forgotten. From this area a stream was coming out and the women of Alcamo used to wash their clothes in its water. The morning of June 21, 1547 some women went as usual to wash their clothes in the water of the stream. Around the bushes they noticed first a boy and then a beautiful lady dressed in white. Taken by their chores, the women did not pay much attention to them. At a certain moment a lot of small rocks started to fall on the women. Thinking that some idle men were doing it, they screamed at them to stop. For a short while everything was quiet, but soon larger rocks began to fall on the women. Seeing nobody around, they thought that thieves were hiding in the bushes to harm them. In a hurry they collected their belongings and went to the city to report the incident. They made a great commotion and the police asked them what had happened. The women told that in the morning they had noticed a boy and a beautiful lady in the bushy area and that the stones, falling on them not only did not hurt them, on the contrary had healed a woman who had a crippled arm and given speech to another woman, mute from birth. Armed men, accompanied by the police, cut the weeds, bushes and shrubs and great was their surprise when they discovered the arch and a picture of Our Lady with the Baby Jesus. The painting showed Mary holding the Baby with her left hand, her right hand slightly touching the left hand of her Son. The Baby was standing on Mary's lap and approaching his cheeks to Mary as Mary was doing the same. The mantle that was covering our Blessed Mother was blue and her garment red. When the Alcamesi went close to the image, they noticed an abundant dew, like sweat. They touched some sick people with it and they were all healed. The People immediately wanted to build a Church on the place were the painting was found. The Bishop granted the permission and gave the Church the title of Holy Mary of Mercy, that later was changed to Our Lady of Miracles because of the many graces granted through that holy image. The origin of the image, by an unknown author, is not sure. Maybe it was painted around 700 or 800. In fact the devotion to Mary in Sicily goes back to the beginning of Christianity, from the preaching of St. Peter and St. Paul. Probably the people of Alcamo had a small shrine dedicated to Mary in the place where the painting was found. It is possible that the shrine was concealed by the Alcamesi in 827, when the Arabs landed in Sicily, in order to avoid that that the shrine and the image were desecrated. Its existence was forgotten until on June 21, 1547, Our Blessed Mother intervened miraculously. Since that time Mary, Our Lady of Miracles, has been the glory of Alcamo. The devotion to Our Lady of Miracles did not stop in Alcamo. In 1936 a Mission Chapel was built in Canarsie, Brooklyn with the title of Our Lady of Miracles. This Mission Chapel in 1939 became a Parish and the devotion to our Blessed Mother continues to grow to all people of all races and creeds, even to this day. Both in Alcamo and in Canarsie, our lady is honored with great affection and devotion under the title of Our Lady of Miracles, and an annual procession of the statue is still in place usually on the Sunday closest to June 21st. The formal title of the blessed mother still remains; Mary Fountain of Mercy and of Miracles. After years of the traditional procession being stopped, Fr. Thomas Leach and Fr. Steven Aguggia brought the procession back to Our Lady of Miracles in Canarsie where it still continues because of the faith of the people.
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