Cursi, Italy: Shrine of Our Lady of Abundance
The story of Our Lady of Abundance:
Early April of the year 1640 had to be a dismal time in the small town of Cursi, Italy. There had been a drought for the last three years; it had not rained at all for the previous nine months, and the town’s inhabitants were nearing the end of their provisions. The women of the town had begun to gather in the church to pray each day and ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
One day in April…the exact date is lost to time….a man named Biagio Natali discovered his cattle were missing from the barn and went off in search of them. He walked by a roadside shrine that had an image of the Madonna and Child Jesus and suddenly noticed a bright light emanating from the shrine. He almost ran off, but stayed and a voice announced that she was the Queen of Heaven and felt sorry for the people. She told Biagio to go to the pastor of the parish and to tell him in her name to gather all the townspeople together and erect a shrine on that spot. She promised that once the shrine was erected there would be more abundant harvests that had ever been seen before.
Biago went to tell the parish priest, Don Giovanni Domenico Cocciolo. Unknown to Biago, the parish priest had had a dream the night before concerning the same message. He gathered up the villagers and they processed to the site of the apparition. On their way back to the village, rain began to fall out of a clear blue sky and lasted for three days. The crops that year filled every barn to over-flowing.
About the Shrine of Our Lady of Abundance in Cursi:
A shrine was erected in her honor but burned down when struck by lightning. Another more beautiful shrine was built in its place. In addition to being known for an abundance of rain, it is also known as a place for nursing mothers who lack milk to nurse their babies. Those who invoke her intercession are said to have an abundance of milk.
The shrine is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to noon and again from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Mass is offered daily at 5:00 p.m. winter, 6:00 p.m. summer. Recitation of the rosary precedes daily Mass.
Traveling to Cursi:
There is train service as far as Magli from various cities within Italy. From there you have to take a bus. Get train & bus schedules, see fares & buy tickets here.
There is no official website for the Shrine.
Sources:
1. Marian Shrines of Italy. Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. New Bedford, MA.
⇐ Back to Catholic places of interest in Italy
