About Avezzano, Italy:
Avezzano is a city and commune in the Abruzzo region, province of L’Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural center of the Marsica area, with important high-tech industries and the Fucino Space Center.
The city was destroyed by the earthquake of 1915 and was rebuilt. The site continues a Capuchin Franciscan presence that began with the convent and church of Santa Maria in Vico (founded around 1570, about 2 km from the town center). That complex was destroyed in the devastating 1915 Marsica earthquake, which killed several friars. bombed during World War II, only to be rebuilt after the 1944 Allied bombing.
About The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Silence (Santuario Madonn del Silenzio) in Avezzano, Italy:
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Silence (Santuario della Madonna del Silenzio, or Santuario della Vergine del Silenzio in San Francesco) is a diocesan shrine in Avezzano, in the Abruzzo region of central Italy (province of L’Aquila). A new convent and church were built on the present site starting around 1917–1920, funded by local donations and a contribution from Pope Benedict XV. The complex was inaugurated on 1 May 1920 under the title of the Sacred Heart and the church was consecrated on 30 April 1922. It suffered damage in World War II bombings and structural issues, followed by postwar renovations and expansions in the 1950’s.
In 1971 it became a parish dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. From about 2010 it largely closed due to a lack of vocations and was largely abandoned for about a decade before its revival.
The modern dedication stems from Capuchin friar Emiliano Antenucci. In 2010 he commissioned an icon of the Virgin of Silence (Madonna with her right index finger on her lips in a gesture calling for silence) from the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of Mater Ecclesiae on the Isola di San Giulio (Lake Orta, Piedmont). The iconography draws inspiration from an 8th-century Coptic fresco of St. Anne found at Faras (Upper Egypt), now in the National Museum in Warsaw. It belongs to the Diocese of Avezzano and is run by Capuchin friars.
Pope Francis developed a personal devotion to the image. A copy was placed in the Apostolic Palace (Courtyard of San Damaso); he blessed the original in June 2016 and wrote on the back: “Non sparlare degli altri!” (“Don’t speak badly of others!”). In March 2019, after a private audience with Antenucci, the Pope wrote to the Capuchin provincial asking that a place be found for public devotion to Our Lady of Silence. The abandoned Capuchin church and convent in Avezzano were chosen. On 13 May 2020 (the memorial of Our Lady of Fatima), Bishop Pietro Santoro of Avezzano formally erected it as a diocesan sanctuary titled “Madonna del Silenzio in San Francesco,” fulfilling the Pope’s request. It opened during the COVID-19 pandemic and was seen as a prophetic sign of hope and consolation amid noise and crisis.
The sanctuary emphasizes interior silence, prayer, spiritual formation, discernment, and resistance to gossip and the “dictatorship of noise.” It hosts Masses, Eucharistic adoration, “desert days” (especially Saturdays), and courses on silence. It is listed among Jubilee Churches for the Holy Year 2025.
The church is a simple single-nave building in a neo-Gothic style (completed 1922). The modern icon of the Virgin of Silence is kept on the altar (or in a niche above it). The church also houses a historic painting of the Madonna and Child (Madonna di Vico / Madonna with Child in majesty), originally from the pre-1915 church; it was recovered after the earthquake, restored, and returned in the 1970s (attributed to late-Gothic or early-Renaissance artists active in the Marsica area). Wall paintings are by Francesco Antonio Bianchi.
Blessed Sacrament exposed during opening hours; Saturday is often a “Desert Day” focused on silence. The shrine continues to attract pilgrims seeking quiet, prayer, and the spirituality of silence promoted by Pope Francis. It remains under Capuchin care and is closely associated with Fra Antenucci’s ongoing work.
Traveling to The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Silence (Santuario Madonn del Silenzio) in Avezzano, Italy:
Address: Via Lago di Scanno 43 (or nearby numbering such as 41), 67051 Avezzano AQ.
Visit the official website of The Virgin of Silence (Italian and English versions available).
Traveling to The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Silence (Santuario Madonn del Silenzio) in Avezzano, Italy:
Address:
Santuario Madonna Del Silenzio
Chiesa di San Francesco
Via Lago di Scanno, 41
67051 Avezzano AQ
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