Torre di Ruggiero - The Shrine of Our Lady of Grace
A manifestation of faith that harks back to a Marian apparition that occurred in 1677 and the resulting graces
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A place of extraordinary Marian devotion
The Shrine of Our Lady of Grace, one of Calabria's most important centers of worship, stands at the edge of the town of Torre di Ruggiero, which has earned the nickname Little Lourdes because of its presence. In fact, the church's 19th-century facade, which harks back to its latest reconstruction, represents only the latest installment in an extraordinary story of faith and Marian devotion that began before the year 1000.
From the Basilian dacha to the Shrine of Grace
The shrine traces its origins to the early Middle Ages, at the time of iconoclasm, when monks fleeing from the East founded a Basilian dacha here that became a center of fervent devotion to the Mother of God. The key moment in its history came on April 17, 1677, the day when Our Lady manifested herself to two local shepherdesses wishing that a more suitable place of prayer be built there. And when in 1783 the church was razed to the ground by the most catastrophic earthquake in Calabrian history, it was by similar intervention that reconstruction was able to take place.
The statue of Our Lady crowned by the pope
The Basilian crypt, the ancient chapel of the Virgin at the origin of the sanctuary, the Baroque interior with the high altar of polychrome marbles, the eclectic façade of the Savoy era... but above all, the fulcrum of it all, the wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace with Child with the sparkling crowns blessed by Pope John Paul II... the Sanctuary brings together all the material elements that tell its millennial story, amplifying the charm of the visit.
A calendar of solemnities and street events
The main feast of Our Lady of Graces is celebrated on September 8, as part of a larger program that attracts faithful from all over Calabria, aided by the fair that enlivens the town for a week and the fireworks display that closes it. But there are also other celebrations throughout the year: for example, on Ascension Day, when the diocesan pilgrimage presided over by the archbishop is celebrated.
After the earthquake, a gift that came from above
The miraculous statue of Our Lady of Grace, which was lost in the 1783 earthquake, was replaced in 1858 with the wooden sculpture from a Neapolitan workshop donated by King Victor Emmanuel II in the aftermath of the shrine's reconstruction and has been kept in the tabernacle of the high altar ever since.
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