Our Lady of Miracles heals a paralytic in Saronno

On the night of 8 to 9 May 1460, the Virgin Mary appeared to Pietro Morandi, who had been paralysed for six years. Morandi lived in Saronno (Italy, Lombardy), 18 kilometres from Milan. The man was cured the very next day, when he went to the precise spot that Mary had indicated to him a few hours earlier. A church was built there, with the support and assistance of the local clergy and public authorities.

Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Miracles, Saronno, Italy / © Shutterstock, AleMasche72.

Les raisons d'y croire :

Heavily handicapped physically, Pietro Morandi had full cognitive capacity: there is nothing to support the idea that the visionary could have been the victim of a hallucination. Above all, a hallucination has never cured anyone: the apparition promised him that he would be cured once he arrived on the spot, which he was, confirming the prophecy.

Pietro's healing, the day after the apparition, was truly miraculous: crippled for six years, abandoned by the doctors who had declared his illness incurable, he recovered instantly, totally and definitively, without any medical procedure whatsoever, in the presence of several reliable witnesses.

Such a cure also invalidates the hypothesis of fraud: crippled for six years, Pietro was known to everyone in his neighbourhood, to the parishioners of Milan and to the clergy, because he was a devout man. The people responsible for taking him to the chapel in Via Varesina never expressed the slightest doubt about his previous condition, which was severe when he left his home, nor about his restored health after his visit to the chapel (an inexplicable recovery marked by perfect movement).

There were plenty of places of worship with painted and sculpted representations of Mary near his home: why would he have deliberately chosen such a remote and steep spot? He normally needed assistance from at least one other person to make the smallest trip, which was always painful. In these conditions, it is hard to see why he would have chosen to go from his home to Via Varesina.

The content of the Virgin's message to Pietro is perfectly evangelical and does not just concern the visionary, but is addressed more generally to the Milanese Church as a whole: prayer, pilgrimage, penance, and building a church.

What's more, Pietro had to appear before the Bishop of Varese and other religious leaders, who were responsible for questioning him. No historical source ever mentions any refusal or hesitation on the part of the clergy regarding the apparition: the facts were quickly checked and accepted, the visionary was given spiritual support, and work began on a new church shortly after the event.

The universal popularity of the Sarrono's events is further reflected in the high architectural and artistic quality of the shrine. It was built from the end of the 14th century by renowned architects (Guiniforte Solari, Giovanni Antonio Amadeo). The church's dome, depicting angels playing fifty different instruments, was painted in 1535 by Gaudenzio Ferrari, and the building's interior was beautifully frescoed by Bernardino Luini, a favourite of the French Impressionists. The façade, entirely decorated in the 18th century, is the work of Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini, a famous Venetian painter.

The shrine was elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pius XI on 2 January 1923, a far-reaching public recognition of the universal Church's approval of the events that led to the creation of a major shrine and related pilgrimage.

It is a rare event that the diocesan calendar celebrates Our Lady of Sarrono three times a year (24 March, 7 July and 15 August, Assumption Day) - a sign of the theological, pastoral and liturgical symbiosis between the archbishop of Milan and the believers of his archdiocese.

Synthèse :

On the night of 8 to 9 May 1460, Pietro (sometimes known as Pedretto) Morandi, who had been severely paralysed for six years, was bedridden in his bedroom at his home in Saronno (Italy, Lombardy), 18 kilometres from Milan. Suddenly, "out of the blue", a supernatural light of unknown beauty invaded the room. In the centre of the light, the patient saw the features of a woman taking shape: it was the Virgin Mary, dressed like a queen, standing in front of him, barely two metres from his bed. Overcome with emotion, Pietro didn't dare speak. The apparition broke the silence: "Pietro, if you want to be cured, go to the chapel in Via Varesina. A new church must be built there in my honour."

Awakened from their sleep by his cries, the neighbours rushed to Pietro's bedside, thinking he was in trouble. He told them about the apparition, which had only lasted a few minutes. Deep down, as a pious man who loved God, he knew that he would be cured once he had made this little pilgrimage to the chapel in Via Varesina. In the meantime, everyone present was talking to a man who was largely disabled and had been so for more than six years.

The next day, two men took Pietro to the chapel indicated by the apparition the day before. He was accompanied by a few women from his entourage. Everyone was happy to reach the end of Via Varesina at last, as the journey had been tiring. Pietro's features were drawn and his complexion pale.

He started praying in front of the little statue of Our Lady of Miracles, his eyes closed and his head bowed. His companions did the same. After a few minutes, Pietro gave a little cry: he had just felt an unknown warmth invade his limbs, from head to toe. It was a new sensation that worried him for a few seconds: "What's happening? Am I going to lose my ability to move even more?"Then a radiant smile suddenly lit up his face, which had turned bright pink: he could move his arms and legs! Those around him were stunned, but everyone was unanimous: Pietro had entered the building as an invalid and had come out alone, unaided, completely cured.

The local clergy were informed of the facts within hours. The parish priest of Saronno investigated discreetly, questioning Pietro, his family, friends and parishioners. He then passed on his information to the Archbishop of Milan, Carlo da Forli, who in turn, after meeting the protagonists, took a favourable decision and authorised the construction of a shrine, as requested by the Mother of God.

Work on the current shrine began in the last third of the 15th century and was completed in 1511. Until the end of the eighteenth century, the work was completed with several extensions to accommodate the ever-increasing number of pilgrims. Famous and skilled painters and architects were invited to collaborate on this project, which was supported without interruption by the Milanese clergy and the city's political authorities.

On 2 January 1923, Pope Pius XI elevated the Marian shrine of Saronno to the rank of minor basilica.

Patrick Sbalchiero

Au-delà des raisons d'y croire :

Dating back to the end of the 15th century, at a time when procedures for recognising private revelations and apparitions did not exist in their current form, Sarrono's events have borne unceasing fruit since the beginning, proving their heavenly origin: uninterrupted pilgrimages from the whole of Lombardy and indeed from all the regions of Italy, a climate of peace that has never disappeared between clergy, laity and religious, healings in large numbers (including today), religious and priestly vocations, conversions to Catholicism, a return to the sacraments, etc.

Aller plus loin :

Domenico Marcuzzi, Santuari mariani d'Italia, Rome, edizioni Paoline, 1982.

En savoir plus :

Maria Luisa Gatti Perer, Le Sanctuaire de la Bienheureuse Vierge des Miracles de Saronno, Milan, A. Pizzi editore, 1996.
M. Gamba, Apparizioni mariane nel corso di due milleni, Udine, Edizioni Segno, 1999, p. 303.
Patrick Sbalchiero, "Saronno (Italy, diocese of Varese)", Dictionnaire des "apparitions de la Vierge Marie", edited by René Laurentin and Patrick Sbalchiero, Paris, Fayard, 2002, pp. 862-863.