santuario, diocesano, Santuario Madonna della Scala

On the Monday after Easter 2023, a church in the Calabrian countryside was formally declared a diocesan sanctuary. The Santuario Madonna della Scala sits in the territory of Belvedere di Spinello, drawing pilgrims not only from neighbouring towns but from further afield, particularly for the liturgical memory on Easter Monday and for the Solemnity of the Assumption on 15 August.

Its cult springs from a local legend. A shepherd from Santa Severina, searching for his lost oxen, came upon a beautiful woman holding a child. She told him where to find the animals. Crossing the Neto river, she lost a sandal; returning to the spot, she settled on a mulberry trunk. With the local people, the sanctuary was built. From this folk memory comes the tradition that the statue of the Madonna della Scala is never moved from its niche; a copy is used for processions. In the Marian Year of 1954, the original did travel for the Peregrinatio Mariae, but normally it stays, quietly, where the legend placed it.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.