Reliquary of the Madonna delle Lacrime of Syracuse visits Bagheria

On 5 and 6 December 2023 the community of the parish-sanctuary of Maria SS. Immacolata, in the city of Bagheria, will welcome, during the Novena to the Immaculate Conception, the Reliquary of the Madonna delle Lacrime of Syracuse.

This will be an opportunity to remind Bagheria of the miraculous event that occurred in Syracuse 70 years ago, from 29 August to 1 September 1953, when the little plaster image of Immaculate Heart of Mary produced tears. On 17 October 1954, His Holiness Pius XII said in a radio message: “Will men understand the arcane language of those tears?”, and on 6 November 1994, during the dedication of the Basilica-Sanctuary, Saint John Paul II invited people to look at the tears as an example of "pain, prayer and hopes".

With great joy the sanctuary of Syracuse, in the person of the rector, but also the Archbishop of Palermo, and the Archbishop of Syracuse, accepted the proposal to bring the reliquary of Bagheria to the regional sanctuary of Syracuse to mark the 70th anniversary of the miraculous tears. It was on 12 December 1953, that the Sicilian bishops met, as was the custom of that time, at the house of the Jesuit community of Villa San Cataldo in Bagheria, to formally recognize the miracle of the tears, after having listened to reports and studied the relevant testimonies contained in the documentation of the case. They concluded unanimously that the reality of the lacrimation cannot be doubted.

The press release of the Sicilian bishops regarding the Madonna delle Lacrime put it like this:

“The bishops of Sicily gathered for their scheduled meeting at the Jesuit institute in Bagheria (Palermo) listened to the extensive report prepared by Archbishop Ettore Baranzini of Syracuse, about the ’tears’ which were cried by the image of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a phenomenon which occurred repeatedly on 29,30 and 31 August and 1 September 1953 in Syracuse at number 11, via degli Orti. Having carefully examined the relevant testimonies in the original documents, the bishops have unanimously concluded that the reality of the phenomenon of tears cannot be doubted. Their wish is that this manifestation of the Heavenly Mother will encourage everyone to wholesome penance and to have a more lively devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the hope that there will soon be built a Sanctuary to permanently recall the miracle”. (12 December 1953, Ernesto Cardinal Ruffini, Archbishop of Palermo).

Given the special occasion, all the clergy of Bagheria, and as many others as may wish, will gather for a moment of prayer on December 6 at 12 noon to recall this important event for the Universal Church. In the evening, at 6.30 pm, the Archbishop of Palermo will preside over a solemn concelebration of Mass and, after having blessed the holy people of God, the reliquary will leave for Syracuse for the closing of the Jubilee year.

The community prepares a heartfelt welcome to those tears that flowed from the heart of the Mother, who is a refuge of Love for all.