English
Mystery of the Madonna of Bra
A miraculous rescue happened in Bra, a small town in the diocese of Turin, Italy, on the evening of December 29, 1336 - a story for this Marian month of May
Mystery of the Madonna of Bra (- a village near Turin)
A miraculous rescue happened in Bra, a small town in the diocese of Turin, Italy, on the evening of December 29, 1336: a young woman named Egidia Mathis, several months pregnant, was walking by a votive column dedicated to the Madonna on the outskirts of the town, when two vagrant men came out of nowhere and surprised her with the intention of raping her—despite her condition. Egidia gripped the column in despair and cried out to the Madonna to help her.
Immediately, a flash of light bolted out of the column, temporarily blinding the two men who, fled, terrified. Then the Madonna herself appeared, comforting Egidia for a few minutes, reassuring her that all danger had passed. The vision disappeared, but due to the shock she had had, the woman delivered her baby right there, at the foot of the column. She wrapped up the newborn in her shawl and managed to reach the nearest house.
The news of the prodigious event spread throughout the city: despite the late hour, crowds of people rushed to the place of the attack and the apparition. Thick blackthorn bushes, which had inexplicably bloomed with white flowers despite the harsh weather at the end of December, surrounded the column. Since then, the flowering has repeated on the same day every year.
The "Madonna dei fiori" (Our Lady of Flowers) of Bra with its winter blossom that have reoccurred for 685 years, is an authentic scientific enigma.
The original blackthorn bushes (prunus spinosa) are protected by an iron fence. They belong to the species of flowering plants in the rose family Rosaceae and normally flower only once a year, beginning in March if the season is mild, or in April if it is colder.
Since the 17th century, scientific investigations (including some conducted by the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Turin) have established that the miraculous blackthorn is identical in every way to the common bushes that are found everywhere in the region.
The soil is also similar. There is no geophysical cause, no electromagnetic or hydraulic underground currents that can explain the extraordinary winter flowering, which only happens to these particular bushes. Moreover, they are facing north, and therefore enjoy less sunshine and warmth than many similar plants in Italy.
Vittorio Messori - Italian writer (b. 1941).
Excerpt from Ipotesi su Maria (Theories on Mary)
