Fifteen thousand under the mantle of the Madonna. In Oropa (Biella) a new edition of the ancient Madonna del Manto
by Bruno Capparoni
When they started, they didn't foresee such success. On the occasion of the solemn centenary Coronation of the Madonna of Oropa, the sanctuary wanted to offer the traditional mantle for the Simulacrum, but the organizers were overwhelmed by countless "fabrics with history", fragments of fabrics sent by thousands of people, families, communities , to be sewn onto the Madonna's mantle.
The fifth centenary of the first coronation of the Black Madonna of Oropa, an ancient image venerated in the grandiose sanctuary of the Biella Alps, fell in 2020, but the coronavirus rudely intervened and everything had to be postponed. In 2021, and precisely on 29 August, in the presence of the Papal Legate Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, it was possible to proceed with the long-awaited celebration, but the distancing rules only allowed the presence of 1500 people in the large basilica, while others could stay outside. outside in front of 30 giant screens. And yet many, everyone wanted to be there. Suffice it to say that in 1920, on the occasion of the fourth coronation, around one hundred and fifty thousand people gathered in Oropa!
An unexpected competition was born, that of being present near Maria with a piece of fabric to sew to her cloak. The collection of fabrics, which began quietly and was entrusted to the Benedictines of the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery of Orta San Giulio, exceeded all limits and the nuns had to get help from many Biella seamstresses. The result is a surprising artefact: in the upper part the cloak is made of a precious white fabric, while the lower lining is made up of cloth tiles offered by the faithful, indicating that in that fragment of fabric and under the Madonna's cloak there is it is a family, a worker, a wife, a doctor, a nun, a priest... The tiles have reached the number of 15.000 and the mantle has stretched up to 25 metres. Everyone wanted to have a place under Mary's protection!
The meaning is very beautiful. We feel like children of Mary, who covers us with her mantle like a mother. It is a concept very present in Christian art through the images of the Madonna of the Mantle or Madonna of Mercy. Images, scattered almost everywhere, but only one message, which is expressed in the ancient Marian prayer: «Under your protection we seek refuge, Holy Mother of God: do not despise the pleas of us who are in the test, but free us from every danger , O glorious and blessed Virgin."
The devotees of Biella have made a 25 meter cloak for the Madonna, but with the intention that she spread it over all of us. How she wrapped her Son in Bethlehem ("she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes" Luke 2:7).
We too of the Pious Union with the prayer of the Sacred Mantle ask the same thing of Saint Joseph: «O glorious Saint Joseph, who by God you have been placed at the head and guardian of the holiest of families, deign to guard the soul from heaven my request to be received under the mantle of your patronage." Mary's mantle like Joseph's mantle: it makes no difference! And under it we feel safe, like children!