The Mother of God with her tender gaze

The Byzantine Rite Catholic Abbey of Saint Mary in Grottaferrata, near Frascati, Italy, was founded in 1004 by a group of monks from Calabria, guided by Saint Nil of Rossano. The humble Saint Nil sought to flee honors and then went to Rome to end his days in peace.

According to tradition, it is in the crypt of the monastery of Grottaferrata that the Mother of God appeared to Nil and his companion, Bartholomew. She asked them to build a church there dedicated to her, from which she would dispense her graces. Saint Nil died shortly after, and Saint Bartholomew built a church which Pope John XIX solemnly consecrated.

Inside the church is an icon of the Mother of God with a tender gaze, holding the Child Jesus with his hand raised in blessing, in the manner of the Odigitria iconographic type. This image has been a source of divine graces and has always attracted crowds of pilgrims, among them Popes Pius IX, Saint John XXIII, Paul VI and Saint John Paul II.

Today, the monks of this abbey are still of Byzantine-Greek rite and represent the Congregation of Basilian Monks of Italy.

The Marie de Nazareth Team

Source: Ilcaffe.tv