Festa dell'Apparizione della Madonna dei Campi

A cult over four centuries old

The Festa dell'Apparizione della Madonna dei Campi (Festival of the Apparition of the Madonna of the Fields) celebrates the anniversary of the 1586 events in Stezzano, in the province of Bergamo. According to tradition, on July 12 of that year, two very young peasant girls from the town, Bartolomea Bucarelli and Dorotea Battistoni, aged ten and eleven, saw a Woman in dark clothing holding a book in her left hand and pointing to the sky with her right. From that moment, the devotion that led to the construction, and over the centuries to the expansion, of the current Sanctuary was born.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Prayer

The Sanctuary of the Madonna dei Campi, also known as Our Lady of Prayer, is the heart of the festival. A place of great popular devotion, it has also linked its name to Pope John XXIII, originally from the Bergamasca area, among its devotees. The Festival of the Apparition is the occasion when this bond of faith between the Sanctuary and the people is renewed with greater intensity.

The novena and the procession

The days preceding July 12 are dedicated to the novena of prayer, with Eucharistic celebrations, adoration, and recitation of the Rosary. However, the most anticipated moment is the vigil procession: the community gathers in the parish church and walks to the Sanctuary, on a journey described as the most intense and deeply felt event of the entire year. On July 12, the solemn feast of the Apparition is celebrated.

Faith and identity in Stezzano

More than a simple religious commemoration, the festival is part of the identity of Stezzano and a piece of Region Lombardy with a strong Marian tradition. For the faithful and for those who want to get to know the popular spirituality of Bergamo up close, it is a highly evocative event.