Festival of Our Lady of Liberty

Our Lady of Liberty in Provvidenti

Among the most deeply rooted devotions in Provvidenti, a municipality in the province of Campobasso with one of the smallest populations in the entire region, is that towards Our Lady of Liberty, celebrated on the Monday after Pentecost at the sanctuary of the same name. The Sanctuary of S. Maria della Libera is one of the oldest in the diocese of Termoli-Larino: according to tradition, during the iconoclastic period, the inhabitants saved a wooden statue of the Virgin, later found by a farmer in the locality "Campo della Madonna".

A sanctuary with ancient roots

The building, whose origins date back to the 7th century, was damaged by fire and the earthquake of 1456, then rebuilt and enlarged in 1872; during World War II, it even served as a military hospital. Today, it features a single nave and an altar dedicated to the Virgin of Liberty, on Via Giuseppe Mazzini, on the edge of the village.

Between faith and gastronomic tradition

The rites of the Monday after Pentecost are accompanied by a characteristic gastronomic tradition: the "pezzenta", a legume soup consumed during the Pentecostal celebrations, an expression of the village's peasant cuisine. The festival of Our Lady of Liberty is thus an event that combines devotion, historical memory, and ancient flavors, in one of the most authentic corners of inland Molise.