Festival of the Madonna del Santo Amore

The most heartfelt festival in Borgo Velino

In the heart of the Velino Valley, in the province of Rieti, the small town of Borgo Velino celebrates its most anticipated event on the fourth Sunday of September: the solemn festivities in honor of Maria Santissima del Santo Amore. It is a festival that brings together the entire community and the many emigrants who return to their hometown, in a deep intertwining of religious devotion and civic life that has endured for nearly three centuries.

History: the image gifted by Saint Leonard

The devotion began in 1751, when Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, having arrived in the Velino Valley for the Lenten preaching of the Franciscan friars, carried with him an image of the Madonna around which he centered his sermons. The inhabitants of the village were so moved that they insisted until they received the painting as a gift. Since then, the miraculous image of Maria SS. del Santo Amore has become the center of local faith and is kept in the Collegiate Church of San Matteo Apostolo, in the chapel of the right transept, a destination for pilgrimages and graces passed down from generation to generation.

A program between faith and art

The festivities open with the novena, which involves the whole town, and continue with solemn masses, the exposition of the venerated image, and the grand procession through the streets of the village. In recent years, the event has taken on a strong cultural character, complementing the liturgy with art exhibitions and painting displays set up in the Collegiate Church and the Town Hall Council Chamber.

• Preparatory novena and solemn masses
• Exposition of the miraculous image and procession
• Art exhibitions and display moments
• Concerts and musical evenings in the square
• Concluding fireworks display

Concerts and fireworks

The secular part of the festival enlivens Piazza Umberto I with popular concerts that have brought well-known names of Italian music to Borgo Velino over the years, followed by the highly anticipated fireworks that bring the main day to a spectacular close. A program designed to unite the faithful and welcome visitors who travel up to this corner of the mountain Sabina region.

Borgo Velino, between Sabina and Cicolano

Situated at an altitude of approximately 460 meters, at the foot of the Monte Nuria massif and along the course of the Velino river, Borgo Velino is a border village between the Sabina and Cicolano areas, in northeastern Lazio. The festival of the Madonna del Santo Amore is the ideal opportunity to discover the historic center, the Collegiate Church, and the hospitality of this Rieti community.