The Madonna del Ramoncello in Santa Lucia di Piave
The mighty Romanesque bell tower also stands out from a distance, which, combined with the large presbytery in rough bricks, gives it a charm of other times, with almost feudal suggestions. In reality, the sanctuary of the Beata Vergine del Ramoncello enters the history of Santa Lucia di Piave only a few centuries later, exactly in 1559. From then until today, a continuous growing following and popular devotion has increased the reputation of the Ramoncello church. which takes us, as a location, outside the city center, in the southern area of the Santaluciese countryside.
More precisely, a few meters from the famous fairground, along the Roman route that leads to Bocca di Strada and Mareno: in the ancient district of the Grave, bathed by a small branch of the Piave, “ramon”, hence the toponymic reference of the Ramoncello . But what happened that was so striking in that July 1559 that the sanctuary was consigned to the annals of the diocesan Marian cult? In the fields of Ramoncello, close to the current cemetery, the Virgin reveals herself to the gaze of a young peasant woman, Pasqua Zuccon, deaf and dumb since her birth, definitively healing all infirmities. Having rigorously verified and documented the objective outlines of the event, the religious consecration of the place becomes a dutiful act on the part of the diocese of Cenedio.
A consecration marked, over the centuries, by three different sacred buildings: a votive capital, a private oratory built by the Collaltos, the current neoclassical church, built in the 1700s, with three building environments and the original capital. Admiring the Ramoncello sanctuary up close today means indulging not only in a visual emotion, but also in a priceless spiritual experience. There is a palpable, almost innate, liturgical atmosphere that invites spontaneous and authentic recollection as soon as you cross the threshold. Discovering an artistic beauty, devoid of pomp, exhibited with measured discretion. The frescoes of saints of 1713 in the presbytery are well-made, enriched by the works on the Crucifixion by Giuseppe Modolo from San Marino and by the more recent oils by Bruno De Giusti and Elio Poloni.
Also valuable are the oil plates by Antonio Grava, dedicated to the apparition of the Virgin at Easter Zuccon on the field of Ramoncello in S. Lucia Subsilva or del Foresto in 1558-59 and, to Blessed Fra’Claudio. For historical value, the preservation of the ancient octagonal chapel of the Collalto, as an intermediate body of the church, is worth noting, where the delicate altarpiece by Modolo and the stages of the Via Crucis are striking. Safeguarded in a considerable state of conservation by 5 restorations, the most recent of which in 1988, promoted by Don Oreste Nespolo, then parish priest of the local community, the sanctuary celebrates the annual liturgical feast on the first Sunday of August, attracting large pilgrimages from all over. the North East. A festival that attests to the living and lived cult of all Saint Lucia for her “Madonnetta”. A liturgical devotion to miracles that resists time, over time.
Article taken from www.giuseppeborsoi.it
