Every landmark in Rome has a unique story behind it. This monument arose three years after the proclamation of the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church on the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
It is believed that the Virgin Mary was born on September 8th. The date of her conception is determined, respectively, by counting nine months ago - the period of Anna's pregnancy. And this date is December 8th.
Therefore, in 1854, it was on December 8 that Pope Pius IX timed the official announcement of the dogma of the Virgin Mary Integrity. The Mother of God “… has been preserved unspotted by any stain of original sin …”, he said. Those. although Mary is conceived in the same way as all children, she is sinless from the moment of her conception. The sin of the ancestors of humanity, Adam and Eve, did not pass on to this extraordinary Virgin.
Miracles of the Mother of God
On a dark December morning, when Pius IX was reading a bull in Rome, St. Peter's Cathedral suddenly illuminated a beam of light that came from nowhere. The light from the windows at this early hour usually did not reach the place where the pontiff was standing. The amazed participants in the ceremony interpreted what happened as a sign from above, confirming the meaning of the dogma.
In the spring of the following year, another miraculous sign happened. Pius IX was in the building of the Congregation for the Propaganda of the Faith, when suddenly the floor of the room began to collapse. Dad shouted: "Virgin Immaculate, help!" And she helped - all the companions of the Pope survived in a fantastic way.
From Goddess Minerva to Our Lady
Pope Pius IX ordered to perpetuate the memory of the confirmation of the doctrine. The competition for the right to build a monument to commemorate the proclamation of the Virgin Mary's Innocence was won by the Madena sculptor Luigi Poletti. To create the monument, he used an antique Corinthian column.
Previously, its top was decorated with the figure of the mythical goddess of art, wisdom and war, Minerva. The statue of the warlike goddess has been lost for centuries, and the column that served her as a pedestal, three years after the official announcement of the dogma, became the pillar on which the statue of the Holy Virgin ascended over Rome.
The sculptor decided to increase the height of the 12-meter column by creating an impressive marble pedestal. A column was installed on it, and at the foot they “seated” four statues: King David and three prophets - Moses, Isaiah and Ezekiel.
As a result, the monument reached a height of thirty meters, on which a bronze statue of Our Lady soars. She stands on the ball as if on top of the world. Behind her is a crescent moon, and under her feet there is a serpent as a symbol of Eve's sin, which passed on to all women except for the Mother of God. Around the ball are the symbolic figures of the evangelists: a calf, an angel, a lion, an eagle.
The construction of the monument was financed by the then king of both Sicilies Ferdinand II.
Feast of Immacolata
On the third anniversary of the declaration of the dogma on December 8, 1857, to the left of the famous Spanish Steps at the junction of the Minyanelli squares and Spain, the Column del Immacolata (Immaculate Conception) was solemnly opened in Rome.
Since then, every December 8 in Rome, a festive religious ceremony has been held at the column of the Immaculate Virgin. The acting pontiff presents a wreath of white flowers - a symbol of purity and virginity. According to the old tradition, the team of firefighters of Rome lifts it to the statue of Mary and puts it on her right hand.
This solemn day in Italy is non-working. Believers fill churches where services dedicated to the Mother of God are performed.
