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A
Medieval legend has it that Count Ghisallo, while being attacked
by highway robbers near the small village of Magréglio
in Italy, saw a statue of the Virgin Mary in a roadside shrine.
He ran to it and succesfully hid himself from the thugs and
it became known as the Ghisallo shrine. The Madonna del Ghisallo
became the patroness of local travelers and the shrine, which
sits at the top of a steep hill, has long been a popular stopping
off point for bike riders. Father Ermelindo Vigano, a pastor
at the shrine, proposed that Ghisallo be dedicated to bicyclists
and, on October 13, 1949, Pope Pius XII officially declared
it as such. It is now a shrine/museum housing photos and bicycle
trivia as well as an eternal flame which burns in memory of
bikers who have passed on. Services at the shrine on Christmas
Eve and on November 2, the Feast of All Souls, commemorates
them. |
To
order
click on one of
the links below
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| St.
Madonna del Ghisallo
Patron St. of
Bicyclists |
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