Lentorama 2021: Take Your Holiday to Go

Day 13: Feast of Our Lady of the Audience

Early in the 16th century, a wealthy family brought a statue of the Madonna and Child created by Antonello Gagini to the town of Sambuca di Sicilia, where for many years it was hidden near the town ovens. In 1575 it was rediscovered, and locals decided to parade it through the city streets to an infirmary that was dealing with an outbreak of leprosy. The people prayed for the outbreak to end, which it did, and the statue was given the name Our Lady of the Audience as it helped the prayers of the sick to be heard.

Installed in the local church, locals recreate the statue's original journey on the third Sunday in May, with celebrations lasting to Monday morning. Other churches on Sicily - and the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Kansas City - also observe the feast, with a replica statue or other depiction of the miracle standing in for the original.

Sambuca di Sicilia also grabbed 15 minutes of secular fame when it became one of the Italian towns that offered derelict homes for one Euro, in the hopes of bringing in new residents. This prompted the American actress Lorraine Bracco to buy a house and attempt to renovate it, as seen on the HGTV show My Big Italian Adventure.