The "Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel", better known as Carmine Church, is a Roman Catholic church in Via Porta Imperiale, Messina, Sicily. It replaces the former church, which was razed by the 1908 Messina earthquake. Located close to the Tribunal, the Carmine Church was rebuilt in 1930 in the eighteenth century Baroque or Rococo style. Designed by the architect Cesare Bazzani, the church was reconsecrated on 15 July 1931.
The religious Carmelites arrived from the Holy Land in Messina probably not later than 1238 and settled down by the river San Michele, two miles from the city. There, they built their first convent with its church, which they called "Santa Maria del Carmelo". That place, for the hermit life lived by the brothers, was then commonly called ‘Ritiro’ ('Withdrawal') name that then took all the area. The pressures of the faithful people that flocked, attracted by the admirable life of those monks, induced the Carmelites to relocate and move almost at the mouth of that river San Michele. However, being the second mansion infested with malaria and too exposed to the depredations of pirates and wars, in 1292 the brothers moved to Via degli Argentieri, between the current Via Garibaldi and Via Cavour. But also in this convent, their presence did not last long because it was too close to the cathedral and those priests considered their masses "disturbed".
The facade of the church
The brothers then, "pro bono Pacis," moved in April 1304 for the fourth time to a new convent, located in Contrada Pozzo Leone (dedicated to Pope Leo II, born in Messina by tradition) where they occupied the church of St. Cataldo located in the area of the current theatre "Vittorio Emanuele", overlooking Via Cavour. On 5 February 1783, when the church, and all its internal works and tombs, were completely destroyed. The new headquarters, "Carmine Maggiore" stood on the ancient Via Università, including the current Via San Filippo Bianchi and Via della Zecca.
The statue dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The church of the Carmine, as before, had a unique nave and was lavishly embellished in a Baroque style, with frescoes and oil paintings by Giovanni Tuccari. He had five altars: the main one was dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with a painting on wood always considered by Polidoro da Caravaggio, covered with silver-stained leaving visible only the Madonna's face (you can see it in the current Regional Museum), one was dedicated to St Albert of Trapani and was ornamented with four silver "plates" depicting the life of the saint (stored in current vestry until 1981 when they were stolen). On 28 December 1908 a catastrophic earthquake struck Messina. The Hon. Mirabello, then Minister of the Navy, ruthless anti-clerical, in an interview in early January 1909, accused the clergy of total absenteeism in the earthquake country. To repair this slander, Honorable Joseph Toscano wrote in the newspaper "Il Risveglio": «Simply for the truth, the undersigned Giuseppe Toscano, former municipal councilor of the hapless Messina testify that immediately following the disaster, I met with three friars of the convent of the Carmine, almost naked, already worked to rescue the buried alive and, although they also just escaped the wreckage and free of any instrument, by sheer force of their arms drew to rescue as many as they could. I gave to them some clothing that I could draw from my house, one room was not completely knocked down, and sat with them at the pitiful work».
Sensing devotion to the Holy Virgin of Carmel, the Archbishop of Messina, D'Arrigo, wanted to entrust the Carmelites one of the first shack-churches built after the disaster, in Via Salandra. At that stood near the church of SS. Lawrence and Anne, the oldest parish in the city, which could include in its records the name of Canon St. Annibale Maria Di Francia, baptized there 7 July 1851. However, the parish priest, old and shabby, needed help. The Archbishop D'Arrigo asked Father Alessi, the prior of the convent, to lend, and the pastor, to concede that his parish would pass to the Carmelites at his death, which occurred in October 1918. In fact in 1926, thanks to the paternal involvement of Archbishop Angelo Paino, the successor of D'Arrigo, the project was obtained for the new church and convent by the renowned architect Cesare Bazzani. The cornerstone that took place on 17 July of that year, after four years, the new convent stood and was opened 3 June 1930. After one year, the new church of the Carmine was completed. On 15 July 1931, the statue of the Virgin of Carmel made its triumphal entry, greeted fondly by Messina people.
The Church today
Inside of the dome
The interior, in the shape of a Greek cross with side chapels, is decorated with polychrome marble and pink marble columns topped with carved capitals. The dome of the church, octagonal, has a circular window on each side and is surmounted by a square lantern. The central compartment has an octagonal shape and is covered by a dome that is in line with Via Nicola Fabrizi and Corso Cavour, to whom all the building, seen from a distance, gives the impression of a terminal point. The church has seven chapels. On the main altar is an eighteenth-century statue depicting the Madonna of Carmel, with the Infant Jesus in her arms, in the act of turning the holy scapular to St. Simon Stock.
Church DomeStatues of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Simon Stock
Chapel of St. Heart: it is located in the crossing of the church on the left of the main altar. The niche contains a statue of St. Heart.
Chapel of St. Crucifix: it depicts Mount Calvary, the cross on which Jesus stands against a background of dark clouds that hint of darkness that have arisen time of his death. Sitting at the foot is the Mother of Sorrows with his chest pierced by a sword.
Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes it is from right beside the main altar. In a cave that seems to remember that French is the wooden statue of Our Lady of Lourdes natural high that comes from the ancient church-cabin (after the earthquake stood at Via La Farina). At his feet there is a small Bernadet.
Chapel of St. Anne: the wooden statue of St. Anne holds an open book with the biblical passage "Rorate coeli et desuper nubes pluvant iustum" (Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above the clouds rain down the Just). The Santa was, along with St. Lawrence, until 1988, co-owner of the parish that, on that occasion, changed its name to "Santa Maria del Carmine."
Chapel of St. Albert of the Abbots: the wooden statue of Albert of Trapani, one of the patrons of Messina, natural height, holding in her arms the Divine Little Child on the right, with the symbolic lily and a book on the left: the symbols of his candor and scrupulous observance of the Rule. It lies on a wooden base, on which is a fluttering ribbon with the inscription "Civitas Messana Gaude", which invites the city of Messina to enjoy having such a wonderful protector. Behind the saint's feet you can see the stern and the bow of the historic "Vascelluzzo", a vessel that commemorates the liberation of the city of Messina by a severe famine, and that is carried in procession every year on the day of Corpus Domini.
Chapel of Saint Lucy: it recalls the church "Santa Lucia all'Uccellatore" which stood near the present sanctuary. Great is the devotion of Messina people for Saint Lucy and they particularly celebrate it in her feast day, 13 December.
The Tamburini organ
Built by the famous company Tamburini of Crema and tested on January 30, 1954, this organ is the most practical and perfect that could be offered at that time. It has two manuals of 61 keys, a fine console, beyond the radially concave pedalboard with 32 pedals brackets, adjusted every twenty registers, 17 of which are real mechanical. It has a complex of 1,400 rods which, placed on both sides of the loft, forms a complex rich sounds. It has just been subject to a restoration.
Related Research Articles
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid-13th century. They built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the "Lady of the place." Our Lady of Mount Carmel was adopted in the 19th century as the patron saint of Chile.
The Church of Our Lady Victorious, also referred as the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague, in Malá Strana, the "Lesser Quarter" of Prague, is a church governed and administered by the Discalced Carmelites, and home of the famous Child Jesus statue called the Infant Jesus of Prague. The statue, a 16th-century depiction of infant Jesus holding a globus cruciger, was donated to the Carmelite friars in 1628 by Polyxena, 1st Princess Lobkowicz.
Acquafondata is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region Lazio, located in the Monti della Meta area, about 130 kilometres (81 mi) southeast of Rome and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Frosinone.
Santa Maria del Carmine is a church in Naples, Italy. It is at one end of Piazza Mercato, the centre of civic life in Naples for many centuries until it was cut off from the rest of the city by urban renewal in 1900. The church was founded in the 13th century by Carmelite friars driven from the Holy Land in the Crusades, presumably arriving in the Bay of Naples aboard Amalfitan ships. Some sources, however, place the original refugees from Mount Carmel as early as the eighth century. The church is still in use and the 75–metre bell tower is visible from a distance even amidst taller modern buildings.
Santa Maria dei Carmini, also called Santa Maria del Carmelo and commonly known simply as the Carmini, is a large Roman Catholic church in the sestiere, or neighbourhood, of Dorsoduro in Venice, northern Italy. It nestles against the former Scuola Grande di Santa Maria del Carmelo, also known as the Scuola dei Carmini. This charitable confraternity was officially founded in 1597, and arose from a lay women's charitable association, the Pinzocchere dei Carmini. The members of this lay group were associated as tertiaries to the neighbouring Carmelite monastery. They were responsible for stitching the scapulars for the Carmelites.
The Basilica Menor de San Pedro Bautista(Saint Peter Baptist Basilica), also known as the San Francisco del Monte Church is a parish church in the San Francisco del Monte district of Quezon City, in the Philippines. It is one of the oldest churches in the country having founded in 1590. The church is dedicated to its founder Padre Pedro Bautista, a Spanish missionary from Ávila, Spain, one of the 26 Christians martyred in Japan in 1597.
The Stella Maris Monastery (romana) or the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for monks is a 19th-century Discalced Carmelite monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Another Carmelite monastery of the same name is reserved for nuns and is located higher up on Mount Carmel.
The Church of San Marco in San Girolamo is a baroque parish church in Vicenza, northern Italy, built in the 18th century by the Discalced Carmelites. It houses various artworks by artists of the early 18th century from Veneto. The sacristy preserves its original furniture of the same period.
Santa Maria del Carmine is a church in Milan, Italy. It was built in 1446.
The Basilica Minore of Our Lady of Charity, better known as Agoo Basilica, is a Roman Catholic Minor Basilica in Agoo, La Union, the Philippines dedicated to Our Lady of Charity. It is the seat of the Santa Monica Parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Fernando de La Union under the Vicariate of St. Francis Xavier. The diocese of San Fernando La Union is part of the territory of the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia. The basilica is under the leadership of parish priest, Msgr. Alfonso V. Lacsamana, PC and Parish Vicar, Father Liberato A. Apusen. It is situated along MacArthur Highway in Agoo, La Union in front of the Jose D. Aspiras Civic Center.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the name or patron saint of many churches. Among them:
The Sanctuary of the Madonna del Carmine, also called for short Santuario del Carmine is a 19th-century Roman Catholic church located in the town of Riccia, Province of Campobasso in the region of Molise, Italy.
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, commonly referred as Nuestra Señora Del Carmen Parish, is a Roman Catholic Church situated in Barangay Pulong Buhangin, Santa Maria, in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. It is under the coat of arms and jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Malolos and within the vicariate of Santa Maria.
Sant'Anna is a Catholic church in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy.
Santiago Apóstol is a Roman Catholic parish church located in Liétor, Community of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.
Santa Maria del Rosario is a Catholic church in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani.
Anime Sante is a Catholic church located in Alcamo, in the province of Trapani.
The Church of the Annunciation also known as The Carmelite Church is a rich Baroque priory church of the Priory of Our Lady of Mount Carmel located in Mdina, Malta.
Basilica of Our lady of Mount Carmel & St Joseph,popularly known as Varapuzha Basilica, is in Varapuzha, a northern suburban town of Kochi City in the Ernakulam district of Kerala state, India. It was built in the year 1673. The basilica is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Joseph. The solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady is celebrated as an annual sixteen-day confraternity festival, from 31 July to 15 August. The basilica is also famous as a pilgrimage centre in the southern part of India. It serves as the Mother Church for 14 churches.
The Parish Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a Roman Catholic parish church in Fleur-de-Lys, a suburb of Birkirkara, Malta. It was built by the Carmelites between 1945 and 1946 and it became a parish church in 1975.
References
The information in this article is based on that in its Italian equivalent.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
