Madonna of Montevergine: Patron of LGBTQ people since medieval times
A friend just sent me this link. I thought that it might be interesting to my LGBTQ friends.
https://qspirit.net/madonna-montevergine-lgbtq/
The Madonna of Montevergine has a reputation for helping queer people since medieval times — including the miraculous rescue of a male couple left to die in Italy more than 750 years ago. Processions to her shrine have been called “ancestral gay pride” marches and Italian LGBTQ activists have adopted her as an unofficial patron saint.
The miracle at Montevergine may be the only recorded miracle in church history in which the Madonna saves a pair of same-sex lovers from homophobic violence. LGBTQ religion scholars and people of faith search long and hard for queer people buried in church history, so it is exciting to find a little-known but long-standing legend that the Madonna rescued a same-sex couple in the year 1256. New queer icons show the miracle.
Montevergine’s biggest and queerest procession happens every year on Candlemas (Feb. 2), the feast of the Purification of Mary. Among the pilgrims are genderbending devotees of Mary, known as “femminielli,” a traditional queer or third-gender people who are just beginning to get attention from scholars in English. The abbey of Montevergine is also important because the shroud of Turin was hidden there for safe-keeping during World War II.
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