Feast of the Madonna di Costantinopoli

Madonna di Constantinopoli, ora pro nobis

On the first Sunday of August the city of Salerno celebrates the Feast of the Madonna di Costantinopoli, patroness of seafarers. According to tradition, the sacred image of the Virgin Hodegetria (She who shows the way) miraculously washed up on shore near the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino in 1453, the fateful year Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks. Reliving its arrival, the icon is brought out to sea yearly with great fanfare and processed by a festive flotilla along the city’s waterfront. 

Though widely venerated across Southern Italy, the various towns honor Our Lady under the title of Madonna di Costantinopoli on different dates. For example, the annual Feast at Agropoli along the Cilento littoral is celebrated on July 24th. Like Salerno, the Agropolesi bring their statue of the Madonna out to sea and hold a coastal boat procession.

The city of Bari honors their glorious patroness on the first Tuesday in March, recalling the arrival of the miraculous icon in 731. Seeking shelter from a squall, as the story goes, a ship fleeing the iconoclastic controversy at Constantinople was guided safely to the calm Apulian port by an angel.

Similarly, the town of Papasidero in Calabria celebrates the Feast of the Madonna di Costantinopoli on the first Tuesday after Pentecost. However, their Feast calls to mind the lifting of a virulent plague in 1656. The town's deliverance is attributed to the Blessed Mother.

Interestingly, it is said the original Virgin Hodegetria painted by San Luca was ritually paraded through the streets and marketplaces of Constantinople on Tuesdays to purify the city.(1) Today, many towns across Europe claim to be in possession of the it.

In celebration, I’m posting a prayer to Our Lady of Constantinople. The accompanying photo, courtesy of Andrew Giordano, was taken at the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino in Salerno. Ave Maria!

Prayer to Our Lady of Constantinople

O Mother of God, invincible triumphant victor over your only Son's enemies, Queen of the Angels, Consoler of the afflicted, advocate of the sinners, it cannot be denied that you are pleased to show yourself always admirable and loving under the title of Constantinople, which I admire and venerate. I rejoice in graces that you have granted to those who, with faith, have invoked you under this admirable title. I pray for the spiritual sanctity of all of us, your children; listen and be gracious to those who turn to you, who commend themselves to you, who trust in you, O Mother, and in you, O Queen, they put their hope. Amen.

(1) Madonna dell’Arco and the Byzantine Interface in Southern Italy by Elliot Wise and Dr. Mark J. Johnson, Art History and Curatorial Studies, September 19, 2013, Journal of Undergraduate Research