A summer journey to Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, introduced me once again to one of the many titles of the Virgin Mary.
Sardinia – the Contested Island of the Mediterranean
Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, has been coveted by many peoples and kingdoms over the millennia. The Phoenicians and Carthaginians established trading posts there already in antiquity, after which the island belonged to the Roman Empire for centuries. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Sardinia came under the rule of the Vandals and later the Byzantine Empire.
During the Middle Ages, the island was divided into four virtually independent realms known as giudicati, whose rulers bore the title giudice, or judge. These realms defended their independence against the influence of both Pisa and Genoa.
In 1297, Pope Boniface VIII established the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica and granted it to the Crown of Aragon. The Aragonese began their conquest of Sardinia in 1323. A fortress was built on the hill of Bonaria outside Cagliari, under whose protection decisive battles were fought against the forces of Pisa.
It was also during these years that the shrine of Bonaria had its beginnings. No one could then have imagined that the modest church built on the hill would, over the centuries, become the most important Marian shrine in all Sardinia.
Good Winds
According to legend, in 1370 a Spanish merchant ship sailing the Mediterranean was caught in a violent storm off the coast of Sardinia. After all the other cargo had been thrown overboard, only one heavy chest remained. As soon as it too was pushed into the waves, the storm immediately subsided.
The chest drifted ashore in Cagliari at the foot of the hill of Bonaria. Curious onlookers were unable to move it until a Mercedarian friar was summoned. He lifted the chest without difficulty. Inside was a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in her arms. The candle in Mary’s hand was still burning, even though the chest had been in the sea for a long time.
Around this legend grew one of Sardinia’s most important pilgrimage destinations: the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria.
The shrine stands on a hill on the eastern side of Cagliari and can be seen far out at sea. For centuries, it was the first landmark seen by sailors approaching the harbour. It is therefore hardly surprising that people came here to give thanks for being saved from storms and to pray for a safe journey.
Our Lady of Bonaria is particularly known as the patroness of seafarers. Her Spanish title, Nuestra Señora de los Buenos Aires, literally means “Our Lady of the Good Winds”. The Italian name Bonaria likewise evokes good air and favourable winds.
The church still contains numerous votive offerings, or ex votos, given by sailors in thanksgiving for deliverance from danger.
The Church Built by the Aragonese
The shrine thus existed even before the miracle of Bonaria. A small Gothic church was built beside the fortress on the hill of Bonaria in 1324–1325. Today it is the oldest surviving Catalan Gothic church building in Sardinia. Christianity itself, however, has much deeper roots on the island.
In 1335, King Alfonso IV gave the church of Bonaria to the Mercedarian friars, who have cared for the shrine ever since.
When, a few decades later, the statue of Mary was said to have arrived miraculously from the sea, the church rapidly became the most important Marian pilgrimage destination in all Sardinia. The statue is still venerated in the old small church.
In the eighteenth century, construction began on a considerably larger basilica beside the old church. Work progressed slowly, and the building was not finally completed until 1926. In the same year, Pope Pius XI raised it to the rank of a minor basilica (basilica minor).
Patroness of Sardinia and Giver of a Name
Devotion to Our Lady of Bonaria gradually spread throughout the island. In 1907, Saint Pope Pius X proclaimed the Virgin of Bonaria the principal patroness of Sardinia. At the same time, her status as patroness of Italian seafarers was strengthened.
The feast of Our Lady of Bonaria is celebrated each year on 24 April. On that day, the statue of Mary is carried in a solemn procession to the seashore, recalling the legend from which the devotion originated.
Although the story surrounding the origins of the shrine belongs to the realm of pious tradition and cannot be historically verified, its spiritual message has remained unchanged: the Mother of Christ guides her children safely through the storms.
The influence of the Shrine of Bonaria, however, extends far beyond Sardinia. When Spanish sailors and explorers crossed the Atlantic towards South America, they took devotion to Our Lady of Bonaria with them. A new port founded at the mouth of the Río de la Plata was named Puerto de Nuestra Señora de los Buenos Aires – the Port of Our Lady of the Good Winds. In time, a great city grew around the harbour, and its name was shortened to Buenos Aires.
Breaths of the Virgin Mary
Few people stop to consider that the name of Argentina’s capital – and the home city of the previous pope – derives from a small Sardinian shrine and a medieval statue of the Virgin Mary. Although an ocean separates the city and the shrine, their histories are linked by the same Marian title: Our Lady of the Good Winds.
The Shrine of Bonaria reminds us that the history of the Church is often shaped by unexpected connections. A small church on a Mediterranean island has left its mark on the map of the world.
Today Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, is known for its many sights, but the shrine on the hill of Bonaria is regarded as its spiritual heart. Local people and pilgrims alike come there to light a candle, give thanks for a safe journey or ask for strength amid the storms of life.
Perhaps this is precisely where the attraction of Our Lady of Bonaria lies. The details of the legend may be debated, but its message is timeless: even in the darkest storm, a light continues to burn that cannot be extinguished. May the favourable winds breathed by the Virgin Mary protect both the eastern and western hemispheres. May they protect all those who are on their way.
Marko Tervaportti
THE MERCEDARIAN ORDER
The name “Mercedarians” comes from the order founded by Saint Peter Nolasco in Aragon in 1218, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum (Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy for the Redemption of Captives). Its abbreviation is O. de M., or ODEM according to Finnish usage.
The order is open to both men and women. In addition to the three customary religious vows, its members make a fourth vow: if necessary, they undertake to risk their own freedom and their lives for the liberation of Christian captives. The order comprises around 600 friars, most of whom are priests, as well as approximately one hundred sisters.