Our Spirituality: Days of prayer with Mary, Madonna of Purity
Our Spirituality
Days of prayer with Mary, Our Lady of Purity
Virgin of Purity. This was the name given to an ancient image of the Virgin given as a gift by one of the kings of Aragon to the noble Neapolitan family of Bernardo de Mendoza. Transferred on 7 September 1641, with great pomp, to the Theatine church of San Paolo in Naples, her devotion grew to such an extent that copies of the miraculous image were requested from all over Italy and the world, even from the most remote places. The first copy was brought by Father Caracciolo to the church of Sant Andrea della Valle (Rome) in 1647, where it was solemnly crowned by the Vatican Chapter on 7 December 1648. In 1646 the community of Naples took her as patroness of the convent, and in 1647 with special decree of the General Chapter was declared patroness of the whole Congregation “. (P. Rullan, Semblanza de la Orden de Clérigos Regulares, Barcelona, ??1946).
The importance of this devotion goes so far as to include an article in our Constitutions which reminds us that this characteristic of our spirituality defines us:
“Each of us should make it a point to recite the Office parvo or the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is required of us by that deep devotion that we all must have for the Blessed Virgin, principal patroness of our Congregation under the title of Purity and model and protector of the whole Christian life” (Const. Art. n. 52).
