2026 is a special year for Vicenza and for the devotion to the Madonna of Monte Berico: it marks the 600th anniversary of the first Marian apparition on the hill that overlooks the city, which occurred according to tradition on March 7, 1426. An important anniversary, celebrated through the Marian Jubilee and Rebirth Year, which accompanies religious and cultural initiatives and moments of reflection throughout 2026 dedicated to one of the most beloved and frequented sites of Venetian spirituality. The anniversary now intertwines with the traditional festival of September 8, the day on which Vicenza solemnly celebrates the Madonna of Monte Berico, the main patron saint of the city and diocese. An ancient devotion, deeply rooted in the history of the territory, which continues to attract pilgrims and visitors to the Sanctuary every year, a destination for a flow of faithful arriving from all over Italy and abroad. According to tradition, on March 7, 1426, at a time when Vicenza was severely hit by the plague, the Virgin appeared on Monte Berico to Vincenza Pasini, a local woman, asking that a church be built in her honor and promising protection to the city. The apparition was followed by a second manifestation on August 1, 1428, and shortly after, on August 25 of the same year, the construction of the first sacred building on the hill began. From that promise, born in one of the most difficult periods in the city’s history, the Sanctuary of Monte Berico took shape, becoming over the centuries a reference point for faith and a symbol of Vicenza’s identity itself. The six-hundredth anniversary is therefore not just a number linked to the past, but an opportunity to retrace a history that, six centuries later, continues to be lived in the present. Precisely for this reason, 2026 has been proclaimed the Marian Jubilee and Rebirth Year, recalling the original meaning of the tradition: the hope of a community that, in a moment marked by fear and illness, found in faith a reason to look forward. The celebrations of September 8 thus take on an even more particular meaning. Monday, September 7, the traditional prayerful ascent to the Sanctuary anticipated the day of the patronal feast, while Tuesday, September 8, will see the celebration of the solemn Mass in honor of the Madonna of Monte Berico, the central moment of an anniversary that involves the entire city every year. The cultural and tourist initiatives planned for these days also contribute to recounting the bond between Vicenza and its patron saint, in a journey that unites spirituality, history, art, and local identity. Six hundred years after the first apparition, the Madonna of Monte Berico thus continues to represent much more than the memory of an event passed down through the centuries. It is the symbol of a profound relationship between a place and its community, of a devotion capable of crossing generations, and of a Sanctuary that, from the top of the hill, continues to be a visible and spiritual reference point for the people of Vicenza. The great anniversary of 2026 thus meets the traditional September festival at a particularly significant moment: six centuries after that first apparition, Vicenza returns to turn its gaze towards Monte Berico, renewing a history of faith and hope that continues to live in the present.
