Loc. Sassella, 23100 Sondrio SO
The church of Santa Maria della Sassella has stood for centuries among the vineyards, a sentinel over the Sondrio basin. The building stands where the old Via Valeriana, after an uphill stretch, curves and descends towards the city.
It was a dangerous path, especially in the winter, but it could not be avoided: the valley bottom was marshy because of the Adda River. Above the church, the slope with its vineyards climbs steeply to where the forests start.
Legend has it that the place was chosen by the Virgin, who appeared to the archpriest of Sondrio in a dream in 932. Tradition aside, the Sassella church is certainly quite old. Archaeological excavations have revealed the remnants of two previous churches below the floor and of what appears to be a guard post along the road.
The current building was built between 1480 and 1521, at the height of a flourishing period in the arts. The marble portal is the work of a sculptor associated with the Rodari brothers, who came north from Como at the beginning of the 16th century bringing the new Renaissance style with them. The frescoes in the apse are the work of the acclaimed painter from Como, Andrea De Passeris, who painted five Scenes from the Life of the Virgin (1511) at the foot of the benedictory Father in a mandorla. The image most dear to the local faithful is the very mild Virgin in the Nativity by Vincenzo De Barberis (1534), a magnificent painting that was once the altarpiece on the main altar but now hangs in the nave.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, a new sacristy, lodgings for pilgrims, and an inn were added to the back of the church. A porch was built in front with stone seats for the faithful and white walls that soon became a slate where people wrote their names to mark their passage. Furthermore, work began on project to build 15 chapels dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary along the stretch of the path descending toward Sondrio, with the intention of creating the first Sacred Mount in Valtellina. The initiative may have been overly ambitious; only six chapels were actually built.
Devotional fervor during the Baroque period culminated in the “great miracle” of 1737, when eleven people on a foundering raft were saved from the waters after appealing to the Virgin for help. The episode is illustrated in one of the few surviving ex-votos.
Characterized since time immemorial by vineyards situated among its rocky outcroppings, the Sassella promontory has given its name to a famous local wine.
Preghiera alla Madonna della Sassella
Porta della Misericordia
di mons. Oscar Cantoni, vescovo di Como
O Maria,
per l’amore che porti
a questa nostra terra,
in particolare alla nostra Valle,
tu hai fatto di questo nostro
santuario della Sassella
un luogo in cui tu attiri i tuoi figli
per invocarti e aprire loro
la porta della Misericordia.
Tu che sei Figlia del Padre,
Madre del Figlio
e Sposa dello Spirito Santo:
rivelati a tutti come Tempio
della Santissima Trinità,
Misericordia Infinita,
da cui promana
l’acqua della Misericordia,
che tutto rinnova e consola.
Fa’ che la nostra Chiesa,
dai monti alle valli,
dalla pianura alla città,
sia sempre più unita e concorde,
salda nella fede,
ardente di speranza,
operosa nella carità.
Fa’ che essa trasmetta a tutti
l’amore preferenziale che Tu,
Santa Madre di Dio,
continuamente le riservi,
arricchendola in ogni tempo
di Santi, Beati e Martiri gloriosi
che, a Te abbandonati
e sull’esempio del Tuo Figlio Gesù,
testimoniano per le nostre strade
la sicura e consolante presenza
della Divina Misericordia
che tutti vuole attirare a Sé.
Santa Maria della Sassella,
Porta della Misericordia,
intercedi per noi! Amen.
