13 APRIL - OUR LADY OF MANTUA (PRAGUE)

 After the plague of 1630, which had overwhelmed the city and its territory, the princess Maria Gonzaga, was determined to place herself, her son Charles II and Mantua under the 

     special protection of Mary. She ordered that the image of Mary should be carried in procession through the streets of the city, and desired that the image be solemnly crowned 

     in the Basilica of St. Andrea, as the Queen of Mantua. Since then, the Church and the picture painted of Santa Maria were named ‘Saint Mary the Crowned,’ This present shrine to 

     Our Lady of Mantua was built by the Gonzaga family in the year 1640. This is a miraculous painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus.





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