Our Lady of the Seven Joys
Sion, Switzerland (1422)
In 1422, during an apparition of the Virgin, Italian Franciscan St. James of the Marches learned a new devotion. The “Franciscan Crown” is a rosary of seven decades, one for each of the Joys of Mary.
The Franciscan Order spread this devotion rapidly through Europe.
In a battle against the Saiyards in which Sion was heavily outnumbered, perhaps the defenders had prayed to Our Lady for relief, for that evening, after the enemy’s horses and arms paraded through Sion, Bishop Walter Supersaxo ordered “that in the future the anniversary of this triumph will be a holiday, that the feast of the seven joys of the Holy Virgin will be celebrated throughout the diocese.”
Text and image used with permission.
Source: "365 Days with Mary" by Michael O'Neill
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