The Sanctuary of La Madonna del Frassine in Tuscany
The Sanctuary of La Madonna del Frassine is arguably the first and most important Marian Sanctuary in the Maremma region, and is especially known and made mention of in the seventeenth and eighteenth century.
While the name Frassine, Fraxinetum in Latin, begins to appear in documents after the year 1000 AD, the church of Santa Maria del Frassine has an older exhibit. In fact Gothic texts preserved at the Sanctuary of the Madonna assure us of the existence of an image of Our Lady already as early as the fourth or fifth century.
The structure of the sanctuary of La Madonna del Frassine is built in the shape of a latin cross and has three altars. The main altar contains two statues, works of Domenico Notari from Lugano and sculpted in 1700, the altar on the right is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady and was built in 1596, while the altar on the left is dedicated to St. Sylvester, and was built in 1696.
The Val di Cornia, where the sanctuary is located, is considered to be an area of sacred mention not only because of the Frassine Sanctuary, but also because the saintly bishop San Regolo, was martyred here.
It is believed that he was the first person to introduce and spread the devotion of Our Lady in this area. In ancient times there was a small church dedicated to this saint which was also linked to the Marian sanctuary, as the Rector of this church also excercised his pastoral duties here. Sadly it no longer exists except for some ruins which are thought to be the foundations of this church.
A legend well known in this beautiful region of Italy speaks of a popular pastor in Africa who tirelessly told his Christian followers that God’s word is not a creature, though sublime, but the Son of the very same God, who was generated by the Father. Tormented by the Arians, Bishop Regolo decided to escape elsewhere to serve God in liberty.
His request was: “Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, you who decided to be always with us, prepare a proper place for us, guide our steps on the road to peace so that we can serve you in liberty“.
Two bishops, three priests, two deacons (including Cerbone, Felice, Giustus, Clement and Octavius) answered “Amen” to Regolo’s prayer and followed him.
They disembarked in the bay of Populonia where, as an escort and defence, they used a statue of Our Lady carved out of ash wood. San Regolo, who loved silence ascended the hill to Cornia, and here chose to live a hermitic life in the woodland near today’s Frassine, where he performed many miracles. His fame soon spread far to the extent that those who were against him condemned him to death. He died on 1st September 545. During his martyrdom, San Regolo said: “I do not obey the orders of King Totila but obey the orders of Christ, Son of the eternal King. I am ready to walk with any person who decides to prepare an eternal dinner for his servants.”
When Felice and Cerbone saw the miracles that were being performed through the intercession of Regolo they built a church in his honour.
In Lucca, where his relics were taken in the eighth century, on the arch beam of the Cathedral door next to the bell tower, one can still admire a ‘basso-relievo’ of the eleventh century depicting this saint, and next to it the inscription “I, Regolo, believe that God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit always existed“. On the other side, there is a depiction of King Totila with a similar inscription saying: “We Arians believe that the Son of God is not eternal but had a beginning”.
With regards to the statue of Our Lady which for five centuries was kept in the monastery which was built next to the church, we do not know much about what happened to it. A popular legend says that around the year 1350 a man from Val di Cornia, who was a bull herder, often noted that every day one of his bulls would wander into the woods and spend a long time there. Once he decided to follow the bull and found it kneeling by an ash tree which was concealing among its leaves, a wooden statue of Our Lady.
The local inhabitants immediately thought of taking the statue to the church at the castle of Monterotondo which was nearby, but the graces and miracles that began to happen at the place where the statue was found soon forced them to understand that Our Lady had chosen the ash tree as her throne.
On that old trunk, which was initially enclosed in a stone structure and later placed in a church built in honour of the Madonna, the statue of Our Lady still reigns as queen of Val di Cornia and Maremma. Today it is still a destination for numerous pilgrimages from all parts of Italy, especially on 25th April (the feast day of La Madonna del Frassine), the day after Pentecost (today the feast day of Our Lady Mother of the Church) and the 8th September (the Nativity of the Virgin Mary).
On the initiative of the diocesan bishop Mgr Carlo Ciattini, the sanctuary was recently restored and declared to be the principal Marian sanctuary of the Diocese of Massa Marittima - Piombino.