Do You Believe In Miracles?

From Dave’s Perspective:

Along the highway between Perugia and Todi, near a town called Deruta, there is a sign for “Madonna Dei Bagni”.  Christina and I have seen the sign several times and thought it was odd to have a highway turnoff for “Madonna in the bathtub” (rough translation, of course), but we were always curious as to what the heck it was.

Last week, after touring the wine museum in Torgiano, our host Claudia decided to take backroads home so we could see some local sights.  We went through the small town of Deruta, the pottery capital of Umbria, with dozens of factories, shops, and outlet stores. Not too far after, we came upon an average-sized church, which, to our surprise was Madonna dei Bagni.  Claudia said it was a special place known throughout the region, a sort of holy site for locals.  From the outside, the church looked nice, but nothing ornate or special that would catch your eye.  Entering through the side door, it was obvious this was someplace different and unique.  All the walls were filled with ceramic plaques, varying in size, style, and age, some dating back to the 17^th century.  There were over 700 beautiful, highly decorated scenes, showing floods, falling buildings, broken bones, and people sick in bed.  But why?

The history of the church and the pottery is a wonderful story.  It starts with a merchant that was distraught because his wife was very ill.  One day, he came upon a broken piece of  pottery with a painting of the virgin Mary and baby Jesus.  He placed the pottery shard in an oak tree and said a prayer for his wife. Upon returning home, he found his wife to be perfectly healthy and sweeping the house.  News of the miracle spread, and others came to pray at the tree with the Madonna and baby.  Local potters began making plaques depicting their stories, each one with a scene of the potential tragedy.  The plaques also show the miracle and grace of God through that broken piece of pottery in the tree and the letters PGR (meaning Per Grace Received).

Over 700 ceramic plaques line the walls of the church.

The oak tree and the pottery fragment are protected at the front of the church.

The tiny ceramic shard that was originally a painting on the bottom of a ceramic cup….

As the decades and centuries went by, a church was built around the tree, preserving the original fragment and the tree itself even after it died. Injured people would be brought to the church for prayer, and if a miracle occurred, a plaque would be commissioned in their honor and hung on the wall. To this day, there is a sign on the freeway marking the location of the church, so those being driven to the hospital or those in an ambulance will know they are close by and can say a prayer for their injured loved one.

This one is depicting a family praying for someone who was injured falling out of a tree.

Over 700 plaques that span over 350 years….

Some of the more modern ones show scenes from car crashes and even some on operating tables.