Saint Mary of Bethlehem
The church’s history
Located at the bottom of the valley, the church of St. Mary of Bethlehem is one of Modica’s ancient collegiate churches. Built beginning in the 1500s, it houses important works of art inside. The church consists of a basilica-like body with three naves at the ends of which are placed the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, the High Altar with the painting of the Assumption of Mary by Stefano Ragazzi(made on a copy of the painting of the same name preserved in Ragusa in the Church of Sant’Agata made by Pietro Novelli), and the Palatine Chapel, a masterpiece of late Sicilian Gothic.
The church was in the course of time affected by numerous floods because of its proximity to the “Pozzo dei Pruni” stream, which, to this day, flows under Corso Umberto I.
The artistic heritage consists, in particular, of the Monumental Crib and the Palatine Chapel.
- Monumental Nativity Scene
The permanent nativity scene dates back to 1882 and was made by artist Friar Benedetto Papale. The 66 statuettes of shepherds, made in terracotta in Caltagirone at the workshop of Giuseppe Vaccaro and sons, are of various sizes (the tallest measure 60 cm.) and in Modican costume, according to the precise instructions given by the patron, who requested the creation of specific characters. The group of the Holy Family, the Magi and the prophet Isaiah were instead made by Giacomo Azzolina, of Caltagirone. Friar Benedetto Papale took detailed care in the construction of the landscape views that realistically reproduce the places of Modica. For this he used stones, corks, trunks and roots collected in the Modican countryside and zinc foils to reconstruct the vegetation (prickly pears, caper plants, carobs, pear trees, palms, alòe) and the caves, mountains, and dwellings. Father Papale also wanted to give the nativity scene a character of universality, inserting a building resembling an African hut, near the palm tree; and again with the towers on the upper right he wanted to recall Jerusalem. In the group of Magi there is a woman on a camel; in fact, among the wise men who came from the East it is likely that there were also women.
On the highest mountain dominates the figure of Isaiah, his arms raised toward heaven.
Shepherds are caught in their sleep by the Angel announcing the birth of Jesus: some wake up, others are still asleep. On the side that opens into the chapel of St. Maurus, other characters can be seen, caught doing daily chores: one making cottage cheese, one washing clothes, one tending animals, one fetching water at the well, one carrying the fruit basket on his head, one hunting. And still present are: the beggar, the little dog waiting for his master at the door, “u spavintatu da stidda.” Recognizable in the bridge is the old bridge of the Vignazza neighborhood. In past years the crib was covered during the year and uncovered only during the Christmas holidays.
2. Dormitio Virginis – Marian Way of Modica
The polychrome wooden statue made by the Bongiovanni Vaccaro in 1840 represents the last fragment of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life.
A large part of tradition speaks of Mary’s death in terms of “dormancy,” thus emphasizing non-corruption, but it goes even further since St. Epiphanius of Salamis (315 – 403) did not hesitate to say that Mary’s end on earth was “full of prodigy,” while Timothy of Jerusalem (late 4th cent.) considered Mary not subject to death, and led by Christ to the place where he ascended to heaven. However, tradition also speaks of the tomb and thus of death. Whether Mary knew death or not was a much debated question on the eve of the dogmatic pronouncement of Mary’s assumption to heavenly glory.
Pius XII’s dogmatic definition about Mary’s assumption did not want to touch the issue: those who thought of a “Dormitio” without death were not faced with a contrary pronouncement, and vice versa. This is how the Apostolic Constitution “Munificentissimus Deus” of Nov. 1, 1950, expresses it: “We pronounce, declare and define to be dogma revealed by God that: the immaculate Mother of God ever-virgin Mary, having ended the course of earthly life, was assumed to heavenly glory in body and soul.”
Prayer to Mary Assumed into Heaven
O Mary Immaculate Assumption into heaven, you who live most blessedly in the vision of God: of God the Father who made you a lofty creature, of God the Son who willed by you to be begotten man and to have you as his mother, of God the Holy Spirit who in you accomplished the human conception of the Savior.
O Mary most pure O Mary sweetest and most beautiful O Mary strong and thoughtful woman O Mary poor and sorrowful O Mary virgin and mother most human woman Like Eve more than Eve. Close to God in your grace in your privileges in your mysteries in your mission in your glory.
O Mary assumed into the glory of Christ in the complete and transfigured perfection of our human nature.
O Mary door of heaven mirror of divine light sanctuary of the Covenant between God and men, let our souls fly after you let them rise behind your radiant path carried by a hope that the world does not have that of eternal bliss
Comfort us from heaven O merciful Mother, and by your ways of purity and hope lead us one day to the blessed meeting with you and with your divine Son our Savior Jesus. Amen!
3. Palatine Chapel
Sponsored by the church’s confraternity, the palatine chapel results as a wonderful example of Gothic and Renaissance art. Dating from the first half of the 16th century, it has a square plan concluded by a hemispherical dome. The entrance portal to the chapel consists of columns and half-columns decorated with grotesque motifs. On the sides are “grotesque” figures with flaming lion heads and suns becoming moons. Inside the chapel, in the niche above the altar, is a statue of Our Lady of Bethlehem stone sculpture referable to the 16th century. To the left is an aedicule where the reliquary urn referable to the 17th century is placed, surmounted by the coat of arms of the de Leva family. On the right wall of the chapel is the asphaltic stone tombstone of Don Francesco Lorefice, who died at the age of twenty in 1779. The chapel composed of a square base changes its shape to an octagon whose corners are glimpsed with Byzantine-Norman style spandrels. In the dome we find roundels depicting Roman emperors.
4. Flood of September 26, 1902
A plaque on the church’s counter-façade bears witness to the water level reached when Modica was devastated during the disastrous flood of 1902. On the night of September 25-26 due to heavy rains, Modica’s streams swelled, flooding the countryside and roads. In particular, the Pozzo dei Pruni Creek plunged behind the church with a water front of more than 11 meters and at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour. Houses around were washed away and the church was filled with water and mud to a height of 3.5 meters. The water penetrated through the side portal, now walled up and covered by the altar of St. Francis; the ancient portal is visible from the outside. Photographs document the extensive damage sustained in just twenty minutes by the flood, which killed 112 people throughout the city.
Bethlehem.
Inside the church the monumental crib was saved because it was enclosed by wooden boards but the collegiate archives(kept in the Palatine Chapel) were irreparably lost. The intervention of the Italian state was immediate with the arrival of soldiers of the Royal Army who began the work of clearing the creek. Of particular interest was the great national solidarity that was set in motion in the following days. That of the flood was the first well-documented disaster in the history of Italy. Charity collections identified in all the major cities of Italy and in parishes and dioceses: Rome, Naples, Bologna, Turin, Modena, Milan. This solidarity enabled the reconstruction of lower Modica in just two years, the creation of a new neighborhood called “Milano-Palermo” still inhabited today, and the reconstruction of Santa Maria di Betlem.
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