Abstract

How a new Marian devotion could be implanted with great success and in few years in a country already spiritually 'saturated'? This is the main question addressed by the article, by showing how the devotion arose in an area which was far away and different from its source. The first part of the article will analyse the causes and means throughout the 'foreign Madonna' became popular in the newly created Kingdom of Italy. The second part explores the 'response' in terms of devotion, which led to increasing numbers of pilgrimages to Lourdes and to newly build sanctuaries ad instar throughout the Italian peninsula.