The Miracle of Lavina
In Cerami stands the Sanctuary of the Madonna della Lavina which houses an ancient effigy depicting the Madonna.
In the same place where the sanctuary stands today, in the 14th century there was a chapel attached to a convent of Benedictine nuns. Two centuries later the old building collapsed. It is said that a painting depicting the Madonna was also buried under the rubble. There are two stories about the discovery of this painting.
The first tells that a traveler's mule, when crossing the places where the ancient chapel stood, knelt down and did not want to continue its journey. So it was that the traveler asked for help from the farmers who worked the nearby fields. These, seeing that the mule was trying to dig in the ground with its hooves, also began to dig until they found the painting.
The second story narrates that the Virgin Mary appeared in a dream to one of the nuns of the convent, indicating the place where the painting was located. Despite the nun's insistence in persuading the archpriest of the town to dig in that place, she managed to achieve nothing. At the third apparition in the dream, the Madonna told the nun that a very strong storm would bring the effigy back to light. And so it was: the following day, after a strong storm, a wooden beam, to which the painting was nailed, floated in the lava. The Archpriest, repentant, made the bells ring widely and a large crowd went to the place. The discovery was accompanied by a miraculous event: a farmer named Giuseppe, blind for thirteen years, kissed the sacred effigy and regained his sight.
