As the cell had become too small for the numerous pilgrims, in 1852 Lamberto Vaselli and Zeffirino Leonardi were commissioned by a private citizen to build a church on that site. Further renovations began in 1913 at the initiative of the brothers Don Pio and Don Tomaso Sanchini, who were in charge of the sanctuary. Currently, additional modifications are being made to the sanctuary, including the expansion of the parking lot, which currently has space for 200 cars.
**Description:** A fresco from the Rimini school of the 14th century, depicting a half-bust of the Virgin nursing the Child.
**First recorded use:** In the year 1409
**Image:** Painting
**Notes on the collection:** In 1798, the devotional complex was secularized, and on that occasion, a significant number of votive tablets were lost. Currently, the sanctuary preserves around a thousand ex-votos. The collection consists of:
– **Painted votives** (17 tablets made of paper, cardboard, tin, and wood, dated between 1898 and 1917, displayed in a glass case. Each painting is accompanied by a typewritten narrative of the depicted event; these captions were created in 1981 by the Cooperativa Restauratori di Ravenna).
– **Photographs** (some of these, framed and decorated by cloistered nuns, date from between 1940 and 1943 and depict soldiers entrusting themselves to the Madonna of Bonora as they departed for war).
– **Several rifles** that, though fired in the hands of hunters, did not harm the faces of those holding them.
– **An image of Mary** embroidered with threads of 16 colors by one Giuseppe Bianchi (in 1943, during the Albanian campaign, he was imprisoned in India for a long period, during which he personally created the image, embroidered with the inscription: *MATER DIVINAE GRATIAE VENERATA NELL’INSIGNE SANTUARIO DI BONORA*).
– **Goldsmith artifacts**, mostly heart-shaped.
– **A wooden knob-shaped form**, which Giuseppina Bigucci of Passano, suffering from tuberculosis, had to keep her right hand fixed to for five months to prevent it from stiffening before her recovery on May 12, 1928.
– **Framed prints**.
**Types of ex-votos:** Painted tablets, Goldsmith artifacts, Miscellaneous objects, Photographs, Other.
**Cf.** Stafoggia Arcangelo, *Il santuario della cella di Bonora*, Rimini 1906, pp. 13–28, which describes 37 healings that occurred between 1835 and June 6, 1905.
A notarial act from October 7, 1409, records that a certain Bonora Ondidei donated to the religious of the Third Order of St. Francis a small cell with an oratory, a place where he had long led a life of prayer. In the oratory was painted an image of the Virgin and Child commissioned by Bonora himself—hence the sanctuary’s name. Between 1409 and 1652, jurisdiction over the Cella di Bonora belonged to the Franciscan Third Order; from 1652 to 1798, it passed to the Convertite or Sacro Cuore nuns. In 1798, the sanctuary complex was secularized (many ex-votos were lost at this time), and the cell remained closed until 1835. Throughout this period, the practice of visiting the Madonna della Cella di Bonora and praying outside its door never ceased.
In 1835, the Archpriest of Montefiore, Don Domenico Rovetti, piously planned to cut out the wall bearing the image to transport it to the parish church. At that very moment, Annunziata Rossi of Montefiore, who had been gravely ill for seven years with no hope of recovery, was healed after a brief prayer. The work was halted. (*Madonna di Bonora, Montefiore Conca, April 21, 1946*): this is the first documented miracle, followed by numerous other healings (cf. sheet 12).
From 1944 to 1949, since the diocesan seminary had been destroyed during World War II bombings, the sanctuary housed the seminarians of Rimini.
In 1946, the 20th anniversary of the solemn coronation of the Madonna of Montefiore Sanctuary by the Patriarch of Venice, Pietro La Fontaine, was celebrated. Festivities began on May 1 with daily pilgrimages and morning and evening homilies. On May 12, a full day of celebrations took place, including continuous Masses from 6:00 AM, a Bishop’s Mass at 8:30 AM, Confirmation at 10:00 AM, a Pontifical Mass at 11:00 AM, a tribute to the Bishop for his 25th priestly anniversary at 3:00 PM, and the Rosary, litanies, a procession with the Blessed Sacrament, and the Bishop’s final blessing at 5:00 PM.
**Bibliography:**
– Pezzoli Stefano, *Repertorio generale dei Santuari in Emilia Romagna*, in *Arte e Santuari in Emilia Romagna* 1987, pp. 179–239 (for the Diocese of Rimini, the Cella di Bonora sanctuary is described).
Between 1409 and 1652, jurisdiction over the Cella di Bonora belonged to the Franciscan Third Order; from 1652 to 1798, it passed to the Convertite or Sacro Cuore nuns. However, since neither the Third Order nor the nuns were authorized to provide pastoral care, it is understood that secular clergy were involved. In 1798, the sanctuary complex was secularized, and the cell remained closed until 1835.
47834 Montefiore Conca RN, Italy
