Vatican Gardens: Madonna della Guardia
This dramatic project was sponsored by Michigan Patrons Mr. and Mrs. William Brewis and involved the restoration of a portion of the Vatican Gardens called the Madonna della Guardia (Our Lady of the Guard). This section of the Vatican Gardens includes the shrine of Our Lady of the Guard that was originally donated to the Holy See by the city of Genoa to honor their own son, Pope Benedict XV in 1917, and to reduce his homeland nostalgia.
The devotion to Our Lady of the Guard began at the end of the fifteenth century with the apparition of the Virgin to Benedetto Pareto (1490). In this marble representation, Our Lady appears to the farmer Pareto, indicating the exact location on Figogna Mountain where she wished for a chapel to be erected in her name. Besides the shrine to Our Lady of the Guard, this section of the Gardens includes statues of pagan deities, busts of Roman emperors and religious statues of angels and saints. Two sculptures of male characters wearing togas are situated alongside one of the ‘Aurae’ statues, which are neo-Attic Hellenistic personifications of winds. The Madonna della Guardia Section of the Vatican Gardens is one of eight sections chosen for restoration by Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.
The Vatican gardens have been a place of quiet meditation and reflections for the Popes ever since 1279, when Nicholas III (Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, 1277-1280) moved his residence back to the Vatican from the Lateran Palace. Within the walls of his property, he planted an orchard, lawn, and garden. The Vatican Gardens, Palazzetto del Belvedere, and the courtyards of the Vatican Museums are located on the same ground where Nero’s Circus once stood, and where early Christians, including St. Peter, were martyred. According to tradition, St. Helena symbolically scattered earth brought from Golgotha on the Vatican Gardens to unite the blood of Christ with that shed by thousands of early Christians who died under the persecution of Nero.
The Vatican grounds represent one of the most unique gardens in the world because the landscape was formed on hallowed ground and, thus, are sewn with faith and hope. Many popes have prayed surrounded by this verdant haven. Pope Saint John XXIII often reflected in the gardens as he prepared to lead the Church through the Second Vatican Council. Pope Saint John Paul II would invite young people to pray the rosary with him at the Lourdes Shrine atop the Vatican Gardens. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI liked to pray his rosary daily here at the Madonna della Guardia, and we can be sure his prayers included special intentions for the worldly events that mark our times. Perhaps he asks for special blessings for the Patrons who contributed to making his favorite garden spot so lovely.