Santo Bambino di Aracoeli Infant Child of Aracoeli | |
---|---|
Location | Capitoline Hill |
Date | Fourteenth century |
Witness | Franciscan monk |
Type | Olive wood |
Approval | Pope Leo XIII Pope Saint John Paul II |
Shrine | Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli |
The Santo Bambino of Aracoeli sometimes known as Bambino Gesu di Aracoeli (Lit: Holy Jesus of Aracoeli) is a 15th-century Roman Catholic devotional wooden image depicting the Child Jesus Christ in his infancy.
The image a standing image wrapped with infant clothing in a standing posture adorned with various gemstones and jewels from its faithful devotees and was previously known for being transported in a gilded carriage to visit the sick and the needy.
The image is presently enshrined in the titular Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli and was granted a Canonical Coronation on 2 May 1897 by Pope Leo XIII and was once again blessed by Pope Saint John Paul II in 8 January 1984. The image is adorned with its original crown, while it is clothed in expensive textiles and gemstones donated by its ex-voto devotees.
History and devotion
The wooden images measures approximate two feet tall and depicts the Child Jesus in his nfancy stage. According to the historical records preserved at the Basilica, the image was carved from a single block of Olive wood that belonged in the Garden of Gethsemani by a Franciscan monk who was assigned to the Holy Land in the 15th century.
Pious legends recall that only the body had been sculpted by the monk who is alleged to have gone into sleep, while an angel was commissioned to finish painting its face, therefore categorizing the image as "Acheiropoieta" or not made by mortal hands. The Franciscan monk was then charged by his Order to return back to Latium. Upon travel, a storm ravaged the sea and casted the casket of the image into the shores of Livorno, where it was supposedly meant to land.
Roman believers of the image has always associated the image with healing. Recorded pilgrimages to the images go back from 1794. In the 1800's, Prince Alessandro Torlonia spent his Thursday by bringing out a Sedia Gestatoria from Pope Leo XIII to carry the image to the sick believers who are unable to come to the Basilica of Aracoeli. In 1848, an arson attempt was made at the image due to Anti-Catholic protests. The image was stolen in 2 February 1797 by the French army during the French revolution but was retrieved back by a wealthy Roman named Patriarch Severino through a paid ransom.
Further study of the iconography tells us that Christ here is purely innocent, without any gesture of blessing but rather clutched into self like a swaddling infant.
Pontifical recognitions
Pope Leo XIII authorised the use of a Sedia gestatoria to the image in the early 1800s, which was used to carry the image around the streets to visiting hospitals and orphanages. On 2 May 1897, the Pontiff issued a Canonical Coronation towards the image through the Vatican Chapter.
On 8 January 1984, Pope John Paul II issued a homily blessing the title and its image at the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall on the solemn occasion of Jubilee year for children[1].
Theft of the image
The image was stolen in 2 February 1797 by the French army during the French revolution but was retrieved back by a wealthy Roman named Patriarch Severino who paid its ransom. According to urban legend, the image was returned cut in half.
The original image was stolen again in February 1994, and an exact copy resides at the shrine today, while it is also disputed in its 1797 urban legend that the upper half of the body was returned to the shrine while the other half is reconstructed or replaced.