A beloved Marian image from southern Italy will accompany Pope Leo XIV’s Christmas liturgies as the Jubilee of Hope draws to a close.
Newsroom (21/12/2025 Gaudium Press ) As the Jubilee of Hope reaches its conclusion with the celebration of the Christmas Season, St. Peter’s Basilica will be accompanied by a special guest from southern Italy: the image of Our Lady of Hope. This wooden statue, cherished by the faithful of San Marco of Castellabate in the province of Salerno, will preside over all Vatican liturgies celebrated by Pope Leo XIV through Epiphany.
The image arrives at the Vatican on December 22 and will be placed near the Altar of the Confession, remaining there until January 6, when it returns home to its parish of Saint Mark the Evangelist. Its presence marks the final chapter of a Holy Year that began under Mary’s watchful gaze when a similar image from the Shrine of Saint Mary of Hope in Battipaglia was brought to Rome for the Jubilee’s opening in 2024.
Carved in 1954 by the renowned Stuflesser Workshop to commemorate the Marian Year proclaimed by Pope Pius XII, Our Lady of Hope stands 1.45 meters tall. She is depicted holding the Christ Child in her left arm and a golden anchor—symbol of faith and steadfastness—in her right hand. When first completed, the image traveled among families in the small coastal community before finding her permanent home in the parish church.
Recently restored in honor of the Jubilee, the statue has returned once more to prominence, not only as a symbol of faith but as a voice for the “peripheries.” Her home region, nestled between the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, faces depopulation, economic hardship, and the erosion of community life. It was Fr. Pasquale Gargione, then parish priest of Saint Mark’s, who envisioned bringing the Madonna to the Vatican—a gesture meant to highlight the challenges and enduring hope of Italy’s rural heartlands.
Beloved by San Marco’s 1,300 residents and the summer travelers who flock to the seaside hamlet, Our Lady of Hope holds a special feast on the last Sunday of August. During the triduum leading up to her celebration, locals process through the village with another treasured image—an 19th-century painting that inspired the statue itself—culminating at the port, where fishermen entrust their livelihoods to Mary’s care.
In Rome this Christmas, that same devotion expands beyond the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea. As the lights of St. Peter’s Basilica glow during the Holy Father’s liturgies, Our Lady of Hope will stand near the altar—anchor in hand—a gentle reminder that faith from the smallest and most remote corners of the world can illuminate the heart of the Church.
- Raju Hasmukh with files form Vatican News
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