Nossa Senhora das Virtudes / Our Lady of Virtues, Lisbon, Portugal (15th Century) and Memorials of the Saints – 8 March

Nossa Senhora das Virtudes / Our Lady of Virtues, Lisbon, Portugal (15th Century) – 8 March:

The Church of the Monastery of Our Lady of Virtues, or Nossa Senhora das Virtudes, until recently was nothing more than a ruin, located north of Lisbon. A small Church was constructed in 2009 and further work is planned. The site is now protected because of its historical importance but for no other reason, as pilgrimages and devotion to the Blessed Virgin declined from the 19th century until the 21st century, when there remained almost no memory of the glory that once was here.
According to tradition, the origin of the Church of Our Lady of Virtues, relates to the appearance of Our Lady to a keeper of cows back in the early fifteenth century. The apparition gave rise to a pilgrimage to the site, as well as the later construction of a primitive Chapel, presumably made of wood and other perishable materials.
A short time later, due to the growing importance of the site and the devotion of the faithful, King Duarte commanded that a Franciscan Monastery be built, that would be attached to the Chapel. Following upon the construction of the Monastery, a hospital was also soon built and subsequently inns and other businesses supporting the thriving community that grew up around the Chapel. Pilgrimages to the Shrine became widespread throughout the remainder of the fifteenth century.
Of unquestionable importance throughout the Middle Ages, the more recent centuries have seen the abandonment of pilgrimages to the Shrine, as well as the decay of the buildings and the eventual abandonment of the site by the Franciscans.
At the beginning of the 1990’s, when excavations were made at the Monastery, all that remained was ruins. Despite the fact that the Monastery was almost completely destroyed, there are still some structural remains located on the north side of the Church and most of these structures are assumed to still be buried beneath the earth.
This is believed because the Church of Our Lady of Virtues itself, was partially buried before the archaeological work revealed it.

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St John of God OH (1495-1550) (Optional Memorial)
About St John of God:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/saint-of-the-day-8-march-st-john-of-god/
AND:
https://anastpaul.com/2019/03/08/saint-of-the-day-8-march-st-john-of-god-oh-1495-1550/

St Apollonius of Antinoë
St Arianus of Alexandria
St Beoadh of Ardcarne
St Duthus of Ross
St Felix of Burgundy
St Humphrey of Prüm
St Jon Helgi Ogmundarson
St Litifredus of Pavia
St Philemon of Antinoë
St Pontius of Carthage
St Provinus of Como
St Quintilis of Nicomedia
St Rhian
St Senan of Scattery
St Stephen of Obazine
St Theophylact of Nicomedia
St Theoticus of Alexandria
St Veremundus of Irache
Blessed Vincent Kadlubek O.Cist (c 1160-1223) Bishop
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Martyrs of North Africa – 9 saints – A bishop and some of his flock who were martyred together in North Africa. The only details that have survived are nine of the names – Beata, Cyril, Felicitas, Felix, Herenia, Mamillus, Rogatus, Silvanus, Urban.