Sacra Spina

SACRA PLUG

The Holy Spine is a thorn that tradition traces back to the crown of Christ. The plug was stolen by soldier mercenary Bergamasco Vistallo Zignoni to the troops of the King of France Charles VIII in the Battle of Fornovo in 1495 that took her to St. John Bianco.
Today, the Spina is guarded in the parish church of San Giovanni Bianco, the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, in a consecrated lateral chapel to host it. Over time it has become the expression of a deep popular devotion that sees all of the Brembana Valley involved and is celebrated in the Passion Sunday preceding the fifteen days of Passover. This feast of religious character is joined by a sagra villain in which they survive pagan rituality, such as l ', announcing themselves of the spring and awakening of nature. 
According to tradition when Good Friday, day of the Passion of Christ, coincides with the day of the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary, March 25, prodigious manifestations such as the flowering or the bleeding of the Spine should occur. The Catholic Church has authenticated, through official acts, some of these miraculous manifestations : in 1921, 1932 and 2016.
There are other Spins in Italy and are located in Bari, Adria, Naples, at Aquila, in Sulmona, in Lanciano and in Vasto.