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Evviva Mariais a usual thanksgiving cry used byRoman Catholicsas an expression of popular devotion in honor of theBlessed Virgin Mary.[1]It is a devotion promoted by a hymn composed byCapuchin friarLeonard of Port-Mauriceat the beginning of the 18th century and associated with the devotion theHoly Name of Jesusand theHoly Name of Maryencouraged by various Popes since the time ofPius VI.[2]

History[edit]

Origin[edit]

Leonard of Port Maurice,who died in 1751, appears to be the first to have composed a full-length hymn entitledEvviva Mariaas praises in honour of the Virgin Mary with 39 verses. It was published in 1854 from his archives at theConvent of Saint Bonaventureon thePalatine Hillin Rome during the process of hiscanonizationwhich concluded in 1867, by which time it had already become widely popular.[3]

In 1750, usingEvviva Mariaas a refrain and inspired by Porto Maurizio,[4]Alphonsus de' Liguoriwrote a poem with only ten verses on theDeath of Mary,commemorated yearly by Roman Catholics on the solemnity of theAssumption of the Virgin Maryon 15 August.[5]It was published inThe Glories of Marywhich became a classic book in the field of Roman Catholicmariology.While the refrain is the same, the verses are completely different; while Saint Leonard focused on the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of Mary, Liguori focused entirely on the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Miraculous icons (1781–1797)[edit]

Since 1781, it is reported thatEvviva Mariawas sung before the icon ofOur Lady of Graceswhich provided miraculous protection to the city ofFaenza.[6]

In Rome, in 1797,Giovanni Marchettirecalls the hymnEvviva Maria, evviva Gesu: Evviva Maria, e chi la creo,during processions, in a surge of Marian devotion linked to miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary. This refrain was sung inchorusand inharmonywhile the verse was composed with a certain diversity[7]

Viva Mariamovement (1797–1800)[edit]

Main article:Viva Maria (movement)

TheViva Mariabecame the name given to one of the anti-French movements, known collectively as theSanfedisti,which arose in Italy between 1799 and 1800. It operated above all in the town ofArezzoand the rest ofTuscany,but also in the neighboring territories of thePapal States.Evviva Mariabecame their battle hymn as can be seen under the image of the Madonna del Conforto inRoccalbegna.Under an eagle there is a ribboncartoucheon which one reads the inscription "Roccalbegna, di, evviva Maria e chi la creò"and the date 1799 is still legible.[8]It became a rallying cry for all theanti-JacobinItalians resisting the French invasion:

« Evviva Maria, Evviva Gesù, Evviva il Papa, Evviva il Re di Napoli »

— Anti-Jacobine Italian Resistance[9]

Roman cholera pandemic (1826–1837)[edit]

During the1826–1837 cholera pandemic,Pope Gregory XVIordained a procession in 1835 of theSalus Populi Romaniicon which went through the streets and accordingly obtained miraculous protection. As the icon of Mary attributed toSaint Lukeentered thebasilica of Santa Maria Maggiore,"the Evviva Maria at that moment reached even to the heavens".[10]

In the same year 1835,Evviva Mariawas included in new stampedPrayer booksfor the recitation of the rosary as a helpful tool to encourage penance on theFranciscanmissions.[11]

This miracle aroused a popular devotion and turnedEvviva Mariainto a popular hit which would as Romans enjoyed chanting it before the lam-illuminated Madonnas in the public streets. This devotion struck many pilgrims and travelers, as in 1836.,[12]in 1838, the English voyager William J. Alban Sheehy,[13]and similarly, French Trappist monkFerdinand de Géramb.[14]or even American traveller Henry P. Leland in 1861.[15]In 1866, Scottish historianJames Aitken Wylierecalls hearingciociaripilgrims singingEvviva Mariaat the sanctuary of Loreto "at the top of their voices".[16]At that time,Evviva Mariabecame strongly associated with Italian peasant fervour.[17]On another hand, it was despised as an excessive expression of popular piety as in the case of the pious movements linked toOratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravitaled by theJesuitsin Rome[18]as it was highly praised by other Jesuits of the late 19th century such asFelix-Joseph Barbelinin Philadelphia.[19]

After 1837, German diplomatAlfred von Reumontnoted that lyrics had been added to a new verse in thanksgiving for this miraculous protection of Mary over the city of Rome: "Evviva Maria, Maria evviva, Evviva Maria Che Roma salvó."[20]

Marian dogma of 1854 and international spread[edit]

After the proclamation of theDogma of the Immaculate Conceptionwas pronounced,Pope Pius IXencouragedMarian devotionby his brief of 10 July 1854 annexing anindulgenceof three hundred days to the recitation of this hymn. The papal encouragement was echoed across the Roman Catholic Church as it was encouraged as such for instance by theCompagnia della MisericordiainFlorenceamong other places, adding an eleventh verse with local specificities such as the mention of theArnoriver.[21]

After this papal encouragement,Evviva Mariabecame a rallying cry for Catholics universally. Thus, in 1852,archbishop of DublinCardinalPaul Cullenheaded one of his letters asEvviva Mariaas he led the movement toward the emancipation to obtain freedom for Catholics in Ireland.[22]

In 1855, it was adopted in the Marian prayer books of thearchdiocese of Palermoin Sicily.[23]

In 1860, American songwriter Henry T. Rocholl arranged a four-part arrangement ofEvviva Mariapublished in hisCatholic Vocalistcompilation.[24]In the late 1870s, this English translation was circulating in England and it reached a point where it became an Marian hymn equal in honour and popularity with the Latin Gregrorian hymnAve maris stella.[25]In an English parochial hymn book approved jointly byCardinal Manningand byCardinal John Henry Newman,this popular hymn was translated in 1881 as an "invitation to all creatures to praise Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother".[26]

In her 1866 novelA Sisters' story,French authorPauline Marie Armande Cravenconfirms thatEvviva Mariahad become a classical piece in France as well, as it could be sung on major feasts, such as Christmas.[27]

In 1873, the Franciscan friars of Tuscany included theEvviva Mariain their missionary effort to encourage Marian devotion[28]

From 1867, it became more and more universal and reached youth movements in ordinary parishes as it became one of the hymns of the Daughters of Mary, founded byLateran canonAlberto Passeri.[29]

In a tale written in 1882, Jesuit priestWilliam Henry Anderdonsets a group of peasants interpretingEvviva Mariain Rome in 1812.[30]

In 1883, a popular tradition in the sanctuary of laMadonna dei Miracoliin theAbruzzantown ofCasalbordino.[31] In 1885,George F. Dillonnoted that it was alwaysEvviva Mariawhich was taken up by the pilgrims and sometimes shouted out as a victory cry at the sanctuary ofOur Lady of Good CounselinGenazzano,near Rome.[32] It truly became a universal hymn as it could even be sung by a French choir in Westminster, England in 1886.[33]

Evviva Mariawould also become a rallying cry for the rites of coronation of the Virgin Mary in various sanctuaries from the Madonna della Guardia in Genova to Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

In 1903,Evviva Mariawas strongly associated with Franciscan missions across Italy, as documented by Danish travellerJohannes Jørgensen.[34]

In 1926, this "oft-repeated" Franciscanritornellowas still strange for English travellerHarold Elsdale Goadfascinated by fascism on his journey to Italy.[35]

In the 1950s, it was one of the Catholic hymns well known among theItalian diaspora.[36]and even well into 1970 in a "brassy rendition" by the Italian community of theBronx.[37]

Second Vatican Council to present day[edit]

Evviva Mariawas one of thevernacularsongs which predated by many centuries theSecond Vatican Councilwhich allowed the use of such languages in the Catholic liturgy. After the Second Vatican Council, in 1969, it was still an impressive expression of religious feelings in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome[38]but around the same time, it was associated with "black old women clutching candles as tall as themselves [shrieking] in unison" in Calabria.[39]

Through the 1980s[40]and until today, this hymn remains widely popular on feast days of the Virgin Mary and in sanctuaries devoted to the Blessed Mother in Rome, at theSantuario della Madonna del Divino Amore[41]inSouthern Italy,Sicily[42]where it is sung along theDio vi salvi Reginaand also inCorsicasince the first mission of Leonardo di Porto Maurizio.[43]At theSanctuary of the IncoronatainPuglia,for example,Evviva Mariais a hymn made for "ceaseless chanting" during the robing of the Virgin and Child.[44]

Lyrics[edit]

Lyrics ofEvviva Mariahave a consistent chorus and widely variable verses according to the processions the hymn accompanies. The 39-verse version of Saint Leonard of the first half of the 18th century, the 10-verse version of Liguori of 1826 and the 22-verse version of the Sanctuary of Caravaggio of theMadonna di Pinéfrom 1844[45]are a witness to the antiquity of such variability.

Melody[edit]

The popular tone ofEvviva Mariawedded to a peculiarly beautiful though simple melody[46]is of unknown origin. It espouses the same musical lines of the relative major of theFollia,in which dominant harmonies are of a minor key (usuallyD minor).

Giuseppe Bainicomposed a five-voice canon onEvviva Mariawhen he was musical director to thechoir of the pontifical chapelno earlier than 1814.[47]

Another famous musical setting is the one used during the procession from the sanctuary of Pietraquaria, which was written in 1899 by the lawyer A. Lolli and set to music by the master Emilio Perotti 1880 ofAvezzanoinL'Aquilato transmit the apparitions which happened in 1614.

American songwriter Henry T. Rocholl arranged afour-partarrangement ofEvviva Mariapublished in hisCatholic Vocalistcollection of sacred music.

Cultural references[edit]

Literature[edit]

In her 1866 novelA Sisters' story,French author Pauline Marie Armande Craven confirms thatEvviva Mariahad become a classical piece in France as well, as it could be sung on major feasts, such as Christmas.[48]

PoetAugusta Theodosia Dranein her 1876 poem entitledMentanarefers toEvviva Mariaas a "battle cry".[49]

American novelistMary Agnes Tinckerrefers toEvviva Mariain her novelThe Two Coronets(1887) which she associates with "little dirty children [...] sitting in the dust of the road".[50]

English writerWilfrid Wardsuggested in one of his novels that the bells ofVenicecould ring out the melody ofEvviva Maria.[51]

Film[edit]

Evviva Mariawas featured as adiegeticmusical background[52]"caricaturing [...] church processions honoring the Virgin Mary"[53]inThe Miracle,[54]directed byRoberto Rossellini,starringAnna MagnaniandFederico Fellini,and which was condemned by theNational Legion of Decencyas "anti-Catholic" and "sacrilegious" and in February 1951 theNew York State Board of Regents,in charge of film censorship for the state, which then revoked the license to show the film.[55]

Music[edit]

In 1978, music criticIriving Kolodinreferred to the Marian hymn in suggesting in an obituary thataficionadoscould salute the newly deceasedMaria Callaswith a "ferventEvviva Maria".[56]

In 1990, Italian pop singerPeppino di Capriused the same title in his single "Evviva Maria".

References[edit]

  1. ^Dillon, George F. (1884).The Virgin Mother of Good Counsel. A History of the Ancient Sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano.Burns and Oates. p. 354.
  2. ^Heuser, Herman Joseph (1950).The American Ecclesiastical Review.Catholic University of America Press. p. 10.
  3. ^Port-Maurice, Leonard of (1854).Collezione completa della opere del Beato Leonardo da Porto Maurizio(in Italian). Pucinelli.
  4. ^Liguori, Alphonse de (1826).Opere del Beato Alfonso Maria de Liguori(in Italian). per Giacinto Marietti. p. 83.
  5. ^de Liguori, Alphonsus (1826).Le Glorie di Maria(in Italian).
  6. ^Zucchini, Girolamo (1781).Memorie storiche della celebre e prodigiosa immagine di Maria Vergine delle Grazie principale protettrice della citta' di Faenza(in Italian). presso l'Archi. p. 257.
  7. ^Marchetti, Giovanni(1797).De'Prodigj avvenuti in molte sacre Immagini, specialmente di Maria Santissima(in Italian). p. 57.
  8. ^Viglione, Massimo (2005)."Le insorgenze in Toscana e i" Viva Maria "aretini".Ricerche di Storia Sociale e Religiosa(1).doi:10.1400/53056.
  9. ^Sanguinetti, Oscar (2001).Insorgenze anti-giacobine in Italia, 1796- 1799: saggi per un bicentenario(in Italian). Istituto per la storia delle insorgenze.ISBN978-88-900358-1-4.
  10. ^Seymour, Michael Hobart (1850).A Pilgrimage to Rome: Containing Some Account of the High Ceremonies, the Monastic Institutions, the Religious Services, the Sacred Relics, the Miraculous Pictures, and the General State of Religion in that City.Seeleys. p. 448.
  11. ^Modo pratico di recitare il Santo Rosario e di fare divotamente la Via Crucis(in Italian). tipografia Bordandini. 1835. p. 57.
  12. ^Lover of the picturesque (1836).Notes of a Ramble Through France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and Belgium.Hamilton, Adams, and Company. p. 144.
  13. ^Sheehy, William J. Alban (1838).Reminiscences of Rome Or, a Religious, Moral, and Literary View of the Eternal City.T. Jones. pp. 266–267.
  14. ^de Géramb, Ferdinand (1841).A Journey from La Trappe to Rome.C. Dolman. p. 224.
  15. ^Leland, Henry Perry (1863).Americans in Rome.C. T. Evans. p. 298.
  16. ^Wylie, James Aitken (1866).The Awakening of Italy and the Crisis of Rome.American tract society. p. 52.
  17. ^The Irish Monthly.McGlashan & Gill. 1881. p. 263.
  18. ^Silvagni, David; McLaughlin, Fanny (1887).Rome, Its Princes, Priests and People: Being a Translation of Signor David Silvagni's Work "La Corte E la Società Romana Nei Secoli XVIII E XIX".E. Stock. p. 97.
  19. ^Donnelly, Eleanor Cecilia (1886).A Memoir of Father Felix Joseph Barbelin, S. J.Published for the benefit of St. Joseph's Church.
  20. ^Reumont, Alfred von (1844).Römische Briefe: von einem Florentiner: 1837 – 1838. Neue Römische Briefe; T. 1(in German). Brockhaus. p. 138.
  21. ^Norton, Charles Eliot (1887).Notes of Travel and Study in Italy.Houghton, Mifflin. p. 13.
  22. ^Larkin, Emmet J. (1984).The Historical Dimensions of Irish Catholicism.CUA Press. p. 79.ISBN978-0-8132-0594-6.
  23. ^Collezione cattolica di devotissime preghiere a Dio a Maria ed a'santi della Real Chiesa costantiniana della Magione in Palermo(in Italian). Tip. Barcellona. 1855. p. 78.
  24. ^Rocholl, Henry T. (1860).The Catholic Vocalist, a new collection of sacred music, etc. no. 1, 2.p. 44.
  25. ^Christie, Albany James (1876).The first Christmas, a play.p. 23.
  26. ^Parochial hymn book (1881).The parochial hymn book.Burns and Oates.
  27. ^Craven, Mme Augustus (1882).A Sister's Story.R. Bentley. p. 269.
  28. ^Raccolta di laudi spirituali e metodo che tengono i pp. mm. oss. di S. Francesco(in Italian). Tip. di Niccola Baroni. 1873. pp. 5–6.
  29. ^Passéri, Alberto (1870).Manuale ad uso della primaria e delle altre pie unioni delle Figlie di Maria sotto il patrocinio della Vergine Immacolata e di S. Agnese v. e m(in Italian). Tip. Salviucci. p. 424.
  30. ^Anderdon, William Henry (1882).Bracton: A Tale of 1812.Burns and Oates. p. 252.
  31. ^Archivio per lo studio delle tradizioni popolari(in Italian). L. P. Lauriel. 1883. p. 224.
  32. ^Dillon, Georges F. (1885).La vierge Mère du bon Conseil: histoire de l'ancien Sanctuaire de Notre Dame à Genazzano(in French). Desclée de Brouwer. p. 241.
  33. ^The Tablet.Tablet Publishing Company. 1884. p. 230.
  34. ^Jørgensen, Johannes (1908).Pilgrim Walks in Franciscan Italy.Sands & Company. p. 148.
  35. ^Goad, Harold Elsdale (1926).Franciscan Italy.Methuen & Company Limited. p. 76.
  36. ^Mancina-Batinich, Mary Ellen (August 2009).Italian Voices: Making Minnesota Our Home.Minnesota Historical Society.ISBN978-0-87351-674-7.
  37. ^CIOFFARI, PHILIP (1996)."Our Lady of the Bronx".Italian Americana.14(1): 96–102.ISSN0096-8846.JSTOR29776347.
  38. ^The Church Quarterly Review.Krauss Reprints. 1969. p. 35.
  39. ^Lehmann, John; Ross, Alan (1968).London Magazine.London magazine. p. 78.
  40. ^Evviva Maria! e altre laudi: ricordi dei predicatori dell'Incontro(in Italian). Libreria editrice Fiorentina. 1983.
  41. ^Canta, Carmelina Chiara (2004).Sfondare la notte: religiosità, modernità e cultura nel pellegrinaggio notturno alla Madonna del Divino Amore(in Italian). Franco Angeli. p. 231.ISBN978-88-464-5514-7.
  42. ^Ruggeri, Peppino (2009).Prayers and Devotional Songs of Sicily.Legas.ISBN978-1-881901-65-5.
  43. ^"Eviva Maria | CantiCorsi - Actualité, culture et parole de chanson corse"(in French).Retrieved16 August2021.
  44. ^Seward, Desmond (9 April 2013)."12".An Armchair Traveller's History of Apulia.Haus Publishing.ISBN978-1-907973-76-5.
  45. ^Lettera sull'origine del santuario della Madonna di Caravaggio di Pine(in Italian). Antonelli. 1844. p. 29.
  46. ^The Month.Simpkin, Marshall, and Company. 1895. p. 30.
  47. ^Kantner, Leopold M.; Pachovsky, Angela (1998).La Cappella musicale Pontificia nell'Ottocento(in Italian). Hortus Musicus. p. 276.
  48. ^Craven, Mme Augustus (1882).A Sister's Story.R. Bentley. p. 269.
  49. ^Drane, Augusta Theodosia (1876).Songs in the Night, and Other Poems.Burns and Oates. p. 137.
  50. ^Tincker, Mary Agnes (1889).Two Coronets.p. 401.
  51. ^Ward, Mrs Wilfrid (1933).Three Novels.Longmans, Green. p. 251.
  52. ^Order, M. Thomas Van (2009).Listening to Fellini: Music and Meaning in Black and White.Associated University Press. p. 260.ISBN978-0-8386-4175-0.
  53. ^New York Supreme Court.p. 343.
  54. ^Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court.1851.
  55. ^Johnson, William Bruce (5 January 2008).Miracles and Sacrilege: Robert Rossellini, the Church, and Film Censorship in Hollywood.University of Toronto Press.ISBN978-1-4426-9182-7.
  56. ^Kolodin, Irving (25 November 1978). "Music to My Ears:" Evviva Maria! "".Saturday Review.

Bibliography[edit]

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