In the presence of several authorities in the area and of the Dean of the Church of Our Lady of Tears in Siracusa, Don Aurelio Russo, and many worshippers, with Mass celebrated by the parish priest of Drapia, Mons. Sergio Meligrana, the statue of Our Lady of Tears which stands on the roof of the first building of the new Cittadella di Padre Pio, was blessed. It is a Carrara marble bust about two metres tall, and is the world’s largest representation of the Madonna di Siracusa in existence. Executed and donated by Maurizio Mangone, the Rome-born marble merchant whose father, a follower of Padre Pio, was originally from Drapia.
