For years there has always been only one statue of the Madonna della Carita there at the Sanctuary. When the original one was destroyed by fire on 15 April 1928, the people of Moschiano did not lose heart, not only did they restore the ancient statue in the same church but a new throne was also built.

In Moschiano (and practically in every house of the Moschianesi in the village or wherever they were) there were only paintings. One in the church of the Immaculate Conception, another in the main church  and a third in Capomoschiano.

It was like this for centuries until... one of our many good masters and craftsmen thought it best to... remedy this mistake. Gaspare Dalia.

The idea of sculpting a statue of the Madonna della Carita had always been an ancient vocation for Gaspare, even before emigrating to Venezuela for many years.

Before leaving he had the opportunity to show his mastery with the construction at the age of 20 of the pulpit which can still be admired today in the church of the Incoronata in Capomoschiano. But life doesn't always take us where we want or allow us to do what we want.

They were hard years in Venezuela, but Gaspare never forgot his family, his village, his people and above all his Madonna. Finally at the beginning of the 1980s he was able to return to Moschiano.

A few years after his return, in 1989, at the age of 80, he talked about it with another carpenter of Moschiano origins who had also emigrated to Venezuela for years, and also returned to Moschiano: Gaetano Russo.

With the encouragement and consent of the parish priest Don Salvatore Pierro and the help of two traders originally from Moschiano but resident in Pomigliano and Liveri (the brothers Matteo and Antonio Pacia) who donated the mahogany wood he set to work and after many years and with a lot of work his dream came true.

As one of his daughters Carmina (Carmelina) reminds us: “I remember the enthusiasm and great passion he showed, in six months he lost weight and became younger. All day he planned, made sketches and early in the morning... already in the laboratory with Gaetano executing the chisel strokes. What a happy time, for us and for him!!... Apart from the statue, the pedestal was also a huge job. Here the story of the Madonna is narrated in three panels, starting with the apparition to the shepherdess. .. It was the last work I made."

Once completed, the statue was carried in procession to the church in the square and was blessed by Mons. Olindo Pacia and was placed to the left of the main altar. Since then it has been used in place of the painting for the Pentecost procession and, having been proclaimed patrona of Moschiano for that of the feast together with the statue of San Gerardo.

It has now found accommodation in the first side chapel immediately after the pulpit, venerated more than ever by people from Moschiano and beyond.

Special thanks to Carmina (Carmelina) Dalia for the photos and memories.