The patroness of Bra is the Madonna dei Fiori, the Madonna of the Flowers, and the patronal feast falls on 8 September, with the traditional procession. The devotion has a date of origin: 29 December 1336. Tradition tells that a young pregnant woman, Egidia Mathis, threatened by mercenaries near a votive pillar bearing the image of Mary, was saved by a sudden apparition that put the wrongdoers to flight, while all around, in the depth of winter, the blackthorn bushes burst into flower.
From that episode the sanctuary of the Madonna dei Fiori takes its name; it keeps the statue of the Virgin by the sculptor Giuseppe Realini and belongs to the parish of San Giovanni Battista. And the thicket beside it goes on flowering in winter, instead of in spring.
