Feast of the Protectress of San Rufo Madonna della Tempa
The Church of the Madonna della Tempa, as we know it today, was built in recent times, precisely in 1964, just outside the historic city center. The name of the church derives from the hill on which the chapel was built following numerous apparitions of the Madonna, who came to the aid of the San Rufesi. Over time the chapel, which later became a church, has been rebuilt several times and has preserved the long external staircase from the original structure thanks to which it is possible to access the pronaos. Very interesting, on the main façade, is also a beautiful iconography of the Madonna. In 1764 in San Rufo there was a great famine, the people were afflicted by plague and hunger. The dead were around 190, part of these were buried in the parish church, others were buried in the church of S. Michele Arcangelo, outside the town. Food was scarce, so prices rose, and finding themselves without money, citizens were unable to buy bread and other foods. They had to make do with herbs found in the fields, which however were not a complete food. A fourteen-year-old boy from Sicignano killed three boys due to hunger, and would have killed others if he had not been put in prison where he died. The inhabitants of San Rufo, powerless against this famine, following the death of around 150 inhabitants in a few weeks, on 14 June 1764 decided to go to Tempa where there was a small chapel consecrated to Mary, where in desperation they began to invoke the help from the Holy Virgin, who was not long in coming and intervened with a heavy rain that took away the plague and with loads of grain that began to feed the people. Since then every 14 th June the people of San Rufo gather to pray and celebrate the Virgin Mary who on that fateful 14 th June 1764 saved the community from such a great plague. This year marks 250 years since the first apparition of the Virgin. The bishop of the diocese of Teggiano-Policastro, mons. De Luca announced the Marian year for the Valdianese parish.