The legend says that in 1178 A.D. the wife of General Altieri, named Stella Beatrice, lay dying and without hope. Suddenly, she jumped up and cried out "I am cured, a lady has awakened me three times and assured me that I am cured..." Stella Beatrice said her name was Maria Santissima della Stella. In gratitude for the unexpected healing, her husband decided to build a chapel to venerate the Celestial Queen, promising to pay homage with a feast every year. And in fact, our Lady Madonna della Stella is still honored every spring in Canneto (Puglia) on the Monday following Easter, as well as in Los Angeles on the first Sunday after Easter.

Here, the celebrations started in 1934, when the Canneto Colony of Saints Benefit Association was founded by Cannetani as a society at St. Peter's Italian Church. The main purpose of the association was –and still is- to continue the tradition of celebrating the annual feasts of our two patron saints of Canneto, Maria Santissima della Stella and San Vittoriano Martire.

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Fonte: L'italo-Americano