Mount Vesuvius again exploded spectacularly on both 1 May and 6 May in 1855. The lava began flowing towards San Giorgio a Cremano, but at a slow pace. The local parish priest at the time, pastor Don Domenico Baldari allowed the locals to seek sanctuary within Santa Maria del Principio. According to locals, the statue was placed between the comune and the slowly approaching lava, and the locals invoked the protection of Saint George, and Mary the Immaculate, and the lava approached to the outskirts of the town and then stopped. In honour of their being saved, the parishioners of Santa Maria del Principio held another procession in the presence of the Cardinal of Naples Sisto Riario Sforza.