May 20, 2003
Dear believers in Our Lady of Emmitsburg.
I was away for the past two weeks in Montichiari, Italy and in Paris, the latter
for the annual meeting of the 30-member International Bioethics Committee of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which
advisesthe UN on ethical aspects of science, such as cloning, the human genome,
et cetera. Of course, while there I visited the Rue du Bac chapel where Our Lady
appeared to St. Catherine Labouré in 1830 with the image of the Medal of the
Immaculate Conception (The Miraculous Medal). I also visited, as I usually do,
the historic Church of Notre Dame des Victoires (Our Lady of Victories).
Now, it is possible that some of you may not know about the apparitions of Our
Lady to Pierina Gilli in Montichiari/Fontanelle in Northern Italy. She first
appeared there in 1947 as the Rosa Mystica (Mystical Rose), one of her
many titles in the Litany of Loreto. Indeed, she is the Incarnate Rosewho has
made Paradise ever so much more beautiful. There is strong evidence that Pope
Paul VI certainly believed in the authenticity of those apparitions and in fact,
on one occasion he called on the Church to invoke Mary as Rosa Mystica.
If you call her a rose, white is the colour of her purity; gold, the tint of her
royalty and red, the fire of her suffering. In fact, many Rosa Mystica
statues have been seen to weep blood in the United States of America since the
early 1950s. One such statue was reported to weep copiously in Venezuela before
the recent uprising there.
As in Fatima, the Blessed Virgin first appeared to Pierina Gilli (1911-1991) in
the month of May. She was dressed in mauve. Her heart was pierced by three
swords and her eyes were filled with tears which fell to the floor. All she said
to Pierina at that time was: Prayer, Sacrifice, Penance.She then went on to
explain the meaning of the three swords to Pierina. The first sword means the
loss of vocation in priests. The second sword refers to priests, monks and nuns
who live in mortal sin. The third sword denotes priests and monks who commit the
treason of Judas. While giving up their vocation, they also often lose their
faith and become enemies of the Church.
As Pope Paul VI himself once said: There are forces within the Church and
priests and religious who are doing far more damage to it than its bitterest
enemies outside. Many priests and religious are giving the Church the Judas
kiss. Satan himself has made his way into the temple of God.
The following month, on June 13, the Virgin appeared again to Pierina early one
Sunday morning. This time she was dressed in white and instead of three swords,
there were three roses which are seen on all Rosa Mystica statues: a
white, a red and a golden-yellow one. She also explained the significance of the
roses. The white rose means the spirit of prayer; the red rose, the spirit of
sacrifice and the golden rose refers to the spirit of penance and conversion.
She added: Our Lord sends me to bring a new Marian devotion for all male and
female institutes, religious orders and secular priests. I wish the 13th of each
month to be celebrated as a feast of Mary. On this day I shall send to these
religious institutions, members of orders and secular priests, who have honoured
me in this way, a superabundance of graces and great sanctity. I wish the 13th
day of July of each year to be celebrated now in the honour of the Rosa
Mystica, the Mystical Rose.
The sixth apparition occurred on the eve of the feast of the Immaculate
Conception. It was on December 7, 1947. This time the Virgin wore a white cloak.
This was held on the right side by a boy and on the left side by a girl, both of
whom were also dressed in white. She said to Pierina, Tomorrow I shall show you
my Immaculate Heart of which mankind knows so little.She then paused for a while
before she added: In Fatima, I spread the devotion to my Immaculate Heart. Here
in Montichiari, however, I wish the devotion of the Rosa Mystica
together with the veneration of my Immaculate Heart to increase in
the religious institutions and the monastic communities in order that these
souls dedicated to God may receive more graces from my motherly heart.(I suspect
that this is because in recent decades so relatively few priests are truly
Marian). Pierina was then told that the two children at her side were Jacinta
and Francisco, the two young visionaries of Fatima who had since died in 1918.
There then is the connection between Fatima and the Rosa Mystica
apparitions. Like in Fatima she also wore a rosary in Montichiari. The word
rosary is from the Latin word rosarium which means a garden of roses! In
short, Montichiari is the continuation of the devotion to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary but, as she said, for the renewal of priests, religious houses and those
dedicated to God.It can then be said to be acentre of her Immaculate
Heart.
But she waited until these latter timesto promote and request Gods choice for
theCentre of her Immaculate Heart to be in Emmitsburg. Congratulations
America! As she said to Gianna Talone Sullivan on April 27, 2000: Thank God,
little children, for His great love for you and for picking this most beautiful,
humble place as theCentre of my Immaculate Heart& Thank the two
instrumental saints of love, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
Thank the saints which follow in their footsteps and their ancestors down
through your blood lines along with the entire Communion of Saints for their
faith and trust in God& I invite you my priests, my daughters (religious) and
all my ministers to join me in preparation for the glorious unveiling of my Sons
mercy. As you know, we are in the period of Gods Divine Mercy before the era of
His Justice!
Here now is the ultimate link between Fatima, the Rosa Mystica apparition
site in Montichiari and Emmitsburg. On May 11, 2000, Our lady of
Emmitsburg said to Gianna: What commenced in Fatima with my three little
children will continue now and come to fruition here at theCentre of my
Immaculate Heart.
Now, let us turn to Our Lady of Victories. After the apparitions of Our Lady in
the chapel of the Rue du Bac in Paris in 1830 (a chapel which was built under
the influence of St. Vincent de Paul who was the founder of the Order of the
Daughters of Charity in Paris), Abbé M. des Genettes was assigned in 1832 as
pastor to the Church of Notre Dame des Victoires (Our Lady of Victories) in
Paris. After four years of frustration he became completely discouraged by the
lamentable lack of devotion of his parishioners. Then on December 3, 1836, while
he was celebrating Mass he thought he heard an inner voice which said twice:
Consecrate your parish to the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of Mary.He
hesitated a long time in disbelief. Finally he obeyed the call and established a
Confraternity to honour the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a special way so as to
obtain the conversion of sinners through her intercession. Within a short period
sinners began returning to Jesus Christ in great numbers and the parish was
completely transformed and revitalized. It was the talk of Paris!
Eighty five years later, in 1917, Her Majesty said to Lucia in Fatima: Jesus
wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in
the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who
embrace it and they will be loved by God as the flowers placed by me to adorn
His throne.
A statue of Our Lady of Victories stands on the grounds of St. Elizabeth Ann
Setons shrine in Emmitsburg. A plaque in front of the statue reads as follows:
By the end of June 1863 an estimated 90,000 Union soldiers were located in and
around these premises and some of their officers situated in Mother Setons White
House were planning battle strategies. It was feared that the battle would be
fought here. The Sisters promised that should this danger be averted, a statue
of Our Lady of Victories will be erected. This promise was fulfilled immediately
after the Civil War. For decades this symbol of the Protectress and her
Divine Son has been honoured in St. Joseph Valley. And so, believers of Our
Lady of Emmitsburg, fear not. In the end her Immaculate Heart will
triumph.
Last week I spent an afternoon in the Church of Our Lady of Victories in Paris,
so relatively little known in todays world. The original statue of Our Lady of
Victories there, like all other such statues, shows the victorious Queen holding
the Child Jesus by her side! I need say no more. There is a purpose and a
logic for everything in and under the heavens!
In a few daystime I will review for you the history of the suffering and denial
of their authenticity which were experienced by all the visionaries of
Church-approved Marian sites, beginning with La Salette. In the meantime, I am
sure that Our Lady would like us to pray for all priests, bishops and cardinals.
Professor Courtenay Bartholomew