Mark Miravalle

Friday, 15 July 2011

How did Mary become the Rosa Mystica, the choice, delicate, perfect flower of God’s spiritual creation? It was by being born, nurtured, and sheltered in the mystical garden or Paradise of God. – John Henry Cardinal Newman

At the close of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI authoritatively declared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the "Mother of the Church." It is interesting to note that Paul VI was a "son" of Brescia, the northern Italian region where the Blessed Virgin Mary had been appearing for several years as the "Rosa Mystica" or "Mystical Rose," where she had repeatedly referred to herself, and offered profound insights on her role as, the "Mother of the Church."

When the Church examines reports of a Marian revelation, her primordial criteria for evaluation rests upon three general pillars: firstly, the contents of the messages in comparison to the faith and morals teachings of the Church; secondly, an examination of the reported visionary and any concurring phenomena; and thirdly, the lasting spiritual fruits which come forth from the reported revelation.

The Church responds to reported private revelations with a "cautious but open" attitude, which ecclesiastical prudence properly requires. Private revelation must also be recognized as being completely subordinate to the Public Revelation of Jesus Christ as contained in Scripture and Tradition and as safeguarded by the Magisterium. It is thereupon fruitful to apply these identical criteria used by the Church in an honest examination of the Rosa Mystica revelations, the promulgation of which has, for a considerable time, reached worldwide proportions.

What is the fundamental message of Our Lady, the Rosa Mystica, and how does it doctrinally correspond to the faith and morals teachings of the Church? It is an invitation of prayer, sacrifice, and reparation for priests and religious—for a return and renewal of the highest objective callings in the Church—through a return to prayer, purity, penance, fidelity to vocation, and reparation in atoning for the grave infidelities that have unfortunately entered ordained and consecrated life.

The message of the Rosa Mystica is a call to pray and offer for priests and religious to accept their vocations; to be true to their vocations; and to atone for the betrayal of these vocations, the effects of which can cause such grave harm to the People of God and to the world.

Indeed, when the humble young nurse, Pierina Gilli, first received these messages in the late 1940’s, which included references to infidelities within the priesthood and religious life, her candid response was essentially, "where?" Where are priests and religious not living true to their vocations? Respectfully, but truthfully and tragically, we can now understand the prophetic nature and the fulfillment of these admonitions.

At first, Church authorities may have thought the Rosa Mystica message too strong in this regard, as it made several references to the need for reparation for betrayals of priestly and religious life. But stronger than the words of the Rosa Mystica are the words of Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI. During the 2005 Good Friday meditations written by him, he testified boldly for the need of purification from within the Church, and specifically from within the ranks of ordained priesthood:

We have considered the fall of man in general, and the falling of many Christians away from Christ and into a godless secularism. Should we not also think of how much Christ suffers in his own Church? How often is the holy sacrament of his Presence abused, how often must He enter empty and evil hearts! How often do we celebrate only ourselves, without even realizing that he is there! How often is his Word twisted and misused! What little faith is present behind so many theories, so many empty words! How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to him!

John Paul II, in his 2004 World Day of Prayer for Vocations, likewise echoes the call of the Rosa Mystica. Prayer for our priests and religious by all members of the Church, and a renewed focus towards Christian holiness by our priests and religious themselves, constitute quintessential elements for the renewal of priestly and religious life and for the prevention of lost vocations:

I refer to priests, Religious, hermits, consecrated virgins, members of secular institutes—in short, all those who have received the gift of the vocation and carry "this treasure in earthen vessels" (II Cor 4: 7)…. In the reciprocal attention for holiness, which must animate every member of the Church, it is necessary to pray so that those "called" remain faithful to their vocation and reach the highest possible degree of evangelical perfection…. It is more necessary than ever "to cling steadfastly to the Lord and to personal vocation and mission" (Vita Consecrata, n. 63). The strength of the witness given by those called and their ability to involve others and inspire each of them to entrust his or her own life to Christ depends on their holiness. Such is the way to counteract the reduction in vocations to the consecrated life which threatens the continuance of many apostolic works....

It would be of little surprise that another major tenet of Our Lady’s message for priestly and religious renewal is the call for Christian purity. On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1947, the Rosa Mystica calls for an "Hour of Grace" to be celebrated every subsequent December 8 between twelve and one o’clock in the afternoon. Psalm 51 is recited three times with outstretched arms in reparation, and munificent graces of mercy and purity are released on the feast which celebrates the plentitude of grace and purity in Mary, "The Immaculate Conception."

On July 13, 1947, Our Lady also asks for a celebration of the Rosa Mystica to be held in religious congregations and institutes, in order to foster a deeper spirit of prayer so that "no vocation will be betrayed." She further promises that for religious institutes and congregations that honor her, "they will be protected by me, their vocations will blossom, and they will have less betrayals of vocation."

This Marian message also refers to the co-redemptive role of the Mother of Jesus, who uniquely though always subordinately suffers with Jesus in the historical accomplishment of Redemption. She is called, "Mary of Redemption," and her "fiat of redemption" and "fiat of my collaboration" is what brings the world its Redeemer and accompanies him unto the cross. The Second Vatican Council attests to the same doctrinal truth when it states: "Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of his suffering, associated herself with his sacrifice in her mother’s heart, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this victim born of her" (Lumen Gentium, 58).

There is no doctrinal error to be found in the revelations of the Rosa Mystica. On the contrary, it seems to resemble in many ways the inspired call of the Second Vatican Council and also the teachings of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI in their unified exhortations for a contemporary renewal of priesthood and religious life.

The Church also examines the visionary and concurring phenomena in the process of the reported revelation. The personal history of Pierina Gilli manifests extraordinary characteristics of Christian virtue and longsuffering, both in terms of perennial physical sufferings, and, sadly, in the unfortunate treatment she received in her faithful conveyance of this message from the Mother of God.

Having desired a religious life for herself, but being incapable of remaining in the convent due to serious physical illness, the young visionary persevered in the mission offered her by Heaven and offered her life’s suffering and hardship for the renewal of the vocation that she herself was physically deprived from living. All descriptions of her states of ecstasy and her reception of visions and locutions positively correspond to classic characteristics present in the Church’s authentic mystical Tradition.

Sadly, spurious accusations of inordinate use of pain medication, (which in truth were neither excessive nor self-prescribed, but rather given to her only at moments of her most climactic pain directly by the religious sisters whom she served), left grounds for ad hominem attacks of the messenger, instead of an appreciation for the sublimity of the message. Nevertheless, the Heavenly Father used Pierina’s meritorious suffering for the expedient spreading of the Rosa Mystica apparitions and its beautifully distinctive three-rosed statue throughout the world.

The third category of Church examination is the characteristic of perduring spiritual fruits issuing from the experience, based upon the words of the Lord: "Thus, you will know them by their fruits" (Mt. 7:17–20). In fact, devotion to Our Lady, the Rosa Mystica, has spread to the five continents, with national groups of devotees in most every major country.

In the recent years since the Great Jubilee in the year 2000, numerous private pilgrimages of priests and religious have made their way to Montichiari and to the chapel and spring at Fontanelle, including a pilgrimage of some 50 priests and religious which received expressed written permission of the local bishop. A later pilgrimage of 100 priests and numerous religious

personally represented all five continents. Encouraging is the fact that, although previous Church authority had voiced strong reservations, the most recent ordinary has granted permission for a private pilgrimage of priests and religious to the apparition site.

In sum, the major elements which would properly lead an ecclesiastical investigation to a positive judgment of supernatural authenticity are, in my opinion, definitively present in the Rosa Mystica apparitions.

Should it be a surprise that the Mother of God would come to humanity in this particular time of the Church, amidst the present dramatic challenges facing priesthood and religious life, with a humble call to all her children, and especially to her ordained and consecrated ones, to pray, to sacrifice, and to do penance for the restoration of priesthood and religious life today?

Accept the invitation of the Rosa Mystica. Pray daily for our priests and religious. Offer acts of reparation to appease the Heart of Jesus for those who have fallen in their vocations. Pray for the Church local and the Church universal’s discernment of these invaluable apparitions, that the Rosa Mystica apparitions may soon receive full ecclesiastical approbation in order to sustain an even greater promulgation of her devotion to every diocese and religious congregation throughout the world.