Our Lady of Revelation

The Shrine of Our Lady of Revelation in Rome is located in a area called Tre Fontane, near where St. Paul was beheaded. This shrine of Our Lady is cared for by the Conventual Franciscan Friars. It is only a few minutes stroll from the Seraphicum, our international Seminary.

On April 12, 1947, Bruno Cornacchiola, an apostate Catholic who had become a bitter enemy of the Church, (so much so that he planned to assassinate the Pope), took his three children on a picnic to Tre Fontane. While Bruno was preparing a speech refuting devotion to Our Lady, he was interrupted by one of his children who had lost their soccer ball. While searching for the ball, Bruno found his younger son Gianfranco kneeling at the entrance to a dark cave. The child repeated, with his eyes fixed toward the inside of the cave: “Beautiful lady! Beautiful lady!” Bruno was greatly disturbed by his son’s strange behaviour. He called his other two children, but they joined their brother on their knees. He tried to move his children, but they were enraptured in ecstasy. Then suddenly Bruno also saw the beautiful woman. Her head was adorned by a halo of brilliant light. She had black hair, and was clothed in a white tunic gathered together by a rose sash. Over her tunic she wore a green mantle.

The Blessed Virgin identified herself to Bruno as the Virgin of Revelation. She proclaimed her relationship to each Person of the Blessed Trinity: the daughter of the Eternal Father, Mother of the Divine Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Our Lady said to Bruno: “You persecute me. Enough of it now! Enter into the true fold of God’s Kingdom on earth. The nine first Fridays (which he performed as a little child) has saved you.” She revealed to Bruno the sad condition of his soul, and he immediately recognised that the way to salvation is through the Holy Catholic Church.

Our Lady of Revelation taught him the importance of the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary. She said: “Pray much, and recite the Rosary for the conversion of sinners, of unbelievers, and all Christians.” She promised: “In this place I shall perform wonderful miracles for the conversion of unbelievers.” She also revealed the truth of her Assumption: “My body could not be allowed to decay. My Son came for me with His angels.” Our Lady also promised miracles through the use of the dirt from the cave where she appeared, and to this day many miracles have been granted through the use of this blessed earth as a token of trust in Our Lady’s intercession. Our Lady called herself the Virgin of Revelation as she also held the Sacred Scriptures in her hands. By this title she corrects the error of those who would claim that her role in salvation and her privileges are unscriptural.

Since then the grotto of apparition has become a shrine of the Church. Of course Bruno converted and devoted the rest of his life as a catechist and devotee of Our Lady. The original statue was blessed by Pope Pius XII. Miracles and conversions have been numberless. In Australia there is a shrine of Our Lady of Revelation in Bulsbrook, Western Australia.

Prayer to Our Lady of Revelation

O Most Holy Virgin of the Revelation, You who are in the Divine Trinity, we ask you to turn your merciful and kind eyes towards us.

O Mary you are our powerful advocate before God, and with the soil of the Grotto You obtain graces and miracles for the conversion of unbelievers and sinners. Obtain from your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, we beg you, the salvation of our soul, the health of our body and the graces that we so need.

(Here we make our petitions…)

Obtain for our Holy Church and her visible head the Supreme Pontiff the joy of seeing the conversion of her enemies, the spreading of the reign of Christ over all the earth, the true unity of all believers in Christ and the peace of all nations so that we can love and serve You in this life and thank You in Heaven for ever and ever. Amen.