Tre Fontane, Italy (1947)

Summary

Bruno Cornacchiola was a poor Italian tram conductor in Rome who was a Protestant Adventist and a Communist. In fact, his anti-Catholicism was so extreme that he plotted an assassiantion of the Pope. On April 12, 1947 while he practiced for a upcoming anti-Catholic lecture, he and his children encountered the Virgin in a grotto at Tre Fontane. Bruno went on to claim 28 additional apparitions.

A definitive judgement, either positive or negative in regard to the authenticity of Tre Fontane, has not been made.

Photo Gallery

Click here to view images from Tre Fontane.

Timeline

May 9, 1913	Bruno Cornacchiola is born.
1936	Bruno marries Iolanda Lo Gatto and moves to Spain to earn money fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
1939-47	Bruno works as a tram conductor in Rome to support his three children (Carlo, Gianfranco, and Isola). He converts to Adventism, embraces Communism, and conceived of a plot to assassinate the Pope.
April 12, 1947	Bruno and his children encounter the Virgin Mary at a grotto in Tre Fontane. Over the course of her 80 minute apparition she identifies herself as the Virgin of Revelation, speaks of the Assumption, and gives him a special message to be delivered to the Pope.
1947	The local Church authorities carry out an investigation. The Vicariate of Rome approves the cult of the Virign of Revelation.
October 5, 1947	A special statue of the Virigin of Revelation was blessed by Pope Pius XII and then taken in procession from St Peter's Square to Tre Fontane.
December 9, 1949	Bruno meets with Pope Pius XII in his private chapel, surrendering his dagger and confessing his assassination plot.
1956	The Franciscan Conventual Friars Minor were given custody of the Grotto of the Three Fountains.
April 12, 1987	On the fortieth anniversary of the apparition, Cardinal Poletti, the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, and thus the Pope's official episcopal representative for the diocese, came to the shrine to celebrate Mass.

Description of the Virgin

IBruno reported that the "beautiful woman" which his children first saw had a motherly but sad expression. She wore a a green mantle over a white dress with a rose-colored sash around her waist. In her hands she held an ash-gray book close to her breast, while at her feet he could see a crucifix which had been smashed, on top of a black cloth.

Messages

The Virgin appeared for approximately 80 minutes on April 27, 1947 and delivered a series of messages which included a reference . By 1986 Bruno had claimed 28 additional apparitions by the Virgin, with an increasingly apocalyptic tone. These additional claims, in addition to his questionable character, have prevented the apparition from gaining official approval.

Click here to read messages.

Miracles, Cures, and Signs

The most obvious miracle was the conversion of Bruno to Catholicism after he had been decidedly anti-Catholic and had plotted to kill the Pope.

According to one account, in 1937, while still a cardinal, Pope Pius XII (then cardinal Pacelli) had a meeting with a holy woman who had apparently seen Mary in a vision at Tre Fontane. She related how the Virgin had told her that she would return to the grotto and convert a man who wanted to assassinate the Pope, and moreover, that he, Cardinal Pacelli, would himself be Pope. His reply was cautious, and in effect he said he would wait and see, but in 1939 Eugenio Pacelli duly became Pope Pius XII. Given all this, it is understandable that the cult of the apparitions at Tre Fontane was approved so rapidly.

Approval

While the cult of The Virgin of Revelation was quickly approved, a definitive judgement, either positive or negative in regard to the authenticity of Tre Fontane, has not been made.

Books and Videos

God-Sent: A History of the Accredited Apparitions of Mary
by Roy Abraham Varghese

Links

Theotokos Catholic Books