This blog has been a long-time coming. It's about the history of the little-known Marian Apparitions that took place in the Sacred Grotto of Tre Fontane, Rome, beginning in 1947. I've been to this hallowed sanctuary four times during three pilgrimages I made to Italy - most recently in October 2024 - and it ranks high among the holy sites I've been blessed to visit so far. Although this shrine has been mentioned in this blog before, I've been intending to exclusively feature Tre Fontane in its own post but never got around to it until I felt strongly prompted by a remarkable photo I took this past Saturday (see it here). So, without any further ado, this is the amazing and inspirational story of the "Virgin of Revelation" of Tre Fontane ...
Prelude: Luigina Sinapi’s Prophetic Encounter (1937)
On April 12, 1937, a devout Roman catechist named Luigina Sinapi (a mystic-soul who is now a Venerable in the Sainthood Process) led a pilgrimage to the Abbey of Tre Fontane, the site traditionally associated with the martyrdom of St. Paul. As she walked through the eucalyptus grove that surrounded the area with her group, Luigina separated for private prayer and discovered the remains of an aborted infant in a grotto (the secluded hillsides of the area were known for illicit activity in the dark of the night). With reverence, Luigina buried the remains with a Miraculous Medal. It was then that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her in radiant light.
Ven. Luigina Sinapi and the grotto of Tre
Fontane at the time of the apparitions
The Virgin delivered a striking prophecy: “I will return to this place. I will make use of a man who today persecutes the Church, who wants to kill the Pope.” She then instructed Luigina to go to St. Peter’s Basilica, where she would meet a woman dressed in black who would lead her to her brother, a cardinal destined to become Pope and she was to reveal to him what transpired at Tre Fontane. True to the Our Lady's words, Luigina met the woman - Elisabeth Pacelli - sister of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, who later ascended to the papacy as Pope Pius XII in 1939.
Luigina's divine encounter, largely unknown outside devout circles, laid the spiritual groundwork for what would unfold exactly ten years later ... with Pope Pius XII later playing a prominent role in the history of Tre Fontane and Marian Devotion, in general.
The Apparition to Bruno Cornacchiola (1947)
Bruno Cornacchiola was a local street tram operator. He was a rough man - a bitter anti-Catholic who had become a communist sympathizer and a member of the Seventh Day Adventist sect. On April 12, 1947, he took his three children to the eucalyptus hills of Tre Fontane for a picnic. He was preparing a speech to denounce the Virgin Mary’s perpetual virginity, intending to deliver it the next day. Unknown to him, divine intervention awaited.
and their three children
While playing with a ball, his children wandered near the entrance of the same grotto where Ven. Luigina had received her apparition. One by one, they knelt, transfixed while staring into the cavern and repeating “Beautiful Lady! Beautiful Lady!” Bruno, who saw nothing, became confused and alarmed, and he tried lifting them but found each were immovable despite their diminutive sizes. Struck with fear, he cried out in desperation, “God help us!” and suddenly he saw two disembodied luminous hands floating towards him, which touched his eyes. The visionary felt "scales" painfully fall from his eyes and a brilliant light began forming in the grotto in which stood a woman of indescribable beauty: dressed in white with a rose-colored sash, a green mantle, and black hair. She held a Bible close to her heart and her expression was somber but maternal. A sweet floral aroma filled the grotto, while near her feet a broken crucifix and a cassock were seen.
The woman spoke: “I am she who is in the Divine Trinity: the Daughter of the Father; the Mother of the Son; and the Spouse and Temple of the Holy Spirit. I am the Virgin of the Revelation. You persecute me: enough of it now! Enter into the Holy Fold, the Heavenly Court on Earth (the Catholic Church).” She revealed that Bruno’s soul had been saved by the Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus he had once reluctantly agreed to do to please his devout wife, Iolanda. Our Lady then added: “Live the Divine Doctrine. Practice Christianity. Live the Faith. The Hail Marys that you pray with faith and love are like golden arrows that go straight to the heart of Jesus.”
The Virgin further urged Bruno to pray the Rosary daily for the conversion of sinners and the unity of Christians. Then, as if anticipating the proclamation of her Assumption into Heaven, she stated: “My body did not decay, for it could not decay. My Divine Son and the angels came to meet me at the hour of my death.” Before departing, Our Lady warned him of trials ahead and instructed him to deliver her message personally to the Pope.
Aftermath and Bruno’s Life of Witness
Bruno’s conversion was immediate and profound. He abandoned his plans to assassinate Pope Pius XII and instead became a tireless witness to the truth of the Catholic Faith. He met with the Pope on July 22, 1947, and presented him with the makeshift dagger on which he had carved "Death to the Pope"; he begged for forgiveness. Pius XII, on his part, was deeply moved upon hearing Bruno's story and the Virgin’s personal message delivered to him. The same Pope later blessed the beautiful statue of the Virgin of Revelation in St. Peter’s Square before its transfer to Tre Fontane ... and it was Pope Pius XII who proclaimed the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary three years later on November 1st, 1950.
with Pope Pius XII
Bruno dedicated the rest of his life to evangelization, often speaking publicly about the apparitions and urging devotion to the Virgin Mary. He suffered trials - poverty, skepticism, and spiritual attacks - but remained steadfast. He also founded a lay-apostolate called SACRI for the purpose of teaching the truths of the Catholic Church, and he continued to receive private apparitions along with messages, some prophetic in nature - for example, in February 1982, Our Lady allegedly said to him: “The thirsty and the lost will come to pray here. They will find love, understanding, consolation: the true meaning of life. Here, in this place of the grotto where I appeared several times, will be the sanctuary of expiation, as if it were purgatory on Earth. There will be a gate with the significant name of "Gate of Peace". All must enter through this gate.”
Bruno Cornacchiola died a holy death in 2001, and his Cause for Canonization has been initiated in Rome in 2017. His fruitful legacy lives on through the association he started and the sanctuary built at the site of his heavenly visitations; his writings and testimony inspired countless conversions. It goes without saying that Bruno’s story is a powerful affirmation of the Blessed Virgin's maternal intercession and the transformative grace of God's Love and Mercy.
Epilogue: Graces Continue to Flow from Tre Fontane
Today, the Holy Grotto at Tre Fontane remains a place of pilgrimage and quiet prayer. Although the Church has not proclaimed an official approval of the apparitions, the shrine enjoys the tacit approval of the Vatican. The chapel built over the site was authorized by Pope Pius XII in 1956 and entrusted by him to the care of the Franciscan Conventuals. Mass is celebrated daily and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is administered regularly. Tre Fontane is, as Our Lady indicated, a place of profound PEACE and CONVERSION.
And finally, the miracles witnessed from the very start of these apparitions continue to be reported, mainly through the devout use of the blessed soil from the grotto, fulfilling these words Our Lady spoke to Bruno back in 1947: “I promise this special favor: With this sinful soil I shall perform great miracles for the conversion of unbelievers and of sinners.”
a packet of blessed soil from the Holy Grotto
If one is ever in Rome, this author highly recommends a stop at the Sanctuary of Tre Fontane. One will not regret it.
Our Lady of Revelation, pray for us!
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