Pierina Gilli

Story of Maria Rosa Mistica

Introduction

The Bishop of Brescia, in agreement with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and with the approval of Pope Francis, issued the Nihil obstat decree on 8^th July 2024, according to which “the experience of Pierina Gilli in relation to Maria Rosa Mistica does not contain elements contrary to the doctrine and morals of the Church”. According to the new Norms adopted in May 2024, the discernment of authority is aimed at evaluating the goodness of the fruits of a given event ascribable to the phenomenology of private revelations according to the Gospel’s dictate – “by their fruits you will recognize them” (cf. Mt 7:16-20) – without any longer aiming at the certain recognition of its supernatural origin.

Nonetheless, the Church leaves the faithful free to believe and adhere to the contents of private revelations assessed with Nihil obstat to the extent that, through the events, the message and the personal experience of the human instruments of these particular revelations, correctly interpreted in a context of pastoral care, they draw benefit for their sacramental and faith life. Given these premises, it is clarified that words such as “apparitions”, “seer”, “message”, “miracles”… do not express a certain judgment of the Church on the super naturalness of the Marian apparitions of Montichiari, but are allowed by the Church and reported as an integral part of the daily life and mystical experience of Pierina Gilli in relation to the Madonna Rosa Mistica, in fidelity to the testimony given by Pierina herself during her life and in writing in her Diaries.

The life and spiritual experience of Pierina Gilli (1911 – 1991)

Pierina Gilli (1911 – 1991)

Pierina Gilli was born in Montichiari on 3^rd August 1911, the first of nine children, into a modest farming family, poor in means but rich in faith. She grew up devoted to family, work and prayer, patiently enduring the hardships caused by material poverty and poor health. Although she soon matured a desire to consecrate herself to the Lord in the religious life among the Handmaids of Charity, founded in Brescia by Saint Maria Crocifissa di Rosa (1813-1855), she was never able to realize it due to the constant postponements caused by sudden illness and the serious misunderstandings to which she was always subjected. Around the age of thirty, Pierina suddenly became the protagonist of intense spiritual experiences linked to the devotion of Maria Rosa Mistica, known today throughout the world. In this faithful witness, she also received her personal cross, made up of countless physical and moral sufferings, but always carried with serene trust in God’s love.

The beginning of mystical phenomena

On the night between 23rd and 24th November 1946, at the height of a very serious illness, St. Maria Crocifissa di Rosa appeared at Pierina, and invited her to turn her gaze to a point in the room: “Then I saw a beautiful Lady as transparent dressed in violet with a white veil descending from her head to her feet, she held her arms open and I saw three swords stuck in her breast in correspondence of the heart”. The Saint explained that the Lady was Our Lady who had come to ask her for “prayers, sacrifices and sufferings” to repair the sins of three categories of souls consecrated to God:

for religious souls betraying their vocation;
to repair the mortal sin of these souls;
to repair the betrayal of priests who make themselves unworthy of the sacred ministry.

Finally, Di Rosa recommends prayers for the sanctification of priests through the very effective means of prayer, sacrifice and penance.

13th July 1947

Our Lady appears again, this time dressed all in white with three roses on her chest instead of the three swords, which are now placed at her feet:

the white rose, indicating the spirit of prayer;
the red rose, the spirit of sacrifice;
the yellow rose, with its golden reflections, the spirit of penance.

It is the prayers, sacrifices and penances that turn the swords that wounded Our Lady into roses

Pierina relates that on this occasion Our Lady asked her that on the 13th of each month, a Marian day be celebrated with particular solemnity, which should be prepared for in the 12 days preceding it by devoting the right amount of time in the heart to prayer, sacrifice and penance

Montichiari Cathedral, 1947

On 22nd November 1947, Rosa Mistica announces to Pierina her coming for the following 8th December, in the Cathedral of Montichiari, in order to establish an Hour of Grace of penance and prayer, in favor of great and countless conversions. On 7th December, Our Lady appeared, according to Pierina’s declarations, accompanied by the Little Shepherds of Fatima, Francisco and Jacinta, to ask for Consecration to Her Immaculate Heart, especially for consecrated souls. On 8th December 1947, in the Cathedral of Montichiari packed with the faithful, Pierina receives a vision of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; Our Lady renews the request for the institution of the Hour of Grace and manifests the desire to be invoked under the title of “Rosa Mistica”.

Sunday in Albis and 13th May 1966 – Fontanelle di Montichiari place

On 17^th April 1966, Sunday in Albis, the Blessed Virgin appeared to Pierina in Fontanelle among the wheat fields in the municipality of Montichiari, near the ancient spring known as San Giorgio, and invited all the sick to go to the spring which, she promised, her Son Jesus wanted to make miraculous for all those who would approach it trusting in God’s mercy and consolation. Our Lady herself touches the water in two places, sanctifying it. The following 13^th May 1966, the anniversary of the first apparition in Fatima, Our Lady asked for a pool to be built where the faithful could perform a penitential washing. Rosa Mistica in preparation for these events (25^th February 1966) called the Fontanelle spring the ‘Fountain of Mercy and Grace’.

Corpus Christi and Transfiguration celebrations in 1966 – Fontanelle di Montichiari place

On the feast of Corpus Christi, 9^th June 1966, Rosa Mistica appears to Pierina among the fields of ripe wheat, and asks that that wheat be ground to become Eucharistic Bread for many Reparatory Communions. On the feast of the Transfiguration, the following 6^th August, the Blessed Virgin promotes the celebration of the World Union of Reparatory Communion on 13^th October each year. In the baptismal and penitential sign of the water and the Eucharistic Bread, the cycle of apparitions at Fontanelle is thus concluded.

In Brescia until 1968

To aid discernment, the ecclesiastical authority gave instructions for Pierina to no longer reside in

Montichiari. A group of pious people who took her fate to heart first found her hospitality in Tuscany, then obtained it at the convent of the Franciscan Sisters of the Lily in Brescia. It is 20^th May 1949: what was supposed to be a temporary accommodation will actually last for twenty years. At the end of the 1960s, she was finally able to return to her Montichiari where she settled until the end of her days, first in a small flat near the cathedral, then in a small independent house, made available to her by some benefactors, in the Boschetti place.

Last years

The last years of Pierina’s life passed in a humble and hidden way: with the passing of the days, Pierina always remained obedient to the dispositions of the ecclesiastical authority, continuing to welcome everyone with her usual affability and modesty in her little house and, as long as her health allowed it, she had a good word for everyone, a word of advice, and above all a prayer. In 1990, due to her illness worsening, she was confined to a wheelchair and only then did she stop visiting and comforting the sick; on 12^th January 1991, after a long purification of body and spirit, she ended her earthly existence. The funeral was celebrated in the presence of a large crowd of faithful and friends who accompanied her in her final farewell until her burial in the town cemetery.

Cimitero di Montichiari, Via S. Martino della Battaglia 11, 25018 Montichiari BS