Special Devotions
From Pierina’s diaries, we learn that Our Lady Rosa Mistica asked Montichiari for some new devotions, which we will deepen here below.
Sunday in Albis
The first manifestation of Maria Rosa Mistica at Fontanelle took place on 17th April 1966, the Sunday after Easter, that year. A solemn penitential celebration is described in Pierina’s Diaries: Rosa Mistica reveals that she was sent by her Son ‘to make this spring miraculous’. Descending the mud-covered steps leading to the spring, Our Lady invites Pierina to kiss them three times, where she pauses, “as a sign of penance and purification”; then she indicates the spot where to place a Crucifix and explains: “The sick and all my children, before taking or drinking the water, ask forgiveness of my Divine Son with a loving kiss”; then, before inviting the Gilli to wash herself, she asks her to soil her hands: “This is to teach that the sins in the souls of the sons become mud, but are purified through the water of grace”. Finally, Our Lady touches the water of the spring in two places, which she renames the “Fountain of Mercy and Grace”, assuring her intercession for the sick who will find here a second Lourdes”. The Mother of Jesus, who in Montichiari also presents herself as “Mother of Mercy” and “Mother of Grace”, has in this way “anticipated” here the Feast of Divine Mercy, instituted in 2000 by Saint John Paul II and to be celebrated precisely on Sunday in Albis.
On 13th July and the 13th of the month
Pierina reported that, when she appeared at Fontanelle on the Feast of Corpus Christi on 9th June 1966, Maria Rosa Mistica asked that the World Union of the Communion of Reparation be celebrated every year: a devotion for the whole Church and the whole world, which is why Our Lady asked the Pope and the Bishop of Fatima to be involved in the event. On this practice Our Lady had already explained to the Shepherd children of Fatima, in relation to the first five Saturdays of the month, that it makes reparation for the sins of men committed in particular towards her Immaculate Heart; in Montichiari she asked for a solemn Celebration to be held on 13th October each year in reparation for offences against the Holy Eucharist. Rosa Mistica explained in her visit on 15th November 1966: “My Divine Son Jesus Christ … sent me on the Feast of the Body of the Lord to call souls back to the love of Holy Eucharistic Communion. Since there are so many men, even among Christians, who would like to reduce it to a mere symbol, I intervened to ask for the World Union of the Holy Communion of reparation”.
13th October, World Union of Restorative Communion
Pierina reported that, when she appeared at Fontanelle on the Feast of Corpus Christi on 9th June 1966, Maria Rosa Mistica asked that the World Union of the Communion of Reparation be celebrated every year: a devotion for the whole Church and the whole world, which is why Our Lady asked the Pope and the Bishop of Fatima to be involved in the event. On this practice Our Lady had already explained to the Shepherd children of Fatima, in relation to the first five Saturdays of the month, that it makes reparation for the sins of men committed in particular towards her Immaculate Heart; in Montichiari she asked for a solemn Celebration to be held on 13th October each year in reparation for offences against the Holy Eucharist. Rosa Mistica explained in her visit on 15th November 1966: “My Divine Son Jesus Christ … sent me on the Feast of the Body of the Lord to call souls back to the love of Holy Eucharistic Communion. Since there are so many men, even among Christians, who would like to reduce it to a mere symbol, I intervened to ask for the World Union of the Holy Communion of reparation”.
8th December, Hour of Grace
In Pierina’s Diaries the first cycle of Our Lady’s visits ends on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1947: Pierina sees Maria Rosa Mistica descending a holy staircase in the centre of the church in Montichiari and culminates in the contemplation of her Immaculate Heart “that loves so much mankind”. Mary says she is sent by God and thus shows herself as the Mother of the Church, the Gate of Heaven, the Light of the Gentiles who intercedes for her people and leads them back to Christ. In this context, the Virgin gives form to a new devotion: “I desire that every year, on the 8th of December, the Hour of Universal Grace be practiced at Midday: by this practice many spiritual and corporal graces will be obtained. Those who will not be able to go to their churches, while remaining in their homes, will obtain my graces by praying at midday”. Her Son – Our Lady assures us – is ready to grant her ” His greatest Mercy as long as the good ones always continue to pray for their sinful brothers and sisters”. Our Lady also orders that statues of Rosa Mistica be made to be carried in procession through the streets of Montichiari and in the places where she will be venerated with this title: “On those streets where I will pass”, she reveals, “I will sow spiritual graces and healings”.
There is no fixed or pre-established prayer schedule. At the Shrine, an hour of Eucharistic Adoration is celebrated, during which the five glorious mysteries of the Holy Rosary are prayed in a meditated manner; at the conclusion, a solemn act of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is made in front of the statue of Rosa Mistica.
The intentions of the five meditated mysteries are typical of the Marian spirituality of the Shrine, linked to Pierina Gilli’s mystical experience: prayer on behalf of consecrated men and women, priests, and vocations; the request for spiritual and corporal graces; prayer of reparation and intercession for the conversion of sinners.
The faithful can unite spiritually at the same time, from 12 to 13 PM, by gathering in prayer groups before the Blessed Sacrament, or, if this is not possible due to health impediments in particular, by holding an hour of Marian prayer at home.