Mary, Mystical Rose
Flower of Paradise
Feast: 13 July
According to Pierina Gilli, Our Lady appeared to her and gave her messages from 1946 to 1983 in Montichiari, in northern Italy. (These are private revelations; the Church does not require belief in them.)
In her first apparition the Virgin wore a purple robe and a white veil; she was very sad, her tears were falling to the ground, and her breast was pierced by three swords. She said only three words: prayer, penance, reparation!
The Virgin appeared a second time with three roses on her breast (in place of the swords): the white one symbolizing prayer, the red one sacrifice, and the yellow one conversion and reparation.
She said: “I am the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of you all. The Lord has sent me to promote Marian devotion in religious communities and among priests. I promise all who honour me my protection, a renewal of vocations and a great longing for holiness. Let the thirteenth of every month be a day of prayer dedicated to Mary; it will be a day of abundant graces and vocations.” She asked people to repent of the sins committed against faith and morals.
And in later apparitions she said:
“I am Mary, full of grace, the Mother of my divine Son Jesus Christ… I wish to be known as the Mystical Rose. It is my wish that every year on 8 December (the feast of the Immaculate Conception) the Hour of Grace for the world be observed! Many graces for body and soul will be obtained… Our Lord, my Son, will send an abundance of his mercy if good people keep praying for their sinful brothers and sisters… Whoever prays in church or at home at noon on that day will receive graces through me! Whoever prays for this intention with tears of penance will find a sure ladder to heaven and will receive protection and graces through my tender motherly Heart.”
“At Fatima I asked for consecration to my Heart. Here I ask to be honoured under the name ‘Mystical Rose’, together with consecration to my Heart, which should be practised especially in religious institutes, so that they may receive more graces through my motherly Heart.”
The Virgin showed her Heart to Pierina, saying: “Look at this Heart that loves people so much, yet most of them heap only insults upon it. If good and bad people unite in prayer, they will obtain mercy and peace through this Heart! The Lord still protects the good and holds back a great punishment because of my intercession.”
The Virgin smiled and said: “Soon people will understand the greatness of this Hour of Grace!”
“I have already prepared a flood of graces for all my children who listen to my word and keep it in their hearts!”
Prayer:
O Mary, Mystical Rose, flower blooming in the paradise of delight, we look to you, weak sinners that we are, with despairing hearts overtaken by barren dryness. Water with your boundless graces our souls, worn away by numbness, so that we may stand before you without shame; and purify our inclinations, our actions, our wills and our thoughts.
O Mary, Mystical Rose, Mother of heaven and earth, teach us to be good children and righteous brothers and sisters, so that we may experience love, repentance, prayer and goodness, our works may shine with the light of faith and salvation, and our deeds may give off the fragrance of righteousness and peace.
O Mary, Mystical Rose, Queen on the throne of holiness, may the taste of your tenderness be food that satisfies our weak bodies and quenches the thirst of our souls, so that we may walk in the field of faith with the steadfastness of a believer, sheltered under the wings of your kindness and mercy.
May the feast of our Mother Mary, Mystical Rose, be for us, who swing between sin and righteousness, an occasion to become like her a fragrant rose: a rose with roots planted deep in the field of holiness, its stem reaching up to heaven, its petals fragrant with beauty, love and prayer, so that we may be worthy of eternal bliss in the garden of the heavenly Kingdom.
Amen.
