Bonate, Italy 1944
Toward the end of the Second World War, late in the afternoon of May 13, 1944, seven year-old Adelaide Roncalli saw the first of thirteen apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which Our Lady proclaimed Herself as the Queen of Peace, Unity, and the Family. What makes this series of apparitions so unique is the young age of the visionary, and the complexity of the themes and structure of the messages from the Virgin Mary; Adelaide could not understand them, but she faithfully repeated everything Our Lady said to her, and thus, Heaven proved once again that unsophisticated, uneducated children are better messengers than the most cultured, literate adults, even those in high-ranking ecclesiastical positions. And as with the apparitions to MARIE-JULIE JAHENNY of La Fraudais, France, GARABANDAL, Spain, MONTICHIARI, Italy, and LIPA in the Phillipines, the messages deal sharply with a major crisis in the Catholic Church that was smoldering beneath the crust in the times of those appearances, hidden from the knowledge of the faithful and the outside world, but which finally reared its ugly head with the hijacking of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's that sought to remake the Church Christ founded in 33 AD into the image of heretics and infidels. This, as we will we see, is the reason for the Church's attempts to suppress the Bonate apparitions, and to so manipulate the little visionary as to force out of her retractions against Our Lady through isolation, intimidation, and psychological torture (as was done with the visionaries of GARABANDAL)
One of eight children, Adelaide Roncalli was born on April 23, 1937, and was baptized two days later by the parish priest Don Cesare Vitale. At the time of the apparitions, she attended primary school, and was a normal, healthy, and lively child, who never tired of what children love to do: play.
Late in the afternoon of May 13, 1944, seven year-old Adelaide was picking elder flowers and daisies to place before an image of the Virgin Mary. She was accompanied by her six year-old sister Palmina, and a handful of other little girls.
While they were doing this, the Holy Family appeared to Adelaide, the figures of Mary, the Infant Jesus in Her arms, and St. Joseph each enveloped in oval circles of golden light. Our Lady, Whose beauty was indescribable, wore a white dress with a blue mantle, a Rosary of white beads on Her right arm, and a white rose on each of Her bare feet. The Baby Jesus was cloaked all in white, and St. Joseph wore a tunic with a red mantle, and carried a sprig of white lilies in his left hand.
Frightened at the sudden appearance of something so remarkable, (and which could not be seen by her companions) Adelaide was about to flee when the Blessed Virgin called out to her gently: "Do not run away, for I am the Virgin Mary!" Adelaide remained a bit frightened, but didn't flee.
Our Lady continued: "You must be good, obedient, respectful of your neighbors, and sincere. Pray well, and come back to this place for nine evenings, always at this time." The apparition moved away into the sky until a white cloud covered it. St Joseph and the Infant Jesus never spoke, but they had gazed upon Adelaide with amiable expressions.
While all this was taking place, Adelaide's companions found her unresponsive. They called her name and shook her repeatedly, but Adelaide was in a state of ecstasy, and was unable to see, hear, or feel them. When she returned to normal after the apparition, Adelaide swore her companions to secrecy, and told them what happened. As children are normally unable to keep exciting things all to themselves, the news began to spread through the village.
The next day, while playing with her friends at the parish hall of the church, Adelaide seemed to forget about everything until, near the time of the previous day's apparition, the little girl felt an impelling urge to go back to the place. When she reached the site, followed by her playmates, she first saw two white doves, and then the Holy Family arrived from the sky as They had done before, in radiant golden light.
Our Lady spoke again to her, saying "You must be good, obedient, and sincere, and you must pray well and be respectful of your neighbor. Between your fourteenth and fifteenth year, you will become a Sacramentina nun. You will suffer a lot, but do not weep, for you will (one day) come with Me to Paradise." The Baby Jesus and St. Joseph continued smiling, as before, but neither spoke. The apparition then departed.
On the way back to the parish center, Adelaide was filled with joy over what the Blessed Virgin had told her. A boy named Candido met her on the way, and asked her if she had seen the Virgin again. When Adelaide said yes, the boy urged her to go back to the spot to see if She appeared again, so that Adelaide could ask Her if She wanted him to be a priest, and devote his life to Her. Adelaide did as he requested, with the boy following her, and a few minutes after reaching the spot, Our Lady reappeared, saying: "Yes, he will become a Missionary Father according to My Sacred Heart, when the war is over." Candido watched Adelaide carefully as in her ecstasy she spoke on his behalf, and without knowing why, observed Adelaide to cry out at this point and hid her face in her hands. Before departing this time, Our Lady instructed Adelaide to return each of the next seven evenings.
Although Adelaide did not reveal the secret to Candido, Our Lady had informed her about the suffering this priestly vocation would cost her friend, Candido. All of this was revealed later and the prophecy proved to be true.
For the third apparition (really the fourth, now) the next day, Monday, May 15, 1944, Adelaide was accompanied by two girl friends, and about a hundred other people. The people had been urging the girl to ask the Holy Family to heal their sick children, and to ask for the end of the war. Our Lady said:
"Tell them that if they want their children to be healed they must repent, pray a lot, and avoid certain sins. If people repent soon, the war will finish in two months; otherwise it will continue for a little less than two more years.."
During this apparition, Our Lady instructed Adelaide to say her Rosary, and the Virgin, as She had done at LOURDES and GARABANDAL, joined her in saying only the Glory Be to Father, etc. prayer.
About 150 people gathered for the apparition on Tuesday, May 16, which took place at six o'clock pm, as before. In a serious voice, Our Lady said:
"Many mothers have impaired children on account of their great sins; if they want their children to be healed, they must be urged to sin no more." Adelaide then asked for a visible Sign that would prove Her apparitions. "That will come in due time. Pray for the poor sinners who need the children's prayers."
On Wednesday, May 17, the Blessed Virgin came with eight angels, none of which were higher than Our Lady's elbows, who were alternately dressed in blue and pink, and formed a semi-circle around their beloved Queen. About 3,000 people had accompanied Adelaide for the apparition.
Our Lady spoke immediately beginning with the following words: "Tell the Bishop and the Pope the secret I am confiding to you..." After revealing the secret, Our Lady said gravely: "I advise you to do what you are told, but do not tell this to anyone else." Then She disappeared.
(Editor's note: three days later, on May 20th, Adelaide was taken to the Bishop to reveal the secret. She was also taken to the Vatican in 1949, and in a completely private audience with Pope Pius XII, spoke the words of the secret to the Holy Father himself - a remarkable feat to be repeated years later by Conchita of GARABANDAL, in contrast to the cloak-and-dagger secrecy surrounding the Third Secret of FATIMA which Sister Lucy had to write down, seal, and only after a series of delays and hand-changing did it reach the Holy Father like it was originally intended to. There is a reason for this, however, which space does not allow us to go into here.)
Thursday, May 18, 1944, Our Lady returned with the angels as the day before, but today She wore a red dress with a green mantle. The Virgin smiled at Adelaide and repeated three times: "Prayers and repentance". Then She added: "Pray for the poor stubborn sinners who are dying in this moment and who pierce My Heart."
In response to the request of many people, Adelaide asked the Blessed Virgin which prayer addressed to Her did She like the best. Our Lady answered: "The prayer I like best is the Hail Mary." Shortly after saying this, the Virgin disappeared.
(Editor's note: It is interesting to note here that this very same question was asked by the visionaries of GARABANDAL, and they received the same answer. Then later, on another occasion there, when the girls asked the Madonna what kind of flowers She liked placed around Her images, Our Lady answered: "Hail Marys are the flowers that please Me the most." The reason for this is obvious: the Hail Mary was the greeting of the Archangel St. Gabriel when he announced, in the Name of God the Father, that Mary had been chosen to bring His Son Christ, the Redeemer, into the world. After these words created only for Her by God Himself, how could any other salutation composed by mortal man be more pleasing?)
The Holy Family appeared together again the next day, Friday, May 19th. Our Lady was dressed in Her regular blue and white as She was whenever She had previously appeared with the Infant Jesus and St. Joseph. Before Our Lady began speaking, Adelaide asked for healings on behalf of the numerous people who had requested this of her, and whether or not it was necessary to come to Bonate in person for the healings.
"No, it is not necessary for everybody to come here. Those who can afford it may come, and they will be healed or remain sick according to their sacrifices, but they must not commit great sins anymore." Adelaide then asked for a miracle to prove the authenticity of the apparitions for the people. "The time for it will come, many will be converted, and I will be recognized by the Church (in these apparitions." Then Our Lady directed Her next words specifically to Adelaide: "Meditate upon these words all the days of your life, summon up your courage in all your sorrows. You will see Me again in the hour of your death; I will keep you under My mantle and will take you to Heaven."
Saturday, May 20th: "Tomorrow will be the last time I speak to you, then for seven days I will let you reflect on what I have told you. Try and get my words straight, as they will be very useful for you when you grow up if you want to become all mine. After these seven days I will come back four times more."
At the beginning of this apparition, which took place in the rain, a ray of sunlight cut through and beamed down directly on Adelaide's head, and the sun itself appeared, in the shape of a Cross. It was later seen to whirl, a rain of gold stars fell down toward the crowds, phosphorescent "halos" and "Hosts" appeared, and various other phenomena were displayed.
Sunday, May 21: Adelaide saw the Holy Family again, but standing as it were in the middle of a church. Near the main door were a grey donkey, a white sheep, a white-haired brown-spotted dog, and a brown horse. The four animals were kneeling and moved their mouths as though praying. The horse suddenly got up and left the church, passing by Our Lady as it did so, and set out along the only road leading to a field of lilies, but it could not tread on as many as it wanted because St. Joseph went after it. When the horse saw St. Joseph, it tried to hide near a low wall enclosing the field of lilies; there it became docile and allowed St. Joseph to capture it. The foster-father of Jesus led the animal back to the church, where it knelt down and resumed its prayers.
Although no words were spoken by Our Lady or St. Joseph, Adelaide understood the vision to mean that "the horse was a bad person who wanted to destroy the good ones." As she matured, the meaning of the vision became clearer: "In the horse I envisaged a superb person, wicked and greedy for power. After giving up prayer, he wanted to destroy the lilies of the magnificent field by trampling on and destroying their freshness and simple candour stealthily...(W)hile the horse was ravaging the field it showed a hint of mischief as it tried not to be seen. When the horse saw Saint Joseph coming its way it gave up its stealthy damage and tried to hide near the low wall enclosing the field. Saint Joseph approached it with a sweet look of reproach and led it back to the house of prayer. While the horse was doing damage, the other animals did not interrupt their prayers.
"The four animals represent the four indispensable virtues to make a holy family. The horse - the leader - must not give up praying because when far from it, it is only capable of mess and ruin. It thus rejects patience, faithfulness, meekness, and familiar silence, symbolized by the other beasts. Nobody spoke in this vision and everything disappeared slowly...
"...The peculiar spots of the dog's hair stand for the corrupted family faithfulness. The open door of the temple is a figure of the freedom that God grants to every creature."
On Sunday, May 28th, Adelaide received her First Holy Communion. That evening, at six o'clock in the usual spot, the second series of four apparitions began. 300,000 people were estimated to be in attendance.
"Pray for the poor stubborn sinners who make My Heart suffer because they do not think of death. Pray also for the Holy Father who is living difficult moments. He is ill-treated by many, and many attempt his life. I will protect him and he will not leave the Vatican. Peace is coming soon, but I am anxious for that world peace in which everybody loves one another like brothers. Only this way the Pope will suffer less."
Our Lady was dressed in a red dress and mantle, and carried two black doves in Her hands. On Her head was a diadem studded with multi-colored pearls. She was accompanied by Saint Matthew and Saint Jude who were dressed in violet, with overlaying brown cloaks. Adelaide understood the doves Mary was holding to stand for the harmony married couples must have in order to create blessed families in the presence of Our Lady. She teaches also that there cannot a blessed family without living trustfully in Our Lady's motherly hands.
Monday May 29, Our Lady appeared accompanied by angels. She was dressed in red and green again, held the two black doves in Her hands, and carried a Rosary on Her arm.
"The sick who want to be healed must trust Me more and sanctify their suffering if they want to gain Paradise. If they do not do this, they will not be rewarded, and will be severely punished instead. I hope that all those who come to know My words will make every kind of effort to attain Paradise. Those who suffer without complaining will obtain anything they ask from My Son and Me. Pray alot for those who have a sick soul; My Son Jesus died on the Cross to save them. Many people do not understand these words of Mine; that is why I suffer so much."
Tuesday, May 30th, Our Lady came with the angels again, though today She was dressed in pink with a white veil.
"Dear child, you are all mine, but even if you are dearest to My Heart, tomorrow I will leave you in this valley of sorrow and weep. You will see Me again in your hour; I will take you Paradise wrapped in My mantle. I will also take with me those who understand you and suffer."
Our Lady blessed Adelaide and then departed.
Wednesday, May 31, 1944, as foretold by Our Lady, was to be the final day of the apparitions in Bonate. 350,000 people were in attendance, and the apparition took place at eight o'clock in the evening, instead of two hours earlier as they had been. This final apparition was of the Holy Family.
"Dear daughter, I am sorry I must leaveyou, but My time has passed. Do not lose heart if you do not see me for awhile. Think of what I have told you: I will come back in your hour. You will be a little martyr in this valley of real sorrows. Do not get discouraged, I wish My Triumph to happen soon. Pray for the Pope and tell him to act quickly, because I want to be solicitous to everyone in this place. Anything you require of Me, I will intercede with My Son for it. I will be your reward if your martyrdom is cheerful. These words of mine will be of great comfort to you in your trials. Endure everything patiently, and then you will be with me in Paradise. Those who make you suffer intentionally will not come to Heaven if they do not make amends for their wrongs and do not repent deeply. Cheer up, because we will meet again, My dear little martyr."
Our Lady then bent forward and placed a gentle kiss on Adelaide's forehead, and then the apparition disappeared.
Adelaide Roncalli soon understood the Blessed Virgin Mary's words about her mission to suffer for the truth of the Bonate apparitions. After long months of grueling inquisitions at the hands of certain ecclesiastical authorities acting out of their bounds, the little child was forced to retract her visions in her own handwriting in the same diary in which she had written them down in. On September 15, 1945, she wrote:
"It is not true that I saw Our Lady. I told a lie, because I saw nothing. I did not have the courage to speak the truth, but then I told everything to Don Cortesi. Now I regret having told so many lies. Adelaide Roncalli. Bergamo-15th-September 1945."
Later, however, the girl wrote the entire episode in its complete context out in the same diary: "In a room of the Orsoline's convent in Bergamo, after closing all doors, Don Cortesi dictated the words to be written on the wretched note. I remember perfectly that, on account of the state of moral violence I was being submitted to, I stained it and he split the sheet of paper and made me write it again, with great patience, in order to reach his aim. That's how the betrayal was carried out."
The psychological tortures did not end with this despicable forced retraction. Don Cortesi continue to hound the girl and question her over and over again, and instructing her how to act and what she must say when asked about the apparitions. Finally, the seminarian was ordered by the Bishop of Bergamo to stay away from Adelaide and her family. Once after she was safe back with her family again, Adelaide wrote on July 12, 1946:
"...It is true that I saw Our Lady (I formerly said that I did not see Our Lady because Don Cortesi had dictated this to me and I wrote what he wanted out of obedience)...."
(Editor's note: The "obedience" tactic was used time and time to wrench retractions for the visionaries of GARABANDAL. Our Lady had told the girls repeatedly that they were to obey the Church, even before obeying Her, and many clerics used their priestly powers to demand things from them out of obedience to their requests, knowing full well that the girls were acting against their own consciences in disobeying the Blessed Virgin. On one particularly noteworthy occasion, Conchita Gonzalez was coerced into signing her name at the bottom of a blank piece of paper during the course of one of her grillings, which she did, out of obedience. Later the rest of the paper was filled with sentences about how she and her friends lied and faked the apparitions, and her signature gleaming in red ink was taken by higher ecclesiastical authorities to be her acknowledgement of what her inquisitors had written down "first", as her "confession".)
