Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
Origin and Story of the Apparition
On May 11, 1986, the Virgin appeared near the Rock of Borello, to a teen-aged boy named Rosario Toscano, born in Catania in 1971 of a well-to-do family.
Difffernt signs had preceded the apparition: on May 4, 1986, Rosario was in bed with a high viral fever. Suddenly a bright light appeared in his bedroom.
A woman's voice invited Rosario to pray for sinners and not despair about his illness. "Who's speaking?" he asked. The voice answered: "I will tell you when the right time comes."
The next day, the light came back, and the voice revealed: "I am Mary, the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception."
She asked him to go the Rock of Borello, on Sunday, May 11, 1986. There, she would show herself. He knew where the place was and went there on the appointed day around 4 o'clock in the afternoon:
A small white cloud rapidly approached the rock.
Rosario noted in his journal that the cloud expanded and unfolded like a flower, and radiated a strong light, like the light he had seen in his house, Shortly after, he saw a sweet-looking lady, dressed in white, with a white cloak, and her head encircled with gold. She was wearing a white scarf, also embroidered with gold, and her hands were clasped around a rose.
The "Madonna" always dressed in white and seemed to be less than eighteen years-old. The apparitions continued until May 1, 1988. During the 32nd apparition, the Virgin announced her 33rd and last apparition for an indeterminate time.
The last apparition took place on May 1, 1988: the first day of the month of Mary. "My mood was the same as in the previous apparitions," Rosario wrote. "Yet, the Madonna had said to me that she would not come back again. I understood that I would not see her for a long time, but I felt sense of consolation anway."
That evening, Rosario felt a sharp pain in his chest, as if there was a big fire in his heart. The family physician rushed over to their house and administered some drops, but nothing could reduce the burning heat. This condition wasn't painful, on the contrary it brought an inexpressible sense of pleasure and comfort: the same feeling he had experienced during the apparition of June 19, 1986, when Mary had shown him her Immaculate Heart.
Then, Rosario understood the true meaning of the words of the last apparition: "I will not come back, but it doesn't mean that I am abandoning you. My heart will always be with you." Since that day, Rosario has felt the presence of a fire in his heart.
Another gift was added with this phenomenon: interior locution, like a dialogue in which he received guidance, enlightenment and inspiration. The Virgin confided twelve secret messages to Rosario: two for himself personally and ten concerning the future of humanity.
Bishop Bommarito, Archbishop of Catania, and the construction of the Shrine
On May 1, 2000, Bishop Bommarito, then Archbishop of Catania, blessed the statue of the Madonna at the Rock of Belpasso and consecrated the chapel built after the Virgin's wish at the place of the apparition.
He established it as the Marian Shrine of the diocese of Catania, by granting Jubilee indulgence.
In an interview given to the Italian monthly Catholic publication JESUS, Bishop Bommarito Rosario was defined as a "wholesome, well-balanced and serene boy, who doesn't attract attention to himself."
Practical aspects
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Bibliography:
M. CALVAGNO, Il Cielo sulla roccia, Belpasso-Catania, Tipolitografia Lombardo e Ricciarello, 1988.
René LAURENTIN and Patrick SBALCHIERO, "Belpasso" in: René LAURENTIN and Patrick SBALCHIERO, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge. Fayard, Paris 2007