The Catholic Defender: Journey With Mary as we travel to Castelpetroso Italy 1888
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On 22 March 1888, while looking for a missing lamb, Bibiana, attracted by the blaze that emanates from a cave, approaches it, and immediately finds herself immersed in a celestial vision:
The Virgin half-kneeling, with her hands extended and his eyes turned to heaven is there, in the act of imploring and offering; at his feet lies Jesus dead covered with blood and sores.
Crowds of faithful, as if struck by a thrill, feel attracted to make a pilgrimage towards the cave of “Cesa tra Santi” (name of the apparition site) and their number grows day by day: the mountain soon gives the impression of a human anthill. Only a few days after the apparitions, around 4000 pilgrims are counted in apparition site in a single day.
On the morning of September 26, 1888, the Bishop went to the cave of “Cesa tra Santi!”, and he too had the grace to see the Sorrowful Mother, in the same attitude described by the first two visionaries.
These are his words: “With joy I can say that the portents of Castelpetroso are the last traces of Divine Mercy, to recall the lost souls to the right path. I also can testify that, having gone myself in the sacred place, and focusing myself in prayer I had the ‘apparition of the Virgin “.
The news of the apparition’s spreads with the rapidity of a flash throughout Castelpetroso and spreads to successive waves in all the neighboring countries and regions.
The press immediately echoes the facts of Castelpetroso: “The Servant of Mary”, a bi-monthly Mariana magazine published in Bologna by the Servants of Mary and some lay people, is one of the first to publish and disseminate the news of the Apparitions, also keeping update on the events, with punctual loyalty, to keep
The director of the magazine, Carlo Acquaderni, in November 1888 goes to the blessed cliff site together with his son Augusto: in the heart of his father there is the great hope of obtaining the healing of his son, condemned to die for the tragic consequences of an incurable illness, the tuberculosis of the bone. Faith, when it is firm, true and sincere, can only obtain miracles: Augustus miraculously heals!
In the explosion of his enthusiasm, for recovered health of his son, Carlo Acquaderni, through the Marian magazine he directs, appeals to all the devotees of Our Lady of Sorrows for the collection of offers to be used for the construction of “an oratorio or a small chapel” – he affirms – in that place blessed by the special presence of Mary.
On 6 December 1973, at the request of the Bishops of Molise, the Holy Father Paul VI issued a decree proclaiming the Blessed Virgin Mary of Sorrows, venerated in the Sanctuary of Castelpetroso, PATRONESS OF MOLISE.
The 1888 apparitions in Castelpetroso, Italy, are officially recognized by the Catholic Church as "worthy of belief". The phenomena began on March 22, 1888, when two peasant women, Bibiana Cicchino and Serafina Valentino reported seeing a luminous light in a cave while searching for a lost sheep. Within the light, they witnessed the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows (the Pietà), kneeling in grief over her dead Son.
Monsignor Francesco Palmieri, Bishop of Bojano, at the first manifestation of these extraordinary events, immediately puts the apparition site under control and indicates a first preliminary investigation to carry out investigations into the alleged apparitions. Later, the same Holy Father Leo XIII, even if only orally, appointed him Apostolic Delegate, giving him the task of carrying out an inspection of the cave of the Apparitions on behalf of the Holy See.
Mary appeared as Our Lady of Sorrows (the Addolorata), kneeling in a deep red dress and dark mantle. She was depicted with her heart pierced by seven swords, her eyes turned toward heaven, and her arms outstretched.
The Pieta: At her feet lay the wounded, dead body of Jesus.
The Meaning: The silence emphasized the "message of the Cross"—inviting humanity to recognize Mary's role as a co-redeemer who suffered alongside her Son to bring lost souls back to God. The local Bishop, who also witnessed the vision, described it as a "last touch of Divine Mercy" to recall those who had strayed.
Bishop’s Witness: In September 1888, Bishop Francesco Macarone-Palmieri of Bojano visited the site and personally witnessed the apparition on three occasions.
Pope Leo XIII was briefed on the events and encouraged further investigation, eventually blessing the committee formed to build a sanctuary at the site.
A miraculous spring appeared near the cave, where numerous healings were reported, including that of a mute child, Angelo Verna, who regained his speech.
The apparitions were formally approved by the local Bishop in 1889. Decades later, on December 6, 1973,
Pope Paul VI proclaimed Our Lady of Castelpetroso as the Patroness of Molise.
The message of Castelpetroso is very profound and invites us to reflect on Mary’s coredemptive pains, on the overabundance and super-effusion of the Mother’s love: as Mother Coredemptrix, She has generated us in the life of the grace at the price of indescribable suffering.
Our Lady of Castelpetroso taught us the need to cooperate in the sufferings of Christ as St. Paul said.
The apparition showed Her in a regal attitude of priestly motherhood; kneeling, She has his arms extended in an act of offering: She offers Jesus, the fruit of his womb, to the Father, as the Victim of expiation for the sins of humanity.
God has associated the Virgin with the work of Redemption, and she, fully conforming to this will, with Her suffering accepted and offered, has become Coredemptrix of the human race.
This is the message of Castelpetroso: Holy Mary, as Mother Coredemptrix, has regenerated us to the life of grace at the price of unspeakable suffering.
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