Approval of Marian Apparition at Laus Puts Other, Equally Obscure, Apparitions Into Sharper Focus

Pewsitter.com

Consecration ceremony at Belpasso, site of apparition, by Archbishop Luigi Bommarito in May of 2001.

May 22, 2008 - The approved apparition, at Laus, south of Grenoble, in France, which was fully sanctioned by the Church two weeks ago, puts other, equally obscure apparitions into sharper focus -- including an extensive, little-known, and rather incredible series of apparitions that allegedly took place between 1986 and 1988 near Catania, Sicily.

Those apparitions -- 32 in all, at Belpasso -- have been favorably looked upon by Archbishop Luigi Bommarito, who consecrated a sanctuary around the rock: one of the most tangible sorts of ecclesiastical approval.

The apparitions were witnessed by 15-year-old Rosario Toscano -- who first heard the voice of Mary as a locution and then was told he could meet her at a rock in the middle of a nearby lava site (the remnants of a Mount Etna eruption in a spot that, it turns out, was a refuge for those fleeing the volcano).

Rosario saw Mary as dressed in very bright white -- like reflections on a placid, crystal-clear lake, in one depiction -- with a shift in the color of the sky behind her. According to that account, the Virgin came with a "cloud" that opened "in the same way a flower blooms" (revealing her) and wore a white mantle from head to feet with a gold-colored sash around her waist.

"As soon as I had been made responsible for my diocese, I saw Rosario Toscano coming," the archbishop said. "We met three times, and we scheduled other meetings. I must say the boy is really clean. This is a real fact I have further ascertained in our meetings. Rosario is healthy, well-balanced, and serene; he doesn’t like to attract attention. Once he told me literally: 'How happy I am now that people no longer look for me, but go to the rock and pray to the Holy Virgin.'"

Although a formal pastoral declaration of approval has not been issued, the Archbishop blessed the statue of "Our Lady of the Belpasso Rock" on January 5, 2000 and consecrated the chapel as a Marian sanctuary -- attaching a Jubilee indulgence to it and making it the most obscure of recent apparitions that enjoy a level of approval.

The seer, Rosario claims to have been given "secrets" by the Blessed Mother, who after the formal apparitions -- which mainly involved prayer -- granted the boy 12 alleged and confidential prophecies.

The secrets, which were conveyed starting on January 3, 1987, are said to be both for the seer (two of them) and mankind in general (the remaining ten).

"That the contents of the secrets are grave and serious is a fact we can gather from several points," notes a website dedicated to the event (http://www.rocciadibelpasso.it/apparizionie.htm). These are "the worried, excited tone of the entire message given by Our Lady on 01/03/87; the revelation delivered the next month, that 'there are most serious chastisements for mankind;' the attitude and expressions of the visionary after the apparition of 01/03/87, and in the further accounts given by him.

"The words used by the Blessed Virgin leave no room for doubt. They are especially 'unpleasant events' (01/05/98), 'most serious chastisements' (01/04/87), 'purification' (01/10/87)."

"Many have asked themselves whether these disagreeable events are to be very sorrowful," Rosario reportedly said on November 5, 1987. "Just know that I cried for weeks, and maybe I wouldn’t have peace any more if the Heart of our Mother hadn’t consoled me and the Grace of Our Lord hadn’t assisted me."

They are strong words from an apparition at such a high level of diocesan favor. Yet, it is noted, at least some of the events can be lessened. However -- it is equally said -- they can not be erased.

"The messages as a whole let us understand that God has made a decision and fixed time limits: therefore the secrets are to be realized and can only be attenuated (Rosario said 'mitigati,' mitigated)," reports the same website.

"Sins that draw chastisement are 'superficiality' (01/02/88), 'spiritual idleness' (01/05/88), 'to have sold themselves consciously to worldly gratifications' (01/02/88), 'forgetfulness of God and His laws' (01/05/88), and 'indifference to Jesus and his sacrifice' as well (01/06/87)," continues the description of events.

There has been special attention on Rosario's seventh secret, which seemed especially momentous but in 1991 was said still to be "in the distant future."

That seventh secret will allegedly revolve around an event that displays "the glory of the Church to the world." It is said that Rosario has indicated it would involve "something that was forgotten" that will be restored.

"On the contrary," claims the account, "we can think that at least the first three secrets are about to occur."

"Now I'm full of hope in the goodness of the Lord," Rosario is quoted as saying. "In fact, the Lord doesn't intend to terrify his children, but only put them on their guard. Just think of Our Lady girded by a white sash: it's a symbol that means we must always be ready. The Lord never abandons his creatures; His love for them is limitless. When the world is afflicted by unpleasant events near their point of culmination, a lighthouse will shine in the night: the seventh secret. About this secret the Queen of Peace has stated 'it will be replaced by another event, which will be pleasing for all the people of God scattered all over the earth.”

Reprinted with Permission of Michael Brown, SpiritDaily.com