The Church Under Attack. In the Distance Safety: the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin - The Apparition at Tre Fontane

08-31-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Leonard F. Villa

On November 1st, 1950, Venerable Pius XII proclaimed the Fourth Marian Dogma “We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

The following year the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Tre Fontane transpired and the Pontiff came to know - the following words pronounced by Our Lady: “My body could not die and did not die; it could not rot and did not rot because it was Immaculate. It was in the ecstasy of Divine Love that it was carried by Jesus, the Word, my Son, and by the Angels to Heaven, and thus it was taken to the throne of Divine Mercy.” But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, Romans 5:20

What was the appearance at Tre Fontane? Tre Fontane (Three Fountains) was at the time a place of ill repute where the remains of aborted babies were left. One Bruno Cornacchiola, who, after experiencing unspeakable suffering as a child and young man, went on to become embittered with life and filled with hate, especially towards the Catholic Church and The Pope (whom he planned to kill at the first opportunity) went to the Tre Fontane park, on April 12, 1947. Cornacchiola was enjoying a day at the park with his three children. He was preparing a vulgar speech denying the Virgin Mary’s existence for his role in the local Seventh-day Adventist Protestant community. He reserved a special repugnance for Our Lady. When he realized his children’s, voices were becoming faint and went to search for them, he found his children kneeling like marble statues in front of the grotto, repeating the words “Beautiful lady.”

Shortly after, Cornacchiola was able to see the Virgin, who was dressed in white, wearing a green mantle with a pink band, and holding the Scriptures. “I am the Virgin of Revelation. You are persecuting me — enough of it now!” she told him. “Enter into the sheepfold, the holy court of heaven on earth.” During an audience with Pius XII, Cornacchiola asked for forgiveness for his hatred against the Catholic Church after his conversion to Protestantism. This is what led him to plot against killing the Pope.

He confessed to Pius XII that he even bought a dagger with the inscription “death to the pope.” Not only did the Pope confirm what he had seen, he also persuaded him to keep a diary of the apparitions and publish it. Seventy years later, Saverio Gaeta reported the seer's diaries in his book, "The Seer, the Secret of the Three Fountains." (This is available in English on amazon.) Cornacchiola’s reconversion launched his entrance into the “sheepfold,” the Catholic Church. His conversion was lasting. The grotto is neighbored by the Tre Fontane Trappist Abbey, just south of Rome, and is presumed to be the place where St. Paul was martyred.

“He was neither soft nor sweet, as we may picture a visionary to be,” recalled Mother Rebecca of the recipient of the apparition, describing his strong-willed character. “On the contrary, he was a true St. Paul, so he was very incisive and strong when he spoke. However, this strength derived by the truth of faith that helped many people return to the Catholic Church.” Cornacchiola evangelized for the Church until his death in 2001. His two sons continue to tell his story. Here are some highlights of the messages Cornacchiola received:

- "Before Russia converts and abandons the path of atheism, a terrible and grave persecution will break out. Pray, it can be stopped. Set yourselves apart from the false things of the world: vain entertainment and publications of obscenities. Satan has been loosed for a time and will kindle the fire of protest among men. Children, be strong, resist the infernal assault. The entire Church will suffer a tremendous trial, to cleanse the filth that has infiltrated its ministers. Priests and faithful will be placed at a perilous turning point in the world of the lost, which will launch an attack with every means through false ideologies and theologies."

- This harsh message against priests was repeated in 1988: "You are trampling on my sheep and leading them to perdition. Why do you no longer make my doctrine known? Why do you lead my sheep to dry grass and deadly [poisonous] bushes?"

- To this last warning against corrupt pastors who have lost their faith, Our Lady adds a disturbing message. A vision of pain and perdition in which the Church is reduced to a pile of rubble and humanity subjected to the evil bondage of Satan. "May what I visualized never come true; it is too painful, and I hope the Lord does not allow the Pope to deny any truth of faith and put himself in God's place.

Cornacchiola received another terrible prophecy: the violent attacks against the Church and Christians by Islamists. He warned the Church has forgotten Lepanto, the defeat of invading Turks, seeking to overrun Europe, and the Battle of Vienna. The Battle of Vienna in 1683 saw a coalition of European forces, led by King John III Sobieski of Poland, successfully repel a massive siege by the Ottoman Empire. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the defenders held out until the arrival of the relief forces.

NOTE: Apparitions fall under the umbrella of private revelation even when approved by the Church and no one is required to believe them. However, God allows these manifestations for His own divine purposes. Victory has already been achieved by our Lord Jesus Christ. He won. The only drama is who will remain with Him to the end. Our Lady has a pivotal place in the defeat of the attacks of the Evil One and his machinations against the Church and within the Church. Approval by the Church of apparitions of our Lady at Lourdes and Fatima and Tre Fontane indicate a reason to consider them for spiritual benefit and renewal.

Catechism of the Catholic Church: 675 Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.