“The painting moves”, in 1959 Rosolini invaded by pilgrims for the miracles of the Sacred Heart
A weathered binder full of yellowed newspaper pages. The director places it on the desk and says to me: “But do you know the miraculous phenomenon of our sacred heart?”. And although the history of the Rosolino sanctuary has been well passed down to young people like me, at that moment a cloud of ignorance enveloped me. “I think so!”- I reply. But when I prepare to open those pages of the Giornale di Sicilia from 1959 and the titles of the articles written by the great Gigi Perricone, I immediately correct myself: “No. I don’t know her at all.” For two days that precious binder passed between one desk and another and our hunger for curiosity increased, as did our desire to tell you a story so distant (and perhaps unknown to most).
It was 1959, the time of Mayor Cultrera and of a town that was still primitive in its urban planning. Among the paths, the public troughs and the carts, the sanctuary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was the destination of numerous pilgrimages from all over Italy, many faithful flocked in numbers, with dizzying numbers, just to witness the “great miraculous phenomenon” that had manifested itself to the eyes of many incredulous believers between June and September ’59. They were “exceptional” days in Rosolini. As the articles testify, it seems that under Rosolini’s sky, in those years, there was no man not devoted to the Sacred Heart and not attracted by his miracles; many doctors were too, in the paradoxical skepticism, however, of the ecclesial community represented at the time by the bishop Monsignor Angelo Calabretta. But what happened during those exceptional days back in 1959? On 17 July 1959 Gigi Perricone titled his first article on the story: “Miraculous vision of two women in Rosolini”, they saw Jesus imparting their blessing from a painting.” It was from that day, for more than two months, that the strange phenomenon made Rosolini become one of the most popular religious destinations in Italy. Many reached her to hope to witness the miraculous vision.
Even the few landline telephone lines were clogged with constant phone calls from Rosolinesi who had emigrated to the rest of Italy. “Today four pilgrims who came from Floridia to fulfill a vow – said Gigi – were kneeling in front of the prodigious painting when, suddenly, while their eyes were fixed on the sacred image, they saw things that human eyes have never seen. Jesus Christ, radiant on his face, imparted the sacred blessing to them with the two fingers of his right hand. The women with tears in their eyes, scared and happy at the same time, shouted about a miracle, causing the nuns of the monastery and the orphans as well as numerous passers-by to come running.” The fingers of Christ in the painting had moved. Around midday on the same day, the news had also spread to the nearby towns and many people began to go on pilgrimage eager to witness the miracle happen again. “Sister Maria Elena Aneli – wrote Perricone again on 17 July – told us that the fingers seemed to detach themselves from the painting and that they moved a little quickly at first, while later the signs of blessing became slower until they stopped. (Sister was a Visitandine)
The three orphans who immediately rushed together with their sister confirmed what was said above.” The next day there were even two articles by Gigi Perricone on the strange story, one of these is the one that will then open, as evidenced by the subsequent articles, the continuous and constant pilgrimage of the faithful foreigners. “There are constant calls from all over Italy from people from Rosolini asking for news” – wrote Gigi. From that moment and for more than two months our Rosolini acquired strong fame and religious ferment. Even the most sceptical and adamant people changed their minds after witnessing the phenomenon. The greatest skepticism, however, was that of the ecclesiastical community of the time. Monsignor Angelo Calabretta even condemned the greed with which “our people went after similar events”. And he also condemned the journalists who “give too much importance to the event, doing nothing other than” increasing the morbid religious curiosity of many poor faithful “(taken from the bishop’s note in the Sicilian newspaper of ’59). The ecclesial world, if it expressed itself, did so with almost accusatory tones, while most of the time it maintained the utmost secrecy on the matter. But the faithful who had witnessed the miracle grew like wildfire. Their names and surnames, and the countries of origin, were all published to testify to the veracity of the fact, together with a photograph of the painting which was “proof of the miracle”. But, Gigi Perricone wrote again, “the ecclesial authorities, despite receiving photographic proof of the phenomenon of the blessing Christ, maintain no the most absolute confidentiality.” And even the founder of our Corriere Elorino said, in an article dated 21 July, that he too was an amazed witness of the phenomenon.
He wrote: “We found people crowding together to look at the sacred image, waiting for it to move. We waited for about 10 minutes too, until people shouted in chorus: “It’s moving, it’s moving; The index, the index!” We carefully observed what to some skeptics seemed like a simple hallucination and for us, present and objective as always, as our job as reporters requires, it was a pulsating reality. We saw the redeemer slowly move his index and middle fingers for about 15 seconds. After ten minutes the exact same scene was repeated. The people became numerous, the crowd invaded the small chapel and the adjoining rooms. We were truly moved. Mrs. Mortellaro Francesca – Gigi continued to write – told us: “On Thursday I came accompanied by my daughter, Mrs. Romano and her mother. While I was intent on the deepest prayer, my little girl Anna here said to me: “Mom, why doesn’t the image we have in our house in Floridia look like this?” I looked and I saw the exact same scene that you and that whole crowd witnessed today.” An unprecedented phenomenon that shocked an entire country and which today probably represents one of those reasons why the strong devotion to the Sacred Heart is so felt by the elderly who, in addition to the miraculous phenomenon, can remember the “infinite graces” received from fellow citizens and beyond. And among these, again in July ’59, the best known was that of the Loreto family, whose six-month-old son, suffering from a rare form of “cholera infantum” and on the verge of dying, was instead “miracled”. On 31 July 1959 Perricone titled an article as follows: “Miraculous recovery of a child in Rosolini”. A few days after the miraculous visions announced, the event could only increase religious fervor. That miracle child is 64 years old today, enjoys excellent health and we found him and heard from him. The same confirmed what was found in our archives.
He is Salvatore Loreto, born in February 1959 in Rosolini, and traced by us thanks to his mother’s name and the street where he lived, information cited in the old article. By telephone, from Tuscany, the region where he has lived for years, he tells us: “I know I am that child, but I have always reacted with skepticism to this story from my parents because I am not a devotee or a practicing Christian. I believe in God but not in the Church and all his mysteries, and I have been like that since I was little despite the great devotion of my parents. Salvatore Loreto today In the newspaper of the time it is said that it was the mother who, desperate and beside herself, after learning from the doctor that the child was on the verge of dying, took the child and took him to the chapel of the Sacred Heart. She placed him on the altar and began to cry, begging for grace. And after donating some oil to the nuns, she returned home with the hope that the Sacred Heart would grant her wish. The child’s condition improved in just one day. Gigi wrote: “The doctor was called who, despite himself, confirmed the sudden recovery. The Dr. Sipione Vincenzo told us: “Gentlemen, it’s crazy! On Sunday I gave the baby a few hours to live. When I was called the next day, I thought the child was already dead. But to my great amazement I found him, to the joy of his family, somewhat improved. I can say that it is a real miracle; in fact I filed my report with the Carabinieri Command”.
Salvatore’s parents never told his story in detail, but it was known and repeated to him continuously by all the people he met in his life until he was 15, the age at which he definitively left Sicily, of which he confesses he has no almost no memory. His parents passed away a few years ago, first his mother Serafina Monte and then his father Giuseppe Loreto, and only on the occasion of their painful loss did he return to Rosolini, with the hope – which he left us by telephone – that in this town will be back soon. “Maybe by meeting old relatives I too will be able to remember something more and come and see in your archive those historical newspapers with my photo and my story that I have never seen until today”. Despite our justified skepticism today, with these excerpts of history we really realize why the connection to the Sacred Heart is truly so “sacred” for the elderly and has been passed down with the same fervor to the young as well. Believers or not, it’s still history. It’s a shame, however, that we are better at remembering it than valorizing it.