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Vassula receives FourthGoldPeaceAward
(continued)
Four years later, Bartolo Longo decided to focus on the
greatest work of his life: building a shrine in Pompeii
dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The sanctuary was built
from 1876 to 1891, which also included a school, a
workshop, an orphanage and a community center. After
the manifestation of these miracles, Pope Leo XIII
formally encouraged devotion to Our Lady of Pompeii. The
sanctuary was erected in the papal basilica. On October 19,
2008, Pope Benedict XVI placed a golden rose onto the
sanctuary, the highest distinction reserved by the Catholic
Church for a Marian shrine.
The miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Rosary is installed
above the main altar, in a gilt frame. It represents the Holy
Mother of God sitting on a throne with baby Jesus on her
lap, a rosary which tends to St. Dominic, while His Holy
Mother holds a rosary to St. Catherine of Siena. Pope Leo
XIII said:
“God has used this image to grant favors that
moved the world”.
We were also all very surprised to discover that in Naples,
which is near Pompei, we had a TLIG prayer group in
existence for years, guided by Fr. Rolando Palazzeschi.
When the Naples TLIG group heard that Vassula with the
pilgrims were coming to the sanctuary, excitedly they all
went to greet her. As Vassula was approaching the sanctuary,
she was asked to hurry up her step and meet Fr. Rolando
whom she had never met before. They ushered her to him.
Vassula was very surprised that someone knew her in Naples
and was even more surprised when she discovered we had
a TLIG prayer group over there. Fr. Rolando exhilarated
with joy embraced Vassula lovingly, inviting her to return to
Naples next spring to give a talk on the Messages. Vassula
was very happy because as she once told me,
‘Italy has been
demolished by our persecutors; it is in a dormant state
and needs to be awakened.’
Fr. Rolando subsequently
accompanied her, so as to sit among all our clergy.
Just before Mass began, the Archbishop Tommasco Caputo,
who is the prelate of Pompeii and Pontificate delegate to the
sanctuary, welcomed all of us. The Mass ended after we all
sang in unison the Salve Regina to honor Our Lady. Our
next step was to visit Pompeii.
Pompeii is famous because of Mount Vesuvius, which is best
known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and
destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum
and several other settlements. That eruption ejected a cloud
of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 33 km, spewingmolten
rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons
per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times
the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing.
An estimated 16,000 people died due to hydrothermal
pyroclastic flows. The only surviving eyewitness account
of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to
the historian Tacitus. The most recent eruption surfaced
from 1913-1944.
At the end of this wonderful day, we headed back to Rome.
Another six-hour trip back was waiting for us, but it was
totally worth it. When we arrived at the hotel, exhausted but
in high spirits, we rushed to the conference hall immediately
to listen to the Nigerian Bishop, Oliver Dashe Doeme who
was asked to give us a talk about his experience with Jesus .
He told us that Islamists had burned down 32 Churches,
killing many Christians. Boko Haram specifically targets
Rome Pilgrimage 2015
(continued)
Archbishop Kissag Mouradian
T L I G M A G A Z I N E I S S U E - 3 1
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BishopOliver DasheDoeme fromNigeria and Fr. GavinAshendon