"Help me to mourn" (II)

The Blessed Virgin continued: "Now go to the hut, otherwise you will get wet. Remember the words I spoke. Go to your house and repeat them to your mother. Tell her to share them with everyone she can, and don’t forget that my name is Maria Addolorata."

Veronica went inside the shelter. She realized that her clothes were dry, despite the rain. Her mother took her story seriously and brought Veronica to see the priest of Saint-Nicholas-of-Bari, in Sorano. A few days later, while reciting the prayers requested by the Virgin, Veronica heard a voice say to her:

"Veronica, ask your mother to take you to the bishop to ask him to build a chapel."

"But he will never believe me!"

"Go, tell him, and you will see, he will believe."

Veronica and her mother were received by Bishop Barzellotti, Bishop of Pitigliano, who found the story worthy of interest.

On July 20, 1853, the bishop informed Pope Pius IX. On August 13th, the pope requested that an official investigation be opened and that a chapel be built if the results were conclusive. Bishop Barzellotti fell ill and died in 1861. The bishop of Acquapendente (d. 1877) led the investigation, during which Veronica testified under oath. Eventually Veronica became a third order Franciscan. Miracles were reported, including the healing of Veronica's mother who had a tumor in her lower abdomen.

On September 8, 1864, a new church was inaugurated at the site of the apparition, and it became a parish church. On March 25, 1978, Bishop D'Ascenzi, of Sovana-Pitigliano, published a decree elevating the Church of Cerreto to the rank of a diocesan shrine.

Father René Laurentin, French theologian and Marian expert (1917-2017)

Adapted from the Dictionnaire des apparitions (Dictionary of Apparitions)

Fayard 2007