Tears from our
2023 Mother’s Day Retreat

Miracle Tears • May 2023

During our retreat, we witnessed a profound miracle: late Friday night, our Rosa Mystica statue began shedding tears, continuing throughout the remainder of the weekend. It was an unforgettable, deeply moving experience for all of our retreatants.

Rosa Mystica ("Mystical Rose") is an ancient Catholic Marian title rooted in biblical imagery and medieval tradition—cemented in the 1587 Litany of Loreto to symbolize the Blessed Virgin Mary's spiritual beauty, purity, and grace. In modern history, the name also refers to a series of reported Marian apparitions to Pierina Gilli in Montichiari, Italy, beginning in 1947. In these visions, Mary appeared wearing three roses on her chest—white (prayer), red (sacrifice), and gold (penance)—a threefold icon calling for spiritual reparation and prayers for the sanctification of priests and religious vocations worldwide.