9^ APPARITION
Date: Sunday 21st May
Time: 18:00
Attendance: About 200.000 people
Vision: The Holy Family
The apparition of that Sunday was the last of the first cycle. Since the early morning, a human stream flowed into Ghiaie di Bonate. A sturdy fence was raised all around the place of the apparitions and in the late afternoon some keen men got several sick people lay down inside it. During the apparition, Adelaide was submitted to several tests by the physicians present.

From Adelaide's diary:
This apparition was also preceded by the doves and the Holy Family revealed itself in the bright spot. They were dressed like yesterday, but they stood in the middle of a church. Towards the main door there was: a greyish donkey, a white sheep, a white-haired brown-spotted dog, and a customary brown horse. The four beasts were kneeling and moved their mouth as if in prayer. Suddenly the horse got up and passing by Our Lady's shoulders went out of the open door and set out along the only road leading to a field of lilies, but it could not tread on as many as it wanted because Saint Joseph ran after it and got hold of it. As soon as the horse saw Saint Joseph, it tried to hide near a low wall that served as enclosure of the field of lilies; there it let itself be caught docilely. Lead by Saint Joseph, it got back to the church where it knelt down and resumed its prayers.

That day I explained that vision only by saying that the horse was a bad person who wanted to destroy the good ones. Now I can better explain the feelings produced in me by that vision. In the horse I envisaged a superb person, wicked and greedy for power. After giving up prayer, he wanted to destroy the lilies of the magnificent field by trampling on and destroying their freshness and simple candour stealthily. It should be noted that while the horse was ravaging the field it showed a hint of mischief as it tried not to be seen. When the horse saw Saint Joseph coming its way it gave up its stealthy damage and tried to hide near the low wall enclosing the field. Saint Joseph approached it with a sweet look of reproach and led it back to the house of prayer. While the horse was doing damage, the other animals did not interrupt their prayers.

IThe four animals stand for the four indispensable virtues to make a holy family. The horse - the leader - must not give up praying because when far from it, it is only capable of mess and ruin. It thus rejects patience, faithfulness, meekness and familiar silence, symbolized by the other beasts. Nobody spoke in this vision and everything disappeared slowly.

N. B. The peculiar spots of the dog's hair stand for the corrupted family faithfulness. The open door of the temple is a figure of the freedom that God grants to every creature. "

That evening impressive solar phenomena took place at Ghiaie di Bonate and in Lombardy.
Many were the testimonies of the people who were on the spot or in the neighbouring villages. Towards six hours, the sun came out of the clouds, whirled dizzily on itself projecting beams of yellow, green, red, blue, violet light in all directions; the beams of light coloured the clouds, the fields, the trees and the stream of people. After a few minutes the sun stopped its whirl and those phenomena began soon again. Many noticed that the disc had turned white like a Host; the clouds seemed to be lowering down on the people. Some noticed a Rosary in the sky, some others a majestic Lady with a trail cloak. Some other people, further off, saw Our Lady's face looming in the sun. From Bergamo many witnesses observed the sun become pale and radiate all the rainbow colours, shed in all directions; they also noticed a large yellow light beam falling over the Ghiaie perpendicularly.
 

Interpretazione dell'Apparizione
della Sacra Famiglia
 

 
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