MESSAGES OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY OF EL POZO
SABANA GRANDE, PUERTO RICO
Consecration to Mary
O Mother, Queen of our hearts, Our Lady of the Rosary, on this day I consecrate my life to you and promise to be an instrument of definition of the way toward your beloved Son. I place before you my body, my energy, my soul, everything that I possess, that I may work my way toward a life of plenitude in your virtues and promulgate your name as Mother of the True Way to the Father.
B A C K G R O U N D
On Thursday, April 23, 1953, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three humble children in Sabana Grande, a small town in the southwestern part of Puerto Rico. The children, Juan Angel Collado and the sisters Isidra and Ramonita Belén, aged from seven to nine years, were students at a small rural school named after the Puerto Rican poetess and patriot Lola Rodríguez de Tió. At lunchtime it was customary for the children to fetch water from a nearby well. That day, when Juan Angel went there to get water, a deep silence came over the area and the Blessed Mother appeared for the first time. She seemed to be standing on a cloud, five or six feet above a hillock, near the well. She was dressed in a white tunic fastened at the neck with a brooch. A blue mantle covered her head. She wore a belt around her waist and sandals on her feet. In her hands she held a rosary, and a crown of seven stars shone above her head.
On the third day, Saturday, April 25, the Blessed Virgin identified herself to the children as Our Lady of the Rosary. She appeared for 33 consecutive days, from April 23 to May 25. Ramonita and Isidra accompanied Juan Angel from the second day on. From the fifth day on, a multitude of people began to visit the site – teaching became impossible, and the children were not allowed to go to the well. So, from then on, Our Lady began walking from the well to the school, where she assumed the role of teacher for the three visionaries. She taught them by the use of words, images, and symbols. During her visit, great numbers of miracles and healings took place. Our Lady wanted to leave clear evidence of her presence there, so that people would believe when the time came to reveal the seven messages, which she left in 1953.
To help us understand her important message, our Blessed Mother used many symbols. On the third day she descended from her cloud, thus symbolizing Christ’s Resurrection. Her 33-day visit symbolizes Jesus’ 33 years and the founding of His true Church. Her visits to the school are a symbol of our pilgrimage toward the Lord. The school itself symbolizes education, for she assumed the role and behavior of teacher of a new generation.
The number seven is a sign of spiritual plenitude, and the Church’s sacred number as well. On her first visit, Mary presented us with a rainbow of seven colors. The seven articles of her attire underscore her message: the seven stars in her crown symbolize the seven sacraments, with the large star on her forehead symbolizing the Eucharist. Her blue mantle symbolizes the spiritual guidance and the protection she offers to all her children; her white tunic is a sign of our apostolic mission; and the brooch symbolizes Mary’s sovereignty over the apostles of our times. Her belt symbolizes our obedience to the true Church. The rosary symbolizes prayer and her sandals symbolize our pilgrimage toward God, consisting in living a truly Christian life.
The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, as a mother watching over the needs of her children, came to warn and direct us, and to define for us the True Way to salvation. Her purpose was to leave us the mandate of forming a new generation of true Christians who would recognize her as the Mother of the True Way to the Father, and as the Mother of the True Church, sustained by the seven sacraments that Jesus Christ instituted, and which we are urged to partake in.
Our Lady of the Rosary of El Pozo, as the people fondly called her, also wants us to imitate her seven virtues: humility, generosity, chastity, patience, temperance, charity, and diligence. And she teaches us that the necessary means for achieving these goals are sacrifice and prayer.
FIRST MESSAGE
OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY OF EL POZO
The following is the first message left by the Most Blessed Virgin Mary in her apparition at Barrio Rincón in Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, on April 23, 1953. It was made known to the world on May 5, 1978, once her indications were fulfilled.
“Go out into the world, and when you are most deeply submerged in darkness, and after you have denied my name, an envoy will come to remind you of the True Way. Satan will knock at your door and you will drive him away in anger. This is the sign that the time has come to make known the following promise:
I promise to facilitate and/or provide, before the hour of death, the graces necessary for salvation to all those who, in defining the way toward my Most Beloved Son in these times of confusion, promulgate my name as Mother of the True Way to the Father.”
Mary