Dozens of people climb the hill of Trevignano Romano in search of a miracle. There are pregnant women, small children, elderly people and even people who have driven from Poland. They park their cars where they can and walk up to the top, with the beautiful lake of Bracciano at their feet, moved by faith. “Excuse me, can you get to the Madonnina this way?”, asks a lost nun. “We come here to pray the rosary. We don’t hurt anyone”, defends another woman, about to give birth to little Gabriele, who is looking for luck for the birth.
They are the crowds that have been attracting for five years Gisella Cardia, a supposed seer who every 3rd day of every month summons her followers on top of the mountain, converted into a sanctuary, to give them a message after the prayer, and to the exasperation of the residents of this town of 5,000 inhabitants 47 kilometers from Rome. He does so in front of a huge blue cross and a statue of a virgin that he says he bought in 2014 on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He swears that the virgin in question has cried tears of blood in her house. A phenomenon that is even being studied by the diocese of Civita Castellana, to which Trevignano belongs, which has created a commission of inquiry to clarify the truth about the case.
On Monday, April 3, the alleged seer was welcomed like a rock star. “He’s coming!” shouted the attendees at the doors of a closed compound, where they were not allowed to enter with their phones on. Dozens of television cameras were waiting to provide information about an event that has aroused great curiosity in this place. Especially since some famous Italian presenters have given voice to Cardia, a 53-year-old Sicilian model married to a neighbor.
“Dear children – he told his followers during his last revelation – this is the moment of your choice. I am asking you, as a grieving mother, to choose God. Children, the threads of darkness are gripping you. Remember that the suffering offered will be grace”. As he spoke, hundreds of people gathered, kneeling. A man with a very long beard was beating his chest with a wooden cross. His assistants, identified by white overalls, walked among the faithful to check if they needed chairs or to remember that no one could take out their mobile phone.
If the Gospels speak of the multiplication of loaves and fishes, the visionary of Trevignano assured television of a particular episode. “A friend brought me and my husband a very small piece of pizza that would have been enough for just the two of us and a maximum of two other people. At home, however, there were twenty of us, and not only was it enough, but they had enough to cover all of us”, Mattino explained to Cinque News. “I don’t know how it was possible, the pizza was never finished”.
But the Sicilian is not a prophet in her land. The residents of Trevignano are fed up with their town, which is a tourist destination, being known for these hypothetical paranormal phenomena. At City Hall, the mayoress has closed herself off and doesn’t want to talk. It doesn’t “mean anything to you because it’s all the way to the top”, says Mimmo in an alley in front of the lake. “There is a lot of ignorance, and when there is ignorance people are easy to convince. They are troubled souls who will seek these hypothetical graces. What is particularly annoying is the negative publicity”, he says. Another local, Alessio, agrees. “The worst thing is when we see children in wheelchairs. They even come from Poland because they have a Polish priest and they are locked up there like sheep. Then make money, you know? They say he sells statues for 40 euros. “They will destroy the beautiful lake we have with this nonsense”, criticizes a retiree.
There are some who are already regulars, like Alessandra, who has been coming every month for a year with sandwiches brought from home and her whole family. “My life has changed and I’m here to thank him”, he justifies himself. “I heard a call and I came. I believe in apparitions”, explains Agnese, out of breath after the climb. And he concludes: “There are those who do yoga in the open air, we do this. What do they care?”
