A great miracle was Our Lady of Pompeii’s apparition to a young girl named Fortuna Agrelli.
On March 3, 1884, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Fortuna Agrelli. Mary sat on a high throne with the Infant Jesus in her lap and a Rosary in her hand. They were accompanied by Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena.
For thirteen months, the young Fortuna endured immense suffering and pain. Her doctors gave up, deeming it a hopeless case. But clinging on to their last ray of hope, the dying girl and her family began a novena of Rosaries, desperately imploring Our Lady’s intercession.
“Queen of the Holy Rosary, be gracious to me, restore me to health! I have already prayed to Thee in a novena, O Mary, but have not yet experienced Thy aid. I am so anxious to be cured!” beseeched the young Agrelli.
Our Lady responded:
“You have invoked me by various titles and have always obtained favors from me.
“Now, since you have called me by the title so pleasing to me, ‘Queen of the Holy Rosary,’ I can no longer refuse the favor that you petition, for this name is most precious and dear to me.
“Make three novenas, and you will obtain all.”
Our Lady appeared a second time, saying:
“Whosoever desires to obtain favors from me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary in petition and three novenas in thanksgiving.”
Eventually, after completing the six Rosary novenas, the young girl was cured.
Our Lady’s intercession on behalf of Agrelli resulted in the miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena.
Agrelli’s healing through Our Lady’s intercession had a profound effect on Pope Leo XIII, who encouraged all to cherish the Rosary and say it ardently.
This powerful novena involves reciting the Rosary each day for 27 days in petition, and then a Rosary each day for 27 days in thanksgiving, with the relevant Mystery prayers indicated for each day.
As such, the 54-Day Rosary Novena is a sequence of six uninterrupted nine-day novenas, requiring three novenas of petition and three novenas of thanksgiving. This link provides a guide for praying this novena.
The promises of Our Lady of Pompeii and the 54-Day Rosary Novena are beacons of hope to a world tormented by a tumultuous ocean of worry and fear.
In the most desperate cases where it feels as though all hope has been lost, this novena of Rosaries allows us to implore Our Lady’s intercession so that the Blessed Virgin Mary may grant us the favor we so trustingly seek.