Pius XII and the miracle of the sun at the Vatican

Summary:

On October 30, 1950, at around 4pm, Pope Pius XII was walking by himself in the private gardens of the Vatican, where he usually went to pray and reflect. It was a sunny day. As he walked, he read some official letters.

When he reached the Lourdes grotto, he headed for the top of the hill. Shortly afterwards, having just entered an alley on the right that runs along the city wall, he looked up at the sun. This is how he described what happened next: "I was struck by a never-seen-before phenomenon. The sun, which was still quite high up, had the appearance of a yellow globe, surrounded by a halo of light which prevented me from staring at it naturally, but without feeling the slightest discomfort. In front of it was a small cloud, a very light cloud. The opaque globe moved slowly, either turning on itself or moving from left to right and vice versa. Inside the globe, very strong convulsions were clearly and continuously visible." He added, certain that he had not been the victim of an optical illusion, and even less the victim of a hallucination: "This is, in brief and sincere terms, the pure truth."

The pope did not rush to recount what he had just experienced. As usual, he ended his day in his office, where he had a series of meetings and readings. Other engagements awaited him: the following day, he was to publicly proclaim the dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

On October 31, he took the same route he had taken on his afternoon walk the day before. The miracle of the sun repeated itself identically: same duration, same intensity. The pope maintained absolute silence.

He saw the sun change its appearance twice more: on November 1, and then one last time the following week, on November 8, still in the Vatican gardens. "After that, nothing."

On the following days, at around 4 p.m., Pius XII tried "several times [...] to look at the sun to see if the same phenomenon was appearing, but in vain; I couldn't look at it, not even for a moment; my eyes were immediately dazzled".

The first mention of these events was made by Cardinal Federico Tedeschini during a homily in October 1951 in Fatima, on the occasion of the closing of the Holy Year celebrations. Pius XII confided in him at a date still unknown, perhaps in the spring of 1951, or even earlier, according to some: the pope probably shared about his visions with a handful of cardinals, including Tedeschini. Tedeschini was a trusted confidant of the pope (and of his predecessors, Benedict XV and Pius XI), a seasoned canonist who was fully aware of the Church's tradition with regard to private revelations.

Another person in the pope's private household, Sister Pascalina Lehnert, his housekeeper and secretary, also testified: "Pius XII was very convinced of the reality of the extraordinary phenomenon, which he had witnessed on four occasions."

Going further:

René Laurentin and Patrick Sbalchiero, "Pius XII", in Dictionnaire des apparitions de la Vierge Marie, Paris, Fayard, 2007, p. 732-733.

More information:

• J. Dos Santos, A Mensagem de Fatima e os papas, Cucujaes, 1986, p. 57-61.
• National Catholic Register's article "In 1950, Pius XII Proclaimed the Assumption — and Witnessed the Miracle of the Sun"