Our Lady of Revelation Festival – Sri Lankan Catholic Community

A Marian festival in the green heart of Laurentina

On April 25th, the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Revelation at Tre Fontane, in the municipality of Rome (Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio), becomes the meeting point for the capital's Sri Lankan Catholic community. Hundreds of people—families, domestic workers, students, and religious figures—make their way along the Via Laurentina to the wooded grotto where, in 1947, the apparition reported by Bruno Cornacchiola gave rise to the devotion to the Virgin of Revelation. It is one of Rome's most frequented Marian sites, nestled in the eucalyptus forest surrounding the Trappist abbey of Tre Fontane, just a short distance from the EUR district.

Why April 25th

The date is no coincidence: April 25th is a public holiday in Italy, allowing a community largely composed of domestic and care workers—who are busy every other day—to come together. The day is also an opportunity to thank the Madonna for graces received and to commemorate the 262 victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, a wound that remains open for Sinhalese and Tamil Catholics. "As good Catholics, we are ready to forgive, but we want to know who to forgive," recalled Monsignor Neville Perera, national coordinator for the pastoral care of Sri Lankan Catholic migrants in Italy, in a previous edition.

The ritual and the celebration

The heart of the day is the solemn Eucharistic celebration at noon, open to all and not reserved solely for the Sri Lankan community. The liturgy weaves the Roman rite with elements of Sinhalese tradition: songs, traditional attire, flowers, and ritual dances that accompany the entrance of the celebrants and the offertory. After mass, the celebration moves outdoors into the sanctuary grounds for a community buffet lunch: rice, curry, sambol, and sweets prepared by families, in one of the rare occasions where Sri Lankan cuisine is publicly showcased in Rome.

A well-rooted community

Sri Lankans are one of the most established foreign communities in the capital. Having arrived largely between the 1970s and 1990s, they are concentrated in the Laurentina, Infernetto, Tor Marancia, and southern areas. The Rome-Laurentina chaplaincy, together with the Fondazione Migrantes of the Italian Episcopal Conference, supports the community's religious life throughout the year: Lenten retreats, the feast of Our Lady of Madhu—the great national Marian devotion of Sri Lanka—and catechetical appointments in Italian, English, Sinhalese, and Tamil.

What to expect if you attend

• Atmosphere: Intimate and familiar, with high participation from children and the elderly; the tone is that of a patronal feast transported from South Asia to the Roman suburbs.
• Languages: The liturgy alternates between Italian, English, and Sinhalese; Italian visitors are warmly welcomed.
• Duration: From late morning to early afternoon, with informal queues around the buffet.
• Context: The visit can be combined with a tour of the Tre Fontane abbey complex, traditionally identified as the site of Saint Paul's martyrdom.

An event open to the city

Although it began as an internal event for the diaspora, the festival has for years served as a small window into multicultural Rome and its devotions. There are no tickets or reservations required: you can enter the sanctuary freely, just as on any other day of the year. For those wanting to understand how a migrant community builds its religious and social calendar in Lazio, this is one of the most significant days of the entire Roman spring.