The city of Chioggia’s historical documents recount the afternoon of June 24, 1508 in somber tones: the sky covered by thick, low clouds, deafening peals of thunder, blinding lightning bolts, torrential rains, the frightening roar of the sea. People prayed in their homes, fishermen who found themselves caught in the storm cried out. Only at eventide did the hurricane cease and an old vineyard caretaker, a certain Baldissera Zalon, left his shack and gazed with horror upon the destruction caused by the terrible storm, when he heard a mysterious voice calling him from the beach.
He turned and saw a majestic Lady. She was dressed in a black cloak and was seated on the trunk (zocco) of a tree carried by the waves onto the beach. That mysterious Lady soon revealed herself as the Mother of God. The hurricane and its ruins where only a forewarning of an even greater cataclysm which would befall the city unless they converted and do penance. Here is the last part of the message given to Baldissera: that he should inform the Bishop of the apparition and order him, in Her name, to announce a crusade of prayers, penances and exhortations in order to avert the greater evils which oppressed the Christian life.
Before disappearing aboard a NAVICELLA, she showed herself to the devout old man with the Son bent over her knees, saying: This is what your co-citizens sins have brought him to. The small boat gently shifted from the shore and the vision disappeared. Having received the warning the Bishop of Chioggia, Monsignor Bernardino Venier, carried out the Holy Virgin’s wishes with prudence and piety.
