Holy Rosary is a wonderful gift from heaven. It is secret and hidden treasure of graces. Holy Rosary is a very powerful weapon the blessed Trinity wants us to use to reform the world. The Blessed Virgin wants us to know that in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter which is the foundation stone of the New Testament, therefore if we want to reach the hardened souls, and win them over to God, preach Her Psalter,the Holy Rosary.
Rosary is composed of the prayer of Jesus and the Angelic Salutations, the prayer and devotion of the faithful and has been used all through the centuries from the time of the Apostles and Disciples down to the present. It will inspire our heart with sincere love of this devotion in order that in meditating contemplating the virtues and the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it.It may obtain peace in the world, convert sinners and heretics, wipe out sins, and to obtain the favor we ask, for the greater glory of God the Father, for the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary, For the good of our souls, and for the souls in purgatory.
It is a chain of prayer that will bind the devil.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
List of some Visionaries and mystics
1.CATALINA RIVAS
2.VALENTINA PAPAGNA
3.CHRIS BODT
4.MARTHA ROBIN
5.CHRISTINA GALLAGHER
6.BARBARA ROSE CENTILLI
7.ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH
8.MARK MALLET
9.MARIA ESPERANZA OF VENEZUELA
10.FR. DOUCETTE
2.VALENTINA PAPAGNA
3.CHRIS BODT
4.MARTHA ROBIN
5.CHRISTINA GALLAGHER
6.BARBARA ROSE CENTILLI
7.ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH
8.MARK MALLET
9.MARIA ESPERANZA OF VENEZUELA
10.FR. DOUCETTE
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
VERSES FROM THE HOLY BIBLE:
EPHESIANS 1:5-14
5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us .And He did this because he wanted to.
6 Now all praise to GOD for His wonderful kindness to us and His favor that He has poured out upon us,because we belong to His dearly beloved Son.
7 So overflowing is His kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son,by whom we are saved;
8 And he has showered down upon us the richness of His grace for how well He understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
9 GOD has told us his secret reason for sending Christ,a plan He decided on in mercy a long ago;
10 And this was His purpose that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are in heaven on earth to be with Him in Christ ,forever.
11 Moreover,because of what Christ has done we have become gifts to GOD that he delights in,for as part of GOD's sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be His,and all things happen just as He decided long ago.
12 GOD's purpose in this was that we should praise GOD and give glory to Him for doing this mighty things for us,who were the first to trust Christ.
13 And because of what Christ did,all you others too,who heard the good news about how to be saved,and trusted Christ ,were mark us belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit ,who long ago had been promise to all of us Christians.
14 His presence within us is GOD's guarantee that he really will give us all he promised;and the Spirits seal upon us means that GOD has already purchased us and that He guarantees us to bring us to Himself.This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious GOD.
5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us .And He did this because he wanted to.
6 Now all praise to GOD for His wonderful kindness to us and His favor that He has poured out upon us,because we belong to His dearly beloved Son.
7 So overflowing is His kindness toward us that he took away all our sins through the blood of his Son,by whom we are saved;
8 And he has showered down upon us the richness of His grace for how well He understands us and knows what is best for us at all times.
9 GOD has told us his secret reason for sending Christ,a plan He decided on in mercy a long ago;
10 And this was His purpose that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are in heaven on earth to be with Him in Christ ,forever.
11 Moreover,because of what Christ has done we have become gifts to GOD that he delights in,for as part of GOD's sovereign plan we were chosen from the beginning to be His,and all things happen just as He decided long ago.
12 GOD's purpose in this was that we should praise GOD and give glory to Him for doing this mighty things for us,who were the first to trust Christ.
13 And because of what Christ did,all you others too,who heard the good news about how to be saved,and trusted Christ ,were mark us belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit ,who long ago had been promise to all of us Christians.
14 His presence within us is GOD's guarantee that he really will give us all he promised;and the Spirits seal upon us means that GOD has already purchased us and that He guarantees us to bring us to Himself.This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious GOD.
MARIAN APPARITIONS
A Marian apparition is an event in which the Virgin Mary is believed to have supernaturally appeared to one or more persons. They are often given names based on the town in which they were reported, or on the sobriquet which was given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition. They have been interpreted in religious terms as theophanies.
Marian apparitions sometimes are reported to recur at the same site over an extended period of time. In the majority of Marian apparitions only a few people report having witnessed the apparition. Exception to this include Zeitoun, and Assiut where thousands claimed to have seen her over a period of time.What is an appearance?
A photostatic copy of a page from Ilustração Portuguesa, October 29, 1917, showing the crowd looking at the miracle of the sun during the Fátima apparitions (attributed to the Virgin Mary)
The term "appearance" has been used in different apparitions within a wide range of contexts and experiences. And its use has been different with respect to Marian apparitions and visions of Jesus Christ.
In some apparitions such as Our Lady of Lourdes or Our Lady of Fatima an actual vision is reported, fully resembling that of a person being present. In some of these reports the viewers (at times children) do not initially report that they saw the Virgin Mary, but that they saw "a Lady" (quite often dressed in white) and had a conversation with her. In these cases the viewers report experiences that resemble the visual and verbal interaction with a person present at the site of the apparition. In most cases, there are no clear indications as to the auditory nature of the experience, i.e. whether the viewers heard the voices via airwaves or other miraculous methods. Yet, the 1973 messages of Our Lady of Akita, which were approved at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1988 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) are due to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa who had been totally deaf before 1973 (and remained deaf until 1982 when she was cured during Sunday Mass as foretold in her messages), suggesting means of communication beyond airwaves.
In some apparitions just an image is reported, often with no verbal interaction, and no conversation. An example is the reported apparitions at Our Lady of Assiut in which many people reported a bright image atop a building, accompanied by photographs of the image. The photographs at times suggest the silhouette of a statue of the Virgin Mary but the images are usually subject to varying interpretations, and critics suggest that they may just be due to various visual effects of unknown origin. However, such image-like appearances are hardly ever reported for visions of Jesus and Mary which in most cases involve some form of reported communication.
And apparitions should be distinguished from interior locutions in which no visual contact is claimed. In some cases of reported interior locutions such as those of Father Stefano Gobbi a large amount of text is produced, but no visual contact is claimed. Interior locutions usually do not include an auditory component, but consist of inner voices. Interior locutions are generally not classified as apparitions.
Physical contact is hardly ever reported as part of Marian apparitions, unlike in cases of interaction with Jesus Christ. In rare cases a physical artifact is reported in apparitions. A well known example is the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which is reported to have been miraculously imprinted on the cloak of Saint Juan Diego.
Catholic belief
Eternal Father painting the Virgin of Guadalupe. Anonymous, 18th century, an example of Roman Catholic Marian art related to an apparition
According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the era of public revelation ended with the death of the last living Apostle. A Marian apparition, if deemed genuine by Church authority, is treated as private revelation that may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose, but it can never add anything new to the deposit of faith. The Church will confirm an apparition as worthy of belief, but belief is never required by divine faith.The Holy See has officially confirmed the apparitions at Guadalupe, Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, Paris (Rue du Bac, Miraculous Medal), La Salette, Lourdes, Fátima, Portugal, Pontmain, Beauraing, and Banneux.
As a historical pattern, Vatican approval of apparitions seems to have followed general acceptance of a vision by well over a century in most cases. According to Father Salvatore M. Perrella of the Marianum Pontifical Institute in Rome, of the 295 reported apparitions studied by the Holy See through the centuries only 12 have been approved, the latest being the May 2008 approval of the 17th- and 18th-century apparitions of Our Lady of Laus.
An authentic apparition is believed not to be a subjective experience, but a real and objective intervention of divine power. The purpose of such apparitions is to recall and emphasize some aspect of the Christian message. The church states that cures and other miraculous events are not the purpose of Marian apparitions, but exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message.Apparitions of Mary are held to be evidence of her continuing active presence in the life of the church, through which she "cares for the brethren of her son who still journey on earth."
Not all claims of visitations are dealt with favourably by the Roman Catholic Church. For example, claimed apparitions of Our Lady, Jesus Christ and various saints at Bayside, New York have not been condoned or sanctioned in any way, nor those at the Necedah Shrine in Necedah, Wisconsin. The behavior of Ms Veronica Lueken and Mary Ann Van Hoof, who claimed these heavenly favors, was deemed not to compare favorably with the "quiet pragmatism" of St. Bernadette Soubirous — Church authorities are said to use Bernadette as a model by which to judge all who purport to have visitations. Indeed, both women seriously criticized the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, allegedly even harshly, and Mrs. Van Hoof is said to have subsequently left Roman Catholicism for an independent local Old Catholic Church.
Possibly the best-known apparition sites are Lourdes and Fatima. Over sixty spontaneous healings, out of thousands reported at the Lourdes Spring, have been classified as "inexplicable" by the physicians of the Lourdes Bureau, a medical centre set up by the Church in association with local medical institutes to assess possible miracles. The Three Secrets of Fatima received a great deal of attention in the Catholic and secular press.Criteria for evaluating apparitions
Emblem of the Papacy.svg
A series of articles on
Roman Catholic
Mariology
Virgin Mary - Diego Velazquez.jpg
General articles
Mariology • Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of Mariology • Mariology of the saints • Mariology of the popes • Encyclicals & Apostolic Letters • Marian Movements & Societies
Devotions
Rosary • Scapular • Immaculate Heart • Seven Joys • Seven Sorrows • First Saturdays • Acts of Reparation • Alliance of Hearts
Dogmas and Doctrines
Mother of God • Perpetual virginity • Immaculate Conception • Assumption • Mother of the Church • Mediatrix • Co-Redemptrix
Expressions of devotion
Art • Music • Architecture
Key Marian apparitions
(approved or worthy of belief)
Guadalupe • Miraculous Medal •
La Salette • Lourdes • Pontmain • Laus • Banneux • Beauraing • Fátima • Akita
In 1978 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (former Holy Office) issued "Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations" containing the following provisions:
* The diocesan bishop can initiate a process on his own initiative or at the request of the faithful to investigate the facts of an alleged apparition. The bishop may refrain from looking into it if he chooses, especially if he thinks that not much will come of the event.
* The national conference of bishops may intervene if the local diocesan bishop refers it to him or if the event becomes important nationally or at least in more than one diocese.
* The Apostolic See (the Vatican) can also intervene at the request of the local bishop himself, at the request of a group of the faithful, or on its own initiative.
The steps of the investigation are mandated as follows: An initial evaluation of the facts of the alleged event, based on both positive and negative criteria:
Positive Criteria
1. moral certainty (the certainty required to act morally in a situation of doubt) or at least great probability as to the existence of a private revelation at the end of a serious investigation into the case
2. evaluation of the personal qualities of the person in question (mental balance, honesty, moral life, sincerity, obedience to Church authority, willingness to practice faith in the normal way, etc.)
3. evaluation of the content of the revelations themselves (that they do not disagree with faith and morals of the Church, freedom from theological errors)
4. the revelation results in healthy devotion and spiritual fruits in people's lives (greater prayer, greater conversion of heart, works of charity that result, etc.)
Negative Criteria
1. glaring errors in regard to the facts
2. doctrinal errors attributed to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to the Holy Spirit in how they appear
3. any pursuit of financial gain in relation to the alleged event
4. gravely immoral acts committed by the person or those associated with the person at the time of the event
5. psychological disorders or tendencies on the part of the person or persons associated
After this initial investigation, if the occurrence meets the criteria, positive and negative, an initial cautionary permission can be granted that basically states: "for the moment, there is nothing opposed to it." This permits public participation in the devotion in regard to the alleged apparition.
Ultimately, a final judgment and determination needs to be given, giving approval or condemnation of the event.
Local diocese approval
An initial assessment by the local bishop that allows the devotion to an apparition to proceed forward should not be treated as formal approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which may follow a few centuries later. A recent example is Our Lady of Laus which was recognized by the local diocese in 1665 and was the subject of devotions, but obtained approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith only in 2008.
Moreover, Marian apparitions often involve complications at the local diocese, and a letter of approval or disapproval from a local bishop, does not automatically signal approval or denial. A recent example is the apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho in the 1980s in Kibeho, Rwanda. In 1982 the teenagers who saw the visions reported truly gruesome sights and said that the Virgin Mary asked everyone to pray to prevent a terrible war. Some today regard the visions as an ominous foreshadowing of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, and particularly in that specific location in 1995, where some teenagers died a decade after their vision. The apparitions were accepted by the local bishop (accused by many of complicity in the genocide himself), but have not been given final approval by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Papal Marian apparitions
John Paul II's Coat of Arms with the Marian Cross. The letter "M" indicates his devotion to Mary
It has been claimed that apparitions were experienced by a number of popes, including Pope Leo XIII in 1884,[citation needed] Pope Pius XII at various stages during his papacy,[citation needed] and Pope John Paul II in 1981,[citation needed] while he recovered from an assassination attempt which occurred on May 13, the anniversary of the Fatima apparition. While he only reported focusing on her image in order to stay conscious as per paramedic instructions, a number of rumors have circulated about this event, including that he actually saw her for a minute,[citation needed] or that he witnessed a solar phenomenon as at Fatima;[citation needed]; if so, he said nothing on the record about it. He was quoted some time later as saying he thought "a motherly hand guided the bullet's path"so that he would be only injured and not killed. After this incident, he became devoted to Our Lady of Fatima, visiting her basilica on the anniversary of the shooting, enacting her requested Consecration of Russia, and having the bullet that almost killed him set in the crown of the Pilgrim Virgin statue.John Paul II's particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was indicated in his coat of Arms (image, right), which contains a large letter "M," representing Mary at the foot of the Cross, as well as his motto "Totus Tuus," ("Totally yours"), dedicated to Mary. He also visited many of the most famous apparition sites, notably Guadalupe, Lourdes, Licheń, and Knock, and may have experienced another visitation on his last visit to Lourdes in 2004, when he lost his balance and said: 'I feel with emotion that I have reached the end of my pilgrimage'.
Apparitions and statues
Marian apparitions are sometimes reported along with weeping statues of the Virgin Mary. However, to date only one single example of a combined weeping statue and apparition (namely Our Lady of Akita) has been approved by the Vatican and the rest have usually been dismissed as hoaxes.
Weeping statues are one of the rare instances where the Church authorities and the skeptics simultaneously pursue hoaxes. The upper levels of the Vatican have been very careful in their approach and treatment of weeping statues, and generally set very high barriers for their acceptance. For instance when a statue of the popular Saint Padre Pio in Messina, Sicily was found to have tears of blood one day in 2002, Church officials quickly ordered tests that showed the blood to belong to a woman and then dismissed the case as a hoax.Even at the local level, Catholic priests have expelled people who claim weeping statues with apparitions from their local Church.
In 1995, the owner of a Madonna statue that appeared to weep blood in the town of Civitavecchia in Italy refused to take a DNA test and the case was dismissed as a hoax.[21] In 2008 church custodian Vincenzo Di Costanzo went on trial in northern Italy for faking blood on a statue of the Virgin Mary when his own DNA was matched to the blood.
In 1985 the Moving statues phenomenon at Ballinspittle, County Cork, Ireland, attracted thousands of devotees, some of whom saw a plaster statue of the Virgin Mary move. In 2002 Police Sergeant John Murray told the BBC that "suddenly, without warning, there was a gasp from the crowd as the statue, which is embedded in concrete, appeared to be airborne for half a minute. I was so convinced it was a fraud that I climbed up into the grotto the next morning and tried to shake the statue, but it wouldn't budge. I checked the back, the sides of it for any trip wires, but I couldn't find anything."
Impact of apparitions
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
While Marian apparitions may at times seem like fanciful tales, factual analysis indicates that the effect of apparitions on the Roman Catholic Church has been significant. Marian apparitions have led to, or affected, the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Mariology and the lives of millions of Roman Catholics in several ways:
* The conversion of millions of people to Roman Catholicism.
* The construction of some of the largest Roman Catholic Marian churches ever.
* The formation of the largest Marian Movements and Societies ever.
* The spread of Marian devotions (such as the rosary) to millions of people.
* The declaration of specific Marian dogmas and doctrines.
* Hundreds of millions of Marian pilgrimages.
A few cases can illustrate these items.
Conversions and shrines
By all accounts, when Juan Diego, age 57, reported the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico in 1531, he did not receive a lot of attention in Rome, since the Church was busy with the challenges of the Protestant Reformation of 1521 to 1579 and perhaps very few Cardinals in Rome had ever heard the details of Mexico and its environs. Yet, just as a large number of people were leaving the Catholic Church in Europe as a result of the Reformation, Our Lady of Guadalupe was instrumental in adding almost 8 million people to the ranks of Catholics in the Americas between 1532 and 1538. The number of Catholics in South America has grown significantly over the centuries. Eventually with tens of millions of followers, Juan Diego had an effect on Mariology in the Americas and beyond, and was eventually declared venerable in 1987. Juan Diego was declared a saint in 2002. Furthermore, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico is now the third largest Catholic Church in the world, after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil. Recent reported apparitions such as Medjugorje have also attracted a large following.
Societies and devotions
The Marian apparition of Our Lady of Fátima on a remote mountain top to three young Portuguese children in 1917 also seemed fanciful and the local administrator initially jailed the children and threatened that he would boil them one by one in a pot of oil. However, over the years the effect of Fátima has been undeniable. With over 25 million registered Catholic members, the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima (which was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1947) is the largest Marian Society in the world. And the message of Fátima has inspired the spread of other devotions. An example is Our Lady's Rosary Makers formed by Brother Sylvan Mattingly in 1949 with $25 to distribute free rosaries, based on his devotion to Fátima. Our Lady's Rosary Makers has since distributed hundreds of millions of free rosaries to Catholic missions worldwide.
Mariology
Murillo's Immaculate Conception, 1650
Marian apparitions such as Our Lady of Lourdes (which promoted Immaculate Conception) have also influenced the direction of Roman Catholic Mariology, as illustrated by the ex cathedra exercise of Papal infallibility on the dogma of Immaculate Conception. This also illustrated that unlike most Roman Catholic theology which originates from the upper levels of the Church, Mariology has quite often been driven from the ground up by the tens of millions of Catholics with a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin. As Marian apparitions create strong emotions among large numbers of Roman Catholics, they lead to sensus fidelium. This strong response among Catholics in turn influences the higher levels of the Roman Catholic hierarchy as sensus fidei gains strength.
To this end, the official Vatican website Agenzia Fides stated in 2004 that:
"The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was defined by Pius IX not so much because of proofs in Scripture or ancient tradition, but due to a profound sensus fidelium, a century-old sense of the faithful, and the Magisterium".[24]
The Vatican quotes in this context the encyclical Fulgens Corona, where Pius XII supported such a faith.[25] In several Marian teachings, the "theology of the people" such as the immaculate Conception, the profound and century-old sense of the faithful has taken precedence over academic theology.
Pilgrimages
Marian apparitions are also responsible for tens of millions of Marian pilgrimages per year.[26] About 5 million pilgrims visit Lourdes every year and within France only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes. And about 10 million pilgrims visit Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, where each mass can accommodate up to 40,000 people.[27] Thus each decade, just Lourdes and Guadalupe amount to over one hundred million Catholic pilgrimages, based on Marian apparitions to two people on two remote hilltops.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima also attracts a large number of Roman Catholics, and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of Fatima apparitions.[28] Overall, about four million pilgrims visit the basilica every year.
Historical feasts
A number of feasts based on historical traditions involving apparitions are celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church. These apparitions do not technically fall in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith approved category, since they generally predate the formation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1542. They are recognized based on the papal declaration of the feast day rather than formal analysis by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Our Lady of the Pillar
Our Lady of the Pillar statue, Zaragoza, a key piece of Marian art
In the year 39 AD, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint James the Great, in Zaragoza, Spain. The vision is now called Our Lady of the Pillar and is the only reported Marian apparition before her Assumption. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar was built in Zaragoza, Spain and a key piece of Roman Catholic Marian art, the statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, refers to this apparition.
Our Lady of the Snow
Our Lady of the Snow is based on a legend that during the pontificate of Pope Liberius, during the night of August the 5th, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. And based on a vision that same night a basilica was built in honour of Our Lady, on the spot which was covered with snow.
The church built there is now the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the feast was celebrated at that church for centuries on August 5 each year. However, there was no of mention of this alleged miracle in historical records until a few hundred years later, not even by Pope Sixtus III in his dedicatory inscription, and it may be that the legend has no historical basis. However, in the fourteenth century the feast was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pope Pius V.
Our Lady of Walsingham
According to the tradition of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout Saxon noblewoman, in 1061 in Walsingham, England, instructing her to construct a shrine resembling the place of the Annunciation. The shrine passed into the care of the Canons Regular sometime between 1146 and 1174. Late in 1538, King Henry VIII’s soldiers sacked the priory at Walsingham, killed two monks and destroyed the shrine. In 1897 Pope Leo XIII re-established the restored 14th century Slipper Chapel as a Roman Catholic shrine. The Holy House had been rebuilt at the Catholic Church of the Annunciation at King's Lynn (Walsingham was part of this Catholic parish in 1897). Today there are two shrines at Walsingham: the Roman Catholic shrine centered on the Slipper Chapel and the Holy House maintained by the Church of England. There are also two separate feast days: September 24 in the Roman Catholic Church and October 15 in the Anglican Communion.
Our Lady of the Rosary
The apparition of Our Lady of the Rosary is by tradition attributed to Saint Dominic in 1208 in the church of Prouille, in France. According to the attribution, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and introduced him to the rosary. Some sources suggest that Alan de Rupe (rather than Saint Dominic) was the major influence on the rosary in the 15th century, while other sources seek a middle ground to these two views.[32][33] For centuries, Dominicans became instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.[34] In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, the victory being attributed to Our Lady. In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Saint Simon Stock, who was Prior General of the Carmelite Order in the mid 13th century.[36] The earliest reference to the tradition of his Marian apparition, dating from the late 14th century, states that "St. Simon was an Englishman, a man of great holiness and devotion, who always in his prayers asked the Virgin to favor his Order with some singular privilege. The Virgin appeared to him holding the Scapular in her hand saying, 'This is for you and yours a privilege; the one who dies in it will be saved.'"[37] A scapular is an apron-like garment that forms part of the Carmelite religious habit,[38] and in the original context the Blessed Virgin Mary's promise was an assurance that religious who persevered in their vocation would be saved; beginning in the latter half of the 16th century the small devotional scapular became very popular as a sacramental.[37] The historicity of Saint [Simon Stock's vision is disputed,[39][40] and as a result today neither the liturgy for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (which originally had no association with scapular devotion, but began to be strongly connected with Saint Simon Stock]'s vision in the 17th century[41]), nor that of Saint Simon Stock make any reference to the vision of Mary or the scapular.[42] The Brown Scapular itself remains warmly approved and recommended by the Catholic Church.
Approved apparitions
A Roman Catholic approved Marian apparition is one that has been examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith either based on the criteria listed above (or internal procedures in place before that) and has been granted approval either through the local Bishop based on the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or received a direct approval from the Holy See.
Although a local bishop may provide a preliminary assessment (and allow the devotion to proceed forward), formal approval can only be provided after detailed analysis by the Holy See. For instance, although the apparitions at Our Lady of Laus were recognized by the local diocese in 1665, they received approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith centuries later, in 2008.
Apparitions favored by the Holy See usually:
* Become the site of major Roman Catholic Marian churches such as Lourdes, France or the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico.
* Receive papal visits such as Pope John Paul II's visits to Fátima, Portugal and Beauraing, Belgium.
However, a papal visit does not amount to a formal approval. For instance, Pope John Paul II visited the basilica of Our Lady of La Vang, but no formal approval was granted.
Some apparitions such as in Assiut, Egypt have been approved by the Coptic Church and can be called approved but not Roman Catholic approved.
[edit] Roman Catholic approved
[edit] Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The 1531 apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe was reported by Saint Juan Diego. He said he saw an early morning vision of the Virgin Mary in which he was instructed to build an abbey on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico. The local prelate did not believe his account and asked for a miraculous sign, which was later provided as an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe permanently imprinted on the saint’s cloak where he had gathered roses. Over the years, Our Lady of Guadalupe became a symbol of the Catholic faith in Mexico and the Mexican diaspora.
Our Lady of Laus
The apparitions of Our Lady of Laus between 1664 and 1718 in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, France by Benoite Rencurel, a young shepherdess are the first Marian apparitions to be approved in the 21st century by the Roman Catholic Church.[44] The apparitions were recognized by the diocese of the Roman Catholic Church on September 18, 1665. They were approved by the Vatican on May 5, 2008. Currently, the site where the apparitions took place receives more than 120,000 pilgrims a year.
[edit] Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
The vision of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is said to have appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 in the convent of Rue du Bac, Paris. She reported that one night in the chapel, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her and asked that a medallion be made to a design that she dictated. The lady added that, "All who wear this medal will receive great graces."[45] After spending two years examining her claims, her priest eventually took the information to his archbishop. The medal eventually produced came to be referred to as the Miraculous Medal. The front of the medal displays a picture of the virgin as she appeared to Catherine Labouré. The design on the reverse includes the letter M and a cross. Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image as his coat of arms, the Marian Cross. This is plain cross with an M underneath the right-hand bar, to signify the Blessed Virgin standing at the foot of the Cross while Jesus was being crucified.
Sister Justine Bisqueyburu is said to have also had an apparition in 1840 within the same chapel at Rue du Bac as Saint Catherine Labouré.[46] These visitations instituted the "Green Scapular" which involves a very simple devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[47] The Green Scapular, has not, however, been approved by the Holy See and does not have an associated confraternity.[48].
The Miraculous Medal
Our Lady of La Salette
The apparitions of Our Lady of La Salette were reported in La Salette in France in 1846 by two shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, followed by numerous accounts of miraculous healings. The Roman Catholic Church investigated the claims and found them to be basically credible. However, in the late nineteenth century controversy surrounded the claims of one of the seers, Mélanie Calvat in a France hostile to religion. Recent releases from the Vatican Secret Archives may have clarified the situation to some extent, but some controversy still remains attached to this apparition. Our Lady of Lourdes
In 1858 Saint Bernadette Soubirous was a 14-year-old shepherd girl who lived near the town of Lourdes in France. One day she reported a vision of a miraculous Lady who identified Herself as "the Immaculate Conception" in subsequent visions. In the second vision she was asked to return again and she had 18 visions overall. According to Saint Bernadette, the Lady held a string of Rosary beads and led Saint Bernadette to the discovery of a buried spring, also requesting that the local priests build a chapel at the site of the visions and lead holy processions there. Eventually, a number of chapels and churches were built at Lourdes as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes - which is now a major Catholic pilgrimage site. One of these churches, the Basilica of St. Pius X can accommodate 25,000 people and was dedicated by the future Pope John XXIII when he was the Papal Nuncio to France.
Our Lady of Pontmain
The apparitions at Our Lady of Pontmain, France also called Our Lady of Hope were reported in 1871 by a number of young children.[citation needed]
The final approval for the apparitions of Our Lady of Hope was given in 1932 by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII.[citation needed]
Our Lady of Fátima
Lúcia Santos (left) with her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, at Fátima, Portugal, 1917.
The visions of the Virgin Mary appearing to three shepherd children at Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal in 1917 were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church in 1930. Four popes — Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II — have supported the Fatima messages as supernatural. Pope John Paul II was particularly attached to Fátima and credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life after he was shot in Rome on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fátima in May 1981. He donated the bullet that wounded him on that day to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima.
In 1925, eight years after the Fátima events, Lúcia Santos reported another set of apparitions, which became known as the Pontevedra apparitions.Our Lady of Beauraing
The 33 apparitions of Our Lady of Beauraing were reported in Belgium between November 1932 and January 1933 by five local children ranging in age from 9 to 15 years. From 1933 to World War II, pilgrims flocked to the little village of Beauraing. The final approbation for the apparition was granted on July 2, 1949 under the authority of the Holy Office by the decree of Andre-Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur, Belgium.These apparitions are also known as the Virgin of the Golden Heart. Our Lady of Banneux
The apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux were reported by a young child, Mariette Beco a native of Banneux, Belgium in the 1930s. They are also known as the Virgin of the Poor. The apparitions were approved by the Roman Catholic Church in 1949.
Beco reported eight visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary between January 15 and March 2, 1933. She reported seeing a Lady in White who declared herself to be the Virgin of the Poor and told her: "Believe in me and I will believe in you". In one vision, the Lady reportedly asked Mariette to drink from a small spring and later said that the spring was for healing. Over time the site drew pilgrims. Today, the small spring yields about 2,000 gallons of water a day with many reports of miraculous healings. Our Lady of Akita
The apparitions of Our Lady of Akita were reported in 1973 by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan.For several decades, Agnes Sasagawa had encountered many health problems but her health reportedly improved after drinking water from Lourdes. After going totally deaf, she went to live with the nuns in the remoteness of Yuzawadai. In 1973 she reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary, as well as stigmata and a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary which continued to weep over the next 6 years on 101 occasions. According to EWTN, in June 1988 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave definitive judgement on Our Lady of Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.
Coptic approved
Some apparitions taking place within the Coptic Orthodox Church have been approved by Coptic authorities. For an apparition to be approved, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church sends an official delegation made of bishops and priests, all of whom must witness the apparition and document miracles associated with it.[citation needed
Our Lady of Zeitoun
Our Lady of Zeitoun was a mass Marian apparition that occurred in the Zeitoun district of Cairo, Egypt, over a period of 2–3 years beginning on April 2, 1968. It was reportedly witnessed by many thousands of people, including Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and captured by newspaper photographers and Egyptian television. According to witnesses, the Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mary at Zeitoun for a period of 2–3 years. The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours and were sometimes accompanied by dove-shaped luminous bodies. The sick and blind are said to have been cured, and many people converted to Christianity as a result. The Coptic church approved of these apparitions.
Our Lady of Assiut
The apparitions of Our Lady of Assiut were also mass apparitions in Assiut, Egypt during 2000 and 2001 and many thousands of witnesses produced photographs of them, which were reprinted in several newspapers.Video clips of the apparition have been posted on the internet.The reports state that during mass, pictures hung on the wall inside the altar, which show St Mary with a dove above her started to illuminate first, then the light from the dove in the pictures started to flow down. The lights thereafter appeared above the church as well and were seen by thousands of people.The coptic church approved of the apparitions.
Apparitions with mass appeal
A number of claimed apparitions sites which have yet to be fully approved continue to gather pilgrims and become the site of major Marian basilicas. The apparitions at these sites are often the subject of legends. An example is Our Lady of Walsingham where according to legend the Blessed Virgin appeared in a vision to a noblewoman in 1061 and her son built a simple wooden structure there which later became an abbey. No details of the content of vision have been preserved, but pilgrims continued to arrive at Walsingham for centuries until 1st Earl of Sussex destroyed it in 1538.
Shrine of Our Lady of Guardia.
The 1490 apparition reported by Italian peasant Benedetto Pareto regarding Our Lady of Guardia is somewhat similar, but has a happier ending. Pareto also reported that the Virgin Mary appeared to him and asked him to build a church atop the mountain. Pareto at first refused, saying that he was just a poor man, but he eventually built a small wooden structure which in time gathered many pilgrims. The Shrine of Our Lady of Guardia is now a thriving basilica atop Mount Figogna, near Genoa Italy.
Some major Marian basilicas and traditions are based on legends that do not involve any specific apparitions, but sacred objects that are assumed to have been associated with apparitions. The key example is the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Aparecida, Brazil. It is the second-largest Catholic place of worship in the world, second only to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, and the largest Marian Church in the world, receiving over 6 million pilgrims a year. There is no specific vision or apparition associated with Our Lady of Aparecida, and it is based on a simple wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin (found by fishermen) which over the centuries drew millions of pilgrims, based on its reported healing powers. The festivals surrounding Our Lady of Chiquinquirá in Venezuela are based on a piece of wood which according to legend grew luminous with the image of the Blessed Virgin in 1709. In the case of Our Lady of Kazan, legend holds that the Blessed Virgin revealed the location of the precious icon to a 10 year old girl in 1579.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Tamil Nadu in southern India does however have a legend that involves a number of apparitions. There is no historical record of the apparition of Our Lady of Good Health but the oral tradition suggests that there was an apparition to a Hindu boy in mid sixteenth century and later Portuguese sailors were saved by another apparition. Similarly, the legend Our Lady of La Vang is based on an apparition to a group of Vietnamese Catholics in the rain forest in 1798, and the site of a basilica.
Although both She Shan Basilica in Shanghai, China and Our Lady of China in Donglu, near Beijing, were popular pilgrimage sites at one time, with the arrest and imprisonment of the Catholic bishops in the 1950s by the communists and with the establishment of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association against the Vatican, these pilgrimages have slowed down.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lichen, the largest church in Poland (and the 11th largest in the world) is based on legends on the Virgin Mary appearing to different people in the Lichen area in the early 19th century.The Basilica of Our Lady of Knock in Ireland is based on a reported appearance of the Virgin Mary along with Jesus Christ and other saints in Ireland in 1879. The Basilica of our Our Lady of Siluva in Siluva, Lithuania is also based on a legend of an apparition to four children in 1608, and houses a famous painting (perhaps based on Salus Populi Romani) called Our Lady of Siluva, usually considered Lithuania's greatest treasure.
Among recent visions, the reported apparitions of The Virgin Mary to six children in Međugorje in 1981 have received the widest amount of attention. The Our Lady of Međugorje messages are published and distributed worldwide and often emphasize five key elements: Daily prayer of the Holy Rosary, Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, Daily reading of the Bible, Monthly Confessions and Holy Communion. The Međugorje messages have a very strong following among Catholics worldwide. The Holy See has never officially either approved or disapproved of the messages of Međugorje, although both critical and supportive documents about the messages have been published by various Catholic figures.
Notable but unapproved apparitions
A list of some of the notable reports of Marian apparitions is provided below. The apparitions discussed here do not have approval, and only those apparitions listed and explained in the sections above have received either Roman Catholic or Coptic approval, and the others shown in the table here are simply based on legend, reports of individuals or are still awaiting approval. There are hundreds of other reported apparitions around the world without major references or church investigations and they can not be included in this section, due to their lack of notability.
As a general pattern, in most cases, formal Vatican approval for apparitions usually requires at least a century, even if the local diocese issues a preliminary letter permitting devotions. For instance, Our Lady of Laus was recognized by the local bishop in 1665 but was only granted approval by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2008. As current examples, Our Lady of Kibeho have received recognition from the local diocese, but there has been no formal approval from the Holy See. However, the 1973 apparitions of Our Lady of Akita were approved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1988, with a faster pace than usual.
The apparitions reported between 1945 and 1959 by Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam as The Lady of all Nations include a short prayer called the Amsterdam Blessing. In May 2002, Bishop Jozef Marianus Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam issued a letter that declared this apparition as having a supernatural origin. However, this apparition has not been officially approved by the Holy See, and has approval only at the local bishop level.
The reported apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho in 1982 included exceptionally long and dramatic visions lasting eight hours. According to the teenage visionaries, in 1982 the Virgin Mary asked everyone to pray to prevent a terrible war. A war and genocide eventually took place at the same location in 1995 and claimed the lives of some of visionaries. The apparitions were accepted by the local Roman Catholic bishop, Bishop Misago, but have not been given final approval by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.The bishop himself went on trial for nine months on charges of involvement in the genocide but was not convicted.
The reported Garabandal apparitions from 1961 to 1965 were examined by the local Bishop and were declared as not having evidence of being of supernatural origin. However the apparitions were not declared as a hoax and the possibility of future approval was left open.At Garabandal, an apparition by Saint Michael, the Archangel was reported first, announcing the arrival of the Virgin Mary.
The reported apparitions of Our Lady of America in 1956 in Rome City, IN did receive a positive response from the local bishop and have been Canonically-approved by several Archbishops and Bishops, but no decision has been rendered with regard to the supernatural origin and characters of the reported apparitions. Pilgrims arrive daily to pray and offer their devotion in the Our Lady Mother of Mercy Chapel which sits on the grounds of what is now called Sylvan Springs.
The fact that pilgrims continue arriving at a reported apparition site and the fact that church figures a continent away may be sympathetic towards the apparition does not mean that approval has been obtained. For instance, although the Village of Pellevoisin in France does receive pilgrims, and there is a small shrine of Our Lady of Pellevoisin in St. Paul's church in New York, according to the University of Dayton Marian Library, archbishops of Bourges have never pronounced on the subject of Pellevoisin and have been very reserved on the topic.However, various independent (and colorful) lists of apparitions websites declare Pellevoisin as approved, with no clear reference for the approval.
Some reported apparitions attract negative publicity at the location of the apparition. For instance, the latter parts of the reported messages from Gianna Talone were disapproved by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and a group of Emmitsburg, Maryland residents started a campaign against Talone and accused her of running a cult.To date, the Holy See has let the Talone matter rest at the local level of the archdiocese.
Not all reports of visions and apparitions can be taken seriously, even if they sound truly pious. For instance, the messages reported by Catalina Rivas were later found to correspond to exact pages of books written by others, and published instructional literature for Catholic seminarians.And reported messages from Veronica Lueken as Our Lady of Bayside were declared invalid by Bishop Francis Mugavero, then Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.Similarly, reports of Our Lady of Surbiton claiming that the Virgin Mary appeared every day under a pine tree in England were flatly rejected by the Vatican as a fraud.
Several apparition related sites on the internet exist, often with detailed messages that sound pious, accompanied by testimonies from local witnesses, and even local priests and bishops. However, these representations do not always amount to authenticity or Vatican approval. An example is the website for the apparitions of Our Lady of the Eucharist in Rome since the year 2000.The website for Our Lady of the Eucharist includes a clear letter and a photo from Bishop Claudio Gatti who approved the apparition. Yet a more detailed search of the same website produces a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reducing the said Bishop to lay rank following a series of meetings at the Vatican on this and other matters (e.g. the Bishop's position of marriage for priests). The Bishop now uses the title ordained by God rather than Catholic Bishop.Unapproved apparitions claimed by schismatic groups
Some purported Marian apparitions initiated events which led to schism of Catholics forming their own independent churches as a result of Rome's disapproval of them. Notable examples include the revelations of Feliksa Kozłowska between 1893 and 1918 which led to the founding of the Mariavite and the Old Catholic Mariavite churches. Others include the Palmarian Catholic Church which began after a series of purported apparitions in Palmar de Troya, while Fraternite Notre Dame, a Traditionalist Catholic church traces its origins to apparitions that were reported in Frechou, France, and is led by Bishop Jean Marie Kozik who was consecrated by Vietnamese Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc.
Criticism
Some Protestant Christians and non-Christians regard claims of Marian apparitions as being hallucinations encouraged by superstition, and occasionally simply as deliberate hoaxes to attract attention. Many such apparitions are reported in economically depressed areas, attracting many pilgrims who bring trade and money into the region. For instance, some sources dispute the very existence of Saint Juan Diego.
Some spontaneous healings reported at apparition sites such as Lourdes are also disputed by some scientists[who?]. Other scientists[who?] have claimed that a handful of unexplained cures have occurred; the Lourdes Medical Bureau has recorded sixty "inexplicable" healings which match its requirements. Critics maintain that some other healings are incomplete, leaving the sufferer with disabilities or chronic illness, and that other claimed healings are likely to be the relatively rare but unmiraculous spontaneous remission of illness or injury. Such remissions might be expected to occur in a few of the large numbers of ill (and perhaps credulous) people who visit such sites. That viewpoint is debated by religious people and by some in the medical profession. The Lourdes Medical Bureau will not review cases of claimed healing involving illnesses known sometimes to go into remission by themselves, or incomplete healings, or those which take place gradually.
Marian apparitions sometimes are reported to recur at the same site over an extended period of time. In the majority of Marian apparitions only a few people report having witnessed the apparition. Exception to this include Zeitoun, and Assiut where thousands claimed to have seen her over a period of time.What is an appearance?
A photostatic copy of a page from Ilustração Portuguesa, October 29, 1917, showing the crowd looking at the miracle of the sun during the Fátima apparitions (attributed to the Virgin Mary)
The term "appearance" has been used in different apparitions within a wide range of contexts and experiences. And its use has been different with respect to Marian apparitions and visions of Jesus Christ.
In some apparitions such as Our Lady of Lourdes or Our Lady of Fatima an actual vision is reported, fully resembling that of a person being present. In some of these reports the viewers (at times children) do not initially report that they saw the Virgin Mary, but that they saw "a Lady" (quite often dressed in white) and had a conversation with her. In these cases the viewers report experiences that resemble the visual and verbal interaction with a person present at the site of the apparition. In most cases, there are no clear indications as to the auditory nature of the experience, i.e. whether the viewers heard the voices via airwaves or other miraculous methods. Yet, the 1973 messages of Our Lady of Akita, which were approved at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1988 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) are due to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa who had been totally deaf before 1973 (and remained deaf until 1982 when she was cured during Sunday Mass as foretold in her messages), suggesting means of communication beyond airwaves.
In some apparitions just an image is reported, often with no verbal interaction, and no conversation. An example is the reported apparitions at Our Lady of Assiut in which many people reported a bright image atop a building, accompanied by photographs of the image. The photographs at times suggest the silhouette of a statue of the Virgin Mary but the images are usually subject to varying interpretations, and critics suggest that they may just be due to various visual effects of unknown origin. However, such image-like appearances are hardly ever reported for visions of Jesus and Mary which in most cases involve some form of reported communication.
And apparitions should be distinguished from interior locutions in which no visual contact is claimed. In some cases of reported interior locutions such as those of Father Stefano Gobbi a large amount of text is produced, but no visual contact is claimed. Interior locutions usually do not include an auditory component, but consist of inner voices. Interior locutions are generally not classified as apparitions.
Physical contact is hardly ever reported as part of Marian apparitions, unlike in cases of interaction with Jesus Christ. In rare cases a physical artifact is reported in apparitions. A well known example is the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe which is reported to have been miraculously imprinted on the cloak of Saint Juan Diego.
Catholic belief
Eternal Father painting the Virgin of Guadalupe. Anonymous, 18th century, an example of Roman Catholic Marian art related to an apparition
According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the era of public revelation ended with the death of the last living Apostle. A Marian apparition, if deemed genuine by Church authority, is treated as private revelation that may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose, but it can never add anything new to the deposit of faith. The Church will confirm an apparition as worthy of belief, but belief is never required by divine faith.The Holy See has officially confirmed the apparitions at Guadalupe, Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, Paris (Rue du Bac, Miraculous Medal), La Salette, Lourdes, Fátima, Portugal, Pontmain, Beauraing, and Banneux.
As a historical pattern, Vatican approval of apparitions seems to have followed general acceptance of a vision by well over a century in most cases. According to Father Salvatore M. Perrella of the Marianum Pontifical Institute in Rome, of the 295 reported apparitions studied by the Holy See through the centuries only 12 have been approved, the latest being the May 2008 approval of the 17th- and 18th-century apparitions of Our Lady of Laus.
An authentic apparition is believed not to be a subjective experience, but a real and objective intervention of divine power. The purpose of such apparitions is to recall and emphasize some aspect of the Christian message. The church states that cures and other miraculous events are not the purpose of Marian apparitions, but exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message.Apparitions of Mary are held to be evidence of her continuing active presence in the life of the church, through which she "cares for the brethren of her son who still journey on earth."
Not all claims of visitations are dealt with favourably by the Roman Catholic Church. For example, claimed apparitions of Our Lady, Jesus Christ and various saints at Bayside, New York have not been condoned or sanctioned in any way, nor those at the Necedah Shrine in Necedah, Wisconsin. The behavior of Ms Veronica Lueken and Mary Ann Van Hoof, who claimed these heavenly favors, was deemed not to compare favorably with the "quiet pragmatism" of St. Bernadette Soubirous — Church authorities are said to use Bernadette as a model by which to judge all who purport to have visitations. Indeed, both women seriously criticized the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, allegedly even harshly, and Mrs. Van Hoof is said to have subsequently left Roman Catholicism for an independent local Old Catholic Church.
Possibly the best-known apparition sites are Lourdes and Fatima. Over sixty spontaneous healings, out of thousands reported at the Lourdes Spring, have been classified as "inexplicable" by the physicians of the Lourdes Bureau, a medical centre set up by the Church in association with local medical institutes to assess possible miracles. The Three Secrets of Fatima received a great deal of attention in the Catholic and secular press.Criteria for evaluating apparitions
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A series of articles on
Roman Catholic
Mariology
Virgin Mary - Diego Velazquez.jpg
General articles
Mariology • Veneration of the Blessed Virgin • History of Mariology • Mariology of the saints • Mariology of the popes • Encyclicals & Apostolic Letters • Marian Movements & Societies
Devotions
Rosary • Scapular • Immaculate Heart • Seven Joys • Seven Sorrows • First Saturdays • Acts of Reparation • Alliance of Hearts
Dogmas and Doctrines
Mother of God • Perpetual virginity • Immaculate Conception • Assumption • Mother of the Church • Mediatrix • Co-Redemptrix
Expressions of devotion
Art • Music • Architecture
Key Marian apparitions
(approved or worthy of belief)
Guadalupe • Miraculous Medal •
La Salette • Lourdes • Pontmain • Laus • Banneux • Beauraing • Fátima • Akita
In 1978 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (former Holy Office) issued "Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations" containing the following provisions:
* The diocesan bishop can initiate a process on his own initiative or at the request of the faithful to investigate the facts of an alleged apparition. The bishop may refrain from looking into it if he chooses, especially if he thinks that not much will come of the event.
* The national conference of bishops may intervene if the local diocesan bishop refers it to him or if the event becomes important nationally or at least in more than one diocese.
* The Apostolic See (the Vatican) can also intervene at the request of the local bishop himself, at the request of a group of the faithful, or on its own initiative.
The steps of the investigation are mandated as follows: An initial evaluation of the facts of the alleged event, based on both positive and negative criteria:
Positive Criteria
1. moral certainty (the certainty required to act morally in a situation of doubt) or at least great probability as to the existence of a private revelation at the end of a serious investigation into the case
2. evaluation of the personal qualities of the person in question (mental balance, honesty, moral life, sincerity, obedience to Church authority, willingness to practice faith in the normal way, etc.)
3. evaluation of the content of the revelations themselves (that they do not disagree with faith and morals of the Church, freedom from theological errors)
4. the revelation results in healthy devotion and spiritual fruits in people's lives (greater prayer, greater conversion of heart, works of charity that result, etc.)
Negative Criteria
1. glaring errors in regard to the facts
2. doctrinal errors attributed to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to the Holy Spirit in how they appear
3. any pursuit of financial gain in relation to the alleged event
4. gravely immoral acts committed by the person or those associated with the person at the time of the event
5. psychological disorders or tendencies on the part of the person or persons associated
After this initial investigation, if the occurrence meets the criteria, positive and negative, an initial cautionary permission can be granted that basically states: "for the moment, there is nothing opposed to it." This permits public participation in the devotion in regard to the alleged apparition.
Ultimately, a final judgment and determination needs to be given, giving approval or condemnation of the event.
Local diocese approval
An initial assessment by the local bishop that allows the devotion to an apparition to proceed forward should not be treated as formal approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which may follow a few centuries later. A recent example is Our Lady of Laus which was recognized by the local diocese in 1665 and was the subject of devotions, but obtained approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith only in 2008.
Moreover, Marian apparitions often involve complications at the local diocese, and a letter of approval or disapproval from a local bishop, does not automatically signal approval or denial. A recent example is the apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho in the 1980s in Kibeho, Rwanda. In 1982 the teenagers who saw the visions reported truly gruesome sights and said that the Virgin Mary asked everyone to pray to prevent a terrible war. Some today regard the visions as an ominous foreshadowing of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, and particularly in that specific location in 1995, where some teenagers died a decade after their vision. The apparitions were accepted by the local bishop (accused by many of complicity in the genocide himself), but have not been given final approval by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Papal Marian apparitions
John Paul II's Coat of Arms with the Marian Cross. The letter "M" indicates his devotion to Mary
It has been claimed that apparitions were experienced by a number of popes, including Pope Leo XIII in 1884,[citation needed] Pope Pius XII at various stages during his papacy,[citation needed] and Pope John Paul II in 1981,[citation needed] while he recovered from an assassination attempt which occurred on May 13, the anniversary of the Fatima apparition. While he only reported focusing on her image in order to stay conscious as per paramedic instructions, a number of rumors have circulated about this event, including that he actually saw her for a minute,[citation needed] or that he witnessed a solar phenomenon as at Fatima;[citation needed]; if so, he said nothing on the record about it. He was quoted some time later as saying he thought "a motherly hand guided the bullet's path"so that he would be only injured and not killed. After this incident, he became devoted to Our Lady of Fatima, visiting her basilica on the anniversary of the shooting, enacting her requested Consecration of Russia, and having the bullet that almost killed him set in the crown of the Pilgrim Virgin statue.John Paul II's particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was indicated in his coat of Arms (image, right), which contains a large letter "M," representing Mary at the foot of the Cross, as well as his motto "Totus Tuus," ("Totally yours"), dedicated to Mary. He also visited many of the most famous apparition sites, notably Guadalupe, Lourdes, Licheń, and Knock, and may have experienced another visitation on his last visit to Lourdes in 2004, when he lost his balance and said: 'I feel with emotion that I have reached the end of my pilgrimage'.
Apparitions and statues
Marian apparitions are sometimes reported along with weeping statues of the Virgin Mary. However, to date only one single example of a combined weeping statue and apparition (namely Our Lady of Akita) has been approved by the Vatican and the rest have usually been dismissed as hoaxes.
Weeping statues are one of the rare instances where the Church authorities and the skeptics simultaneously pursue hoaxes. The upper levels of the Vatican have been very careful in their approach and treatment of weeping statues, and generally set very high barriers for their acceptance. For instance when a statue of the popular Saint Padre Pio in Messina, Sicily was found to have tears of blood one day in 2002, Church officials quickly ordered tests that showed the blood to belong to a woman and then dismissed the case as a hoax.Even at the local level, Catholic priests have expelled people who claim weeping statues with apparitions from their local Church.
In 1995, the owner of a Madonna statue that appeared to weep blood in the town of Civitavecchia in Italy refused to take a DNA test and the case was dismissed as a hoax.[21] In 2008 church custodian Vincenzo Di Costanzo went on trial in northern Italy for faking blood on a statue of the Virgin Mary when his own DNA was matched to the blood.
In 1985 the Moving statues phenomenon at Ballinspittle, County Cork, Ireland, attracted thousands of devotees, some of whom saw a plaster statue of the Virgin Mary move. In 2002 Police Sergeant John Murray told the BBC that "suddenly, without warning, there was a gasp from the crowd as the statue, which is embedded in concrete, appeared to be airborne for half a minute. I was so convinced it was a fraud that I climbed up into the grotto the next morning and tried to shake the statue, but it wouldn't budge. I checked the back, the sides of it for any trip wires, but I couldn't find anything."
Impact of apparitions
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
While Marian apparitions may at times seem like fanciful tales, factual analysis indicates that the effect of apparitions on the Roman Catholic Church has been significant. Marian apparitions have led to, or affected, the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Mariology and the lives of millions of Roman Catholics in several ways:
* The conversion of millions of people to Roman Catholicism.
* The construction of some of the largest Roman Catholic Marian churches ever.
* The formation of the largest Marian Movements and Societies ever.
* The spread of Marian devotions (such as the rosary) to millions of people.
* The declaration of specific Marian dogmas and doctrines.
* Hundreds of millions of Marian pilgrimages.
A few cases can illustrate these items.
Conversions and shrines
By all accounts, when Juan Diego, age 57, reported the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico in 1531, he did not receive a lot of attention in Rome, since the Church was busy with the challenges of the Protestant Reformation of 1521 to 1579 and perhaps very few Cardinals in Rome had ever heard the details of Mexico and its environs. Yet, just as a large number of people were leaving the Catholic Church in Europe as a result of the Reformation, Our Lady of Guadalupe was instrumental in adding almost 8 million people to the ranks of Catholics in the Americas between 1532 and 1538. The number of Catholics in South America has grown significantly over the centuries. Eventually with tens of millions of followers, Juan Diego had an effect on Mariology in the Americas and beyond, and was eventually declared venerable in 1987. Juan Diego was declared a saint in 2002. Furthermore, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico is now the third largest Catholic Church in the world, after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil. Recent reported apparitions such as Medjugorje have also attracted a large following.
Societies and devotions
The Marian apparition of Our Lady of Fátima on a remote mountain top to three young Portuguese children in 1917 also seemed fanciful and the local administrator initially jailed the children and threatened that he would boil them one by one in a pot of oil. However, over the years the effect of Fátima has been undeniable. With over 25 million registered Catholic members, the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima (which was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1947) is the largest Marian Society in the world. And the message of Fátima has inspired the spread of other devotions. An example is Our Lady's Rosary Makers formed by Brother Sylvan Mattingly in 1949 with $25 to distribute free rosaries, based on his devotion to Fátima. Our Lady's Rosary Makers has since distributed hundreds of millions of free rosaries to Catholic missions worldwide.
Mariology
Murillo's Immaculate Conception, 1650
Marian apparitions such as Our Lady of Lourdes (which promoted Immaculate Conception) have also influenced the direction of Roman Catholic Mariology, as illustrated by the ex cathedra exercise of Papal infallibility on the dogma of Immaculate Conception. This also illustrated that unlike most Roman Catholic theology which originates from the upper levels of the Church, Mariology has quite often been driven from the ground up by the tens of millions of Catholics with a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin. As Marian apparitions create strong emotions among large numbers of Roman Catholics, they lead to sensus fidelium. This strong response among Catholics in turn influences the higher levels of the Roman Catholic hierarchy as sensus fidei gains strength.
To this end, the official Vatican website Agenzia Fides stated in 2004 that:
"The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was defined by Pius IX not so much because of proofs in Scripture or ancient tradition, but due to a profound sensus fidelium, a century-old sense of the faithful, and the Magisterium".[24]
The Vatican quotes in this context the encyclical Fulgens Corona, where Pius XII supported such a faith.[25] In several Marian teachings, the "theology of the people" such as the immaculate Conception, the profound and century-old sense of the faithful has taken precedence over academic theology.
Pilgrimages
Marian apparitions are also responsible for tens of millions of Marian pilgrimages per year.[26] About 5 million pilgrims visit Lourdes every year and within France only Paris has more hotels than Lourdes. And about 10 million pilgrims visit Our Lady of Guadalupe each year, where each mass can accommodate up to 40,000 people.[27] Thus each decade, just Lourdes and Guadalupe amount to over one hundred million Catholic pilgrimages, based on Marian apparitions to two people on two remote hilltops.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima also attracts a large number of Roman Catholics, and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of Fatima apparitions.[28] Overall, about four million pilgrims visit the basilica every year.
Historical feasts
A number of feasts based on historical traditions involving apparitions are celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church. These apparitions do not technically fall in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith approved category, since they generally predate the formation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1542. They are recognized based on the papal declaration of the feast day rather than formal analysis by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Our Lady of the Pillar
Our Lady of the Pillar statue, Zaragoza, a key piece of Marian art
In the year 39 AD, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint James the Great, in Zaragoza, Spain. The vision is now called Our Lady of the Pillar and is the only reported Marian apparition before her Assumption. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar was built in Zaragoza, Spain and a key piece of Roman Catholic Marian art, the statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, refers to this apparition.
Our Lady of the Snow
Our Lady of the Snow is based on a legend that during the pontificate of Pope Liberius, during the night of August the 5th, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. And based on a vision that same night a basilica was built in honour of Our Lady, on the spot which was covered with snow.
The church built there is now the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the feast was celebrated at that church for centuries on August 5 each year. However, there was no of mention of this alleged miracle in historical records until a few hundred years later, not even by Pope Sixtus III in his dedicatory inscription, and it may be that the legend has no historical basis. However, in the fourteenth century the feast was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pope Pius V.
Our Lady of Walsingham
According to the tradition of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout Saxon noblewoman, in 1061 in Walsingham, England, instructing her to construct a shrine resembling the place of the Annunciation. The shrine passed into the care of the Canons Regular sometime between 1146 and 1174. Late in 1538, King Henry VIII’s soldiers sacked the priory at Walsingham, killed two monks and destroyed the shrine. In 1897 Pope Leo XIII re-established the restored 14th century Slipper Chapel as a Roman Catholic shrine. The Holy House had been rebuilt at the Catholic Church of the Annunciation at King's Lynn (Walsingham was part of this Catholic parish in 1897). Today there are two shrines at Walsingham: the Roman Catholic shrine centered on the Slipper Chapel and the Holy House maintained by the Church of England. There are also two separate feast days: September 24 in the Roman Catholic Church and October 15 in the Anglican Communion.
Our Lady of the Rosary
The apparition of Our Lady of the Rosary is by tradition attributed to Saint Dominic in 1208 in the church of Prouille, in France. According to the attribution, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and introduced him to the rosary. Some sources suggest that Alan de Rupe (rather than Saint Dominic) was the major influence on the rosary in the 15th century, while other sources seek a middle ground to these two views.[32][33] For centuries, Dominicans became instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.[34] In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, the victory being attributed to Our Lady. In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to Saint Simon Stock, who was Prior General of the Carmelite Order in the mid 13th century.[36] The earliest reference to the tradition of his Marian apparition, dating from the late 14th century, states that "St. Simon was an Englishman, a man of great holiness and devotion, who always in his prayers asked the Virgin to favor his Order with some singular privilege. The Virgin appeared to him holding the Scapular in her hand saying, 'This is for you and yours a privilege; the one who dies in it will be saved.'"[37] A scapular is an apron-like garment that forms part of the Carmelite religious habit,[38] and in the original context the Blessed Virgin Mary's promise was an assurance that religious who persevered in their vocation would be saved; beginning in the latter half of the 16th century the small devotional scapular became very popular as a sacramental.[37] The historicity of Saint [Simon Stock's vision is disputed,[39][40] and as a result today neither the liturgy for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (which originally had no association with scapular devotion, but began to be strongly connected with Saint Simon Stock]'s vision in the 17th century[41]), nor that of Saint Simon Stock make any reference to the vision of Mary or the scapular.[42] The Brown Scapular itself remains warmly approved and recommended by the Catholic Church.
Approved apparitions
A Roman Catholic approved Marian apparition is one that has been examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith either based on the criteria listed above (or internal procedures in place before that) and has been granted approval either through the local Bishop based on the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or received a direct approval from the Holy See.
Although a local bishop may provide a preliminary assessment (and allow the devotion to proceed forward), formal approval can only be provided after detailed analysis by the Holy See. For instance, although the apparitions at Our Lady of Laus were recognized by the local diocese in 1665, they received approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith centuries later, in 2008.
Apparitions favored by the Holy See usually:
* Become the site of major Roman Catholic Marian churches such as Lourdes, France or the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico.
* Receive papal visits such as Pope John Paul II's visits to Fátima, Portugal and Beauraing, Belgium.
However, a papal visit does not amount to a formal approval. For instance, Pope John Paul II visited the basilica of Our Lady of La Vang, but no formal approval was granted.
Some apparitions such as in Assiut, Egypt have been approved by the Coptic Church and can be called approved but not Roman Catholic approved.
[edit] Roman Catholic approved
[edit] Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The 1531 apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe was reported by Saint Juan Diego. He said he saw an early morning vision of the Virgin Mary in which he was instructed to build an abbey on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico. The local prelate did not believe his account and asked for a miraculous sign, which was later provided as an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe permanently imprinted on the saint’s cloak where he had gathered roses. Over the years, Our Lady of Guadalupe became a symbol of the Catholic faith in Mexico and the Mexican diaspora.
Our Lady of Laus
The apparitions of Our Lady of Laus between 1664 and 1718 in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, France by Benoite Rencurel, a young shepherdess are the first Marian apparitions to be approved in the 21st century by the Roman Catholic Church.[44] The apparitions were recognized by the diocese of the Roman Catholic Church on September 18, 1665. They were approved by the Vatican on May 5, 2008. Currently, the site where the apparitions took place receives more than 120,000 pilgrims a year.
[edit] Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
The vision of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is said to have appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 in the convent of Rue du Bac, Paris. She reported that one night in the chapel, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her and asked that a medallion be made to a design that she dictated. The lady added that, "All who wear this medal will receive great graces."[45] After spending two years examining her claims, her priest eventually took the information to his archbishop. The medal eventually produced came to be referred to as the Miraculous Medal. The front of the medal displays a picture of the virgin as she appeared to Catherine Labouré. The design on the reverse includes the letter M and a cross. Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image as his coat of arms, the Marian Cross. This is plain cross with an M underneath the right-hand bar, to signify the Blessed Virgin standing at the foot of the Cross while Jesus was being crucified.
Sister Justine Bisqueyburu is said to have also had an apparition in 1840 within the same chapel at Rue du Bac as Saint Catherine Labouré.[46] These visitations instituted the "Green Scapular" which involves a very simple devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[47] The Green Scapular, has not, however, been approved by the Holy See and does not have an associated confraternity.[48].
The Miraculous Medal
Our Lady of La Salette
The apparitions of Our Lady of La Salette were reported in La Salette in France in 1846 by two shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, followed by numerous accounts of miraculous healings. The Roman Catholic Church investigated the claims and found them to be basically credible. However, in the late nineteenth century controversy surrounded the claims of one of the seers, Mélanie Calvat in a France hostile to religion. Recent releases from the Vatican Secret Archives may have clarified the situation to some extent, but some controversy still remains attached to this apparition. Our Lady of Lourdes
In 1858 Saint Bernadette Soubirous was a 14-year-old shepherd girl who lived near the town of Lourdes in France. One day she reported a vision of a miraculous Lady who identified Herself as "the Immaculate Conception" in subsequent visions. In the second vision she was asked to return again and she had 18 visions overall. According to Saint Bernadette, the Lady held a string of Rosary beads and led Saint Bernadette to the discovery of a buried spring, also requesting that the local priests build a chapel at the site of the visions and lead holy processions there. Eventually, a number of chapels and churches were built at Lourdes as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes - which is now a major Catholic pilgrimage site. One of these churches, the Basilica of St. Pius X can accommodate 25,000 people and was dedicated by the future Pope John XXIII when he was the Papal Nuncio to France.
Our Lady of Pontmain
The apparitions at Our Lady of Pontmain, France also called Our Lady of Hope were reported in 1871 by a number of young children.[citation needed]
The final approval for the apparitions of Our Lady of Hope was given in 1932 by Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII.[citation needed]
Our Lady of Fátima
Lúcia Santos (left) with her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, at Fátima, Portugal, 1917.
The visions of the Virgin Mary appearing to three shepherd children at Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal in 1917 were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church in 1930. Four popes — Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II — have supported the Fatima messages as supernatural. Pope John Paul II was particularly attached to Fátima and credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life after he was shot in Rome on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fátima in May 1981. He donated the bullet that wounded him on that day to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima.
In 1925, eight years after the Fátima events, Lúcia Santos reported another set of apparitions, which became known as the Pontevedra apparitions.Our Lady of Beauraing
The 33 apparitions of Our Lady of Beauraing were reported in Belgium between November 1932 and January 1933 by five local children ranging in age from 9 to 15 years. From 1933 to World War II, pilgrims flocked to the little village of Beauraing. The final approbation for the apparition was granted on July 2, 1949 under the authority of the Holy Office by the decree of Andre-Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur, Belgium.These apparitions are also known as the Virgin of the Golden Heart. Our Lady of Banneux
The apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux were reported by a young child, Mariette Beco a native of Banneux, Belgium in the 1930s. They are also known as the Virgin of the Poor. The apparitions were approved by the Roman Catholic Church in 1949.
Beco reported eight visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary between January 15 and March 2, 1933. She reported seeing a Lady in White who declared herself to be the Virgin of the Poor and told her: "Believe in me and I will believe in you". In one vision, the Lady reportedly asked Mariette to drink from a small spring and later said that the spring was for healing. Over time the site drew pilgrims. Today, the small spring yields about 2,000 gallons of water a day with many reports of miraculous healings. Our Lady of Akita
The apparitions of Our Lady of Akita were reported in 1973 by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan.For several decades, Agnes Sasagawa had encountered many health problems but her health reportedly improved after drinking water from Lourdes. After going totally deaf, she went to live with the nuns in the remoteness of Yuzawadai. In 1973 she reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary, as well as stigmata and a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary which continued to weep over the next 6 years on 101 occasions. According to EWTN, in June 1988 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave definitive judgement on Our Lady of Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.
Coptic approved
Some apparitions taking place within the Coptic Orthodox Church have been approved by Coptic authorities. For an apparition to be approved, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church sends an official delegation made of bishops and priests, all of whom must witness the apparition and document miracles associated with it.[citation needed
Our Lady of Zeitoun
Our Lady of Zeitoun was a mass Marian apparition that occurred in the Zeitoun district of Cairo, Egypt, over a period of 2–3 years beginning on April 2, 1968. It was reportedly witnessed by many thousands of people, including Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and captured by newspaper photographers and Egyptian television. According to witnesses, the Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mary at Zeitoun for a period of 2–3 years. The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours and were sometimes accompanied by dove-shaped luminous bodies. The sick and blind are said to have been cured, and many people converted to Christianity as a result. The Coptic church approved of these apparitions.
Our Lady of Assiut
The apparitions of Our Lady of Assiut were also mass apparitions in Assiut, Egypt during 2000 and 2001 and many thousands of witnesses produced photographs of them, which were reprinted in several newspapers.Video clips of the apparition have been posted on the internet.The reports state that during mass, pictures hung on the wall inside the altar, which show St Mary with a dove above her started to illuminate first, then the light from the dove in the pictures started to flow down. The lights thereafter appeared above the church as well and were seen by thousands of people.The coptic church approved of the apparitions.
Apparitions with mass appeal
A number of claimed apparitions sites which have yet to be fully approved continue to gather pilgrims and become the site of major Marian basilicas. The apparitions at these sites are often the subject of legends. An example is Our Lady of Walsingham where according to legend the Blessed Virgin appeared in a vision to a noblewoman in 1061 and her son built a simple wooden structure there which later became an abbey. No details of the content of vision have been preserved, but pilgrims continued to arrive at Walsingham for centuries until 1st Earl of Sussex destroyed it in 1538.
Shrine of Our Lady of Guardia.
The 1490 apparition reported by Italian peasant Benedetto Pareto regarding Our Lady of Guardia is somewhat similar, but has a happier ending. Pareto also reported that the Virgin Mary appeared to him and asked him to build a church atop the mountain. Pareto at first refused, saying that he was just a poor man, but he eventually built a small wooden structure which in time gathered many pilgrims. The Shrine of Our Lady of Guardia is now a thriving basilica atop Mount Figogna, near Genoa Italy.
Some major Marian basilicas and traditions are based on legends that do not involve any specific apparitions, but sacred objects that are assumed to have been associated with apparitions. The key example is the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Aparecida, Brazil. It is the second-largest Catholic place of worship in the world, second only to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, and the largest Marian Church in the world, receiving over 6 million pilgrims a year. There is no specific vision or apparition associated with Our Lady of Aparecida, and it is based on a simple wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin (found by fishermen) which over the centuries drew millions of pilgrims, based on its reported healing powers. The festivals surrounding Our Lady of Chiquinquirá in Venezuela are based on a piece of wood which according to legend grew luminous with the image of the Blessed Virgin in 1709. In the case of Our Lady of Kazan, legend holds that the Blessed Virgin revealed the location of the precious icon to a 10 year old girl in 1579.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Tamil Nadu in southern India does however have a legend that involves a number of apparitions. There is no historical record of the apparition of Our Lady of Good Health but the oral tradition suggests that there was an apparition to a Hindu boy in mid sixteenth century and later Portuguese sailors were saved by another apparition. Similarly, the legend Our Lady of La Vang is based on an apparition to a group of Vietnamese Catholics in the rain forest in 1798, and the site of a basilica.
Although both She Shan Basilica in Shanghai, China and Our Lady of China in Donglu, near Beijing, were popular pilgrimage sites at one time, with the arrest and imprisonment of the Catholic bishops in the 1950s by the communists and with the establishment of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association against the Vatican, these pilgrimages have slowed down.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lichen, the largest church in Poland (and the 11th largest in the world) is based on legends on the Virgin Mary appearing to different people in the Lichen area in the early 19th century.The Basilica of Our Lady of Knock in Ireland is based on a reported appearance of the Virgin Mary along with Jesus Christ and other saints in Ireland in 1879. The Basilica of our Our Lady of Siluva in Siluva, Lithuania is also based on a legend of an apparition to four children in 1608, and houses a famous painting (perhaps based on Salus Populi Romani) called Our Lady of Siluva, usually considered Lithuania's greatest treasure.
Among recent visions, the reported apparitions of The Virgin Mary to six children in Međugorje in 1981 have received the widest amount of attention. The Our Lady of Međugorje messages are published and distributed worldwide and often emphasize five key elements: Daily prayer of the Holy Rosary, Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, Daily reading of the Bible, Monthly Confessions and Holy Communion. The Međugorje messages have a very strong following among Catholics worldwide. The Holy See has never officially either approved or disapproved of the messages of Međugorje, although both critical and supportive documents about the messages have been published by various Catholic figures.
Notable but unapproved apparitions
A list of some of the notable reports of Marian apparitions is provided below. The apparitions discussed here do not have approval, and only those apparitions listed and explained in the sections above have received either Roman Catholic or Coptic approval, and the others shown in the table here are simply based on legend, reports of individuals or are still awaiting approval. There are hundreds of other reported apparitions around the world without major references or church investigations and they can not be included in this section, due to their lack of notability.
As a general pattern, in most cases, formal Vatican approval for apparitions usually requires at least a century, even if the local diocese issues a preliminary letter permitting devotions. For instance, Our Lady of Laus was recognized by the local bishop in 1665 but was only granted approval by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2008. As current examples, Our Lady of Kibeho have received recognition from the local diocese, but there has been no formal approval from the Holy See. However, the 1973 apparitions of Our Lady of Akita were approved by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1988, with a faster pace than usual.
The apparitions reported between 1945 and 1959 by Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam as The Lady of all Nations include a short prayer called the Amsterdam Blessing. In May 2002, Bishop Jozef Marianus Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam issued a letter that declared this apparition as having a supernatural origin. However, this apparition has not been officially approved by the Holy See, and has approval only at the local bishop level.
The reported apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho in 1982 included exceptionally long and dramatic visions lasting eight hours. According to the teenage visionaries, in 1982 the Virgin Mary asked everyone to pray to prevent a terrible war. A war and genocide eventually took place at the same location in 1995 and claimed the lives of some of visionaries. The apparitions were accepted by the local Roman Catholic bishop, Bishop Misago, but have not been given final approval by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.The bishop himself went on trial for nine months on charges of involvement in the genocide but was not convicted.
The reported Garabandal apparitions from 1961 to 1965 were examined by the local Bishop and were declared as not having evidence of being of supernatural origin. However the apparitions were not declared as a hoax and the possibility of future approval was left open.At Garabandal, an apparition by Saint Michael, the Archangel was reported first, announcing the arrival of the Virgin Mary.
The reported apparitions of Our Lady of America in 1956 in Rome City, IN did receive a positive response from the local bishop and have been Canonically-approved by several Archbishops and Bishops, but no decision has been rendered with regard to the supernatural origin and characters of the reported apparitions. Pilgrims arrive daily to pray and offer their devotion in the Our Lady Mother of Mercy Chapel which sits on the grounds of what is now called Sylvan Springs.
The fact that pilgrims continue arriving at a reported apparition site and the fact that church figures a continent away may be sympathetic towards the apparition does not mean that approval has been obtained. For instance, although the Village of Pellevoisin in France does receive pilgrims, and there is a small shrine of Our Lady of Pellevoisin in St. Paul's church in New York, according to the University of Dayton Marian Library, archbishops of Bourges have never pronounced on the subject of Pellevoisin and have been very reserved on the topic.However, various independent (and colorful) lists of apparitions websites declare Pellevoisin as approved, with no clear reference for the approval.
Some reported apparitions attract negative publicity at the location of the apparition. For instance, the latter parts of the reported messages from Gianna Talone were disapproved by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore and a group of Emmitsburg, Maryland residents started a campaign against Talone and accused her of running a cult.To date, the Holy See has let the Talone matter rest at the local level of the archdiocese.
Not all reports of visions and apparitions can be taken seriously, even if they sound truly pious. For instance, the messages reported by Catalina Rivas were later found to correspond to exact pages of books written by others, and published instructional literature for Catholic seminarians.And reported messages from Veronica Lueken as Our Lady of Bayside were declared invalid by Bishop Francis Mugavero, then Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.Similarly, reports of Our Lady of Surbiton claiming that the Virgin Mary appeared every day under a pine tree in England were flatly rejected by the Vatican as a fraud.
Several apparition related sites on the internet exist, often with detailed messages that sound pious, accompanied by testimonies from local witnesses, and even local priests and bishops. However, these representations do not always amount to authenticity or Vatican approval. An example is the website for the apparitions of Our Lady of the Eucharist in Rome since the year 2000.The website for Our Lady of the Eucharist includes a clear letter and a photo from Bishop Claudio Gatti who approved the apparition. Yet a more detailed search of the same website produces a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reducing the said Bishop to lay rank following a series of meetings at the Vatican on this and other matters (e.g. the Bishop's position of marriage for priests). The Bishop now uses the title ordained by God rather than Catholic Bishop.Unapproved apparitions claimed by schismatic groups
Some purported Marian apparitions initiated events which led to schism of Catholics forming their own independent churches as a result of Rome's disapproval of them. Notable examples include the revelations of Feliksa Kozłowska between 1893 and 1918 which led to the founding of the Mariavite and the Old Catholic Mariavite churches. Others include the Palmarian Catholic Church which began after a series of purported apparitions in Palmar de Troya, while Fraternite Notre Dame, a Traditionalist Catholic church traces its origins to apparitions that were reported in Frechou, France, and is led by Bishop Jean Marie Kozik who was consecrated by Vietnamese Archbishop Ngo Dinh Thuc.
Criticism
Some Protestant Christians and non-Christians regard claims of Marian apparitions as being hallucinations encouraged by superstition, and occasionally simply as deliberate hoaxes to attract attention. Many such apparitions are reported in economically depressed areas, attracting many pilgrims who bring trade and money into the region. For instance, some sources dispute the very existence of Saint Juan Diego.
Some spontaneous healings reported at apparition sites such as Lourdes are also disputed by some scientists[who?]. Other scientists[who?] have claimed that a handful of unexplained cures have occurred; the Lourdes Medical Bureau has recorded sixty "inexplicable" healings which match its requirements. Critics maintain that some other healings are incomplete, leaving the sufferer with disabilities or chronic illness, and that other claimed healings are likely to be the relatively rare but unmiraculous spontaneous remission of illness or injury. Such remissions might be expected to occur in a few of the large numbers of ill (and perhaps credulous) people who visit such sites. That viewpoint is debated by religious people and by some in the medical profession. The Lourdes Medical Bureau will not review cases of claimed healing involving illnesses known sometimes to go into remission by themselves, or incomplete healings, or those which take place gradually.
OUR LADY OF AKITA ,JAPAN
Our Lady of Akita is the title of Marian apparitions reported in 1973 by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan. The messages emphasize prayer and penance. Sister Sasagawa stated that the Virgin Mary told her: "Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach."[1][2][3]Background
For several decades, Agnes Sasagawa had encountered many health problems as a result of a poorly performed appendix operation and was immobile for over a decade. Her health reportedly improved after drinking water from Lourdes. After going totally deaf, she went to live with the nuns in the remoteness of Yuzawadai in Akita prefecture.Apparitions
In 1973 Sister Agnes reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary, as well as stigmata and a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary which, it is said, continued to weep over the next 6 years on 101 occasions. The nuns at Yuzawadai also reported stigmata on the statue, as well as on the hands of Sister Agnes. The stigmata on the statue is said to have appeared before the tears started, and disappeared after the tears.
In June 1988 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave definitive judgement on Our Lady of Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.[4]
Sister Agnes only reported three messages from the Blessed Virgin during 1973, but the Virgin Mary Statue is reported to have continued to weep thereafter. The statue of the Virgin Mary at Akita is carved from a single block of wood from a tree and is about three feet tall. Sister Agnes reported that she first heard the statue calling her, and then the first message began.
Sister Agnes reports that in the first message the Virgin Mary asked her to recite a prayer of reparation together, and told her in 1973 that her deafness will be cured. The other reported messages ask for the praying of the rosary and to pray to repair the sins of others, as Acts of Reparation. The second message is said to have included the following:
"Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates."
The third alleged message warned of possible worldwide calamities if men did not repent and emphasized the need to pray the rosary. It allegedly stated that it was the final message to Sister Agnes and is said to have ended with the statement:
"Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."
During a Sunday Mass in 1982, the story goes that Sister Agnes was totally cured from her deafness. Bishop John Shojiro Ito of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Niigata who had been an eyewitness to some of the events at Akita initially approved the apparition in 1984. In 1988 he went to Rome to consult with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI). As the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Ratzinger formally approved Our Lady of Akita as supernatural and worthy of belief.
For several decades, Agnes Sasagawa had encountered many health problems as a result of a poorly performed appendix operation and was immobile for over a decade. Her health reportedly improved after drinking water from Lourdes. After going totally deaf, she went to live with the nuns in the remoteness of Yuzawadai in Akita prefecture.Apparitions
In 1973 Sister Agnes reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary, as well as stigmata and a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary which, it is said, continued to weep over the next 6 years on 101 occasions. The nuns at Yuzawadai also reported stigmata on the statue, as well as on the hands of Sister Agnes. The stigmata on the statue is said to have appeared before the tears started, and disappeared after the tears.
In June 1988 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave definitive judgement on Our Lady of Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.[4]
Sister Agnes only reported three messages from the Blessed Virgin during 1973, but the Virgin Mary Statue is reported to have continued to weep thereafter. The statue of the Virgin Mary at Akita is carved from a single block of wood from a tree and is about three feet tall. Sister Agnes reported that she first heard the statue calling her, and then the first message began.
Sister Agnes reports that in the first message the Virgin Mary asked her to recite a prayer of reparation together, and told her in 1973 that her deafness will be cured. The other reported messages ask for the praying of the rosary and to pray to repair the sins of others, as Acts of Reparation. The second message is said to have included the following:
"Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates."
The third alleged message warned of possible worldwide calamities if men did not repent and emphasized the need to pray the rosary. It allegedly stated that it was the final message to Sister Agnes and is said to have ended with the statement:
"Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."
During a Sunday Mass in 1982, the story goes that Sister Agnes was totally cured from her deafness. Bishop John Shojiro Ito of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Niigata who had been an eyewitness to some of the events at Akita initially approved the apparition in 1984. In 1988 he went to Rome to consult with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI). As the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Cardinal Ratzinger formally approved Our Lady of Akita as supernatural and worthy of belief.
FATHER OF ALL MANKIND
A LIFE IN HONOR TO THE HEAVENLY FATHER
as revealed to
MOTHER EUGENIA ELISABETTA RAVASIO
(1907-1990)
Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio (San Gervasio d’Adda, 4 September 1907 – 10 August 1990) was an Italian nun, visionary and mystic, from the Roman Catholic Church.
She was born in San Gervasio d’Adda (named now Capriate San Gervasio), a small town in the province of Bergamo, Italy, on 4 September 1907, in a family of peasant background.
She received only an elementary education. After a few years working in a factory, she entered the Congregation of Our Lady of the Apostles at the age of 20 years. It was here that her great charismatic personality developed, leading to her election as Mother General of the Congregation at the age of only 28.Social and apostolic work
Mother Ravasio performed significant amounts of work in the social field. In twelve years of missionary activity she opened over 70 centres - each with infirmary, school and church - in the remotest spots of Africa, Asia and Europe.
It was she who discovered the first medicine for the cure of leprosy, extracting it from the seed of a tropical plant. This medicine was later studied and developed further at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. She encouraged the apostolate of Raoul Follereau, who, following in her footsteps and building on the foundations laid by her, is regarded as the apostle of the lepers.
During the period 1939-41 she conceived, planned and brought to fruition the project for a “Lepers’ City” at Azopte (Ivory Coast). This was a vast centre, covering an area of 200,000 sq.m., for the care of leprosy sufferers.It remains even today one of Africa’s and the world’s leading centres of its kind.
In recognition of this achievement, France conferred the Couronne Civique, the highest national honour for social work, on the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, of which Mother Eugenia was Superior General from 1935 to 1947.Private revelations
Mother Ravasio reported a series of messages from God the Father, which were published as "The Father speaks to His children". The Bishop of Grenoble (who was mentioned in the messages) recognized these messages as authentic after ten years of examination. However, the Vatican has neither approved nor disapproved of these messages, and Catholics are not required to believe them. To date these are the only reported private revelation from God the Father that have been approved by a Bishop.
In her book, Mother Ravasio wrote that she personally saw God the Father and that God the Father sat next to her. On July 1, 1932, in Book 1, part 1, she quoted God the Father and wrote:
... "Look, I put aside my crown and all my glory to take the attitude of the common person"... After having taken the attitude of a common person, placing his crown and glory at his feet, he took the globe of the world to his heart. Supporting it with his left hand, then he sat down next to me...
Mother Ravasio also wrote messages from God the Father to Bishop Alexandre Caillot, who later approved of the book. In Book 1, part 3 she wrote:
"I also want to say a word to you, My son Alexander, so that My desires may be realized in the world. You must join with the father confessor of this “little plant” (Mother Eugenia) of My Son Jesus, in promoting this work"
Mother Ravasio also wrote of acts by the Devil. On August 12, 1932 she wrote that the Devil took the book and slashed its covers with a pair of scissors. On that day she also wrote of a new path to salvation and quoted God the Father as follows:
"ALL THOSE WHO CALL ME BY THE NAME OF FATHER, EVEN IF ONLY ONCE, WILL NOT PERISH, BUT WILL BE SURE OF THEIR ETERNAL LIFE AMONG THE CHOSEN ONES."
Approval and controversies
Mother Eugenia Ravasio's messages were approved by Bishop Alexander Caillot of Grenoble, who was mentioned in the messages. Bishop Caillot ordered an investigation, and after ten years issued a letter stating that the messages had a divine nature. In 1988 the messages received the imprimatur of Cardinal Petrus Canisius Van Lierde, Vicar General for the Vatican City State, whose general duties were the administration of daily functions of Vatican City. The imprimatur signified that in the Cardinal's opinion the messages contain nothing against faith and morals, but not certifying that the messages were received from God the Father. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Holy See, which is the official authority for approving private revelations on behalf of the Catholic Church has not approved Mother Ravasio's messages as authentic, nor issued an opinion on them.
As in all other private revelations, Catholics in general are not required to believe the messages of Mother Eugenia Ravasio. The decision about the authenticity of private revelations is left to the conscience of each individual Catholic.[1] Thus despite the approval letter and the imprimatur, some Catholic writers point to a number of specific doctrinal errors within the messages of Mother Eugenia Ravasio.
Given that the Catechism of the Catholic Church #239 specifically states that "God is neither man nor woman: he is God", some writers reason that the reported message that God the Father desired his image as an icon to be used in worship contradicts the Catholic teachings that God the Father is invisible and formless.[2][3]
Other Catholic writers have viewed some of Mother Ravasio's messages as heretical, e.g. the message stating that "a person can achieve eternal salvation, with certainty, merely by calling God by the name 'Father,' even only one time". The argument asserting the heretical nature of this statement relies on the assertion that this promise ignores and rejects all tradition, scripture, and the teachings of the Magisterium (e.g. cf.[4][5]) on the subject of salvation.[6]
as revealed to
MOTHER EUGENIA ELISABETTA RAVASIO
(1907-1990)
Mother Eugenia Elisabetta Ravasio (San Gervasio d’Adda, 4 September 1907 – 10 August 1990) was an Italian nun, visionary and mystic, from the Roman Catholic Church.
She was born in San Gervasio d’Adda (named now Capriate San Gervasio), a small town in the province of Bergamo, Italy, on 4 September 1907, in a family of peasant background.
She received only an elementary education. After a few years working in a factory, she entered the Congregation of Our Lady of the Apostles at the age of 20 years. It was here that her great charismatic personality developed, leading to her election as Mother General of the Congregation at the age of only 28.Social and apostolic work
Mother Ravasio performed significant amounts of work in the social field. In twelve years of missionary activity she opened over 70 centres - each with infirmary, school and church - in the remotest spots of Africa, Asia and Europe.
It was she who discovered the first medicine for the cure of leprosy, extracting it from the seed of a tropical plant. This medicine was later studied and developed further at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. She encouraged the apostolate of Raoul Follereau, who, following in her footsteps and building on the foundations laid by her, is regarded as the apostle of the lepers.
During the period 1939-41 she conceived, planned and brought to fruition the project for a “Lepers’ City” at Azopte (Ivory Coast). This was a vast centre, covering an area of 200,000 sq.m., for the care of leprosy sufferers.It remains even today one of Africa’s and the world’s leading centres of its kind.
In recognition of this achievement, France conferred the Couronne Civique, the highest national honour for social work, on the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, of which Mother Eugenia was Superior General from 1935 to 1947.Private revelations
Mother Ravasio reported a series of messages from God the Father, which were published as "The Father speaks to His children". The Bishop of Grenoble (who was mentioned in the messages) recognized these messages as authentic after ten years of examination. However, the Vatican has neither approved nor disapproved of these messages, and Catholics are not required to believe them. To date these are the only reported private revelation from God the Father that have been approved by a Bishop.
In her book, Mother Ravasio wrote that she personally saw God the Father and that God the Father sat next to her. On July 1, 1932, in Book 1, part 1, she quoted God the Father and wrote:
... "Look, I put aside my crown and all my glory to take the attitude of the common person"... After having taken the attitude of a common person, placing his crown and glory at his feet, he took the globe of the world to his heart. Supporting it with his left hand, then he sat down next to me...
Mother Ravasio also wrote messages from God the Father to Bishop Alexandre Caillot, who later approved of the book. In Book 1, part 3 she wrote:
"I also want to say a word to you, My son Alexander, so that My desires may be realized in the world. You must join with the father confessor of this “little plant” (Mother Eugenia) of My Son Jesus, in promoting this work"
Mother Ravasio also wrote of acts by the Devil. On August 12, 1932 she wrote that the Devil took the book and slashed its covers with a pair of scissors. On that day she also wrote of a new path to salvation and quoted God the Father as follows:
"ALL THOSE WHO CALL ME BY THE NAME OF FATHER, EVEN IF ONLY ONCE, WILL NOT PERISH, BUT WILL BE SURE OF THEIR ETERNAL LIFE AMONG THE CHOSEN ONES."
Approval and controversies
Mother Eugenia Ravasio's messages were approved by Bishop Alexander Caillot of Grenoble, who was mentioned in the messages. Bishop Caillot ordered an investigation, and after ten years issued a letter stating that the messages had a divine nature. In 1988 the messages received the imprimatur of Cardinal Petrus Canisius Van Lierde, Vicar General for the Vatican City State, whose general duties were the administration of daily functions of Vatican City. The imprimatur signified that in the Cardinal's opinion the messages contain nothing against faith and morals, but not certifying that the messages were received from God the Father. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Holy See, which is the official authority for approving private revelations on behalf of the Catholic Church has not approved Mother Ravasio's messages as authentic, nor issued an opinion on them.
As in all other private revelations, Catholics in general are not required to believe the messages of Mother Eugenia Ravasio. The decision about the authenticity of private revelations is left to the conscience of each individual Catholic.[1] Thus despite the approval letter and the imprimatur, some Catholic writers point to a number of specific doctrinal errors within the messages of Mother Eugenia Ravasio.
Given that the Catechism of the Catholic Church #239 specifically states that "God is neither man nor woman: he is God", some writers reason that the reported message that God the Father desired his image as an icon to be used in worship contradicts the Catholic teachings that God the Father is invisible and formless.[2][3]
Other Catholic writers have viewed some of Mother Ravasio's messages as heretical, e.g. the message stating that "a person can achieve eternal salvation, with certainty, merely by calling God by the name 'Father,' even only one time". The argument asserting the heretical nature of this statement relies on the assertion that this promise ignores and rejects all tradition, scripture, and the teachings of the Magisterium (e.g. cf.[4][5]) on the subject of salvation.[6]
True Life In GOD
VASSULA RYDEN
A VISSIONARY AND MYSTIC
Vassula Rydén was born in Egypt on January 18, 1942 into a Greek Orthodox family. She claims to have had two prophecy dreams in her childhood and visions of Jesus ever since 1985. She has composed the messages she claims to have received in a series of books called True Life In God. There are currently over 107 Notebooks compiled in 12 Volumes of the "True Life in God" series, which have been translated by volunteers into over 40 different languages. Since 1989 Vassula has spoken more than 800 times in over 63 countries and more than 90 times in the United States.Biography
Vassula Ryden, the daughter of Greek parents established in Egypt, was born on January 18, 1942 in Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo. She started school in Egypt, and then at the age of 15, she emigrated to Europe.
Starting at a very young age, she experienced terrifying nightmares, which she attributed to Satan. At the age of 10-12, she had mystic experiences, including a spiritual marriage with Jesus. During her teenage years, she says to have seen, on several occasions, the souls of dead people surrounding her. Afterwards, she became indifferent to religious matters.
In November 1966, she married a Lutheran man in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, at a Greek Orthodox Church. She later got divorced in Sweden in November 1980. In June 1981, she married her current husband, Per Ryden, a Swedish Lutheran, at the registry office. In 1990, she regularized her union in the Greek Orthodox Church and celebrated her religious marriage in Lausanne, on October 31, 1991. She has two sons, born in 1970 and 1976.
She declares herself Greek Orthodox. A polyglot, her everyday language is English.Genesis of the "True Life in God" messages
Towards the end of November in 1985, while living in Bangladesh, Vassula claims that an invisible being, who identified itself as her “guardian angel Daniel”, contacted her. The entity manifested itself by moving Vassula’s hand without her being able to control it, forming words and drawings. By these means, Vassula started to receive "messages" in English, usually about 4 to 6 hours of guided "dictation" per day.
Three months later, she experienced the brief intervention of another being, who identified himself as “God the Father”. The “guardian angel Daniel” then submitted her to a purification week, which was followed by the substitution of the “guardian angel Daniel” by an entity who identified itself as Jesus. This entity also uses the guided dictation of the messages to communicate, calling the messages the “True Life in God”. Other personalities also sporadically intervene: the Virgin Mary, Michael the Archangel, St Padre Pio, the Devil, etc.
The content of the messages are religious, a revival of biblical texts and teachings of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The main themes are Christian unity, adherence to the Pope, the closeness of a time of “purification” and the importance of making the messages known in order to end of the division among Christians and to a certain extent unite the Church.
To this day, the writings (several thousands of pages) have been translated and published into over 40 languages. Vassula Ryden maintains that it is not a channeling / spiritism phenomena such as automatic writing, and that the author of the messages is really Jesus Christ. Exorcist Father Christian Curty OFM, Marseille, describes Vassula's reception as "hieratic" (e.g. sacred) writings [1]. Other investigations of Vassula's works include that of world renowned Mariologist Theologian Father Rene Laurentin, who has since written two books on Vassula and her works.Prophecies of Vassula Ryden
In the message of September 11, 1991 (10 years to the day before the '9/11' events in New York of September 11, 2001) was written: "the earth will shiver and shake - and every evil built into Towers will collapse into a heap of rubble and be buried in the dust of sin! above, the Heavens will shake and the foundations of the earth will rock! " [1]
In the message of 10. January 1990 was written, that the Unity of Christians will come over night soon: "and Unity shall come upon you like Dawn and as sudden as the fall of communism; it shall come from God and your nations shall name it: the Great Miracle, the Blessed Day in your history" [2]Churches' stance on Vassula Ryden
In 1995, the Roman Catholic Church gave a negative opinion on the writings through the publication of a notification [2] by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which "several negative elements and errors are pointed out". It concludes by requesting the faithful "not to regard Mrs. Ryden's writings and speeches of divine or supernatural origin, but rather as the result of her private meditations".
After a request was made by Vassula in 2000 to the aforementioned congregation (the CDF), the then Cardinal Ratzinger invited Vassula, in 2002, to answer five questions [see http://www.tlig.org/cdf.html] about her messages and its relation to the Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition. Vassula sent her replies to the Congregation later that same year. At the ending of this dialogue, the former president of the CDF, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - Now Pope Benedict XVI asked Vassula to publish the full correspondence between herself and the CDF in the published TLIG books. Later still, the Cardinal wrote a letter, dated 10 July 2004, to five episcopal conferences who had been negative about Vassula and her writings indicating that she had given "useful clarifications regarding her marital situation, as well as some difficulties which in the aforesaid Notification were suggested towards her writings and her participation in the sacraments" [3]. In 2005, the True Life in God writings were granted a Nihil obstat by Bishop Felix Toppo S.J. (India) and Imprimatur by Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles (Philippines).
In 2007, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, William Cardinal Levada, following continued requests for clarifications on the writings and activities of Vassula, sent a letter [4] to the Catholic hierarchy around the world confirming that the Notification of 1995 remained valid. The letter, dated 25 January 2007, requires -- regarding the reading of the writings -- "a case by case prudential judgement". The Congregation cautions bluntly but gently against participation of the faithful in True Life in God prayer groups: "Finally, it remains inappropriate for Catholics to take part in prayer groups established by Mrs Ryden."
However, to date there continues to be confusion and apparent conflict with previous statements from the CDF. Many Catholic Clergy, including Bishops and Cardinals, have chosen to continue their support for Vassula Ryden and even promote TLIG. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, in a statement he made to his Archdiocese dated June 2009, said regarding Vassula that:
Another matter of interest is her relationship with the Holy See. She enjoys cordial relations with many of the top officials at the Vatican who are anything but negative towards her. It is therefore reasonable to state categorically that as far as the Church is concerned Vassula poses no threat to the Catholic Faith whatsoever. Indeed the messages which are communicated through her are consistent with the Church's own call to repentance and a return to the basics of the faith - in particular the basic prayers such as the Rosary and other devotions once so common in Catholic family and parish spiritual life.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VASSULA RYDEN MESSAGES PLEASE SEARCH THE WEBSITE www.tlig.org
A VISSIONARY AND MYSTIC
Vassula Rydén was born in Egypt on January 18, 1942 into a Greek Orthodox family. She claims to have had two prophecy dreams in her childhood and visions of Jesus ever since 1985. She has composed the messages she claims to have received in a series of books called True Life In God. There are currently over 107 Notebooks compiled in 12 Volumes of the "True Life in God" series, which have been translated by volunteers into over 40 different languages. Since 1989 Vassula has spoken more than 800 times in over 63 countries and more than 90 times in the United States.Biography
Vassula Ryden, the daughter of Greek parents established in Egypt, was born on January 18, 1942 in Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo. She started school in Egypt, and then at the age of 15, she emigrated to Europe.
Starting at a very young age, she experienced terrifying nightmares, which she attributed to Satan. At the age of 10-12, she had mystic experiences, including a spiritual marriage with Jesus. During her teenage years, she says to have seen, on several occasions, the souls of dead people surrounding her. Afterwards, she became indifferent to religious matters.
In November 1966, she married a Lutheran man in the city of Lausanne, Switzerland, at a Greek Orthodox Church. She later got divorced in Sweden in November 1980. In June 1981, she married her current husband, Per Ryden, a Swedish Lutheran, at the registry office. In 1990, she regularized her union in the Greek Orthodox Church and celebrated her religious marriage in Lausanne, on October 31, 1991. She has two sons, born in 1970 and 1976.
She declares herself Greek Orthodox. A polyglot, her everyday language is English.Genesis of the "True Life in God" messages
Towards the end of November in 1985, while living in Bangladesh, Vassula claims that an invisible being, who identified itself as her “guardian angel Daniel”, contacted her. The entity manifested itself by moving Vassula’s hand without her being able to control it, forming words and drawings. By these means, Vassula started to receive "messages" in English, usually about 4 to 6 hours of guided "dictation" per day.
Three months later, she experienced the brief intervention of another being, who identified himself as “God the Father”. The “guardian angel Daniel” then submitted her to a purification week, which was followed by the substitution of the “guardian angel Daniel” by an entity who identified itself as Jesus. This entity also uses the guided dictation of the messages to communicate, calling the messages the “True Life in God”. Other personalities also sporadically intervene: the Virgin Mary, Michael the Archangel, St Padre Pio, the Devil, etc.
The content of the messages are religious, a revival of biblical texts and teachings of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The main themes are Christian unity, adherence to the Pope, the closeness of a time of “purification” and the importance of making the messages known in order to end of the division among Christians and to a certain extent unite the Church.
To this day, the writings (several thousands of pages) have been translated and published into over 40 languages. Vassula Ryden maintains that it is not a channeling / spiritism phenomena such as automatic writing, and that the author of the messages is really Jesus Christ. Exorcist Father Christian Curty OFM, Marseille, describes Vassula's reception as "hieratic" (e.g. sacred) writings [1]. Other investigations of Vassula's works include that of world renowned Mariologist Theologian Father Rene Laurentin, who has since written two books on Vassula and her works.Prophecies of Vassula Ryden
In the message of September 11, 1991 (10 years to the day before the '9/11' events in New York of September 11, 2001) was written: "the earth will shiver and shake - and every evil built into Towers will collapse into a heap of rubble and be buried in the dust of sin! above, the Heavens will shake and the foundations of the earth will rock! " [1]
In the message of 10. January 1990 was written, that the Unity of Christians will come over night soon: "and Unity shall come upon you like Dawn and as sudden as the fall of communism; it shall come from God and your nations shall name it: the Great Miracle, the Blessed Day in your history" [2]Churches' stance on Vassula Ryden
In 1995, the Roman Catholic Church gave a negative opinion on the writings through the publication of a notification [2] by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which "several negative elements and errors are pointed out". It concludes by requesting the faithful "not to regard Mrs. Ryden's writings and speeches of divine or supernatural origin, but rather as the result of her private meditations".
After a request was made by Vassula in 2000 to the aforementioned congregation (the CDF), the then Cardinal Ratzinger invited Vassula, in 2002, to answer five questions [see http://www.tlig.org/cdf.html] about her messages and its relation to the Holy Bible and Sacred Tradition. Vassula sent her replies to the Congregation later that same year. At the ending of this dialogue, the former president of the CDF, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - Now Pope Benedict XVI asked Vassula to publish the full correspondence between herself and the CDF in the published TLIG books. Later still, the Cardinal wrote a letter, dated 10 July 2004, to five episcopal conferences who had been negative about Vassula and her writings indicating that she had given "useful clarifications regarding her marital situation, as well as some difficulties which in the aforesaid Notification were suggested towards her writings and her participation in the sacraments" [3]. In 2005, the True Life in God writings were granted a Nihil obstat by Bishop Felix Toppo S.J. (India) and Imprimatur by Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles (Philippines).
In 2007, the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, William Cardinal Levada, following continued requests for clarifications on the writings and activities of Vassula, sent a letter [4] to the Catholic hierarchy around the world confirming that the Notification of 1995 remained valid. The letter, dated 25 January 2007, requires -- regarding the reading of the writings -- "a case by case prudential judgement". The Congregation cautions bluntly but gently against participation of the faithful in True Life in God prayer groups: "Finally, it remains inappropriate for Catholics to take part in prayer groups established by Mrs Ryden."
However, to date there continues to be confusion and apparent conflict with previous statements from the CDF. Many Catholic Clergy, including Bishops and Cardinals, have chosen to continue their support for Vassula Ryden and even promote TLIG. Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, in a statement he made to his Archdiocese dated June 2009, said regarding Vassula that:
Another matter of interest is her relationship with the Holy See. She enjoys cordial relations with many of the top officials at the Vatican who are anything but negative towards her. It is therefore reasonable to state categorically that as far as the Church is concerned Vassula poses no threat to the Catholic Faith whatsoever. Indeed the messages which are communicated through her are consistent with the Church's own call to repentance and a return to the basics of the faith - in particular the basic prayers such as the Rosary and other devotions once so common in Catholic family and parish spiritual life.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT VASSULA RYDEN MESSAGES PLEASE SEARCH THE WEBSITE www.tlig.org
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sister Faustina Kwalska
Early life
Helena Kowalska was the third of ten children born to a poor family. At the age of fifteen, having attended just three years of school, she started work to support her family. At the age of 20 she was considering a vocation in the Catholic church and felt and believed that God was calling her to be a nun.
Vocation
Helena left for Warsaw, and applied to various convents in the capital, only to be turned down each time. She was finally accepted at the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She was eventually initiated as a nun on April 30, 1926, with the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.
Visions
Sister Faustina reported having seen Christ in Purgatory, having seen and spoken to Jesus and Mary several times. She wrote that Jesus revealed to her, her purpose: to spread the devotion of the Mercy of God. In Płock on February 22, 1931, she said that Jesus appeared as the 'King of Divine Mercy', wearing a white garment. His right hand was raised in a sign of blessing and the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment emanated two large rays, one red, the other white. Acting upon orders she said she received from Christ, Faustina had a picture of this vision painted. With the help of Father Michał Sopoćko, she distributed the images at Kraków and Vilnius (Wilno), and people began to pray before them.
Faustina kept a diary, despite her limited literacy. The diary was later published under the title Divine Mercy in My Soul: The Diary of St. Faustina.
She wanted to found a "Congregation which would have proclaimed the Mercy of God to the world, and, by its prayers, obtain it for the world." She was repeatedly denied leave by her superiors.
In 1935, she had a vision which described what is now called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
In 1936, Faustina became ill, since speculated to be tuberculosis. She was moved to the sanatorium in Pradnik.
She continued to spend much time in prayer, reciting the chaplet and praying for the conversion of sinners. The last two years of her life were spent praying and keeping her diary. By June 1938, she could no longer write. She died on October 5. When Faustina's superior was cleaning out her room she opened the drawer and found the paintings of the Divine Mercy.
[edit] Index of Forbidden Books
After the death of St. Faustina, the nuns at her convent sent her writings to the Vatican. Prior to 1966, any reported visions of Jesus and Mary required approval from the Holy See before they could be released to the public.
After a failed attempt to persuade Pope Pius XII to sign a condemnation, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani at the Holy Office included her works on a list he submitted to the newly elected Pope John XXIII in 1959. [6] The Pope signed the decree that placed her work on the Index of Forbidden Books and they remained on the Index for over 20 years. Father Sopoćko was harshly reprimanded, and all his work was suppressed. However, Eugeniusz Baziak, the archbishop of Kraków, permitted the nuns to leave the original picture hanging in their chapel so that those who wished to continue to pray before it could do so.
The current position of the Vatican is that misunderstandings were created by a faulty Italian translation of Kowalska's Diary in that the questionable material could not be correlated with the original Polish version because of difficulties in communication throughout World War II and the subsequent Communist era.
However, an article in the National Catholic Reporter suggests that the ban stemmed from more serious theological issues. For instance, her claim that Jesus had promised a complete remission of sin for certain devotional acts that only the sacraments can offer, and what Vatican evaluators felt to be an excessive focus on Faustina herself ran contrary to the views at the Holy Office.
Canonization and Institution of Divine Mercy Sunday
When Karol Wojtyła (the future Pope John Paul II) became Archbishop of Kraków, a new investigation into the life and diary of St. Faustina was launched, and the devotion to the Divine Mercy was once again permitted. Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, John Paul II's successor as archbishop of Krakow, said that Faustina "reminds us of the gospel we had forgotten."
Faustina was beatified on April 18, 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated the Second Sunday of Easter (which is the first Sunday after Easter).
“ Indeed the message [St. Faustina] brought is the appropriate and incisive answer that God wanted to offer to the questions and expectations of human beings in our time, marked by terrible tragedies. ”
—Pope John Paul II -Divine Mercy Sunday Homily,Sunday, 22 April 2001
The fact that her Vatican biography directly quotes some of her conversations with Jesus distinguishes her among the many reported visions of Jesus and Mary.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIVINE MERCY MESSAGE TO ST. FAUSTINA KOWALSKA PLEASE VISIT TO GOOGLE AND SEARCH THE NAME OF ST.FAUSTINA KOWALSKA AND www.marian.org
Helena Kowalska was the third of ten children born to a poor family. At the age of fifteen, having attended just three years of school, she started work to support her family. At the age of 20 she was considering a vocation in the Catholic church and felt and believed that God was calling her to be a nun.
Vocation
Helena left for Warsaw, and applied to various convents in the capital, only to be turned down each time. She was finally accepted at the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She was eventually initiated as a nun on April 30, 1926, with the name Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.
Visions
Sister Faustina reported having seen Christ in Purgatory, having seen and spoken to Jesus and Mary several times. She wrote that Jesus revealed to her, her purpose: to spread the devotion of the Mercy of God. In Płock on February 22, 1931, she said that Jesus appeared as the 'King of Divine Mercy', wearing a white garment. His right hand was raised in a sign of blessing and the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment emanated two large rays, one red, the other white. Acting upon orders she said she received from Christ, Faustina had a picture of this vision painted. With the help of Father Michał Sopoćko, she distributed the images at Kraków and Vilnius (Wilno), and people began to pray before them.
Faustina kept a diary, despite her limited literacy. The diary was later published under the title Divine Mercy in My Soul: The Diary of St. Faustina.
She wanted to found a "Congregation which would have proclaimed the Mercy of God to the world, and, by its prayers, obtain it for the world." She was repeatedly denied leave by her superiors.
In 1935, she had a vision which described what is now called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
In 1936, Faustina became ill, since speculated to be tuberculosis. She was moved to the sanatorium in Pradnik.
She continued to spend much time in prayer, reciting the chaplet and praying for the conversion of sinners. The last two years of her life were spent praying and keeping her diary. By June 1938, she could no longer write. She died on October 5. When Faustina's superior was cleaning out her room she opened the drawer and found the paintings of the Divine Mercy.
[edit] Index of Forbidden Books
After the death of St. Faustina, the nuns at her convent sent her writings to the Vatican. Prior to 1966, any reported visions of Jesus and Mary required approval from the Holy See before they could be released to the public.
After a failed attempt to persuade Pope Pius XII to sign a condemnation, Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani at the Holy Office included her works on a list he submitted to the newly elected Pope John XXIII in 1959. [6] The Pope signed the decree that placed her work on the Index of Forbidden Books and they remained on the Index for over 20 years. Father Sopoćko was harshly reprimanded, and all his work was suppressed. However, Eugeniusz Baziak, the archbishop of Kraków, permitted the nuns to leave the original picture hanging in their chapel so that those who wished to continue to pray before it could do so.
The current position of the Vatican is that misunderstandings were created by a faulty Italian translation of Kowalska's Diary in that the questionable material could not be correlated with the original Polish version because of difficulties in communication throughout World War II and the subsequent Communist era.
However, an article in the National Catholic Reporter suggests that the ban stemmed from more serious theological issues. For instance, her claim that Jesus had promised a complete remission of sin for certain devotional acts that only the sacraments can offer, and what Vatican evaluators felt to be an excessive focus on Faustina herself ran contrary to the views at the Holy Office.
Canonization and Institution of Divine Mercy Sunday
When Karol Wojtyła (the future Pope John Paul II) became Archbishop of Kraków, a new investigation into the life and diary of St. Faustina was launched, and the devotion to the Divine Mercy was once again permitted. Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, John Paul II's successor as archbishop of Krakow, said that Faustina "reminds us of the gospel we had forgotten."
Faustina was beatified on April 18, 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated the Second Sunday of Easter (which is the first Sunday after Easter).
“ Indeed the message [St. Faustina] brought is the appropriate and incisive answer that God wanted to offer to the questions and expectations of human beings in our time, marked by terrible tragedies. ”
—Pope John Paul II -Divine Mercy Sunday Homily,Sunday, 22 April 2001
The fact that her Vatican biography directly quotes some of her conversations with Jesus distinguishes her among the many reported visions of Jesus and Mary.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DIVINE MERCY MESSAGE TO ST. FAUSTINA KOWALSKA PLEASE VISIT TO GOOGLE AND SEARCH THE NAME OF ST.FAUSTINA KOWALSKA AND www.marian.org
Psalm 8:
" Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, You affirm Your power against Your enemies.
Some visionaries, mystics and apparitions.
1. Sr. Faustina Kowalska (Divine Mercy message)
2. Mo. Eugenia Elizabetta Ravasio (A life in honor of God the Father)
3. Father Stefano Gobbi ( Marian Movement of Priests)
4. Vasula Ryden ( True Life in God)
5. Sr. Agnes Sasagawa(Our Lady of Akita Japan)
6. Julia Yoon Hung Sun (Naju, Korea)
7. Anne, a Lay Apostle (Direction for Our Times)
8. Our Lady of Medjugorje
9. Emmanuel Segastasya (Rwanda, Africa)
10. Alposine Mumuruke (Rwanda, Africa)
11. Josyp Tereya ( Ukraine, Soviet Union)
12. Wladyslaw Biernacki ( Polish Poland)
13. Sr. Marie of St. Peter(Tours, France) (Holy Face of Jesus)
14. Pierina de Micheli ( Holy Face of Jesus)
15. Our Lady of the Knock
16. Bernadeth Souvirous ( Our Lady of Lourdes)
17. St. Catherine Laboure ( The Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Conception)
I hope you find time to read this messages.
Some visionaries, mystics and apparitions.
1. Sr. Faustina Kowalska (Divine Mercy message)
2. Mo. Eugenia Elizabetta Ravasio (A life in honor of God the Father)
3. Father Stefano Gobbi ( Marian Movement of Priests)
4. Vasula Ryden ( True Life in God)
5. Sr. Agnes Sasagawa(Our Lady of Akita Japan)
6. Julia Yoon Hung Sun (Naju, Korea)
7. Anne, a Lay Apostle (Direction for Our Times)
8. Our Lady of Medjugorje
9. Emmanuel Segastasya (Rwanda, Africa)
10. Alposine Mumuruke (Rwanda, Africa)
11. Josyp Tereya ( Ukraine, Soviet Union)
12. Wladyslaw Biernacki ( Polish Poland)
13. Sr. Marie of St. Peter(Tours, France) (Holy Face of Jesus)
14. Pierina de Micheli ( Holy Face of Jesus)
15. Our Lady of the Knock
16. Bernadeth Souvirous ( Our Lady of Lourdes)
17. St. Catherine Laboure ( The Miraculous Medal of the Immaculate Conception)
I hope you find time to read this messages.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Our Lady of Fatima Vissionaries
1.Jacinta
2.Francisco Marto
3.Lucia dos Santos
The Fatima message contains a secret which our Lady had asked the three little children,Lucia,Francisco and Jacinta in 1917 at Fatima.
The first was a terrible vision of suffering souls burning in the fires of hell after which the children were told of God's wish to establish the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the conversion of poor sinners and to bring peace to mankind.
A little devotion practiced with a good heart is enough to receive infallibly for us, so to speak as with the sacraments, the grace of eternal salvation.
In describing the apparitions and explaining the message of Pontevedra.
" If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved... I will come to ask you for... The communion of the Reparation on the first Saturdays of the month.
The great promise and its conditions...
1. The First Saturday of five consecutive months
2. Confession
3. The communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays
4. Recitation of the Holy Rosary
5. The 15-minute meditation on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary
6. The intention of making Reparation
Our Lady of Fatima said, " If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecution of the church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be annihilated. In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted and a period of peace will be granted to the world. For more information please inquire at
www.fatimashoppe.org
2.Francisco Marto
3.Lucia dos Santos
The Fatima message contains a secret which our Lady had asked the three little children,Lucia,Francisco and Jacinta in 1917 at Fatima.
The first was a terrible vision of suffering souls burning in the fires of hell after which the children were told of God's wish to establish the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the conversion of poor sinners and to bring peace to mankind.
A little devotion practiced with a good heart is enough to receive infallibly for us, so to speak as with the sacraments, the grace of eternal salvation.
In describing the apparitions and explaining the message of Pontevedra.
" If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved... I will come to ask you for... The communion of the Reparation on the first Saturdays of the month.
The great promise and its conditions...
1. The First Saturday of five consecutive months
2. Confession
3. The communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays
4. Recitation of the Holy Rosary
5. The 15-minute meditation on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary
6. The intention of making Reparation
Our Lady of Fatima said, " If my wishes are fulfilled, Russia will be converted and there will be peace. If not she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecution of the church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be annihilated. In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted and a period of peace will be granted to the world. For more information please inquire at
www.fatimashoppe.org
new starting
Peace , Joy and Love of Jesus Christ , Mary and St.Joseph be with you.
I have created this blog with the purpose of spreading out the message of GOD with the way of enlisting some of the prophets that has been revealed to us this days we are entrusted with the responsibility to help spread out few heavenly messages came from GOD.I hope that all the person who will know this website would understand GOD's real purpose for us.
I have created this blog with the purpose of spreading out the message of GOD with the way of enlisting some of the prophets that has been revealed to us this days we are entrusted with the responsibility to help spread out few heavenly messages came from GOD.I hope that all the person who will know this website would understand GOD's real purpose for us.
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