We are nearing the 100 year anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Fatima. We'll discuss Fatima in a later post, but since we already spoke about Mary in our previous post (about Catholics and whether or not we worship Mary or merely honor her), I thought this would be a good Segway into talking about Marian apparitions.
Apparitions of our Mother Mary are basically exactly that. God chooses someone of innocence and piety (usually a young child) to send Mary to appear before with a message. Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe. All famous apparitions.
The church has very strict ways of approving or disapproving Marian apparitions.(and contrary to popular belief, there are more that have not been approved than have been approved. The church doesn't automatically buy every story of a miraculous vision.)
There are positive tests and negative tests that are performed multiple times to test the alleged apparitions.
In short: Positive tests include:
- 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
- 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.)
- Evaluation of the content of the revelations themselves (that they do not disagree with faith and morals of the Church, freedom from theological errors)
- 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.)
- Glaring errors in regard to the facts
- Doctrinal errors attributed to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to the Holy Spirit in how they appear
- Any pursuit of financial gain in relation to the alleged event
- Gravely immoral acts committed by the person or those associated with the person at the time of the event
- Psychological disorders or tendencies on the part of the person or persons associated
These are only a few of the test criteria in the initial phases of determining if further research on the apparitions are necessary.
Because the devil is a great deceiver, great care is taken with consideration for anything. Miracles attributed to would be saints before they're able to be canonized, apparitions, personal revelations, etc.
It is not as if the church completely agrees with anything related to the appearance of Mary or any other religious figure, without question to be sure these apparitions are of God.
For Example: If Mary requests to be worshiped, if she requests that you focus on things outside of God... it is most likely a false apparition - whether mental illness or demonic intervention.
Again, there are apparitions that have met the criteria of the Church to be accepted.
Apparitions approved by the church:
1. Guadalupe, Mexico (1531)
2. Lesajk, Poland (1578)
3. Siluva, Lithuania (1608)
4. Laus, France (1664)
5. Rue Du Bac, Paris, France (1830)
6. Rome, Italy (1842)
7. Lourdes, France (1858)
8. Filippsdorf, Czech Republic (1866)
9. Pontmain, France (1871)
10. Gietrzwald, Poland (1877)
11. Knock, Ireland (1879)
12. Fatima, Portugal (1917)
13. Beauraing, Belgium (1932)
14. Banneux, Belgium (1933)
15. Kibeho, Rwanda (1981)
There is an apparition site in Green Bay, WI at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help that is the first Church approved apparition in the United States: however, it is to be noted that it is approved by the Bishops of the United States. The Vatican has made no decision on the case... so it's "unofficially approved" at this time.
In these apparitions, there were many things that held true.
1. Mary did not ask to be personally worshiped. Some people confuse Mary asking for a chapel to be built in her honor as requesting to be worshiped. A chapel is where the word of God is read... so a chapel is for God, not Mary. She simply asks that it be built at the site where she appeared, and be named in her honor as a memory of her messages. It's not that different from the basement in my church. The basement is used as a dining hall for church functions, and when a beloved priest who had been there for 15 years was transferred to another parish, the church officials named the hall after him "IN HIS HONOR". Not to mention, If God is our Father, and Christ our brother (as he has called us his brothers and sisters) then Mary is our mother and should be respected.
2. She prayed to God along with those she appeared to. In instances of demonic visions posing as saints or our Blessed Mother to trick us, the words praising God can not leave it's lips, so if Mary can not praise God, it is not Mary.
3. The apparitions brought the visionaries and those who came to believe into a closer relationship with God, helping people live more moral lives, and live according to the laws of the Church.
4. Some of the messages are warnings - a call to prayer and penance. True Marian apparitions are always a call to prayer, not to Mary, but to God.
In Fatima's apparition, the Blessed mother is constantly telling the children "God commands this", "God requests that", "God's signs", "God's miracles". It wasn't about Mary - it was about what God wanted. She stated that if people did not stop offending God, the world would fall into more turmoil.
Protestants often cite the children saying that Mary told them they would find salvation through her immaculate heart, stating salvation is through God alone, so these apparitions must be demonic.
Mary's message of Salvation is greatly misinterpreted. She is not saying that she personally offers salvation - it is known among Catholics, that she intercedes on our behalf. She pleads our case to God, she prays for us. She will help us in obtaining the Salvation of God by interceding and praying. Not that she will give it. She is our mother, and as our mother, she will help us gain salvation through Christ her son.
Going back to Mary's messages in the apparitions... In the Lourdes apparitions, Mary told St. Bernadette to "pray to God for sinners". Not pray to her, not devote sinners to her and she will redeem them... but to pray to God." While Bernadette did not make everything the lady told her known (as it was for her ears only), the one constant was that Mary wanted people to pray to GOD for the sinners of the world.
In the apparition of Rome, Italy back in the 1800s, Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne's brother converted from Judaism to Christianity, and became a Catholic priest. Ratisbonne decided to refuse to speak to his brother again and began a deep seeded hatred for Christians, Catholics in specific. as he aged, his hatred for Catholics grew.
at 28 he was engaged to his own niece and planned to marry the following August. in a series of what he would have then called "misfortunes" he found his way to an old friend who introduces him to his brother. this brother gives Ratisbonne a challenge. To wear a miraculous medal and asked him to perform a specific prayer written by St Benedict, every morning.
Ratisbonne agrees, but continues to insult the faith with more fervor.
Not long after he begins to (somewhat mockingly) do as he was asked, he meets with an apparition of Mary. Mary did not speak to him, she gave him no message, she simply was... and he knew without a word.
When his friend's brother reencounters Ratisbonne and sees the state he is in, he asks him what is wrong. Ratisbonne says it is nothing he can explain except on his knees to a priest.
Ratisbonne eventually converts to Catholicism and himself becomes a very devout priest.
This was the Blessed Mother's mission. To convert someone whose heart was full of hate for those who followed Christ... to love Christ with all his heart.
In the Banneux, Belgium apparition, Mary promised to intercede on behalf of the poor, the sick and the suffering. She did not say she would heal them personally, she would forgive sins, or anything that would make her seem on level with God... she simply said she would intercede on their behalf TO God.
Siluva, Lithuania's apparition, a Calvinist pastor believed apparitions seen by children were demonic in nature and "Roman Superstition" until he stumbled upon a weeping woman of the children's description. When he asked her what was wrong, she wept that where she sat, her son use to be worshiped by his people. Now the sacred soil was given to the animals and the plowman. See, before the apparitions began, the new governor of the town was a Calvinist, and he confiscated the land from a Catholic church. after 80 years, the Catholic church left the area leaving only the Calvinist faith.
The land eventually came back to the Catholic church, and a church was built that included a "free of charge" school for the children. It is believed Mary was able to help procure the church back by the grace of God.
The common theme in all the apparitions,
Mary wants us to pray to GOD.
Mary wants people to return to God and stop sinning.
Mary converted someone who hated Christ, into someone who only lived for Christ.
Those who were faithful were strengthened in their faith.
Those who were straying were led back.
She came as a messenger for God. That is how we know the apparitions are true.
- God Bless -
I Say Amen
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