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Six Popular Apparitions of Mary
Introduction
There are many noted and recorded apparitions of the Blessed Virgin
Mary in different parts of the world. Of these apparitions, she
appears often to children and youths of various races and cultures.
The messages she presents to these young people are for the Church
as a whole, but the revelation is either public or private. In some
apparitions, the vision of the Blessed Virgin is accompanied by
miraculous signs and wonders.
Because the revelations and the signs
still have to be authenticated, the Catholic Church takes a very
conservative stance towards all these apparitions. A Marian
apparition thus does not receive approbation easily and may take
time before all studies and investigations have been made by the
Church authorities. It is to be noted that these authorities
have as their norm for authenticity the nearness of the apparition
messages to the gospel teaching. If the messages of the visionaries
who saw the Blessed Mary only repeats what the gospel teaches and
says nothing beyond it, then the apparition may be valued as
genuine and true.
Six popular Marian apparitions
There are many popular Marian apparitions. This article will
limit itself to six apparitions that have worldwide appeal
and popularity: La Salette, Lourdes, Mt. Carmel, the Miraculous
Medal, Fatima and Guadalupe. All of these apparitions happened
in countries of the European continent; the only exception is
the apparition at Guadalupe, Mexico.
La Salette
On September 19, 1846, the Blessed Mother appeared to two
young cowherds on a mountain of the French Alps in the village
called La Salette. These two young children saw Mary dressed
in white and weeping bitterly throughout their conversation.
The message she imparted to the children is a message calling
the people to repent and show more respect for God's law,
especially the first three commandments of the 10 commandments.
This apparition of the Blessed Mother at La Salette produced
many La Salette Shrines and Pilgrimage Centers throughout the
Catholic world.
Lourdes
On February 11, 1858, the Blessed Virgin appeared to a young
girl named Bernadette Soubirous. Bernadette saw the vision
of Mary in a grotto of Lourdes, France while she and two
other girls were collecting firewood out in the countryside.
The vision presented a beatiful lady dressed in white and wearing
a blue belt with a rosary in her hands and two golden roses
at her feet. At first, Bernadette was unaware of who this
young lady was. When she asked her name, the lady replied:
I am the Immaculate Conception. The lady then told
Bernadette of the spring that was miraculous and has healing
powers. This grotto at Lourdes soon attracted millions of
people who go there to pray and drink the miraculous water.
Mt. Carmel
On July 16, 1521, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Simon
Stock, the head of the Carmelite Brothers in England. She
gave to St. Simon a Brown Scapular as a sign of her special
protection and accompanied by a promise that all "who will
wear it devoutly will have a happy death". Another favor
attached to this Brown Scapular is the promise that the
Blessed Mother will assist and console all the children of
Carmel detained in Purgatory - speedily releasing them on the
first Saturday after their death. The Carmelites trace their
roots to 83 A.D. when the first church dedicated to the
Immaculate Mother of God was founded on Mt. Carmel, a beatiful
promontory in Israel facing the Mediterrenean Sea. Since
then, many foundations of Carmel spread all over Europe.
Miraculous Medal
In 1830, when Catherine Labouré was a 24-year-old novice of the
Daughters of Charity in France, she saw the Virgin Mary three times.
The first apparition occured in July 18, 1830. It was in November
27 when the Virgin Mary showed Catherine the "Miraculous Medal"
and commissioned the saint to have one made and to spread its
devotion. This apparition of Mary is a private revelation and
only Father Aladel, the spiritual director of St. Catherine
Labouré, knew about it. In time Catherine gave word so that
the devotion would spread. The Miraculous Medal shows the image
of Mary atop a white ball with rays of light emanating from her
hands. Surrounding this image are the words, "O Mary conceived
without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee." The
Blessed Mother gives the assurance that whoever would wear the
medal with confidence would obtain great graces from heaven.
Fatima
On October 13, 1917, a great miracle happened. As 70,000
people watched apprehensively at the scene of three young
children in Fatima, Portugal, the sun suddenly whirled
like a gigantic fire-wheel and started to make a plunge
at a dizzying speed towards the earth. It was a rainy day
and that miracle of the sun suddenly made all things dry.
This was the culmination of a series of mysterious events
in which the Blessed Mother gave her messages to three young
Portuguese children [starting May 13, 1917] about events
which were to have earth-shaking consequences. Sister
Lucia, who recently passed away, holds the secret of those
messages. She has revealed these messages only to the
papacy.
Guadalupe
At dawn of December 9, 1531, on his way to church, Juan
Diego saw the Blessed Mother shining like the sun and
stepping over precious stones. She said to him that it
is her wish that a church be built there where she could
show all her love, compassion, help and protection. Juan
Diego was involved in the textile industry and was a simple
layman. When Juan Diego carried the message of the vision
to the bishop, the bishop did not believe. The bishop asked
for a sign from Juan Diego. The Blessed Mother then told
Juan Diego to wrap all the roses he could find on the hill
in a mantle and then present it to the bishop. Juan Diego
did as Mary wanted and when he opened the mantle to
present the roses to the bishop, the miraculous image of
the Virgin Mary appeared on it. And so the bishop believed
and a church was built on the place of the apparitions.
That was in Guadalupe, a locality in Mexico.
Summary:
The Catholic faith always stresses that the Blessed Virgin
Mary has a unique role in the salvation of humanity. This role
we see through the messages she gives in her apparitions to
people all over the world. In her messages, the Blessed Virgin
only stresses what the gospel always teaches us: to repent of
our sins and to return to the Lord with prayer, fasting and
penance. Those who are not Catholic often do not see the
special role that Mary has in the salvation of the world. It
is through her appearances and the messages in which her
visionaries give to the world that help many to understand
her significant and vital role in leading people to her Son
Jesus and listening intently to His teaching.
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