The Marian Apparitions Of Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, Guadalupe And Others

edited by D. Artusi

 

Since the Middle Ages the Catholic Church has received a very large number of testimonies of alleged supernatural manifestations. Although many of these manifestations have been discredited or rejected in recent times, the apparitions remain a particularly attractive element for Catholics. Several people in the past have claimed to have seen apparitions of various saints (such as in the recent case of Padre Pio). But the most frequent apparition of all is that of the Virgin Mary.

The Marian apparitions we want to refer to in this article are:

• that of Guadalupe, Mexico (1531), where the devotion of "Our Lady of Guadalupe" was born;
• that of Lourdes, France (1858), where the fourteen-year-old Bernardette Soubirous claimed to have received 18 apparitions of the virgin Mary, who would have confided to her 3 "secrets" that she should not have revealed (recently there has also been talk of new revelations of Lourdes);
• that of Fatima, Portugal (1917), where 3 children would have witnessed 6 different apparitions, receiving prophecies and visions; the message of Fatima is very similar to that of Lourdes, as regards prayer and repentance, but it also explains how this must happen: through the recitation of the rosary and "the devotion of the whole world to the immaculate heart of Mary" ( therefore not through faith in Christ, but through Marian worship combined with the custom of reciting numerous prayers, which Jesus condemned in the Gospel); the apparition finally declared to be "the Lady of the Rosary";
• those of Beauraing and Banneux, Belgium (1933), where there were 33 apparitions of the one who called herself "the Immaculate Virgin", "the Mother of God", and the "Queen of Heaven";
• that of Bayside, New York (1970), where a housewife claimed to receive regular visits from the "blessed virgin Mary"; the apparition was called "Our Lord of the Roses, Mary help of mothers", and wanted a temple and a basilica to be built;
• the most recent, that of Medjugorje, Yugoslavia (1981), where 6 young Croatians claimed to communicate almost every day with an apparition who identified themselves as the "blessed virgin Mary", and encouraged young people to recite various Catholic prayers; moreover, the young people would also appear Jesus, the devil, angels, dead relatives (a girl would also kiss the spirit of her dead mother, which the word of God condemns as necromancy), and they would have visions and received gods. "secrets" and messages to be revealed in due course; until today, the number of such apparitions would have reached about 2500;
• and also those of: Rue du Bac, Paris (1830); La Salette, France (1846); Pontmain, France (1871); and Knock, Ireland (1879).

The most authoritative living Mariologist, Father René Laurentin, counted about 1800 Marian apparitions, stating that, however, those that the Catholic Church considers authentic are only 12, while investigations are underway on the others.

There is much to say about the results of the investigations launched in the various cases by the Catholic Church, aimed at ascertaining the authenticity of the apparitions, and often ended with a negative opinion. In the case of Medjugorje, for example, the bishop in charge of the investigation, Pavao Zanic of Mostar-Duvno, prelate of the diocese of Medjugorje, after having examined the facts at length together with a commission of 15 theologians and psychologists, declared that there was no nothing miraculous and he had often encountered episodes of counterfeiting, false healings, discrepancies, lies, perpetrated by the local Franciscans.
Cardinal Ratzinger, having received Zanic's report, wanted to ask the opinion of a second commission; after further research lasting 5 years, in 1990, a controversial statement was released: "Based on studies that have been conducted so far, it cannot be said that supernatural apparitions and revelations are taking place here."
In any case, many Catholics see Medjugorje as the continuation of Lourdes and Fatima, and let all these apparitions influence their faith and their lives.

A few comments on the question

From the study of these phenomena, it is evident that the only way in which the creed of the Marian apparitions can be justified is by accepting the distinctly Catholic, non-biblical, beliefs about Mary.

What is more serious is the way in which Mariology challenges the uniqueness of the person of Jesus Christ, and belittles the complete sufficiency of His perfect work of redemption on the cross. Those who doubt this consider the way Mariology relates to Christology:

1) Jesus was born without sin - Mary would have been conceived without sin
2) Jesus was and is without sin - Mary would have lived a life without sin
3) After resurrected, Jesus ascended to heaven - Mary would have been physically assumed into heaven
4) Jesus is the only Mediator - Mary would be the mediator
5) Jesus is the only Redeemer - Mary would be co-redeemer
6) Jesus is the new Adam - Mary would be the new Eve
7) Jesus is the spotless Lamb - Mary would be the spotless lamb
8) Jesus is the King - Mary would be the Queen.

We can easily see how this parallel unfortunately aims to undermine the pre-eminence of Christ and His exclusive role as the only Redeemer and the only Mediator. By virtue of this exalted state of hers, Mary is represented as a semi-divine being and venerated as such.

The truth or falsity of an apparition or other supernatural event, for a Christian, is measured solely on the basis of its conformity to the Word of the Lord, not on how dramatic or sensational the experience may have been.

So what is the explanation?

Analyzing the miraculous events that accompany the Marian apparitions, it is clear how they turn out to be of a very different mold from those seen in the word of God. This is true of all biblical miracles and of those of Jesus himself. When, for example, did Jesus ever make the sun pulsate or rotate a cross on itself (two of the miracles of Medjugorje)?
All of Jesus' miracles were done in the context of His ministry. And biblical miracles have a strong practical side. Many of the miracles associated with the Marian apparitions are, in contrast, dramatic and sensational; aimed, in effect, at attracting attention - just the kind of miracles that Jesus categorically refused to do! (see Matthew 12: 38-39). This is a good reason to suspect the source of these miracles.

We must also remember that the word of God severely condemns speaking with the dead. Any contact or revelation from them, whether it be Mary or another person, is a communication with demons. The apostle Paul warns us that the devil "knows how to disguise himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11: 14-15), is capable of performing "mighty works, lying signs and wonders" (2 Thess. 2: 9-10) , and in the last times he will raise up false Christs and false prophets who "will do great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (Matthew 24:24). He is also able to foretell the future (sometimes even with accuracy) and to declare a way to salvation other than the gospel of Jesus Christ. His goal is always to distance man from Jesus Christ,

How does all this apply to Medjugorje and the other popular Marian apparitions? The purpose of the Adversary behind this phenomenon is perhaps to decentralize the faith of Catholics from Christ and the biblical elements of Catholicism by placing the emphasis on the less biblical and more sectarian aspects of Catholicism (Mariology in general, penance, purgatory, the veneration of deceased saints). As long as the emphasis remains on these things, Satan can afford to sweeten his deceptions with a bit of Christian theology - for example, by telling apparition followers to pray, work for peace, and so on.

"Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God" (1 John 4: 1). The fact that the entities that appeared in Lourdes and Fatima initially refused to reveal their identity raises not a few suspicions about who they really were. And sprinkling holy water mixed with salt, as was done in the case of Medjudorje, does not at all mean "trying the spirits", but is just a useless tradition created by men.

Whatever the cause, the effect of this phenomenon is to lead people away from God's truth. In fact, if we want to defend it from this kind of spiritual aberrations, the Word of the Lord must be our point of reference.
The popularity of the apparitions shows us that millions of Catholics are genuinely hungry for spiritual truth. But the Truth, that which makes men free, is found only in that Christ Jesus of whom the apostolic writings speak, in our Lord Jesus. Therefore, it is precisely out of respect for Christ and his Word - and out of genuine honor for him. mother - that we reject the cult and the Marian apparitions.

The Lord give you the grace to be steadfast in faith and His love.

Notes on the Marian doctrines of Don Gobbi

The aberrations produced by the Marian cult are particularly evident in the book "To the priests, beloved sons of the Madonna" (also called "Blue Book") by Don Stefano Gobbi.
In granting him the Imprimatur, Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria Ruiz OFM, on 25 June 1995, on the occasion of the annual exercises of the Marian Movement of Don Gobbi, expressed himself as follows: "After having read and meditated on the messages that Our Lady entrusted to Don Stefano Gobbi, I consider it a privilege to be able to grant the Imprimatur to the edition of this book. I also take this opportunity to recommend the reading of these messages as they help to spread the veneration of the Most Holy of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul).

The Marian messages contained in the book are real heresies in open opposition to the content of the Bible. Here are some of them:

• Mary (Our Lady) frees men from sin, instead of Jesus (11.2.1992)
• Mary is a Mediatrix of grace, a powerful intercession (the Bible, on the other hand, declares that Jesus is the one and only Mediator): only through Mary can we reach Jesus, otherwise the Jesus we meet is not Jesus (3.3.1979, 16.7.1980, 1.1 .1991, 13.7.1980, 21.1.1984, 1.1.1981, 8.12.1991)
• Mary offered her Son to the Father, instead of being God who offered His Son (1.4.1974)
• Mary is the way to reach the Lord (2.2.1989)
• Mary is the door to salvation (8.12.1991)
• Mary is vigilant and terrible (11.14.1973)
• Mary is the Mother, good and jealous (29.7.1973)
• Maria is authoritarian (7.7.1973, 16.7.1973, 7.10.1975, 29.7.1979)
• Mary's orders are given through the Pope and the hierarchy faithful to him (22.8.1976)
• Mary authorizes slander and contempt (31.7.1976)
• Maria is self-centered and exclusivist (1.12.1973, 26.12.1973, 10.2.1974, 25.3.1984, 30.11.1974)
• Mary holds the arm of God's justice (10.2.1978, 31.12.1985, 31.12.1977)
• "Mom!" would have been the last loud cry of Jesus on the cross (1.8.1973)
• Priests in Mass generate Jesus (12/24/1977, 8/8/1986)
• Only those who remain united with the Pope can be saved (30.8.1984)
• The Church is pervaded by darkness (19.3.1978)
• We must not follow the bishops who do not share the Pope's ideas (8.9.1985)
• The Pope is the "sweet Christ on earth" (11.2.1976)

Any sincere believer can see how these very grave revelations are antithetical to the Gospel and the teachings of the Bible. In practice, they constitute an alternative gospel, in which Jesus Christ is literally replaced by Mary, who from a humble creature becomes a goddess, superior in grace and power to Christ himself; moreover, Catholic believers are required to pay her the cult and remain tied to the Pope, otherwise there can be no salvation, despite what Christ himself promised.

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(Below I have reported part of an article that proposes some interesting considerations made by Orthodox Catholics on the Marian apparitions. The text is edited by Mariam Lambouras.)

Considerations on the Marian apparitions

of Mariam Lambouras


[..] Having learned that an Orthodox priest has organized an annual visit to Lourdes for a group of Orthodox women, I have begun to deal with the matter, and have been strongly urged to consider more closely the Marian apparitions and their sanctuaries.
The main source of my information regarding apparitions and shrines are books written by Roman Catholic authors. I was extremely surprised to discover the large number of apparitions; even if, in the end, I limited myself to fifteen of them, and in particular to the Miraculous Medal, La Salette, Lourdes, Fatima, Garabandal, Zeitoun, Medjugorje and Hriushiw. I did not take Walsingham into consideration, because it seems to me that it can be classified in a different category [..]

A brief summary of the previously mentioned sanctuaries may be of help to get a general idea of ​​the problem. Some Marian apparitions:

1) Around 1295, Duns Scotus, a Scottish Franciscan from Oxford, defended the Immaculate Conception against Thomas Aquinas and the Dominicans. Since 1708, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception was declared a feast of precept. In 1830, Catherine Labouré, a young Parisian nun, had a vision of the so-called Miraculous Medal. The nun had a certain predisposition for visions, since she had already seen the heart of St. Vincent, Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and Christ the King. Desiring to see the Virgin also, Labouré implored St. Vincent's intercession, and the his wish was granted. A child dressed in white took her late at night to the chapel of the convent, where he saw the Lady, spoke to her and could even touch her. During the same year, the Lady, dressed in white, she appeared in the chapel with a snake under her feet, surrounded by an oval frame with the words: "Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us, who invoke you". A voice told Caterina to have a medal struck, which would bring immense graces to those who wore it. The back of the medal bore an "M", surmounted by a cross, with the heart of Jesus and that of Mary. Catherine continued to hear the Lady's voice in her prayers. The Medal was a great success, and gave a strong impulse to faith in the prayers of the Virgin, Mediatrix of all graces. Popular pressure also increased for the official promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. surmounted by a cross, with the heart of Jesus and that of Mary. Catherine continued to hear the Lady's voice in her prayers. The Medal was a great success, and gave a strong impulse to faith in the prayers of the Virgin, Mediatrix of all graces. Popular pressure also increased for the official promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. surmounted by a cross, with the heart of Jesus and that of Mary. Catherine continued to hear the Lady's voice in her prayers. The Medal was a great success, and gave a strong impulse to faith in the prayers of the Virgin, Mediatrix of all graces. Popular pressure also increased for the official promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

2) In 1842 in La Salette, France, two shepherd children, eleven year old Massimino and fourteen year old Melania, saw a sudden flash of light, from which appeared a lady dressed in white and gold, with a crown of roses on her head . She was surrounded by a blazing light, and she was crying. The Lady lamented the desecration of Sunday, and the blasphemies of the peasants against the saints. If there had been no repentance, great disasters would have occurred - famine and hunger - because the Lady could no longer hold back her Son from inflicting the punishment. The speech heard during the apparition was very similar to a "Letera [sic] Fallen from Heaven", which was circulating at that time. The parish priest declared that the Lady was the Blessed Virgin; the apparitions were later approved by the Bishop of Grenoble, and pilgrimages began. Melania became a nun, and continued to receive visions and revelations. Maximin tried unsuccessfully to become a priest, and was always in debt.

3) In 1854, the Immaculate Conception officially became an article of faith in the Roman Catholic Church. Four years later, in 1858, a series of visions took place from the 11th of February until the 16th of July, giving rise to the most famous of the Marian shrines. In the grotto of Massabielle, in Lourdes, 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous saw "something white that looked like a young woman". She was asked many questions, to which she replied by processing this image into that of "a pretty young woman in a white dress and veil, a blue sash at the waist and a yellow rose on each foot." Later, he said that the vision resembled above all "the Blessed Virgin in the parish church, in her clothes and her face ... but alive, and bathed in light". The Lady, who wore a rosary on his arm, spoke in the local dialect, very politely, and asked for penance. Three "secrets" were revealed to Bernadette, she was asked to pray for the conversion of sinners, and the Lady promised her that she would make her happy not in this world, but in the next. The apparition asked for a procession and a chapel, and indicated to Bernadette where to dig to find a spring, the existence of which was already known. Bernadette recited the rosary and went into a trance. The Lady said of herself: "I am the Immaculate Conception", thus confirming the recently defined dogma. In October, the ecclesiastical authorities took up the case; and the apparitions were confirmed as coming from the Blessed Virgin, the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes was authorized and planning began to build a sanctuary. In 1933, Bernadette was canonized.

4) In August 1879, fifteen people aged six to seventy-five saw an apparition on the south side of the parish church in Knock, Ireland. The vision was in the form of a painting, with an altar on which there was a Lamb, with angels suspended over his head, and three figures: the crowned Virgin, St. Joseph and St. John dressed as a bishop and in an attitude of prayer. . The figures were just off the church wall, and about two feet above the ground. They didn't move; they limited themselves to moving away and reconnecting at times. They made no sound. Some of the witnesses stayed two hours in the pouring rain, reciting the rosary. This is the only known appearance of the Lamb. An international airport was built in anticipation of the large number of pilgrims; but the sanctuary never became very popular. In 1954 Pope Pius XII blessed the Knock banner in San Pietro and granted the authorization for the coronation of Our Lady of Knock. In 1960, John XXIII presented a blessed candle; and, in 1967, Paul VI renewed the indulgences to pilgrims and to those who had relations with the sanctuary. John Paul II visited Knock on the occasion of the centenary, promoted the church to the rank of basilica and presented the Golden Rose.

5) In 1917, in Cova da Iria, near the village of Fatima, Portugal, three little shepherds (Lucia, who was ten, Francisco, nine, and Jacinta, seven, cousins ​​to each other) saw lightning, followed by the apparition , on a tree, of a "little beautiful lady" who said she came "from Heaven". The Lady said that the children should return on the thirteenth day of the month, for the next six months, and then they would know who the Lady was and what she wanted. In response to Lucia's questions, he said that Lucia and Jacinta would go to Heaven, and Francisco too, but the latter would have to "say many rosaries". A friend of the children, who died recently, was in Paradise, but another would remain in Purgatory "until the end of the world". Francisco, at first, he could not see the vision, and heard nothing. Jacinta saw and heard, but never spoke to the Lady. On other occasions they were told to say the rosary and pray, especially to be "saved from the fire of hell". "Secrets" were revealed to Lucia, and she had a terrifying vision of hell. The Lady promised that she would perform a miracle in October.
On October 13, a day when it was raining heavily, a crowd of seven hundred people gathered in Cova, waiting for the promised miracle. According to a Roman-Catholic priest, people were very excited, they knelt, wept and prayed. The Lady appeared, announcing that she was Our Lady of the Rosary and that the war would end that same day (it actually only ended thirteen months later!). Then it disappeared, and the famous "sun miracle" took place. The rain had stopped, and when Lucia cried "Look at the sun!" (in which he claimed to have seen, one after the other, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Carmel, St. Joseph with the Holy Child and Our Lord), the crowd looked at the sun, which seemed to turn, to emit rays colored, moving in zigzag from east to west, only to fall towards the ground - so that all those present, terrified, believed that this was the end of the world - and finally return to its place. Not everyone saw these things, although some people, ten kilometers from Fatima, witnessed the phenomenon. Others reported that the solar phenomena, both during the apparition period and after, consisted of the sun coloring everything with a rainbow light, a "luminous globe", a "night star" and a "shower of flowers" (similar to "rain of roses "which followed the death of Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower). they witnessed the phenomenon. Others reported that the solar phenomena, both during the apparition period and after, consisted of the sun coloring everything with a rainbow light, a "luminous globe", a "night star" and a "rain of flowers" (similar to "rain of roses "which followed the death of Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower). they witnessed the phenomenon. Others reported that the solar phenomena, both during the apparition period and after, consisted of the sun coloring everything with a rainbow light, a "luminous globe", a "night star" and a "shower of flowers" (similar to "rain of roses "which followed the death of Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower).

Like Melania in La Salette and Bernadette in Lourdes, Lucia became a nun, and, like Melania, she continued to have visions and revelations. In 1925 the Lady and Child appeared to her, urging her to spread devotion to the Immaculate Heart. The following year, the Child appeared alone. Then, in 1929, the Lady ordered that Russia be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart: this was the first time that Russia was mentioned. In 1937, Lucia wrote a detailed account of the apparitions, which grew over the course of the writing and came to include earlier apparitions of an Angel to children. In 1915, the latter had appeared "like a person wrapped in a sheet"; in 1916, as a young man of fifteen or sixteen, "whiter than snow", who called himself the "Angel of Peace" and he taught the children to pray, with their foreheads on the ground, for the unbelievers. Later that same year, he told them that he was the guardian angel of Portugal, and that it was necessary to pray and make every action a sacrifice (like Therese of Lisieux) to propitiate peace; and that "the most holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary" had plans for them. Also in 1916, the angel then appeared as "a cloud in human form, whiter than snow, transparent", and gave the children Holy Communion. they had plans for them. Also in 1916, the angel then appeared as "a cloud in human form, whiter than snow, transparent", and gave the children Holy Communion. they had plans for them. Also in 1916, the angel then appeared as "a cloud in human form, whiter than snow, transparent", and gave the children Holy Communion.
Between 1941 and 1942 Lucia revealed other details, describing her terrifying vision of hell which took place on July 13, 1917. The images were conventional ones: red fire, black demons, screams of pain and despair. According to him, moreover, the Lady had announced that she would light up a night as in broad daylight, as her great sign that she would herald some terrible divine punishment, avoidable only with the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart. This consecration was carried out in 1952 by Pope Pius XII, as the conversion of Russia was unconditionally promised. As the Roman-Catholic priest Fr Martindale noted, with a certain skepticism, "even Calvary itself has not unconditionally guaranteed the conversion of the world"!
In 1960, John XXIII opened the sealed envelope containing the Third Secret of Fatima, but refused to reveal it. The Second Vatican Council officially recognized the apparitions and worship of Our Lady of Fatima.

6) In Garabandal, Spain, a series of apparitions took place between 1961 and 1965, in which the visionaries - four girls between the ages of ten and twelve - claimed to have received two hundred apparitions of the Virgin and Archangel Michael. On June 18, while they were playing, after a flash of light and a roar of "thunder", Archangel Michael made the first of nine apparitions of that month. The girls described him as a boy of about nine, dressed in blue with pink wings, dark skin and eyes, with manicured hands and nails. The following month, in the presence of a large crowd, the girls remained in a trance for two hours. The next day, during another trance, they saw the Virgin dressed in white and blue, crowned with stars. The Lady spoke to the girls about fodder and other daily chores. Sometimes he appeared with the Child, whom he gave to hold in the arms of the visionaries. The trance states lasted from a few minutes to nine hours; and, while they were in a trance, the girls gave the Virgin sacred objects - rosaries, medals and crucifixes - to kiss for the pilgrims. A large crowd saw the Host appear on Conchita's tongue when the Archangel Michael gave her Communion. This "miracle" was previously announced. Ostia appear on Conchita's tongue when Archangel Michael gave her Communion. This "miracle" was previously announced. Ostia appear on Conchita's tongue when Archangel Michael gave her Communion. This "miracle" was previously announced.

The messages contained warnings of great punishments, which could only have been avoided with many sacrifices and penances. Girls should have visited the Blessed Sacrament often, and tried to be perfect. In the future there would be a great miracle in Garabandal, which would also be seen by the Pope and by Padre Pio (who, of course, died without this happening); and, as a result of the miracle, Russia would be converted. A young Jesuit priest had a "vision" of the miracle, said it was the happiest day of his life, and died the next day. It seems that Padre Pio believed in the apparitions. but the local ecclesiastical hierarchy did not trust; and, after a long interrogation, Conchita confessed that she had doubts about her visions. The current bishop, appointed in 1991, asked Rome to reopen the case. Some people saw the sun dancing, and a red star with a fiery tail. Once the Virgin came in a mysterious "cloud of fire".

7) In many ways, the apparitions on the Coptic Church of St. Mary in Zeitoun (Cairo) are the most interesting. They do not concern the Roman Church, but the Coptic one; and some Coptic bishops, including the Patriarch's vicar, were among the millions of believers of different religions who witnessed the apparitions over a three-year span, from 1968 to 1971. The Director of the Department of General Information and Appeals of the Egyptian Government submitted a report to his superior, stating that "undoubtedly the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the Coptic Orthodox Church of Zeitoun ..." The vision said nothing. The apparition took place on the domes of the church, and lasted up to two hours, always at night, but not every night, and not at regular intervals. The Lady appeared bathed in a light so bright that her features could not be clearly distinguished. It was invariably preceded or accompanied by luminous "doves", "strange bird-like creatures of light," which did not flap their wings but seemed to glide. The figure moved through the domes, bowing and waving to the huge crowd, which at times reached the number of 250,000. Sometimes she held the Child in her arms, or was part of the Holy Family. Everyone prayed in their own way: the Muslims recited the Koran on their carpets, the Greeks said prayers, the Copts sang hymns. The "doves" were mentioned by many witnesses. Other phenomena were a "shower of diamonds", a bright red cloud, and large clouds of incense.

8) With the apparitions that began in 1981 in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, we return to the familiar atmosphere of children, trance and secrets. One summer evening, four boys - three girls and one boy - between the ages of fifteen and sixteen saw a light on the side of a hill. In the light was a young woman holding a baby in her arms. The young woman called them, but they fled. The following evening they returned to the place with two other friends, a girl of sixteen and a boy of ten; and all saw, this time on the opposite hill, the same great light that surrounded the woman, as if she were "clothed with the sun"; but the boys were too scared to get close to her. The next evening, the six boys were accompanied by a crowd of five thousand people. After three flashes of light the Lady appeared, but only the six could see her: black hair, blue eyes, dressed in gray, crowned with stars, perched on a white cloud just above the ground, so close they could touch her. One of the girls, holding a container full of holy water in her hand, said to the apparition: "If you are Satan, go away!", (!) And received as an answer: "I am the Virgin Mary", who came to "convert and reconcile ".
In recent years the vision has appeared once a week, around six in the evening, during the recitation of the rosary. She was dressed in gray, with a white veil; but at Easter and Christmas she wore a golden dress and held the Child in her arms. Sometimes the "Gospa" [Lady] visited the boys at their home, especially when they were sick, and prayed with them from five minutes to half an hour. They were shown visions of heaven, hell and purgatory. (In heaven angels flew, and people dressed in gray, pink and yellow walked, singing and praying. Purgatory, a foggy place, resounded with the sound of hammers beating on prison bars. In hell fire, men. and women emerged unrecognizable as human beings). The Gospa gave the children messages of peace,
The Gospa told the seers to suffer because of sinful humanity, and to be engaged in a great battle with Satan for the possession of souls. That of Medjugorje would have been the last of his apparitions: all the others would have been false. There would be a great sign on the hill to convert the unbelievers. The boys were given ten secrets, believed to be apocalyptic in nature, and warnings for possible future disasters. Just as the Vatican refuses to reveal the third secret of Fatima, so it is thought that the Franciscans also tend to downplay the more sensational aspects of the Gospa's revelations.
The then Roman-Catholic Bishop of Mostar did not accept the genuineness of the Apparitions; but the Franciscan parish priest, Br. Jozo, later supported by the Archbishop of Split, enthusiastically took the side of the visionaries. Jozo was imprisoned by the communist authorities for his activities related to the apparitions. Once released, he was sent to the parish of Tihaljia, where, in the brand new church, healing services began to be performed for the many pilgrims who came to know the man who was the confidant of the visionaries. Between 1981 and 1990, before the Bosnian conflict, ten million pilgrims from all over the world, even from America and Australia, went to Medjugorje, including Lutherans, Anglicans and Orthodox.
In 1993, four of the boys still had visions. Miraculous healings and various phenomena have been reported: sun rotations, mysterious "fires" and "rainbows" without rain, a stone cross on the mountain, thirty feet high, was spinning on itself, and the word "MIR "(Peace) had appeared on the mountain in letters of white light, so that it could be seen by everyone in Medjugorje.

9) Ukraine has been a "visionary" land for centuries. In 1987, the Virgin appears to have appeared in fifteen different places. On April 26, 1987, a 13-year-old peasant girl from Hriushiw saw a lyx above a ruined chapel. A woman dressed in black, with a child in her arms, appeared in the light saying that the Ukrainians had been chosen to lead Russia back to God. The girl called her mother and sister, who immediately declared that it must be the Bogoroditsa [Theotokos], the Virgin. Since then, rivers of pilgrims have poured into the village, so much so that half a million people claim to have seen the Bogoroditsa, whose profile also appeared on television on May 13, the anniversary of the apparition of Fatima. The authorities failed to stop the crowds.
It is unclear whether everyone heard the messages, or if they were revealed through the peasant girl, Marina, who was seen by a psychiatrist and declared sane. What is certain is that not everyone saw the Virgin: many, including monks and nuns, saw nothing. The messages, in essence, said that the Virgin was saddened by the conditions of the world, that the Last Times were approaching, and that Chernobyl had been a warning to the world. The rosary is a great weapon against Satan; Ukraine, "my daughter", was under the special protection of the Virgin, and would become an independent state. Since they had suffered most of all under Communism, the Ukrainians had been chosen as the Apostles who would convert Russia; and, if Russia had not converted, a third world war would break out. Had they remained faithful to the Pope, the third secret of Fatima would have been revealed.
As in Zeitoun, the apparitions were irregular, visible by many, and the light surrounding the apparition was "lunar", not "solar". The words to describe light were very similar to each other: "moonlight, but not really", "phosphorescent", "silvery glow", "beams of light". But there was no "ecumenical" spirit in Hriushiw. The messages did nothing to ease the tension between the Uniates and the Orthodox.


Divine intervention Is it

God speaking through these apparitions, or at least through some of them? Are the solar phenomena reported really celestial signs, or are they just counterfeits?
[..] it is impossible for us to accept anything contrary to Orthodox teaching and practice. This should immediately make any shrine or apparition in which mention is made of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, or in which the worship, unorthodox, of parts of the body, such as the heart of Jesus and Mary is encouraged (in the 17th century , in France, there was even that of the left foot of the Virgin, and of the soles of her shoes ...).

Equally suspicious should be any suggestion to replace "Christ our God, who endures all, has mercy and compassion on all, who loves the righteous and has mercy on sinners" with a distant and impersonal figure full of fury, prone to punishment and revenge . The apparition in La Salette said: "I can no longer hold back the heavy arm of my Son"; and the apparition of Fatima: "... he is already deeply offended". In San Damiano, in 1961: "The Eternal Father is tired, very tired ... he freed the Devil, who causes destruction." In 1985 in Oliveto Citra, Italy, the words of La Salette are still heard: "I can no longer hold back the executioner arm of my Son". These words echo the teachings - out of balance, but very popular - of some Roman Catholic saints and preachers of the past, for which the Kingdom of Justice of Christ was opposed to the Kingdom of Mercy of Mary. "If God is angry with a sinner, Mary takes him under his protection; she holds the victorious arm of her Son, and saves him" (Alfonso de'Liguori). "The Virgin is the sure refuge of sinners and criminals from the rigor of the anger and vengeance of Jesus Christ"; She "binds the power of Jesus Christ, to prevent Him from harming the guilty" (Jean-Jacques Olier).

The absurdities of La Salette speak for themselves: for example, the apparition who claims to have given men six days to work, and to have reserved the seventh for herself (!). In his book The Dancing Sun, Desmond Seward writes:

According to the visionaries, the Virgin (of Medjugorje) states that the world is in a time of darkness never seen before ... Satan ... is fighting a great battle for souls with the Mother of God, sent by the Eternal Father to admonish and encourage them: since, as God said to the serpent in Genesis, the woman "will crush your head".

But this concept is based on the bad Roman-Catholic translation of Genesis in the Bible by Douay, chap. 3, verse 15. It is not the woman at all but the seed of the woman - the Christ - who will crush the head of the serpent, with His Passion and Resurrection.

The more cautious and sober Latin theologians have always felt uncomfortable with the excesses of their contemporaries; but on many occasions the thrust of popular enthusiasm has been too strong to allow a sound theology to prevail. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (+ 1716) - master of "Marian" excesses - closely linked the Virgin to eschatology. In the Second Advent the Virgin must be revealed by the Holy Spirit, so that Christ can be known; and she must manifest all her power against the enemies of God, because somehow the devil fears her more than God himself. The idea of ​​the Virgin as the one who prepares the way for the coming of Christ - not only His first advent in the Incarnation, but His descent into the soul of men, and His Second Advent - has continued into modern times. "Just as there would have been no advent of Christ in the flesh, in his first coming, without Mary, so there can be no advent of Christ in the spirit ... without Mary once again preparing the way." "As it was she who prepared the body of Christ, so now she prepares souls for His advent" (Archbishop Fulton Sheen). In Zeitoun, "the salvific role of the Blessed Virgin is perceived, as in Fatima in 1917. This role is essentially to prepare the way for her Divine Son, opening the souls of men to His redemptive grace". "... having prepared His way among His people 2,000 years ago", the Virgin "now prepares Her way in the souls of thousands of Gentiles of all faiths,

This way of thinking accords well with the current faith - prevalent in some Roman Catholic circles - in a Marian Age that must precede the Second Advent, and with the strong apocalyptic tone of the majority of apparitions. But, since such a role of the Mother of God is not attested by either the Scriptures or the Tradition, there are not many reasons to believe in the authenticity of the apparitions.

One of the most disturbing features of these apparitions is that the Virgin appears as an autonomous figure, while Christ is strangely absent. It is she who weeps for the sins of humanity, it is always she who decides who will be healed ("I will cure some, not others"). Whatever the messages say, it is the Virgin, not Christ, who becomes the spokesman for Heaven.


Psychological factors

In most of the apparitions examined, the only or in any case the main visionaries are children or adolescents: it is therefore likely that some element of child psychology is present in these phenomena. For an accurate evaluation of the visions and messages, one should have more information about the children involved: what kind of religious art they were exposed to, what teachings they received at school and in catechism classes, what religious books they read.

In the case of Bernadette, for example, her visions do not come out of nowhere, as is often thought. Bernadette already knew the Miraculous Medal (as a nun, it seems that she always carried it on herself); and the Immaculate Conception had been declared dogma in 1854. For four years already the girl must have heard about it repeatedly, both in church and in catechism lessons, even without understanding its meaning.

It must also be said that in the Lourdes area "visions" were recurrent phenomena. The essential elements of the Lourdes vision - a Lady, a shepherdess (Bernadette had once been temporarily engaged in looking after the sheep in the nearby village of Bartnes), a chapel, processions, and a spring with miraculous powers - were already present in some sanctuaries of the Pyrenees, which in the Middle Ages were on the road to Compostella. In 1475, a young shepherd of Betharvam had had a vision of a Lady, who had asked once again to build a chapel. In addition to Gavaison, other shrines of the Virgin nearby were Poeylanum, Heas and Pietat. There were also Our Lady of Sarrance, of Bourisp, of Medous, of Nestes, of Buglose, as well as four other pilgrimage centers in the region: in all, fourteen centers close to Lourdes. Genuine or not, Bernadette's vision suited the local model well. In the past, the area had been contaminated by the Albigensian heresy. In the course of a crusade against this particular heresy, promoted by Pope Innocent III, the heretics had been put to the sword, and there had been direct intervention by the Inquisition. The usual methods of the Inquisition were used, which left behind an Orthodox people in (Roman Catholic) doctrine, but certainly not a lover of the clergy. Thus the visions were very popular, as they dispensed with the need for clerical mediation. Bernadette's vision suited the local model well. In the past, the area had been contaminated by the Albigensian heresy. In the course of a crusade against this particular heresy, promoted by Pope Innocent III, the heretics had been put to the sword, and there had been direct intervention by the Inquisition. The usual methods of the Inquisition were used, which left behind an Orthodox people in (Roman Catholic) doctrine, but certainly not a lover of the clergy. Thus the visions were very popular, as they dispensed with the need for clerical mediation. Bernadette's vision suited the local model well. In the past, the area had been contaminated by the Albigensian heresy. In the course of a crusade against this particular heresy, promoted by Pope Innocent III, the heretics had been put to the sword, and there had been direct intervention by the Inquisition. The usual methods of the Inquisition were used, which left behind an Orthodox people in (Roman Catholic) doctrine, but certainly not a lover of the clergy. Thus the visions were very popular, as they dispensed with the need for clerical mediation. and there had been the direct intervention of the Inquisition. The usual methods of the Inquisition were used, which left behind an Orthodox people in (Roman Catholic) doctrine, but certainly not a lover of the clergy. Thus the visions were very popular, as they dispensed with the need for clerical mediation. and there had been the direct intervention of the Inquisition. The usual methods of the Inquisition were used, which left behind an Orthodox people in (Roman Catholic) doctrine, but certainly not a lover of the clergy. Thus the visions were very popular, as they dispensed with the need for clerical mediation.

It is known that children, at a certain stage of mental development, which can vary considerably depending on the subject, love to have a secret world, inaccessible to adults, and often imagine situations in which they can feel important. There are numerous similarities between La Salette and Fatima; and Lucia admitted that her mother had read him the story of La Salette. To what extent could Bernadette's visions be an unconscious form of compensation? The Lady was small, no taller than Bernadette herself, and addressed the girl - sickly, underdeveloped, whom everyone called "the little idiot" - very politely, giving her a vous. The attention reserved to young "visionaries", thanks to their visions, would undoubtedly be increased by virtue of the "secrets"

It is known that a small number of subjects - almost always children and adolescents - demonstrate a considerable eidetic capacity: that is, the ability to have vivid visual images of specific objects that are not present in reality, but in their conscious or unconscious imagination, and are "seen" by the subject himself. [..]

However, an eidetic capacity and ordinary child development factors alone are not sufficient to explain children's attachment to their stories, when in some cases they were repeatedly interrogated, teased, physically punished for "telling lies" , even imprisoned. Nor do they explain the states of trance, sometimes of hours, during which young people - eg. in Garabandal - they did not react to dazzling lights, cigarette burns and pinpricks. A neurologist from the Barcelona medical academy, who examined Garabandal's visionaries during and after twenty trances, could not find an explanation, and declared that the visionaries were completely normal boys.

Trance is linked by psychologists to religious ecstasy and visionary experiences, but also to mediumistic abilities, in which paranormal physical effects and materializations can be produced. Trance states, of course, are well known to pagan shamans and "medicine men".

The return of the Goddess

Why is it always the Madonna who seems to appear in these visions? Perhaps Canon John of Satge, an Evangelical Anglican, was right in saying that the Marian cult had its roots in ancient paganism, in humanity's recurring tendency to worship a mother goddess.

The current trend towards the ordination of women and the use of vague and all-encompassing language for God are phenomena clearly linked to Gnosticism; while the Marian apparitions seem more related to the ancient-pagan figure of the Goddess. The Gnostic heretics allowed women to exercise, like men, the function of priest and bishop, and they adopted some Christian beliefs, mercilessly distorting them to adapt them to the Gnostic philosophical-religious system; but their interest was not directed to Mary, the Mother of God, but rather to God "Mother", whom they identified in the Holy Spirit. Some Gnostics elaborated a figure of the immortal Sophia, and sometimes considered the Virgin Mary as one of her incarnations;

The Great Mother of the pagans manifested herself in the various forms of nature, on earth and in the sky. Not having a human form, she was worshiped in sacred places and shrines marked by columns. She was later represented in human form, served by doves and snakes, symbolizing her power in the air and on earth. The Goddess was above all the one who gave and sustained life, the bearer of fertility to man and nature; and, in her later role as Muse, the inspiration that gives birth to music, art and poetry.

With the merging and mutual influence of societies, the Goddess fragmented and was identified with local divinities, assuming their characteristics. With the name of Neith, a deity brought to Egypt from Libya, she was a cosmic virgin-mother, who "gave birth to the Sun, and became a mother when no one had yet fathered children". Like Isis, she reveals to the supplicant that in many different places, she, the only one, is "worshiped in many aspects, known by many names": Mother of the gods, Artemis, Aphrodite, mother of the Wheat, and Persephone, the Maiden par excellence. . Similarly, the Lady of the apparitions is venerated in many places under a variety of names and aspects: Our Lady of the Rosary, Virgin of the Poor, Mother Consoler, the Immaculate Conception, and so on.

A Babylonian hymn to Ishtar greets her as Queen of all, who in her piety raises the dead, heals the sick and saves the afflicted; but he does have a "dark" side, and in the epic of Gilgamesh he whimsically decides to destroy humanity. Robert Hugh Benson, a 19th century Catholic writer, identified this "dark" aspect of the Lady of Lourdes:

Maria has appeared to me in a new light since I visited Lourdes. In the future, I will not only hate offending her, but I will also fear it. It is terrible to fall into the hands of this Mother, who allows the sick to trudge along all over France to her feet, only to crawl away. She is one of the Marys of Chartres who reveals herself here, obscure, powerful, dominating and inexorable: not the Mary of an ecclesiastical articles shop, who dwells between tinfoil and tuberose.

No doubt men thought similar things, long ago, towards the Magna Mater or Artemis, benign in Athens, but as dark and terrible as Diana of Ephesus. Geoffrey Ashe (Miracles, 1978), commenting on the "miracle of the sun" at Fatima, writes: "Even accepting the fact that this is a miracle attributable to Mary, it must be admitted that the Virgin has a menacing and inscrutable aspect that does not fit well with Christian ideas about you. "

If the Goddess has something to do with the Marian visions, France seems to constitute a naturally fertile ground for the latter, since it is precisely in that nation that the Goddess, in general, seems to have been particularly provident. There had been a temple of Isis at Soissons, a strong cult of the Mother in the Treves region, while the cult of Mother Earth prevailed in the regions of the Seine, Oise and Tarn, and there were many shrines dedicated to lesser goddesses who protected the springs. There were also nymphs protecting springs, rocks and waters, and a multitude of "white ladies" descendants of Mother Earth.

In Rome, the Great Mother of the gods Cybele, a deity imported from Asia Minor, was believed to be the architect of Hannibal's defeat and acquired a lasting following of faithful. The statues of Cybele had the characteristic of being crowned and carried from place to place. Likewise, a further development of the apparitions was the solemn coronation of Marian statues, which were then carried in procession, especially in Fatima, from one place to another. In 1864, the Virgin of Garaison was crowned with the authorization of the Pope (Pius IX), followed then by those of La Salette (Leo XIII) and Fatima (Pius XII). In 1954 she was crowned Our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland. Previously, in 1732, the Virgin of Svata Hora, Slovakia, was crowned with the diadem of the Holy Roman Emperor. IS' there is no doubt that the Mother of God, who represents redeemed humanity, is glorified and reigns with Christ; but these earthly coronations tend to distance her from us and hide the fact that her heavenly crown is not the "diadem", the royal emblem of the monarchy, but the stephanos, the laurel wreath given to the victors in the battle of life, the prize that is after having fought faithfully, through sufferings and purifications: the crown with which all Christians hope and pray to be crowned.

Universally revered, the Goddess satisfied the deep need of the human psyche for the Eternal Feminine. Sometimes he acted autonomously, as the only superior deity; at other times with a male divinity, a partner of equal dignity; still other times in a Goddess-Spouse / Son relationship. Only among the Jews, led by their prophets, monotheistic and alien to compromise, was there ever room for the Goddess.
The Lady of Zeitoun has her following of "doves"; and the snake appears as a symbol of evil, in the Judeo-Christian meaning, under the feet of the Lady of the Miraculous Medal, while the vision of Medjugorje is engaged in a battle to crush the snake's head.

If a relationship of the Goddess with the apparitions really exists, how did it happen that this figure was able to take root in the Latin Church, remaining there incognito?
The apostolic missionaries moved from a strictly monotheistic context to encounter societies permeated by a world of gods and semi-divine human beings. There is no doubt that for many converts the old ways of thinking were not easily erased.

One of the Fathers of the Church, Epifanio, informs us of the existence of a sect, composed mainly of women, nicknamed the Colliridiani. Originally from Thrace, around the fourth century the sect had spread to Upper Scythia (approximately north-west of the Black Sea) and Arabia. It seems that it was inspired by the events of the Gospel, combined with a legend, similar to that of Elijah, about the purity and "undead" of Mary. St. Epiphanius states that the "priestesses of Mary" venerated her as an autonomous goddess, the Queen of Heaven, with rituals prior to Christianity, and "adorned a chair or a square throne, covered it with a cloth and, on certain solemn occasions , they placed bread on it and offered it in the name of Mary ". Remembering the example of the Jews, condemned by the Prophet Jeremiah, who had made such offerings to the "Queen of Heaven" - in this case, Astarte - Epiphanius lashes out against the adoration of the Virgin to the same extent that he criticized the lack of respect for her. This is the seventy-ninth in the long list of heresies criticized by Epiphanius; it is the ancient pagan religion of the Goddess, who hides under the guise of "Mary". It is unlikely that the Colliridiani, as such, influenced the Church; but their existence demonstrates how similar distortions of true faith can arise, and it is possible that a more orthodox version of some of their ideas has proved congenial to some neo-converts from paganism, thus remaining latent, until the right combination of circumstances awakened it. In the course of my study of the apparitions, I began to feel the presence of another religion, which seems to be alongside Christianity. It was a real surprise, therefore, to discover that the nineteenth-century French novelist Emile Zola also had a similar presentiment, perceiving in Lourdes as the presence of "a new religion".

In the Church, Christ is the Second Adam; but, once the Virgin began to be regarded, in some way, as the Second Eve, this probably brought to mind the Goddess-Son / Spouse relationship of the spiritually weaker ones; while the Theotokos, although its title alluded only to the fact that Christ is God, certainly evoked the memory of Cybele, the Great Mother of the gods - except for the much higher meaning of the title, which means "Mother of God". As paganism died out, and local deities were overthrown, very often the Mother of God replaced them as the patroness of healing springs and sacred mountains, associated with pilgrimages for centuries. In the West, where the liturgical and theological foundations were perhaps weaker, during the Middle Ages the "

None of this has ever occurred in the East. Rooted soundly and soberly in the solid theology of the Orthodox Church, and spiritually nourished by a liturgy in the vernacular, the figure of the Mother of God naturally took her rightful place in a perfectly balanced and harmonious whole. The western distortion of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, resulting from the Filioque, with its (unintentional) "devaluation" of the Holy Spirit, together with the historical events that overwhelmed the Western Empire in the form of barbarian invasions and their consequences, isolated more and more the Church of the West from the pure Orthodoxy of that of the East.

With the restoration of order and a stable government at the end of the Dark Ages, the Western Church found itself with a largely illiterate and semi-barbarian laity. The clergymen had to take the place of the administrative and legislative frameworks required by the lay governments. Consequently, the Papacy had to rely for its existence on ecclesiastical lawyers; and this ended up giving the Roman Church the legalistic framework and the systematic philosophy that have remained its distinctive features. The ecclesiastical establishment acquired excessive authority; and, with the obligatory celibacy of the priests, "the Church" became in common feeling synonymous with "clergy". A defective Trinitarian theology, and an undue emphasis on the Augustinian teachings on original sin and atonement,

In the Latin Church, Marian exaggerations reached ever higher peaks, interrupted only briefly by the Protestant Reformation. The Virgin, giving Him a human nature, would have "made the Creator of the universe more perfect": an idea perfectly contrary to that of the Scriptures and Orthodoxy, in which the Incarnation is seen as a kenosis of himself by Christ - "although he was rich, for us he made himself poor". Bernardino da Siena's wildest fantasy, the "seduction of God", is described in a language more appropriate to a Greek legend of Zeus than to the Great Mystery of the Incarnation. The Virgin was greater than the Church ... she had authority over the Son in Heaven ... calmed divine justice, and prevented God from punishing sinners ... with the Holy Spirit, he made Christ be born in souls. "Even the language of the Holy Spirit" was "just enough to worthily celebrate his praises"! Unfortunately, the authors and preachers of this blasphemous nonsense were frequently canonized, which was regarded as a sign of official approval. Such distortions could very well be the "material" of which the Marian apparitions are made. The Goddess, or at least a semi-divine being, is back. Such distortions could very well be the "material" of which the Marian apparitions are made. The Goddess, or at least a semi-divine being, is back. Such distortions could very well be the "material" of which the Marian apparitions are made. The Goddess, or at least a semi-divine being, is back.

It is interesting to note that Cardinal John Henry Newman could not stand all these excesses. He accepted the Immaculate Conception, but believed that popular exaggerations and other deviations from patristic teaching were "artfully provoked, in order to ... destabilize consciences, provoke blasphemy and lead souls to perdition". With a typically nationalistic touch, Cardinal Newman noted that all these devotions and teachings were clearly the work of foreigners, certainly not Englishmen!

Pope John XXIII thought it necessary to remind his flock that "Our Lady is not at all pleased when she is placed above her Son". It goes without saying that such excesses are frowned upon in the current ecumenical climate. I don't know what is written in the most recent editions; but the 1980 Official Guide of Lourdes declared itself against "an unnecessary devotion to the Virgin, which is based on trinkets, rosaries and medals: the perversion of an authentic religion, which comes close to superstition".

Solar phenomena

Leaving aside self-suggestion, the jokes of an exuberant imagination, the imitation of the behavior of other people involved, however, there remains a sufficient number of testimonies to make the actual occurrence of solar phenomena at sanctuaries probable. . Are they natural phenomena, celestial signs that accompany the presence of the Mother of God, or part of the campaign of "signs and false miracles" that precedes the advent of the Antichrist? [..]

Some of the solar phenomena observed in numerous sanctuaries around the world are undoubtedly natural phenomena. However, hundreds of people who claim to have seen the sun "dance" have been able to observe it for a long time without damage to their optic nerves. But not everyone present saw the same thing: some saw nothing at all; therefore the "dancing" sun does not have a natural cause, and may be the result of a mass hallucination. It is certain that the sun could not have made those movements, otherwise it would have been the end of the solar system ...

All the documented accounts of the "sun miracle" at Fatima describe the terror of the crowd: many - but not all - saw the sun spin in a mad spiral, then break away from the sky, fall spinning towards the earth like a huge fiery mass, and finally return to its place. The movements were repeated twice. While some saw nothing, others, who were fifty kilometers away, saw the spectacle and believed that the end of the world had come. The sun changed color: red, then yellow, then purple. In the book The Dancing Sun, Desmond Seward quotes a passage from an unpublished account of the events of Turzovka. In 1958, the Mother of God appeared to a forty-two year old stranger, a "lukewarm believer", who saw a beautiful woman dressed in white, with a rosary in her hand, suspended in the air. There were in all seven apparitions, every week, in the same place and at the same time. The Virgin told the stranger to pray for reconciliation and the ransom of the world; there were the usual apocalyptic warnings, and the invitation to pray the rosary. Crowds flocked to the mountain from all over Slovakia; a spring gushed from the place of the apparition; there were healings. The Communist authorities locked the stranger in an asylum, but then released him. Strange lights were observed; and in 1963 the miracle of the sun took place. “The fiery disk ... it seemed to flare up, burn, emitting flames ... more than 500 people observed the phenomenon in consternation, astonished. After a few moments, a huge cone of light spread above and around us, like a huge curtain made of long, vividly colored strips. There were all the colors of the spectrum, from red to violet ... All around, colored stripes covered the sky, trees and branches, earth and people. The stripes radiated from a single focal point, where the sun was. I saw blue and yellow people next to me, who as they moved changed color. " Three local bands joined the pilgrims to sing in full voice the hymn "We greet you a thousand times, Mary", as everyone believed that the phenomenon was a sign of the presence of the Mother of God. impression of a kind of supernatural disco; but to the writer all this had appeared "strange and deeply moving, amazing". [..] where there was the sun. I saw blue and yellow people next to me, who as they moved changed color. " Three local bands joined the pilgrims to sing in full voice the hymn "We greet you a thousand times, Mary", as everyone believed that the phenomenon was a sign of the presence of the Mother of God. impression of a kind of supernatural disco; but to the writer all this had appeared "strange and deeply moving, amazing". [..] where there was the sun. I saw blue and yellow people next to me, who as they moved changed color. " Three local bands joined the pilgrims to sing loudly the hymn "We greet you a thousand times, Mary", as everyone believed that the phenomenon was a sign of the presence of the Mother of God. impression of a kind of supernatural disco; but to the writer all this had appeared "strange and deeply moving, amazing". [..] Reading this account, one gets the impression of a kind of supernatural disco; but to the writer all this had appeared "strange and deeply moving, amazing". [..] Reading this account, one gets the impression of a kind of supernatural disco; but to the writer all this had appeared "strange and deeply moving, amazing". [..]

If we exclude natural phenomena, and unless we believe that the "doves" and the dancing suns are signs sent from Heaven to indicate the presence of the Virgin and announce disasters, there remains only the possibility that the phenomena are some kind of hallucination of mass, or those "false signs and wonders" that foretell the Antichrist.

According to the Gospel of St. Luke, in the last times there will be "terror and great signs from heaven". Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote, more than a hundred years ago, that a time full of false miracles is approaching: “... the miracles of the Antichrist will manifest themselves above all in the air, where Satan has his dominion. These signs will act above all on the sense of sight, bewitching and misleading him ”. Many apparitions have heralded the future manifestation of a Great Sign.


Illusions

Why are these apparitions accepted so readily by the visionaries themselves and by countless pilgrims? There are many examples, in the Lives of the Saints, in which monks and ascetics, many of whom later came to realize genuine holiness, undergo illusions, welcome demons in the form of angels, or even Christ himself, receive "revelations", they see "Light" in their cells and they hear words.

Many enthusiastic "Marians" do not realize that "spiritual phenomena" are very common today. [..] Those who bring “Christian” ideas into their experiences often presume, without reflecting, that these are really Christian experiences, the work of the Holy Spirit; and he seldom stops to wonder if such experiences could not, instead, come from a spirit of a very different kind ...

Even when these experiences are truly Christian, the words of a saint of the Roman Catholic Church, John of the Cross, sound like a timely warning: “All heavenly visions, revelations and impressions, however much the spiritual man may hold them in account, they are not worth the slightest act of humility; because the latter brings with it the fruits of charity, which never esteems itself or thinks well of itself, but only of others ”.

The Curate of Ars did not accept the visions of La Salette; the ecclesiastical authorities of Garabandal showed no enthusiasm; and the former Roman Catholic Bishop of Mostar denounced the apparitions of Medjugorje. Certainly some of the visions could initially be caused by psychological factors. Beyond self-deception, moreover, there is the possibility of an unconscious mediumistic participation, or even of a more direct diabolical illusion.

If Bernadette, who showed the rosary to "Aquero", and the young people of Medjugorje with their bottles of holy water and their threats to the "Gospa" ("if you are Satan, go away!"), Had really suspected the presence of a demon, would thereby have shown that they underestimated the power they were dealing with: "I know Jesus and I know who Paul is, but who are you?" (Acts 19:15). [..]

In a question and answer session with a Franciscan, one of the "seers" of Medjugorje was asked why Ivanka, the girl who first saw the apparition, said: "It is the Blessed Virgin". The answer was: “What else could he have thought? A beautiful young mother with a baby and a crown on her head ... It was clear. " The apparition was accepted without any doubt as the Virgin, and the word was addressed to her before having it sprinkled with holy water (as the old women of the village later advised). "My angels" - as the apparition repeatedly called the youth - asked for a sign, and the vision graciously turned the hands of the watch of one of the visionaries ...

On the occasion of Ivanka's last vision, on May 7, 1985, the Gospa, in response to Ivanka's request, made the girl's mother appear, who died a few months before the apparitions began. “Our Lady asked me what I wanted, and I replied that I wanted to see my earthly mother. Then Our Lady smiled, nodded and, instantly, my mother appeared. He smiled. Our Lady told me to get up. I got up, my mother hugged me and kissed me ... ”Then She spoke to Ivanka and disappeared.

The boys blindly trusted the apparitions of Medjugorje: a trust that was encouraged by the Franciscans, who acted as their confidants and spiritual directors. [..]

The curative aspect

Some believe that the apparitions must be genuine because the sick are healed at the sanctuaries; but there is not necessarily any real connection between the two phenomena. The number of healings is really minimal, considering the multitudes of sick people who go to the sanctuaries. In Lourdes, during the 120 years that passed from 1858 to 1980, only sixty-four healings were declared miraculous - that is, not attributable to any natural or medical cause - among the five thousand possible.

Marian shrines, although they tend to monopolize attention, are not alone in claiming to be able to heal people. Spiritists also claim to have them to their credit; and, in its heyday, the Christian Science sect had an impressive healing balance.

Some emphasize the great compassion shown in Lourdes for the sick, and the time and energy spent on their benefit, year after year, by devotees who take on this task; and they think the visions must be true, if so much good comes of it. But compassion is not a prerogative of Christianity. Compassion for every living creature is a feature of Buddhism; and people of all or none faiths silently, without any publicity, volunteer their work in hospitals or among the mentally or physically disabled in their neighborhood. The healings and compassion do not at all prove the authenticity of the apparitions. There is no doubt that healings will occur; but the exact nature of a healing can change from one case to another, and since it also occurs among heretics and Spiritists,


Syncretism

Just as the apparitions have been manipulated for the purposes of Roman Catholic propaganda, or for reasons of proselytism, nationalism and commercialism, they are also used by supporters of ecumenism. "Our Lady is for everyone". And here the motto could apply: "Come to my room, said the spider to the fly" ... Just as the Pope spoke of the "conversion of Russia" under one shepherd, "the successor of St. Peter", so too the Vatican's plan - unchanged - to "bring us all together" is no secret at all: subjection to the Roman Pontiff.

At the same time, ecumenism beyond the very borders of Christianity continues to take root in the "dialogue with non-Christian religions"; although it is not quite an honest dialogue what the WCC has in mind. "The great religious communities will not disappear ... Jews will remain Jews, Muslims will remain Muslims, and those who belong to the great Eastern religions will remain Hindus, Buddhists and Taoists." Yet, somehow, all of them, though attached to their errors and continuing to deny Christ, "will abide in the kingdom of God without ... having become Christians."

God cannot be contained by anything: He is the source of any truth also present in other faiths. But, as CSLewis noted, being a Christian implies thinking that, where Christianity differs from other religions, the first is right, and the others are wrong. Lewis used the example of a sum: there is only one exact result for a sum, and all the others are wrong; but some of the erroneous results are closer to the truth than others.

Marian ecumenists believe that the Virgin is communicating an ecumenical message to Zeitoun and Medjugorje, and that, as mother of the entire human family, she has a particular role as a center of unity and reconciliation for her quarrelsome children. They point out that the Mother of God said nothing to Zeitoun. This is interpreted as a gesture of maternal sensitivity, and an invitation "to each of those present, regardless of their beliefs, to unite in God in prayer" (which is nowadays normal practice in meetings for "dialogue with religions non-Christian ”, and in accordance with the ideas of the WCC). Had she qualified as the "Mother of God", Muslims would have rejected the vision; if she had identified with the Immaculate Conception, the Copts would have rejected her. Ecumenists emphasize that the Virgin is mentioned in the Koran as Allah's chosen one, and her purity and virtue are praised; but they do not say that, again in the Koran, Christ himself is considered a simple prophet among many - and inferior to Mohammed -, and that His Crucifixion and Resurrection are definitely denied.

An Anglican correspondent of the Eastern Churches Review describes his visit to Zeitoun in the spring 1970 issue, reporting the story of a Muslim leader who lived near the church and used to throw stones at pilgrims. The Virgin appeared to him, asking him to stop, and ordered him to paint a cross on his house. Convinced of the authenticity of the vision, the Muslim painted forty large crosses on all the walls of his home. But what is the point of all this, considering the fact that he remained a practicing Muslim and never converted to Christ, which is not mentioned at all, and who, as usual, seems strangely absent?

In Medjugorje the Virgin announced that she had come to "convert and reconcile". The sanctuary is considered as a possible "key" to peace in the region: only the "Gospa" can reconcile Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims, since all honor her. Once again we find this incredible idea of ​​reconciliation and unity without Christ. The Gospa reproaches the Catholics of the region for their hostility against the Orthodox and Muslim neighbors - although in some books on the apparition of Medjugorje all this presents some obvious traits of anti-Serbian propaganda.

The Virgin of Medjugorje declares that "fundamentally, religions are similar": which recalls the teaching of Swami Vivekananda, a famous Hindu missionary in the West at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, who affirmed the transcendent unity of all religions. The foundation and heart of Christianity is the Trinity and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. Judaism and Islam also believe in a God who asks men to live in a "good" way, as opposed to an "evil" way of being; while Hinduism, as far as I can understand, believes that God is beyond "good" and "evil", that everything in this world is part of God, and that, if only we could see things from the point of view of sight of God, we would find that even what we call "evil" from our limited human perspective is, actually, "God". Swami Vivekananda, speaking of the goddess Kali, the Terrible Mother, who unites opposites in her - life and death, creation and destruction, mercy and terror - writes: "Who can say that God manifests himself not only as Good, but also as Evil ? Only Hindus dare to worship Him as Evil ”. All religions have something in common, but there are fundamental differences.

The Gospa also said that the Pope must be a father for all men, not only for Catholics. Pope John Paul II, who believes in the apparitions, seems to have made these words his own, and was inspired by them for further ecumenical initiatives. In addition to the World Day of Prayer in Assisi, the Pope defines the Jews as "elder brothers" of Christians; and, in his address to the young Muslims of Morocco, he named God the Father sixty-six times. To this must be added the Vatican's "missionary campaign" in Russia, and the Roman-Catholic interference in the Balkans, Croatia, Bosnia and Skopje. The Pope evidently considers the third millennium as a new era for missions, a new era of faith; and gave its support to "Evangelization 2000", which has projects of evangelizing activity worldwide, especially in Western and Eastern Europe. All these are “signs that indicate not only the reunion of Christians, but the acceptance of all faiths and cultures in the common human identity before God (Dudley Plunkett, Queen of Prophets). Archbishop Frane Franic of Split writes: "I consider the role of Medjugorje particularly important in the ecumenical work of the Church".

It is possible that the visionaries of Medjugorje are being used (albeit unconsciously) within the framework of a larger plan of preparation for a "world religion". It is typical of the deceptive action of demons to make their illusions appear "good" and "Christian", and to present the kingdom of satan as if it were the Kingdom of Christ. Samuel Horsley, an eighteenth-century Anglican seer, would grieve as his words come true in our day: “The Church of God on earth will be greatly reduced ... in the time of the Antichrist, due to the open desertion of worldly powers. This desertion will begin as a declared indifference towards any particular form of Christianity, in the form of universal tolerance ... from tolerance towards the most pestilential heresies, we will come ... to persecute the truth of Christianity. "

If there is an "anti-Christ" aspect to Medjugorje, it fits well with the growing interest in "signs" and wonders. The supernatural has long been removed from everyday life by rationalism, materialism, and the intimidation of science and technology. A growing number of people who feel this lack try to fill the void with UFOs, dancing suns, drugs, spiritism, New Age paganism, occultism, and apparitions. Superstition continues to flourish. A statue of the Virgin weeps blood from one eye, and the neighbors rush to pray the rosary in front of it. A Mexican woman fries a tortilla for dinner for her husband, sees in the pasta a resemblance to the face of Christ crowned with thorns, and here is the miracle! Over the next twelve months, 8.

Thousands of people discreetly claim that their lives have been spiritually transformed by the shrines. Some Traditionalist Catholics, especially Marian ones, consider sanctuaries as a confirmation of their faith. The uncertain, shaken by the modern liberal changes in Catholicism, seek - and find - reassurance. Supporters of liturgical renewal feel free to indulge in religious services with "increased spontaneity and informality", such as the Mass-Party for sick children in Lourdes, in which, after the consecration, colored balloons and festoons were thrown into the air, and celebrants joined hands and hopped down the aisle chanting "Lord of the Dance" (which is actually Shiva, the Hindu god). Some nuns continue to live the usual life; but most of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers (the order of Bernadette) have given up the religious habit and have integrated with the modern world. Bernadette herself was manipulated by different groups, who acclaim her as their heroine: the “revolutionaries” of Christ the Worker, because she was poor and belonged to the working class; the "charismatics", because he had had visions and had heard the voice of Heaven directly, without mediation on the part of the official hierarchy.

Houses of spiritual power, places of hope and healing: a receptacle of superstition, a paradise for thieves (according to Patrick Marnham, in Lourdes, in high season, the presence of a good number of plainclothes policemen is necessary) and for commercial exploiters, a great incentive for tourism, an excuse for nationalism and proselytism, a way to satisfy the recurring popular demand for the Goddess, but under a respectable "Christian" guise ... Shrines seem to be many things, for many different people .


Too much of everything

I conclude as I began, emphasizing that mine is only a very personal point of view on the events of the apparitions. Everyone is free to form their own opinion on the matter, to accept or reject the apparitions, to visit the shrines or to stay away from them; but every Orthodox to whom it might come to mind to seek healing at these shrines, or to go there on pilgrimage to honor the Mother of God, should - I believe - carefully consider what, in reality, these places are dedicated ...

[.. ] It is not obligatory for Roman Catholics to accept apparitions, even when their Church has approved them. But some Marianists would like to change this by claiming that official approval goes beyond "permission to believe" and implies infallibility.

After careful consideration, I am unable to accept the divine origin of any of the apparitions (although some may have a supernatural origin), or to believe that God speaks to the world through them. As an Orthodox, these phenomena seem superfluous to me. We have as our guide the Scriptures, the teaching of the Church, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal and only Head of the Church. With the exception of Zeitoun, the apparitions have all manifested themselves in a Church that has relegated the God-man to heaven and appointed a man as His infallible vicar on earth: a man whose position and power are supported and promoted by these. visions.

In my opinion, there are simply too many visions. Psychologist Staehkin between 1930 and 1950 investigated over thirty series of apparitions of the Virgin, including three hundred apparitions. Apart from the case of the Miraculous Medal, which seems to have started all the others, and the apparitions already mentioned, there have been other cases: Akita, in Japan (where a nun saw beams of light in her cell, and has had more than a hundred visions in which a statue of the Virgin spoke, cried and bled), Rwanda, Argentina, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Korea, Hungary, Belgium, Holland, USA, China, Syria, Philippines, Italy and Ireland. Forty-seven other visionaries have appeared outside Medjugorje in other parishes of the diocese of Mostar.

It is not the experiences themselves that are questioned, but their origin, as visions can be caused by various psychological factors, psychic and mediumistic phenomena, and demonic interventions. The demons do not hesitate to fill our intellect with false ideas, spiritual pride and illusory psychisms. For this reason the Church admonishes us to be spiritually sober and constantly on the alert, or self-deception soon turns into diabolical deception.

There are too many sun signs. Since Fatima, solar phenomena have been a constant in most shrines: lights, fires, rainbows, dancing suns, showers of petals, crosses of fire, with a particular profusion in Zeitoun. When to these phenomena are added "signs" such as columns of fire, and all the first sightings of UFOs - one cannot help but wonder if there is a real program underway, with the aim of satisfying a generation that seeks signs: demons graciously offer what we are ready to receive. One or two visions and signs may be compelling, but not - literally - hundreds of them ...

The apparitions are too public. Private relationships are one thing; but most of these appearances took place in a blaze of publicity. The "heavenly" visitor comes with a global message, and visions often take place in front of crowds of onlookers. Visionaries have frequently found themselves at the center of morbid interest and unhealthy flattery. The Lourdes Grotto was full of people: police officers, the commissioner, the mayor, the deputy mayor, and a crowd of 20,000 people. Bernadette was constantly carried away from the school for interrogation, assaulted on the street and disturbed by the crowd that besieged her home, eager to see her and to ask her for advice and prayers. Crowds like that followed the children of Fatima, they knelt before them and begged them to come into their homes and pray for some sick relative. Relic hunters even cut strands of Lucia's hair in the crush of the crowd. The visions of Zeltoun were seen by millions of people, believers and non-believers alike.

Thanks to the means of modern advertising, the visionaries of Medjugorje soon became the center of world attention, offering advice to those who flocked to their homes and reporting the words from the Lady of Medjugorje in response to the questions of the crowd. The boys have been interviewed countless times, and examined by doctors and psychologists. The Medjugorje events were promoted by an efficient and aggressive propaganda campaign that used every possible means: magazines dedicated exclusively to the event, international telephone numbers for those who wished to receive the monthly message of the Gospa, radio and television programs. spread all over the world, videos, cassettes and numerous books (the mariologist René Laurentin, alone, has written about ten). One of the visionaries is the co-author of a book, A Thousand Encounters with Our Lady of Medjugorje; another, through the American Ambassador to the European Community, wrote to Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev (Reagan replied). There are special Medjugorje Centers all over the world. And all this before any official decision was taken by the ecclesiastical authorities. It is unlikely that a commission could be appointed to give a negative verdict, given the incredible success of the propaganda and the level of popular religious enthusiasm. Above all, the Pope said that according to him there is nothing less than good in Medjugorje. he wrote to Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev (Reagan replied). There are special Medjugorje Centers all over the world. And all this before any official decision was taken by the ecclesiastical authorities. It is unlikely that a commission could be appointed to give a negative verdict, given the incredible success of the propaganda and the level of popular religious enthusiasm. Above all, the Pope said that according to him there is nothing less than good in Medjugorje. he wrote to Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev (Reagan replied). There are special Medjugorje Centers all over the world. And all this before any official decision was taken by the ecclesiastical authorities. It is unlikely that a commission could be appointed to give a negative verdict, given the incredible success of the propaganda and the level of popular religious enthusiasm. Above all, the Pope said that according to him there is nothing less than good in Medjugorje. given the incredible success of the propaganda and the level of popular religious enthusiasm. Above all, the Pope said that according to him there is nothing less than good in Medjugorje. given the incredible success of the propaganda and the level of popular religious enthusiasm. Above all, the Pope said that according to him there is nothing less than good in Medjugorje.

Medjugorje, the charismatic movement and the case of Herzegovina

While I was gathering information about the events of Medjugorje, I was struck by certain similarities with the Charismatic Movement, especially in the messages and in the attitude of the supporters. I was not surprised, therefore, to discover that, from the beginning, the events of Medjugorje had been managed by people with "charismatic" tendencies (Br. Jozo Zovko, Br. Tomislav Vlasic and others), or to learn that "in May 1981, in Rome, an international conference was held for the leaders of the Charismatic Movement. One of the representatives of Yugoslavia was Br. Tomislav Vlasic .... One of the leaders who prayed with him, Sister Briege McKenna, had a mental vision of Br. Vlasic seated, surrounded by a large crowd: a stream of water flowed from the chair . Emile Tardif, OP, pronounced a prophecy: 'Do not be afraid, I am sending you my Mother.' Thus, Fr. Vlasic returned to Yugoslavia. Two weeks after her return, Our Lady began to appear to a group of boys and girls in the Franciscan parish of Medjugorje. A new life was beginning to flow. "

The aforementioned Father Vlasic was for three years the spiritual guide, interpreter and protector of visionaries. According to some, he is "a man of irreproachable holiness"; for others, a “charismatic magician”.

Something that is not a simple hallucination, but is situated beyond the limits of human knowledge and experience, is not necessarily a genuine vision, received by the grace of God. It can simply be a pleasant psychic experience: in the messages there is it is always the same emphasis on "love", "peace" and "joy".

There are definite similarities in this to another phenomenon: spiritism. The mediums do not hesitate to accept their spirit-guides as Messengers of the Light; and their messages are also invariably loving and consoling, reverent in their expression, with frequent references to a Divinity and moral teachings. The mediums claim to communicate messages from a higher world; and the visionaries, in effect, communicated messages from the Gospa to those who had asked questions.

Naturally, the aforementioned healing functions in the church of Bro. Jozo had a distinctly "charismatic" character; which explains why people fell to the ground, cried and passed out. Jozo's ministry now includes Rest in the Spirit - a less dramatic version of the charismatic Killing in the Spirit - which seems to have caused "some embarrassment" in the parish.

The conflicts with the Franciscans in Herzegovina date back to the time of the Turks, when the friars continued to celebrate for local Catholics in the absence of a bishop. In 1881 a regular hierarchy was re-established, as the intention of the Holy See was to gradually replace the Franciscans with secular clergy in the care of the parishes. This caused serious resentments and tensions between the friars and the people on the one hand, and the diocesan authorities on the other. Medjugorje remained a Franciscan parish. Dr. Zanic, Bishop of Mostar at the time of the apparitions, continued along this line in spite of strong opposition. Two friars rebelled openly and were suspended by the Bishop, as well as expelled from the orderby their superiors. The two friars immediately turned to the visionaries, who spoke about the matter with the Lady of Medjugorje on no less than thirteen occasions. The Lady spoke out openly in defense of the two friars, defining them "innocent, without any guilt, and unjustly punished! ... The Bishop was cruel ... The Bishop is guilty". “She (the Gospa) spoke about this case (of Herzegovina), she laughed and said that she, alone, would put everything in order. Then he started laughing. Then Jakov and I laughed too ... "

The Bishop (and others) remained skeptical, called the whole affair a hoax and a fraud, and stated that a group of friars, led by Brother Tomislav Vlasic, exploited the" visionaries " for their purposes.


"You will recognize them by the fruits "

Supporters see Medjugorje as a great opportunity for religious renewal and are openly enthusiastic about it; while others, both among the clergy and the laity, even entire families of the village, show themselves indifferent or hostile.

Supporters use the usual argument that is heard repeated in all shrines: "You will recognize them by the fruits." How is it possible that all of this is the work of Satan, when the vision calls for prayer and fasting, and there are conversions and healings?

Dr. Franic, Archbishop of Split, uses precisely this argument in a letter to Rome in 1985: “In the last three and a half years, more than three million pilgrims have come to Medjugorje from all five continents; and all, after the pilgrimage, have returned home converted, or have been led back to a Christian life from a condition of religious indifference or absolute atheism, renewing their contact with prayer and with religious practices such as fasting, especially on Friday , and in some houses also on Wednesdays, eating only bread and water: in a word, completely reconciled with God and with men ”.

It is very likely that most of the pilgrims returned home in a state of temporary euphoria; it is also possible that some, perhaps many, have begun to live their faith more seriously; but that all three million pilgrims have been completely reconciled with God and with men, this indeed would have been a real miracle, the miracle of Medjugorje ... But it is much more likely that this is only a pious illusion of the Archbishop . We only need to remember the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican to understand that prayer and fasting, or any other "religious practice", are not in themselves sufficient to reconcile us with God and with men.

We know well that healings take place not only at Marian shrines, but also in many other places, even among non-Christian religions. The healings, as well as the number of pilgrims, caused disagreements: the detractors of the apparitions claimed that there was no evidence to support many healings, that the Medical Office of Lourdes had given a negative answer, and that some of those who claimed to be "healed" were actually dead. On the occasion of a pilgrimage, the Bishop of Mostar stated that there had been only 30,000 pilgrims, against the 200,000 declared by Br. Vlasic. The visionaries asked “Our Lady of Medjugorje” for the exact number, who provided the figure of 110,000.

There are also spoiled fruits: disagreement with devotees of other Marian shrines (echoes of Our Lady of Walsingham against Our Lady of Ipswich ...), and other bad stories of ferocious disputes, with acrimonious exchanges of invectives at "high levels" . On a lighter tone, Desmond Seward (The Dancing Sun) brings back the humorous account of a long sermon by a Kentucky priest, which includes the heartwarming account of his pains for quitting Coke in response to requests for penance. of the Virgin.


The visionaries

But how convincing are the visionaries themselves, convinced that they have seen the Mother of God? Their extraordinary lack of spiritual caution is very worrying, which prompted them to unconditionally attribute their visions to the Blessed Virgin. Remember the words of one of the Medjugorje visionaries: “Who else could it be? It was obvious! ”.

Had it not been for the strong similarities between Zeitoun's descriptions of solar phenomena and previous UFO sightings, I would have found this body of evidence solid and impressive; although it is still difficult to understand why the Virgin should have appeared in this way excessively "public" and blatant, when Christ himself did not at all attempt to convince the unbelievers with an appearance of her over Jerusalem - where he could have been seen by Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas and all the people - proof of His Resurrection.

Catherine Labouré, who saw the Miraculous Medal, was very fond of "visions"; and he was always trying (which, from an Orthodox point of view, is extremely dangerous) to have new ones. The Miraculous Medal prayer was excellent propaganda for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and Catherine died knowing that millions of medals had been distributed around the world. Her own identity, which should have been kept secret, was somehow discovered, and Labouré was canonized by the Roman Church.

Massimino and Melania of La Salette seem to have been, both as children and as adults, two people with not very reassuring behavior. Bishop Doupanloup found Maximin "absolutely disgusting"; and the Curé d'Ars, who interviewed him, stated that “if what the boy tells me is true, it is not possible to believe it”. However, the voice of popular enthusiasm prevailed and the official conclusion was in favor of the apparition.

Bernadette, on the other hand, seems to be a person with a rustic wisdom and a certain peasant common sense. After entering the convent, he had no more visions, and did nothing to draw attention to himself or to exploit his celebrity. She believed that she had never wanted to do anything wrong in her life, and that she had never heard the words "Immaculate Conception" before. This last statement is impossible to accept, since the inhabitants of the Pyrenees had celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception as a day of obligation in the preceding one hundred and fifty years, that is to say since the decree of Clement XI in 1708 (Pius IX limited himself to defining dogma and to impose it as an article of faith). In her childhood, lived entirely in a Catholic culture, Bernadette was certainly taken to church on December 8, just like at Christmas, Easter and the day of the Assumption. After the definition of the dogma in 1854, and the institution of the Miraculous Medal, with its prayer to "Mary conceived without sin", the words "Immaculate Conception" must have reached her ear countless times.

The little visionaries of Fatima, according to Sister Lucia, the visionary survivor, were characterized by a disturbing and unnatural religiosity. They wore sackcloth until the Lady said she didn't want them to sleep on the rope, but only wore it during the day. They mortified themselves in every possible way, sometimes refusing food and drink, deliberately piercing themselves with thorny plants, and making sacrifices in everything, repeating each time the words taught them by the Lady. The two youngest seers died at a very young age; Lucia, who became a nun, continued to receive visions and revelations.

Marlette Beco, a Belgian girl, was visited eight times in 1933 by an apparently strangely similar to the Lady of Lourdes, who also asked for a chapel for herself, made a spring gush out and entrusted the girl with a secret. Marie was eleven, so she was in a pre-adolescent and somewhat emotional age, and often cried at the story of the apparitions, she burst into tears during some of the visions, "she cried uncontrollably when her Lady did not appear", in evenings when nothing it happened, and she felt sick, tired, and very weak, even though the doctor declared her health was good. At the end of the last apparition, when the "Virgin of the Poor" left her, the girl "let herself fall on the damp earth, where she lay sprawled, sobbing and crying convulsively, as he tried to say his prayers ”. The ecclesiastical authorities recognized Marlette Beco's visions as authentic, and Banneux became a pilgrimage center with the usual square for the blessing of the sick, a hospital and a camping area. A Banneux company organizes pilgrimages and disseminates information.

The young people of Medjugorje are described as immersed in a world of spiritual exaltation, shining examples living exemplary lives of prayer and fasting, and of love for the Catholic Church and the Pope. But they have also been defined as "little liars", "unwitting pawns. of a game they do not understand ”, endowed with“ dilated egos ”and similar, in behavior, to“ domesticated robots ”. Mirjana, one of them, no longer sees the apparitions, but hears an inner voice. Two other girls (not part of the core of the visionaries), Jelena and Marijana, initially under the direction of Br. Tomislav Vlasic - the charismatic leader who had been spiritual director of the visionaries - also hear an inner voice, attributed to the Virgin, who entrusts them with personal messages, messages for the local prayer group, for the parish and for the whole world. More than a million copies of books by Br. Vlasic himself were distributed free of charge, containing meditations on the messages, and which include "formulas of consecration to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, dictated by Our Lady in Jelena". Other priests connected with Medjugorje and with the Charismatic Movement also receive "interior locutions", defined as the explicit inner awareness of a message, different from any other form of human communication.

The Mother of God or the Goddess?

Who is this "Lady" who has appeared thousands of times and acclaimed by millions of people? Is it the same Mother of Jesus that we know from the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church? It almost seems that the cult of the Marian apparitions has a life and an ethos of its own, as if it were another religion: a kind of Christianity mixed with the cult of the Goddess and spiritism. The Virgin, not Christ, is the central figure. Heaven speaks through her, not of Him. Despite the official doctrine of the Roman Church, which forbids placing Mary on the same level as the Son, it is she who predominates. Geoffrey Ashe seems to have hit the mark when he says that "the vitality of the [Roman-Catholic] Church always seems to have depended on her, more than on him".

My feeling of an autonomous Virgin, acting independently, was confirmed by Br. Michael O'Carroll, according to whom God has entrusted His mission of mercy and renewal to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Speaking of Medjugorje, O'Carroll affirms that “it was not God the Father, nor God the Son incarnate, nor God the Holy Spirit who took the initiative in Medjugorje. It was Our Lady. " And he goes on to say that the main characteristic of Medjugorje is the manifestation of the "dominant, perpetual, autonomous role attributed to Our Lady".

O'Carroll tries to reassure those who think that God has been "overshadowed" in Medjugorje by recalling the "recurring mention of the Holy Spirit" in the words of the Gospa. In the 203 messages that I have read, the Holy Spirit is only mentioned six times, and two of them in order to make Him seem like a mere "witness" of the Gospa. [..]

In the New Testament we can see all the incomparable spiritual beauty of the Mother of the Lord. In her shining humility the Virgin never shows herself, but always points elsewhere. Mother of the Messiah, she humbly calls herself "servant of God". Elizabeth's praise in her honor is immediately addressed to God, who deigned to lay eyes on her littleness. He does not address his orders directly to the servants of Cana, but quietly exhorts them to obey the commands of the Son. The Acts do not depict her engaged in some private initiative, but in prayerful expectation with the entire community of believers.

The lady of the apparitions, on the other hand, stands in the center of the stage, with the spotlight always on her. New titles are invented: Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Rosary, Mother of Consolation, Virgin of the Poor, Queen of Peace. She seeks reparation and consolation for the injuries addressed to her: "Dry the tears I pour by looking at what you do" (Medjugorje), "Look at my Heart, crowned with thorns with which men hurt me at every moment, for their blasphemy and ingratitude. There are so many souls condemned by the Justice of God for the sins committed against me, that I had to come to ask for reparation: sacrifice yourselves for this intention ”(Fatima).

In the typical language of the Goddess, the Lady of Medjugorje says: “I am tireless, I call you even when you are far from my heart. I am the Mother, and although I feel pain for all those who are lost, I forgive easily and I rejoice for every child who comes back to me ”. In 1986 he appeared on the mountain with five angels, and told the visionaries that what they were experiencing was "similar to the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor." He would give people all the graces they needed. He blessed them and told them to "come down from Tabor and take the blessing to others." “Wherever I go, my Son is with me”. The truth is, however, that wherever the God-man is found, there is also, in Him, the Mother, His saints, His angels and His just. In him - and in him alone - we can communicate with them and ask for their help. The Mother of the Lord is truly the Mother of all of us in the Church, where she occupies the highest place, the closest to Christ; but she does not act independently of him. She is not the Mother of the Church, nor the mediator of all graces, nor the Co-redeemer (these last two titles are implicit in the messages of Medjugorje).

"Detached from its evangelical image, and evolving from the subconscious fantasies of man, it can become anything from a sentimental dream to a dark, inscrutable, inexorable being, similar to the scary goddess of paganism" (Newbolt, The Blessed Virgin).


The messages

In the end, however, it must be the content of the messages themselves that inspire the acceptance or rejection of the visions. As mentioned, this is why we did not include Walsingham among the Marian shrines: the message, revealed to Richeldis in a private vision or in a dream, was the request for a chapel in honor of the Incarnation.

In Zeitoun, and even earlier in Knock, no message was communicated; the purpose of these visions is therefore a matter of conjecture. There are differences of emphasis, but substantial unity, in the messages of the various sanctuaries; although Lourdes seems, in many ways, "eccentric".

First of all, there is an air of kindness and courtesy: “Come closer, my children, do not be afraid: I am here to bring you great news” (La Salette); “Please come here for two weeks” (Lourdes). The Lady of Zeitoun bows to greet the assembled crowd. The Gospa of Medjugorje repeats her parrot-like refrain at the end of each message: “Thank you for having responded to my call”.

There is always this absence of Christ, or at least His marginalization as a distant vindictive figure, whose righteous anger is held back by the Virgin. Even in Medjugorje Christ is far away, although not fearful; and men are invited to "think more about Jesus" on Christmas day, and to "do something concrete for Jesus Christ": that is, to "bring a flower as a sign of abandonment to Jesus. I want every member of the family have a flower near the manger, so that Jesus can see you and your devotion to Him ”.

There are always the same secrets, the same apocalyptic warnings, the same good advice to go to church and behave well, with exhortations to "love", "do penance" and "pray". Banneux's message was, literally: "Pray a lot". By "prayer" we mean the rosary, which is constantly mentioned. Although supporters of Medjugorje claim that Mass is the central moment of prayer, the rosary has pre-eminence. It is "Mary's favorite form of prayer" (O'Carroll). "The rosary is a powerful weapon against Satan ... We must defeat Satan with the rosary in hand ..." (Medjugorje). At Fatima, assistance at the hour of death is promised to those who go to confession, they receive Communion on the first Saturday of five consecutive months and recite a certain number of rosaries a certain number of times, with the right intention. All the visionaries recited the rosary, and the apparition of Medjugorje appeared regularly during the public recitation. Paradise was promised to the little seer of Fatima, but only if he "said many rosaries". One of the visionaries of Medjugorje received a rosary personally from the Lady (it is not clear whether it was a materialization); and the Pope was given one blessed especially for him by the Gospa. but only if he had "prayed many rosaries". One of the visionaries of Medjugorje received a rosary personally from the Lady (it is not clear whether it was a materialization); and the Pope was given one blessed especially for him by the Gospa. but only if he had "prayed many rosaries". One of the Medjugorje visionaries personally received a rosary from the Lady (it is not clear whether it was a materialization); and the Pope was given one blessed especially for him by the Gospa.

There is always the same teaching on purgatory and papal supremacy, and the same emphasis on the "Sacred Heart of Jesus" and the "Immaculate Heart of Mary". Pope John Paul II also supports the cult of the Immaculate Heart, associating it with that of the Sacred Heart. The Virgin of Fatima promises salvation to those who embrace the Immaculate Heart and provide for the "reparation" of the sins with which the Heart of Jesus was offended.

There is always the same haggling, the same promises and threats, the same invitations to do good deeds for self-interest. If you do this, I promise you that I will do that: if you don't do this and that, it will happen to you - or it won't happen to you - like that and that. “Those who wear the medal will receive great favors, especially if they wear it around their neck”. "If sinners repented, the stones and rocks would turn into sheaves of wheat" (La Salette). “If people do as I say, many souls will be saved and there will be peace” (Fatima). "If we do not change, the punishment will be terrible" (Garabandal).

Lourdes is, in many ways, in stark contrast to the above. The rosary is prevalent; the apparition holds a rosary in her hand and runs the beads between her fingers while Bernadette kneels and says her prayers. But, while there is no mention of Christ, there is also no mention of the Hearts, purgatory, apocalyptic threats and "haggling". The words are few and concise, mostly brief exhortations: “Go and kiss the earth for the conversion of sinners; Go and drink at the spring ...; Go and tell the priests to build a chapel on this place ”. The contrast with the loquacity of the Gospa of Medjugorje is truly remarkable.

The vision's brief statement, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” had a greater impact than any other shrine message. Some Catholic theologians, at the time, puzzled over this sentence and felt uncomfortable, because it was similar, in a very disturbing way, to sentences uttered by God and Christ in the Old and New Testaments, and seemed to reflect “I am the Resurrection ”,“ I am the Way, the Truth and the Life ”. The Marian maximalists rejoiced to see what honors were given to the Virgin in Heaven, and began to wait for further revelations from future apparitions, such as: "I am the Mediation of all graces", and "I am the Co-Redemption". But, to their great regret, they were disappointed, and had to be content with "I am the Lady of the Rosary" and "I am the Virgin of the Poor".

The claim of the apparition was as enigmatic as those of the Delphic oracle; and it had the effect of hastening and confirming the dogma of Papal Infallibility. By imposing the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, the Pope acted at his own will, without the consent of a General Council. For this fact he was strongly criticized in some ecclesiastical circles. When the Lady of Lourdes announced that she was the "Immaculate Conception", she not only proved that the Pope had been right to proclaim the dogma, but also confirmed his ability to act alone: ​​in other words, she implied that the supreme authority belonged only to the Pope. Papal Infallibility became official dogma in 1870. As Alan Neame states, Our Lady of Lourdes was somehow the mother of Infallibility, and the grandmother of the Old Catholics who,

And if anyone were to remember that in St. Catherine of Siena (XIV century), during her vision, Our Lady said that she was not conceived immaculately, Rome has the answer: even the saints can misinterpret their revelations, and Catherine was so influenced by her Dominican teachers, contrary to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, that "even in her mystical rapture this holy woman could not immerse herself sufficiently in God to overcome this suggestion" (Archbishop of Split).

The unsatisfactory messages, therefore, are frequent, as are the unsatisfactory visionaries. According to Dr.Franic, Archbishop of Split, not only human illusions can easily insinuate into messages, but also evil spirits: each message, therefore, must be considered separately. Indeed, inappropriate messages can be erased, thus "purging" the revelation. In short: between visionaries of dubious reliability who can be repositories of authentic divine revelations, divine messages that can be misinterpreted by holy visionaries, or even altered by evil spirits, and parapsychological causes that can sometimes be the only true origin of the visions, there it really is on quicksand, and there seems to be nothing solid to rely on.

The new element present in the Medjugorje messages is ecumenism. The Gospa prophesies, in particular, a renewal of Catholic religiosity in Russia. If we connect this message with that of Fatima relating to Russia, with Hriushiw's appeal to the Uniates for renewed missionary activity in Russia, with the Pope's deep interest in Russia and his support for Evengelization 2000, with his emphasis on "Western and Eastern Europe", we cannot really say that we have not been warned! ...

The Gospa said that the divisions between religions are "created by man"; and she also seems to have declared that God commands all religions like a king over his kingdom - although I could not find this phrase in the books I have read, which is hardly surprising, as the apparitions have gone on for so long , with hundreds of messages, it would be impossible to include everything that was said. Furthermore, as René Laurentin noted in one of his articles, Rome has shown concern that some of the messages seem to imply a certain religious indifference; therefore it is highly probable that such a controversial phrase has been suppressed in every publication favorable to the apparitions, since such a radically ecumenical position is not (yet) generally acceptable. I wrote to the London Medjugorje Center for clarification on this point, but I have not received a reply. It seems that a kind of unity without Christ is conceived for non-Christian religions. It seems that Western ecumenists have discussed the need for a possible revision or modification of the traditional Incarnationist conception, in which Christ is the only and final revelation of God to man, since it would be incompatible with interreligious dialogue. Be that as it may, studying the messages of some shrines (Fatima, Zeitoun, Hriushiw, Medjugorje) and the comments of various writers, my impression is that the Pope is considered the symbol of unity among Christians, who will be reunited despite their differences. doctrinal (subjection to the Papacy without unity in faith),

My initial reaction to reading the shrine messages was one of profound disappointment. These messages are not worth a heavenly visitation: especially those of Medjugorje. If God wanted to speak, it would be impossible to hear him because of the incessant chatter of the Lady's apparitions ...

There are very few passages in the Gospel in which the words of the Mother of God refer; but each of them is highly significant. You could spend your entire life meditating on his words, without exhausting their meaning. Otherwise, the Virgin is silent, so that the Son - the Word - can speak. Nothing can be added to the last words that have been told of her, an eternally true, meaningful and universal message: "Whatever He will tell you, do it".


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