Marian apparition

A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The figure is often named after the town where it is reported, or on the sobriquet given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition.

Marian apparitions sometimes are reported to recur at the same site over an extended period of time. In the majority of Marian apparitions only one person or a few people report having witnessed the apparition. Exceptions to this include Zeitoun, Fátima, and Assiut where thousands claimed to have seen her over a period of time.

Some Marian apparitions and their respective global icons have received a Canonical coronation from the Pope, most notably Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fátima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Our Lady of Manaoag, Our Lady of the Pillar, Our Lady of Walsingham, and many others.

Appearances

The term "appearance" has been used in different apparitions within a wide range of contexts and experiences. And its use has been different with respect to Marian apparitions and visions of Jesus Christ.

In some apparitions such as Our Lady of Lourdes an actual vision is reported, resembling that of a person being present. In some of these reports the viewers do not initially report that they saw the Virgin Mary, but that they saw "a Lady" and had conversation with her. In these cases the viewers report experiences that resemble the visual and verbal interaction with a person present at the site. In most cases, there are no clear indications as to the auditory nature of the experience, i.e. whether the viewers heard the voices via airwaves or an "interior" or subjective sense of communication. The 1973 messages of Our Lady of Akita were to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa who went deaf before 1973 and remained deaf until 1982 when she was cured during Sunday Mass as foretold in her messages.

In some apparitions an image is reported absent any verbal interaction. An example is the reported apparitions at Our Lady of Assiut in which many people reported a bright image atop a building. Photographs at times suggest the silhouette of a statue of the Virgin Mary but the images are subject to varying interpretations, and critics suggest that they may just be due to various visual effects. However, such image-like appearances are hardly ever reported for visions of Jesus and Mary. In most cases these involve some form of reported communication.

And apparitions should be distinguished from interior locutions in which no visual contact is claimed. Interior locutions consist of inner voices. Interior locutions are generally not classified as apparitions.

Physical contact is hardly ever reported as part of Marian apparitions. In rare cases a physical artifact is reported in apparitions, such as the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is reported to have been miraculously imprinted on the cloak of Saint Juan Diego.

Catholic belief

According to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, the era of public revelation ended with the death of the last living Apostle. A Marian apparition, if deemed genuine by Church authority, is treated as private revelation that may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose, but it can never add anything new to the deposit of faith. The Church may pronounce an apparition as worthy of belief, but belief is never required by divine faith.^[1] The Holy See has officially confirmed the apparitions at Guadalupe, Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, Paris (Rue du Bac, Miraculous Medal), La Salette, Lourdes, Fátima, Pontmain, Beauraing, and Banneux.^[2]

According to Father Salvatore M. Perrella of the Marianum Pontifical Institute in Rome (who has also served as an expert for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), of the 295 reported apparitions studied by the Holy See through the centuries only 12 had been approved as of May 2008 (the latest at that time being the May 2008 approval of the 17th- and 18th-century apparitions of Our Lady of Laus).^[3][4] Other apparitions continue to be approved at the local level, e.g. the December, 2010 local approval of the 19th-century apparitions of Our Lady of Good Help, the first recognized apparition in the United States.^[5]

An authentic apparition is believed not to be a subjective experience, but a real and objective intervention of divine power. The purpose of such apparitions is to recall and emphasize some aspect of the Christian message. The church states that cures and other miraculous events are not the purpose of Marian apparitions, but exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message.^[6] Apparitions of Mary are held as evidence of her continuing active presence in the life of the church, through which she "cares for the brethren of her son who still journey on earth."^[7]

Possibly the best-known apparition sites are Lourdes and Fátima^[8] Since 1862, over sixty medical cures associated with Lourdes have been certified as "miraculous" by the Catholic Church, which established its own Medical Bureau in 1883 to review and evaluate claims of cures. Although an independent study of cures reported in the twentieth century noted that the number of reported cures had declined over the years, likely due to advances in medical science as well as criteria that excluded some cures (such as cures of terminal illnesses) during a period of time, the results of the study published in 2012 concluded that some of the cures were "currently beyond our ken but still impressive, incredibly effective, and awaiting a scientific explanation."^[9] The Three Secrets of Fátima received a great deal of attention in the Catholic and secular press.

Process for formal recognition of apparitions

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The Roman Catholic Church has instituted processes for formal investigation and recognition of apparitions. In 1978 the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly of the Holy Office) issued "Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations" containing the following provisions:^[10]

• The diocesan bishop can initiate a process on his own initiative or at the request of the faithful to investigate the facts of an alleged apparition. The bishop may refrain from looking into it if he chooses, especially if he thinks that not much will come of the event.
• The national conference of bishops may intervene if the local diocesan bishop refers it to him or if the event becomes important nationally or at least in more than one diocese.
• The Apostolic See (the Vatican) can also intervene at the request of the local bishop himself, at the request of a group of the faithful, or on its own initiative.

According to Fr. Perrella, the local bishop usually manages the investigatory process, working with the help of a commission of experts such as theologians and medical doctors. The investigation includes questioning of alleged visionaries and witnesses; examining the "fruits of the apparitions" such as conversions and alleged miracles and healings; and evaluating "the veracity of the facts" and "the mental, moral and spiritual wholesomeness and seriousness" of the visionary. Upon completing the investigation, the bishop can either declare the apparition is "true and worthy of belief", declare that it is not true, or seek additional help from the national bishops' conference. If the bishops' conference cannot reach a conclusion, the matter is referred to the Pope, who then calls on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to either advise or conduct its own investigation.^[11]

Criteria for evaluating apparitions

The steps of the investigation are mandated as follows: An initial evaluation of the facts of the alleged event, based on both positive and negative criteria:

Positive Criteria

1. moral certainty (the certainty required to act morally in a situation of doubt) or at least great probability as to the existence of a private revelation at the end of a serious investigation into the case
2. evaluation of the personal qualities of the person in question (mental balance, honesty, moral life, sincerity, obedience to Church authority, willingness to practice faith in the normal way, etc.)
3. evaluation of the content of the revelations themselves (that they do not disagree with faith and morals of the Church, freedom from theological errors)
4. the revelation results in healthy devotion and spiritual fruits in people's lives (greater prayer, greater conversion of heart, works of charity that result, etc.)

Negative Criteria

1. glaring errors in regard to the facts
2. doctrinal errors attributed to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or to the Holy Spirit in how they appear
3. any pursuit of financial gain in relation to the alleged event
4. gravely immoral acts committed by the person or those associated with the person at the time of the event
5. psychological disorders or tendencies on the part of the person or persons associated

After this initial investigation, if the occurrence meets the criteria, positive and negative, an initial cautionary permission can be granted that states: "for the moment, there is nothing opposed to it". This permits public participation in the devotion in regard to the alleged apparition.

Ultimately, a final judgment and determination needs to be given, giving or withholding approval of the event.

Authorization or promotion of devotion without formal approval of apparition

If the local bishop or other church authority (such as the Pope) authorizes devotion inspired by an apparition to proceed based on an initial assessment, that permission does not constitute formal approval of the apparition itself, which recognizes an event as being supernatural in origin. Such approval may follow years or even centuries later. A recent example of such a delay is the case of Our Lady of Laus, for which devotion was approved by the local diocese in 1665, but which obtained formal recognition as a supernatural event only in 2008.^[12][13][14] In the case of Our Lady of Pellevoisin, Pope Leo XIII authorized the use of a scapular and other devotions associated with reported apparitions,^[15] but neither the local church ordinaries, nor the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, nor the Holy See directly, have issued any statement approving the apparitions themselves.^[16]

The approval of devotions relevant to an apparition, in the absence of a formal approval of the apparition itself, has caused some confusion regarding which apparitions have been formally approved by the Roman Catholic Church. For example, the 2012 book by Joan Carroll Cruz, See How She Loves Us: 50 Approved Apparitions of Our Lady (which contained a nihil obstat and imprimatur from church officials), included in its list of supposedly "approved" apparitions some for which "approval for expressions of faith had been granted, though the investigation of the apparition [was] still under way" and noted that bishops historically "implied their approval by permitting churches to be built as requested by the vision".^[17] As a result, Cruz's list contains some apparitions, such as Our Lady of Pellevoisin, that have not been formally approved.

Apparitions and statues

Marian apparitions are sometimes reported along with weeping statues of the Virgin Mary. One combined weeping statue and apparition, Our Lady of Akita, has received approval by a local Catholic Church ordinary. A 1953 incident of a weeping statue of Mary (without an accompanying apparition) in Syracuse, Sicily was recognized by the Vatican as a "miracle". However, a Vatican official stated in 1985 that "ninety-nine percent of these [weeping statue] cases were due to collective hallucinations, a play on light, a chemical phenomenon and, sometimes, even the speculation of people with few scruples."^[18]

Impact

While Marian apparitions may at times seem like fanciful tales even to devout Catholics, factual analysis indicates that the effect of apparitions on the Roman Catholic Church has been significant. Marian apparitions have led to, or affected, the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Mariology and the lives of millions of Roman Catholics in several ways:

• The conversion of millions of people to Roman Catholicism.
• The construction of some of the largest Roman Catholic Marian churches ever.
• The formation of the largest Marian Movements and Societies ever.
• The spread of Marian devotions (such as the rosary) to millions of people.
• The declaration of specific Marian dogmas and doctrines.
• Hundreds of millions of Marian pilgrimages.

A few cases can illustrate these items.

Conversions and shrines

By all accounts, when Juan Diego, age 57, reported the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico in 1531, he did not receive a lot of attention in Rome, since the Church was busy with the challenges of the Protestant Reformation of 1521 to 1579 and perhaps very few Cardinals in Rome had ever heard the details of Mexico and its environs. Yet, just as a large number of people were leaving the Catholic Church in Europe as a result of the Reformation, Our Lady of Guadalupe was instrumental in adding almost 8 million people to the ranks of Catholics in the Americas between 1532 and 1538. The number of Catholics in South America has grown significantly over the centuries. Eventually with tens of millions of followers, Juan Diego had an effect on Mariology in the Americas and beyond, and was eventually declared venerable in 1987. Juan Diego was declared a saint in 2002. Furthermore, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac hill in Mexico is now the third largest Catholic Church in the world, after Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil. Recent reported apparitions such as Medjugorje have also attracted a large following.

Societies and devotions

The Marian apparition of Our Lady of Fátima on a remote mountain top to three young Portuguese children in 1917 also seemed fanciful and the local administrator initially jailed the children and threatened that he would boil them one by one in a pot of oil. However, over the years the effect of Fátima has been undeniable. With over 25 million registered Catholic members, the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima (which was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1947) is the largest Marian Society in the world. And the message of Fátima has inspired the spread of other devotions. An example is Our Lady's Rosary Makers formed by Brother Sylvan Mattingly in 1949 with $25 to distribute free rosaries, based on his devotion to Fátima. Our Lady's Rosary Makers has since distributed hundreds of millions of free rosaries to Catholic missions worldwide.

Pilgrimages

Marian apparitions are also responsible for tens of millions of Marian pilgrimages per year.^[19] According to Bishop Francesco Giogia the majority of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world are vision based, in that, with about 10 million pilgrims, is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico City, considered the most visited Catholic shrine in the world in 1999,^[20] now followed by the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, in Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal, with between 6 to 8 million pilgrims per year.^[21][22] The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, in France, received 5 million visitors per year.

In Canada, millions of Americans and Canadians have visited the national shrine of Our Lady of the Cape, in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, where the first pilgrimages began in 1888.

Historical feasts

A number of feasts based on historical traditions involving apparitions are celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church. These apparitions do not technically fall in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith approved category, since they generally predate the formation of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1542. They are recognized based on the papal declaration of the feast day rather than formal analysis by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Our Lady of the Pillar

In the year AD 39, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint James the Great, in Zaragoza, Spain. The vision is now called Our Lady of the Pillar and is the only reported Marian apparition before her Assumption. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar was built in Zaragoza, Spain and a key piece of Roman Catholic Marian art, the statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, refers to this apparition.

Our Lady of the Snow

Our Lady of the Snow is based on a legend that during the pontificate of Pope Liberius, during the night of August the 5th, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. Based on a vision that night, a basilica was built in honour of Our Lady, on the spot that had been covered with snow.

The church built there is now the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the feast was celebrated at that church for centuries on August 5 each year. However, there was no mention of this alleged miracle in historical records until a few hundred years later, not even by Pope Sixtus III in his dedicatory inscription, and it may be that the legend has no historical basis. However, in the 14th century the feast was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pope Pius V.^[23]

Our Lady of Walsingham

According to the tradition of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to Richeldis de Faverches, a devout Saxon noblewoman, in 1061 in Walsingham, England, instructing her to construct a shrine resembling the place of the Annunciation. The shrine passed into the care of the Canons Regular sometime between 1146 and 1174.

Late in 1538, King Henry VIII's soldiers sacked the priory at Walsingham, killed two monks and destroyed the shrine. In 1897 Pope Leo XIII re-established the restored 14th century Slipper Chapel as a Roman Catholic shrine. The Holy House had been rebuilt at the Catholic Church of the Annunciation at King's Lynn (Walsingham was part of this Catholic parish in 1897).

Today there are two shrines at Walsingham: the Roman Catholic shrine centered on the Slipper Chapel and the Holy House maintained by the Church of England. There are also two separate feast days: September 24 in the Roman Catholic Church and October 15 in the Anglican Communion.^[24][25]

Our Lady of the Rosary

The apparition of Our Lady of the Rosary is by tradition attributed to Saint Dominic in 1208 in the church of Prouille, in France. According to the attribution, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Dominic and introduced him to the rosary.^[26]

Some sources suggest that Alan de Rupe (rather than Saint Dominic) was the major influence on the rosary in the 15th century, while other sources seek a middle ground to these two views.^[27][28] For centuries, Dominicans became instrumental in spreading the rosary and emphasizing the Catholic belief in the power of the rosary.^[29]

In 1571 Pope Pius V instituted "Our Lady of Victory" as an annual feast to commemorate the victory of Lepanto, the victory being attributed to Our Lady. In 1969, Pope Paul VI changed the name of the feast to Our Lady of the Rosary.^[30]

In 1917, Our Lady appeared over several months to several young shepherds in Fátima Portugal reportedly identifying herself as the "Lady of the Rosary." Since 1983 in San Nicolás de los Arroyas, a small city in Argentina's Buenos Aires province, ongoing private revelations to a middle-aged housewife have tasked her with locating an image previously unknown to her – a broken and discarded statue of Our Lady of the Rosary stored in the Cathedral of that city – and promoting Marian devotion under this title (emphasizing a mystical symbolism of a decade of stars arranged in a triangle with seven satellites) with frequent locutions that often cite passages of the Old Testament scriptures. Bookending both the beginning and end of the most violent of all centuries the 20th century, these apparitions promote Mary's role in the twenty-first century as powerful intercessor for reconciliation and peace between peoples. With the 2002 addition of the luminous mysteries Pope St. John Paul II renewed devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary with meditations on five specific Gospel events commemorated as major feasts in Eastern Rite Byzantine Orthodox churches also: the Theophany in the Jordan, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom on the Mount of the Beatitudes, the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and the Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Simon Stock, who was Prior General of the Carmelite Order in the mid 13th century.^[31] The earliest reference to the tradition of his Marian apparition, dating from the late 14th century, states that "St. Simon was an Englishman, a man of great holiness and devotion, who always in his prayers asked the Virgin to favor his Order with some singular privilege. The Virgin appeared to him holding the Brown Scapular in her hand saying, 'This is for you and yours a privilege; the one who dies in it will be saved.'"^[32] A scapular is an apron-like garment that forms part of the Carmelite religious habit,^[33] and in the original context the Blessed Virgin Mary's promise was an assurance that religious who persevered in their vocation would be saved; beginning in the latter half of the 16th century the small devotional scapular became very popular as a sacramental.^[32]

The historicity of Saint Simon Stock's vision is disputed,^[34][35] and as a result today neither the liturgy for the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (which originally had no association with scapular devotion, but became strongly connected with Saint Simon Stock's vision in the 17th century^[36]), nor that of Saint Simon Stock make any reference to the vision of Mary or the scapular.^[37] The Brown Scapular itself remains warmly approved and recommended by the Catholic Church.^[38] Various devotional sources^[39] quote an interview with Lucia Santos in which she speaks about the Brown Scapular, saying "Our Lady wants all to wear the Scapular", especially when praying the Rosary, because "the Rosary and Scapular are inseparable".

Canonically approved apparitions

A Roman Catholic approved Marian apparition is one that has been examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith either based on the criteria listed above (or internal procedures in place before that) and has been granted approval either through the local Bishop based on the direction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or received a direct approval from the Holy See.

Although a local bishop may provide a preliminary assessment (and allow the devotion to proceed forward), formal approval can only be provided after detailed analysis by the Holy See. For instance, although the apparitions at Our Lady of Laus were recognized by the local diocese in 1665, they received approval from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith centuries later, in 2008.

Apparitions favored by the Holy See usually:

• Images enshrined have received a Canonical coronation from a Pope.
• Become the site of major Roman Catholic Marian churches, or elevated its status as Minor Basilica.

Some apparitions such as in Assiut, Egypt have been approved by the Coptic Church and can be called approved but not Roman Catholic approved.

Approved by the Roman Catholic Church

Our Lady of Guadalupe (1531)

The 1531 apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe was reported by Saint Juan Diego. He saw an early morning vision of the Virgin Mary in which he was instructed to build an abbey on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico. The local prelate did not believe his account and asked for a miraculous sign, which was later provided as an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe permanently imprinted on the saint's cloak where he had gathered roses. Over the years, Our Lady of Guadalupe became a symbol of the Catholic faith in Mexico and the Mexican diaspora.

Our Lady of Laus (1664–1718)

The apparitions of Our Lady of Laus between 1664 and 1718 in Saint-Étienne-le-Laus, France, to Benoîte Rencurel, a young shepherdess are the first Marian apparitions approved in the 21st century by the Roman Catholic Church.^[40] The apparitions were recognized by the diocese of the Roman Catholic Church on September 18, 1665. They were approved by the Vatican on May 5, 2008. Currently, the site where the apparitions took place receives more than 120,000 pilgrims a year.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (1830)

The vision of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal appeared to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 in the convent of Rue du Bac, Paris. She reported that one night in the chapel, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her and asked that a medallion be made to a design that she dictated. The lady added that, "All who wear this medal will receive great graces."^[41] After spending two years examining her claims, her priest eventually took the information to his archbishop. The medal eventually produced came to be referred to as the Miraculous Medal. The front of the medal displays a picture of the virgin as she appeared to Catherine Labouré. The design on the reverse includes the letter M and a cross. Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image as his coat of arms, the Marian Cross. This is a plain cross with an M underneath the right-hand bar, to signify the Blessed Virgin standing at the foot of the Cross while Jesus was being crucified.

Sister Justine Bisqueyburu had an apparition in 1840 within the same chapel at Rue du Bac as Saint Catherine Labouré.^[42] These visitations instituted the Green Scapular, which involves a very simple devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and is associated with healing.^[43] The Green Scapular has its own association^[44] but has not been approved by the Holy See and does not have an associated confraternity.^[45]

Our Lady of La Salette (1846)

The apparitions of Our Lady of La Salette were reported in La Salette in France in 1846 by two shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, followed by numerous accounts of miraculous healings. The Roman Catholic Church investigated the claims and found them credible.

Our Lady of Lourdes (1858)

In 1858 Saint Bernadette Soubirous was a 14-year-old shepherd girl who lived near the town of Lourdes in France. Bernadette Soubirous was out gathering firewood in the countryside. She reported a vision of a miraculous Lady who identified Herself as "the Immaculate Conception" in subsequent visions.

""The Lady made a sign for me to approach; but I was seized with fear, and I did not dare, thinking that I was faced with an illusion. I rubbed my eyes, but in vain. I looked again, and I could still see the same Lady. Then I put my hand into my pocket, and took my rosary. I wanted to make the sign of the cross, but in vain; I could not raise my hand to my forehead, it kept on dropping" ... "The Lady took the rosary that she held in her hands and she made the sign of the cross".^[46][47]

In the third vision she was asked to return again and she had 18 visions overall. According to Saint Bernadette, the Lady held a string of Rosary beads and led Saint Bernadette to the discovery of a buried spring, also requesting that the local priests build a chapel at the site of the visions and lead holy processions there. Eventually, a number of chapels and churches were built at Lourdes as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes—which is now a major Catholic pilgrimage site. One of these churches, the Basilica of St. Pius X can accommodate 25,000 people and was dedicated by the future Pope John XXIII when he was the Papal Nuncio to France.

Our Lady of Pontmain (1871)

The apparitions at Our Lady of Pontmain, France also called Our Lady of Hope were reported in 1871 by a number of young children.^[48]

Our Lady of Knock (1879)

Knock Shrine, in County Mayo, Ireland, is the site of a nineteenth-century apparition. On the wet Thursday evening of 21 August 1879, at about 8 o'clock, Our Lady, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist appeared in a blaze of Heavenly light at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. Behind them and a little to the left of St. John was a plain altar. On the altar was a cross and a lamb with adoring angels. The appearance of St Joseph, St John and the Lamb make the apparition unique in church history. The Apparition was seen by fifteen people whose ages ranged from six years to seventy-five and included men, women and children.

The witnesses described the Blessed Virgin Mary as being clothed in white robes with a brilliant crown on her head. Over the forehead where the crown fitted the brow, she wore a beautiful full-bloom golden rose. She was in an attitude of prayer with her eyes and hands raised towards Heaven. St. Joseph stood on Our Lady's right. He was turned towards her in an attitude of respect. His robes were also white. St. John was on Our Lady's left. He was dressed in white vestments and resembled a bishop, with a small mitre. He appeared to be preaching and he held an open book in his left hand.

The witnesses watched the Apparition in pouring rain for two hours, reciting the Rosary. Although they themselves were saturated not a single drop of rain fell on the gable or vision.

Subsequent commissions of enquiry set up by the local Bishop and the Catholic hierarchy in Ireland formally approved the apparitions as worthy of devotion, and they were officially recognised by the Catholic church, culminating in the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979, which he called the ultimate goal of his pastoral visit to Ireland.^[49] Only a fragment of the original gable wall remains of the old church. A purpose-built Basilica was designed and built to cater for pilgrims and is served by an international airport, Knock Airport.

Our Lady of Fátima (1917)

The visions of the Virgin Mary appearing to three shepherd children at Cova da Iria, in Fátima, Portugal, in 1917 were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church in 1930. Seven popes — Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis — have supported the Fátima messages as supernatural. John Paul I met with Sister Lúcia on July 11, 1977 while he was still Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. He reported being deeply moved by the experience, and vowed to perform the Consecration of Russia as Lucia said Mary had asked.^[50] John Paul II was particularly attached to Fátima and credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life after he was shot in Rome on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fátima in May 1981. He donated the bullet that wounded him on that day to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima.^[51][52] Pope Paul VI sent a Golden Rose to the shrine in 1964,^[53] and Benedict XVI, on May 13, 2010, prayed in the Chapel of the Apparitions at the shrine and gave a second Golden Rose to Our Lady of Fátima. Before a gathering of more than 500,000 pilgrims, he spoke of the Fátima prophecy about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.^[54][55][56]

In 1925, eight years after the Fátima events, Sister Lúcia reported another set of apparitions, which became known as the Pontevedra apparitions.^[57][58][59] Also Blessed Alexandrina of Balasar reported several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary (following the Our Lady of Fátima request of World Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary).^[60]

Our Lady of Beauraing (1932–1933)

The 33 apparitions of Our Lady of Beauraing were reported in Belgium between November 1932 and January 1933 by five local children ranging in age from 9 to 15 years. From 1933 to World War II, pilgrims flocked to the little village of Beauraing. The final approbation for the apparition was granted on July 2, 1949, under the authority of the Holy Office by the decree of Andre-Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur, Belgium.^[61][62][63] These apparitions are also known as the Virgin of the Golden Heart.

Our Lady of Banneux (1933)

The apparitions of Our Lady of Banneux were reported by a young child, Mariette Beco a native of Banneux, Belgium in the 1930s. They are also known as the Virgin of the Poor. The apparitions were approved by the Roman Catholic Church in 1949.^[64][65]

Beco reported eight visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary between January 15 and March 2, 1933. She reported seeing a Lady in White who declared herself the Virgin of the Poor and told her: "Believe in me and I will believe in you". In one vision, the Lady reportedly asked Mariette to drink from a small spring and later said that the spring was for healing. Over time the site drew pilgrims. Today, the small spring yields about 2,000 gallons of water a day with many reports of miraculous healings.^[66]

Approved by a local Church ordinary

The apparitions of Our Lady of Good Success began on 2 February 1594 at the Conceptionist Convent in Quito, Ecuador. The Virgin Mary repeatedly appeared to Venerable Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, identifying herself as 'Our Lady of Good Success'.^[67][68][69] The apparition requested that a statue be made in her likeness and made several predictions concerning a crisis in the church specifically a fall in vocations, a lack of availability of the sacraments and a fall in moral standards in the 20th century.^[70] The apparitions were approved by the local Bishop, Salvador de Riber on 2 February 1611. In 1991 The Vatican granted the canonical coronation of our Lady of Good Success as 'Queen of Quito' after being petitioned by the Archbishop of Quito.^[71]

The apparitions of Our Lady of Good Help were reported by Adele Brise in 1859. In December 2010, Bishop David L. Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin approved the apparition as worthy of belief, as the first Marian apparition approved in the United States at the local level.^[72] In Robinsonville (now called Champion) WI, a young Belgian immigrant woman named Adele Brise was walking through a wooded area when she saw a beautiful woman standing between a maple and a hemlock tree. She saw the lady again on her way to Mass, and walked past her again. After Mass she told her priest about the apparition, and he told her to ask the Lady "In God's name, who are you and what do you want of me?" When Adele walked past the spot again, the Lady was there, and Adele asked what she was told by the priest. The Lady replied, "I am the Queen of Heaven who prays for the conversion of sinners." She gave Adele the mission to teach the children of the area their Catechism, which Adele did faithfully. Soon after, Adele's father built a small chapel between the trees, and later two more churches were built on the spot before the present brick church, built in 1942. The apparitions, attributed to Our Lady of Good Help, were approved on December 8, 2010, by Bishop David L. Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay.^[73]

On December 8, 1947, 12-year-old Jacqueline Aubry, her sister Jeannette, and cousin Nicole Robin were among students in L'Île-Bouchard in France whose teacher asked them to spend the lunch hour "praying for France". Although their families were nonpracticing and anticlerical, the girls agreed to their teacher's request; this was a period of intense civil strife in France and many believed civil war was imminent. The girls were saying the Rosary in the church of St. Gilles when they experienced the first of several Marian apparitions. They said they saw a beautiful young lady with long curly blonde hair, accompanied by an angel (whom they later identified as Gabriel) who knelt at her side. Running out into the street, the girls asked two friends to come and see the vision: one, Laura Croizon, was able to see it and became the fourth visionary. The day after the first apparition, labor unions agreed to go into negotiations with the government, and believers credited the apparition and the children's prayers. The visitations went on for six days. They were approved on December 8, 2001, by André Vingt-Trois, then Archbishop of Tours, who authorized pilgrimage and public worship celebrated in L'Île-Bouchard in honor of "Our Lady of Prayer", after a diocesan investigation lasting eighteen months.^[74]

The apparitions of Our Lady of Akita were reported in 1973 by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa in the remote area of Yuzawadai, near the city of Akita in Japan.^[75] For several decades, Agnes Sasagawa had encountered many health problems but her health reportedly improved after drinking water from Lourdes. After going totally deaf, she went to live with the nuns in the remoteness of Yuzawadai. In 1973 she reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary, as well as stigmata and a weeping statue of the Virgin Mary that continued to weep over the next six years on 101 occasions. According to EWTN, up to November 2011 no ecclesiastical decree appears to exist from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.^[76] However, some individuals, such as former Ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See, Mr. Howard Dee, have stated that they were given private assurances by Cardinal Ratzinger of the authenticity of Akita. In any case, in keeping with the current norms, given the absence of a repudiation of Bp. Ito's decision by his successors, or by higher authority, the events of Akita continue to have ecclesiastical approval.^[76]

The apparitions of Our Lady of Cuapa began on April 15, 1980, in San Francisco de Cuapa, Nicaragua. The Virgin Mary repeatedly appeared to Bernardo Martinez, a sacristan, and according to the visionary this began when he saw a strange light emanating from a statue of the Virgin Mary in the parish church. In May, when walking through the fields, he claimed that he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary, who encouraged him to pray the rosary and promote peace saying: "Make Peace. Don't ask Our Lord for peace because, if you do not make it, there will be no peace".^[77] At this time, Nicaragua was going through a civil war. The Sandinista government was facing armed opposition from the Contras. Bernardo Martinez claimed that the Blessed Virgin Mary ordered him to burn bad books, which was interpreted to mean Marxist books. The auxiliary Bishop of Managua complied with this request. Sandinista commentators responded by describing the apparition as "Saint Mary of the Contras", "Our Lady of Oliver North", and "Our Lady of Cuapa".^[78] On November 13, 1982, the Bishop of Juigalpa released an official statement as Bishop of the area where the apparitions took place assuring the faithful of the authenticity of the events.^[79] In 2005, Silvio Sirias wrote a novel, Bernardo and the Virgin, based on these events.^[80]

The apparitions of Our Lady of Kibeho began on November 28, 1981, in the African college of Kibeho, Rwanda. The Virgin Mary repeatedly appeared to three teenage students, Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, and Marie Claire Mukangango. The apparition identified herself in the native Rwandan dialect as "Nyina wa Jambo", ( "Mother of the Word"), which is synonymous with "Mother of God."^[81] The apparitions communicated various messages to the three girls, urging the people to love each other, asking for prayers to prevent a war, and warning of an apocalyptic vision of Rwanda descending into violence and hatred, which has been interpreted as foretelling the 1994 Rwandan Genocide (in which Mukangango was killed). Following an investigation, the Holy See released the declaration of Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro approving the apparitions to Mumureke, Mukamazimpaka, and Mukangango; other apparitions reported by several other girls and one boy were not approved. (Bishop Misago himself was tried in a Rwandan court on charges that he took part in government meetings planning the genocide, but was cleared of all charges in 2000.^[82]) The Marian sanctuary at Kibeho was named "Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows" in 1992, two years before the genocide. An estimated 500,000 pilgrims visit the site every year.^[83][84] Although the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has not released any official statement on Kibeho, Pope Francis, in an April 3, 2014 meeting with Rwandan bishops just prior to the twentieth anniversary of the genocide, referred to the apparitions, saying, "The mother of Jesus wanted to show herself to your country's children, reminding them of the effectiveness of fasting and prayer, especially the rosary."^[85]

Maria Esperanza de Bianchini had several Marian apparitions among her many other claimed visions and miracles. In one event, on March 25, 1984, 150 other people also said they saw the Blessed Mother along with Maria Esperanza. The apparition was deemed valid by Bishop Pio Bello Ricardo of Los Teques, Venezuela, in 1987^[86] and Mrs. Bianchini's cause for sainthood was opened on January 31, 2010.^[87]

Bishop Hector Cardelli, as the local ordinary of the Diocese of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, suffran to the Archdiocese of Rosario, in the Buenos Aires province of Argentina approved Marian devotions in his diocese on May 22, 2016,^[88] under her title Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolás. Prompted by the phenomena of private revelations to a middle-aged housewife – beginning in the 1980s with an noteworthy sign of radiantly glowing rosary beads – who was tasked during apparitions and locutions over many years with promoting devotion to the Mother of God under this title, emphasizing citations from scripture and a medal with mystical stellar symbolism calling to mind the Holy Trinity and observation of the Sabbath as the Lord's day as source-and-summit of all Divine graces. Bishop Cardelli recognized the apparitions as "worthy of belief" with “moral certitude, good intention and hope” after fulfilling the Holy See’s suggested requirements for discernment.

Approved by the Coptic Orthodox Church

Some apparitions have been approved by authorities of the Coptic Orthodox Church. For an apparition to be approved, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church sends an official delegation made of bishops and priests, all of whom must witness the apparition and document miracles associated with it.

Our Lady of Zeitoun

Our Lady of Zeitoun was a mass Marian apparition that occurred in the Zeitoun district of Cairo, Egypt, over a period of 2–3 years beginning on April 2, 1968, in the period after the six-day war. It was reportedly witnessed by many thousands of people, including Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, and captured by newspaper photographers and Egyptian television. According to witnesses, the Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the Coptic Orthodox Church of Saint Mary at Zeitoun for a period of 2–3 years. The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours and were sometimes accompanied by dove-shaped luminous bodies. Believers claim that there have been some miraculous cures^[89][90] and conversions to Christianity as a result. In a statement dated May 4, 1968, the Patriarchate of Cairo and Kyrillos VI stated that they considered the events at Zeitoun as valid, and that they had received many reports of immediate healings during the reported apparitions.^[91][92][93]

Our Lady of Assiut

The apparitions of Our Lady of Assiut were also mass apparitions in Assiut, Egypt during 2000 and 2001 and many thousands of witnesses produced photographs of them, which were reprinted in several newspapers.^[94][95] The reports state that during mass, pictures hung on the wall inside the altar, which show St Mary with a dove above her started to illuminate first, then the light from the dove in the pictures started to flow down. The lights thereafter appeared above the church as well and were seen by thousands of people.^[96] The Coptic church approved of the apparitions.

Approved by the Anglican Communion

Our Lady of Lourdes

The Anglican Communion has officially recognized the apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes and has built an Anglican Marian Shrine on the location, relatively close to the Roman Catholic shrine. In September 2008, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, made a pilgrimage to Lourdes and preached at the shrine.^[97]

Our Lady of Walsingham

Father Alfred Hope Patten, appointed as the Church of England Vicar of Walsingham in 1921, ignited Anglican interest in the pre-Reformation pilgrimage. It was his idea to create a new statue of Our Lady of Walsingham based on the image depicted on the seal of the medieval priory. In 1922 the statue was set up in the Parish Church of Saint Mary and regular pilgrimage devotion followed. From the first night that the statue was placed there, people gathered around it to pray, asking Mary to join her prayers with theirs.

In the United States the National Shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham for the Episcopal Church is located in Grace Episcopal Church (Sheboygan, Wisconsin). Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church and Shrine in Houston, Texas was named the Principal Church of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter on January 1, 2012 when it was established to serve the pastoral needs of Roman Catholics coming from the Anglican tradition throughout the United States and Canada. A Western Rite Antiochian Orthodox parish named for Our Lady of Walsingham is in Mesquite, Texas.

Our Lady of Walsingham is remembered by Roman Catholics on 24 September and by Anglicans on 15 October.

Our Lady of Yankalilla

In August 1994 an image became visible on a wall behind the altar of a 137-year-old Anglican stone church in Yankalilla, South Australia. The image was interpreted as Mary's face, shoulders, and abdomen. The image supposedly depicts her holding the crucified Christ in the manner of a pietà. Her gaze is directed toward the tabernacle below, which contains the consecrated eucharistic bread. It is also claimed that an image of a rose appeared at the bottom of the larger image. In December 1996, the Bishop of The Murray blessed the church as "The Shrine of Our Lady of Yankalilla" and it has become a popular pilgrimage site for Australian Anglicans.^[98]

Apparitions with no or undocumented approval

A list of some notable reports of Marian apparitions that have not received a documented church approval, but have also not been explicitly disapproved, is provided below. Apparitions discussed in this section have not received an official approval from either the Roman Catholic Church or the Coptic Orthodox Church, or in a few cases, received an approval from a local authority that was later called into question. In some cases, a bishop has authorized or the church has otherwise permitted devotions based on a reported apparition, without issuing any statement approving the apparition itself as being of supernatural origin.^[99][100] This list is selective in view of the large numbers of individuals who have reported alleged past and present Marian apparitions.

Traditional apparitions with no or undocumented approval

According to tradition, several Marian apparitions occurred in areas of present-day India. In Kuravilangad, a town located in the Kottayam district of Kerala, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in A.D 335 to a few children tending their flock in the bushes. She asked them to build a church at the place from where a miraculous perpetual spring sprouted, a spring which is said to still exist. The children reported the events to the elders and a church was built there.^[101] The fourteenth-century (or, by some accounts, eighteenth-century) shrine of Korattymuthy, also known as "Our Lady with Poovan Bananas", commemorates Marian apparitions that were said to have occurred at Koratty in Kerala.^[102] The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu in southern India also has a legend involving a number of apparitions. Although there is no historical record of the apparition of Our Lady of Good Health, oral tradition suggests that the Virgin Mary appeared to a Hindu boy in the mid-16th century and that later Portuguese sailors were saved by another apparition.

In the thirteenth century the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in a vision at Thetford Priory in Norfolk, England.

The Shrine of Nostra Signora della Guardia located on top of Monte Figogna near Genoa, Italy, is located on the site of a reported 1490 apparition to Italian peasant Benedetto Pareto. Pareto said that the Virgin Mary appeared to him and asked him to build a church atop the mountain. Pareto at first refused, saying that he was just a poor man, but he eventually built a small wooden structure, which in time gathered many pilgrims and is now contained within a large basilica.

In the case of Our Lady of Kazan, legend holds that after the city of Kazan in Russia was destroyed by fire in 1579, the Virgin Mary revealed the location of a missing precious icon to a 10-year-old girl. Two major Russian Orthodox cathedrals, the Kazan Cathedral, Moscow, and the Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg, are consecrated to Our Lady of Kazan, and display copies of the icon.

The apparition of Our Lady of Šiluva in Šiluva, Lithuania is said to have occurred in 1608, when the Virgin Mary appeared to four children. Subsequently, the Basilica of Our Lady of Siluva was constructed, and houses a famous painting (perhaps based on Salus Populi Romani) called Our Lady of Šiluva, considered by believers to be one of Lithuania's greatest treasures.^[103][104]

The festivals surrounding Our Lady of Chiquinquirá in Venezuela are based on a piece of wood that, according to legend, grew luminous with the image of the Blessed Virgin in 1709.

The Vietnamese legend of Our Lady of La Vang is based on an apparition to a group of Vietnamese Catholics fleeing persecution in the rain forest in 1798. The Basilica of Our Lady of La Vang was constructed on the reported apparition site, located today in the Hải Lăng District of Quảng Trị Province in Central Vietnam.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lichen, the largest church in Poland (and the 11th largest in the world) is based on legends of the Virgin Mary appearing to different people in the Lichen area in the early 19th century.^[105][106]

Modern apparitions with no or undocumented approval

In 1876, a French domestic servant, Estelle Faguette, reported seeing a series of 15 apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the bedroom where she was staying near Pellevoisin, France. When her visions allegedly began, Faguette was terminally ill with tuberculosis and near death. However, in the second apparition, she heard Mary tell her that she would be healed, and she recovered and lived until 1929. In 1983, following a medical and theological inquiry, Archbishop Paul Vignancour of Bourges recognized her recovery as having a miraculous nature. Faguette also said that during a later apparition, she saw Mary show her the design for the Scapular of the Sacred Heart and told her to ask her bishop to encourage its devotional use. The Shrine of Our Lady of Pellevoisin was later constructed near the site of the apparitions.^[15] Although Pope Leo XIII eventually approved the scapular and a confraternity to spread its use,^[99] according to the University of Dayton Marian Library, neither the local archbishops of Bourges nor the Vatican have made any statement approving the Pellevoisin apparitions themselves.^[16]

In 1945, two children – Marcelina Barroso Expósito and Afra Brígido Blanco – reported several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows near La Codosera, in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. A few years later, the Bishop of Badajoz gave permission for the construction of a large Marian shrine in the place of the reported apparitions. Marcelina became a nursing sister in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Cross in 1975.^[107]

On October 29, 1945 at 7 p.m., 9-year-old Joseph Vitolo (March 25, 1936-December 17, 2014^[108]) was one of a group of children playing outside his home near The Bronx's Grand Concourse. The children saw something floating above a hill behind the house, and when Joseph recited a Hail Mary he immediately saw a young woman whom he identified as the Virgin. He heard her ask him to come back at the same hour for sixteen nights and to pray for world peace. Joseph did so, accompanied by his mother and numerous onlookers. Within a few days, the visitations were receiving worldwide attention and up to 20,000 people attended the nightly vigil. Among those who flocked to the Vitolo residence were Frank Sinatra and Cardinal Francis Spellman. Revered as a saint by the pilgrims, Joseph was frequently asked to cure the sick and injured and would respond by praying with them. The place where Joseph saw the visions was bought by a devotee who created a shrine there, but there was never any official investigation or attempt to confirm the reported visitations as legitimate. Joseph struggled throughout his life, taking various menial jobs to support his family. He continued to visit the shrine at 7 p.m. each evening until age and poor health prevented him from climbing the hill. The apparitions were never officially approved, but the nearby St. Philip Neri church holds special Masses at the shrine on the anniversaries of the first and last reported visitations.^{[109][110][111][112][113]}

Between 1945 and 1959, apparitions of the Virgin Mary as Lady of all Nations were reported by Ida Peerdeman in Amsterdam. Peerdeman said that Mary gave her a short prayer called the Amsterdam Blessing. In 1956, the local Bishop Johannes Huibers of Haarlem subsequently issued a finding of "no evidence of the supernatural nature of the apparitions", which was approved and confirmed several times by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 1974, the Congregation went so far as to issue a statement "invit[ing] priests and laity to discontinue all forms of propaganda with regard to the alleged apparitions and revelations".^[114] However, in May 2002, Bishop Jozef Marianus Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam issued a letter that declared the Amsterdam apparitions as having a supernatural origin.^[115][116] An official of the Congregation has questioned Bishop Punt's authority to make such a determination on the Amsterdam apparitions after the Congregation had already given its decision.^[117]

On June 4, 1947, seven-year-old Angela Volpini was grazing cattle near her hometown of Casanova Staffora, near Oltrepò Pavese in northwest Italy, when she felt someone embrace her from behind and lift her up. Assuming it was her aunt, she turned around and saw "a woman's face – beautiful, sweet and unknown."^[118] The apparitions occurred on the fourth day of every month for ten years, and many were filmed. Volpini's father supported her, but her mother, while believing in the apparitions, feared for the girl's life.^[119] The local priest, Gianni Baget Bozzo, believed the child and formed a lifelong friendship with her. He often compared the apparitions to those of Our Lady of Lourdes. On his death May 8, 2009, he left one-sixth of his fortune to Volpini.^[120] People who believe in Volpini's experiences formed a devotional organization called Nova Cana—the name invented by Volpini herself—to commemorate the events.

The reported 1956 apparitions of Our Lady of America at Kneipp Springs Sanatorium near Rome City, Indiana, USA, to Sister Mary Ephrem Neuzil of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, received a positive response from the local bishop and have been approved for devotional purposes by several Archbishops and Bishops. However, no decision has been rendered with regard to the supernatural origin and characters of the reported apparitions.^[100]

Between 1958 and 1962, Mathew Lashut reported several apparitions of the Virgin Mary on a forest near Turzovka, a town in north-western Slovakia. This apparition was predicted to come about as "a second Lourdes" or "the Lourdes of Slovakia" by the German Catholic mystic and stigmatic Therese Neumann.^[121]

The reported Garabandal apparitions in Cantabria, Spain from 1961 to 1965 were examined by the local Bishop and were declared as not having evidence of being of supernatural origin. However the apparitions were not declared a hoax and the possibility of future approval was left open.^{[122][123][124]} At Garabandal, an apparition of Saint Michael, the Archangel was reported first, announcing the arrival of the Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.^[125]

Between 1968 and 1976, a young man named Jesús José Cabrera reported several apparitions at the Our Lady of Graces of Onuva, near La Puebla del Río, province of Seville, Spain. In the last apparition, the message from heaven explains that «Onuva means: Land of Mercy, Land of Mercy!».^[126] A shrine has been constructed on the site.

The reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary to six children in Medjugorje in 1981 have received significant attention. The Our Lady of Medjugorje messages are published and distributed worldwide and often emphasize five key elements: Daily prayer of the Holy Rosary, Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, Daily reading of the Bible, Monthly Confessions and Holy Communion. The reports of visions at Medjugorje were vigorously opposed by the responsible bishop, Bishop Pavao Žanić of Mostar-Duvno. A Commission appointed by him to investigate the apparitions did not come to a definitive conclusion and left the site open to further study.^[127] On March 17, 2010, the Vatican announced it was beginning a formal investigation of the apparitions at Medjugorje, with Cardinal Camillo Ruini heading the commission that will study the matter.^[128]

At Soufanieh, a suburb of Damascus a series of apparitions were reportedly observed between 1982 and 2004, without any approval to date.^[129]

Between 1990 and 1995, two young girls – Ivetka Korcakova (born 1978) and Katka Ceselkova (born 1977) – reported several apparitions under the title of The Immaculate Purity on the Zvir Mountain, in Litmanová, a village of northern Slovakia. A Marian shrine has been constructed on the place of apparitions.^[130]

The Virgin Mary is alleged to have appeared several times beginning in 1994 at the compound of Igreja de São Simão e Judas (Church of Saint Simon and Jude), Batim-Ganxim in Goa, India. The first sighting was reportedly made by Iveta Gomes on September 24, 1994. Others have since claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary and witnessed other miracles at this location.^[131] Though the apparition has no official approval, the Church has not raised any objection to the gathering of people at the site in expression of their faith.^[131]

Some apparition-related sites on the internet exist, often with detailed messages that sound pious, accompanied by testimonies from local witnesses, and even local priests and bishops. However, these representations do not always amount to authenticity or Vatican approval. An example is the website for the apparitions of Mother of the Eucharist in Rome since the year 2000.^[132] The website for Mother of the Eucharist includes a clear letter and a photo from Bishop Claudio Gatti who approved the apparition. Yet a more detailed search of the same website produces a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reducing the said Bishop to lay rank following a series of meetings at the Vatican on this and other matters (e.g. the Bishop's position of marriage for priests). The Bishop now uses the title ordained by God rather than Catholic Bishop.^[133]

Numerous apparitions were reported in 2008 in South Ossetia during the Battle of Tskhinvali.^[134][135] Many people, including Orthodox priests,^[136][137] reported Marian silhouettes which appeared to be protecting Ossetians from attacking Georgians.

Apparitions disapproved by church authorities

Not all reports of visions and apparitions are taken seriously by church authorities. Claimed apparitions to Maureen Sweeney Kyle of Holy Love Ministries in Elyria, Ohio were denounced in 2009 by the local Bishop Richard Lennon as "not supernatural in origin"; he also "forb[ade] members of the clergy of any ecclesiastical jurisdiction" to celebrate the Sacraments on the site and "admonish[ed] the faithful of the Diocese of Cleveland to cease gathering for any religious, liturgical, spiritual, or devotional purpose" on the site.^[138] Purported apparitions and locutions received by the late Veronica Lueken from 1968 to 1994 were declared invalid by Bishop Francis Mugavero, then Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.^[139] Similarly, reports of "Our Lady of Surbiton" claiming that the Virgin Mary appeared every day under a pine tree in England were flatly rejected by the Vatican as a fraud.^[140]

Disapproved apparitions may attract negative publicity at the location of the apparition. For instance, the latter parts of the reported messages from Gianna Talone were disapproved by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, and a group of Emmitsburg, Maryland residents started a campaign against Talone and accused her of running a cult.^[141] To date, the Holy See has let the Talone matter rest at the local level of the archdiocese.

Some alleged visionaries have left the Roman Catholic Church and formed their own independent churches or joined another existing church. Mary Ann Van Hoof, the seer of the Necedah Shrine in Necedah, Wisconsin, had her visions declared false by the local bishop and, when she and her followers refused to abide by his order to desist, she was placed under interdict.^[142][143] She subsequently dissociated herself and the shrine from Roman Catholicism and affiliated instead with an independent local Old Catholic Church. Revelations to Feliksa Kozłowska between 1893 and 1918 reportedly led to the founding of the Mariavite and the Old Catholic Mariavite churches. The Palmarian Catholic Church began after a series of purported apparitions in Palmar de Troya. Fraternite Notre Dame, a Traditionalist Catholic church led by Bishop Jean Marie Kozik, traces its origins to apparitions that were reported in Frechou, France.^[144]

See also

• Visions of Jesus and Mary
• Shrines to the Virgin Mary
• Marian devotions
• Dogma (Roman Catholic)
• Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena

References

Further reading

• Johnston, Francis W. (1980). Fatima: the Great Sign. Chulmleigh: Augustine. ISBN 0-85172-723-9. 
• Johnston, Francis W. (1980). Fatima: the Great Sign. Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers. ISBN 0-89555-163-2. 
• McClure, Kevin (1983). The Evidence for Visions of the Virgin Mary. Wellingborough: Aquarian Press. ISBN 0-85030-351-6. 
• Laurentin, René (1991) [1990]. The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary Today. Dublin: Veritas Publications. ISBN 1853901199. 
• Laurentin, René (1990). An Appeal from Mary in Argentina: the Apparitions of San Nicolás. Milford, Ohio: Faith Publishing Company/The Riehle Foundation. ISBN 0-9625975-5-4. 
• Terelya, Josyp (with Michael H. Brown) (1991). Josyp Terelya – WITNESS. Milford, Ohio: Faith Publishing Company/The Riehle Foundation. ISBN 1-877678-17-1. 
• Brown, Michael H. (1992). The Final Hour. Milford, Ohio: Faith Publishing Company/The Riehle Foundation. ISBN 1-880033-03-8. 
• Laurentin, René (1993). The Cause of Liberation in the USSR. Goleta, California: Queenship Publishing Company. ISBN 1-882972-07-4. 
• Blackbourn, David (1994). Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Nineteenth-Century Germany. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-679-41843-1. 
• Odell, Catherine M. (1995). Those Who Saw Her: Apparitions of Mary. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor. ISBN 0-87973-664-X. 
• Brown, Michael H. (1996). The Day Will Come. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Charis. ISBN 0-89283-944-9. 
• Connell, Janice T. (1996). Meetings with Mary: Visions of The Blessed Mother. United States: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-39705-3. 
• Brown, Michael H. (1998). The Last Secret. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Charis. ISBN 1-57918-339-5. 
• Brown, Michael H. (1998). Seven Days with Mary. Milford, Ohio: Faith Publishing Company/The Riehle Foundation. ISBN 1-880033-26-7. 
• Sparrow, G. Scott (2004). Sacred Encounters with Mary. Chicago: Thomas More Association/Ave Maria Press. ISBN 1-59471-047-3. 
• Brown, Michael H. (2007). Tower of Light. Palm Coast, Florida: Spirit Daily Publications. ISBN 0-615-14372-5. 

External links

• Foundation Marypages Design: The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Crowned Queen of Heaven
• The Miracle Hunter: Marian Apparitions (with links to letters from local bishops in some cases)
• Catholic.org: The Marian Apparitions
• Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima, Portugal – Official Website
• Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France – Official Website
• Eternal Word Television Network: Marian apparitions in the Americas