The following material is from the University of Dayton in Ohio which houses the International Marian Institute and the largest Marian library in the world. They have done a thorough job in offering assistance to the faithful on whether Apparitions are reliable and how we can approach them with the mind of the Church:.
During the past several years, the number of reported apparitions has been greatly increasing. While concentrating on Marian apparitions, our purpose here is to view all popular piety in the context of the total picture of Catholic faith, devotion, and discipleship. Our approach is to strike a happy medium between vain credulity and sterile skepticism. Perhaps we could label our position as one of critical or moderate realism. Visionaries or seers behold an object not naturally visible to other persons.
An authentic supernatural vision or apparition is different from illusions or hallucinations that result from pathological conditions or even diabolical intervention. Although this document uses the term supernaturalitas, we believe that what is meant is something supernatural in the mode in which it has occurred rather than supernatural in its essence or substance. When an allegedly supernatural event has occurred, it is the responsibility of the local bishop to conduct an investigation, usually through a committee of experts.
Theologically and canonically, the bishop is entrusted with the role of "oversight" of the diocese. This role of "oversight" is based on the bishop's responsibility both for public worship and for the religious teaching which occurs in the diocese. The commission may interview the visionaries, call other witnesses, visit the site of the events.
These four criteria may also be restated in a negative way. There must be no doubt that what is occurring is truly exceptional and beyond human explanation. There must be no doctrinal error attributed to God or to the Blessed Virgin Mary or some other saint. The third negative criterion is that there must be no hint of financial advantage to anyone connected with the apparitions, nor must any of the visionaries be accused of serious moral improprieties at the time when the visions were being received, nor may there be evidence of mental illness or psychopathic tendencies.
At the end of the investigative process, the committee may submit to the bishop s one of the following verdicts or conjectural judgements: constat de supernaturalitate the event shows all the signs of being an authentic or a truly miraculous intervention from heaven ; constat de non supernaturalitate the alleged apparition is clearly not miraculous or there are not sufficient signs manifesting it to be so ; non constat de supernaturalitate it is not evident whether or not the alleged apparition is authentic.
The Bishop's decision regarding alleged apparitions usually does not attempt to interpret or give the spiritual significance of the events, nor to interpret the messages or identify the heavenly persons who may have appeared. All such investigations are conducted by the bishop to determine whether public worship should continue to be held in those places.
It could happen that the investigative committee could conclude that at this time it is able neither to make a clearly positive nor a clearly negative judgment. If the matter is still being investigated, the bishop could permit public worship, while at the same time continuing to be vigilant that the devotions do not wander into deviant directions. As the bishops are entrusted with these responsibilities stemming from the nature of their office, so there are fundamental responsibilities on the part of the members of the diocese.
First, they are to obey their bishops when the latter act as Christ's representatives canon , that is, when they teach formally or establish binding discipline as pastors of a particular church. This obedience owed to the bishops in their capacity as leaders of particular churches is intended to promote the common good. Canon also speaks of the "religious assent" owed to the bishops' teaching authority, which means a special quality of respect and gratitude, along with critical awareness and good will.
Hence, there should be intelligent obedience to ecclesiastical authority in the matter of alleged apparitions. A new era opened in the canonical regulations dealing with apparitions occurred in These canons had specifically forbidden the publication of all books or pamphlets about new apparitions, revelations, visions, prophecies, and miracles, or which introduce new devotions, even though justified as private. Such prohibitions are not part of the Code of Canon Law So the many reports of Marian apparitions may in part be due to the new freedom to discuss freely and to report such occurrences to the media, without first submitting them to ecclesiastical approbation.
Our faith cannot rest on private revelations and apparitions. Even with properly approved apparitions, we must maintain a proper perspective -- viewing them as an assistance to nourish our faith in the central dogmas of the Incarnation, the Trinity and the Eucharist. In their pastoral letter, Behold Your Mother: Woman of Faith, the American bishops called authenticated appearances of Mary "providential happenings [which] serve as reminders of basic Christian themes: such as prayer, penance, and the necessity of the sacraments.
It was abridged, combined and rearranged by Fr. Johann G. Roten, S. The term "appearance" has been used with Marian apparitions and visions of Jesus Christ.
Read More. A Roman Catholic approved Marian apparition is one that has been examined by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and has been granted approval by the local Bishop or the Holy See.
From antiquity, Mary has been called "Theotokos", or "God-Bearer". The word in Greek is "Theotokos". The term was used as part of the popular piety of the early first millennium church.
Mary is "full of grace," because it is precisely in her that the Incarnation of the Word, the hypostatic union of the Son of God with human nature, is accomplished and fulfilled.
She was there throughout the often called "hidden years" in Nazareth. In the life of the Redeemer Hosea This language of spousal love, of nuptiality, is also present in this overshadowing Since the Virgin Mary's role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated, it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. She is acknowledged as Mary is the mother of every domestic church, of every Christian family.
She fully understands the naturally supernatural realities of family life because she lived them. I found that every one of the great influences in my Christian life from that communion of saints to which we are all joined was profoundly "Marian". Between the crown and the edge of the veil She wore a brilliant rose. His right hand was upraised and in his left arm held what seemed a Holy Bible.
The Altar with the Lamb and the Cross were surrounded by Angels, circling. While the group knelt before the Apparition in devout prayer, the heavenly visitors remained silent. Not a single word was spoken.
The witnesses to the Apparition stayed out in the pouring rain for some two hours praying the Rosary. When the Apparition began it was twilight; but despite the darkness when night fell, the witnesses said that they could still see the figures quite clearly, seemingly the colour of a brilliant whitish light. The ground under the figures stayed completely dry during the Apparition, though a south wind blew. Nonetheless, after the Apparition, the ground became soaked and the wall was dark. Other villagers, who had not been at the Apparition, declared that they had seen a brilliant radiance lighting up the area around the Church.
The Apparition, in this corner of Ireland hit by poverty and hunger, was a symbol of hope, consolation and strength amid misfortune, for it was a place in which unemployment and emigration were the order of the day. What will the Lord have wanted to tell us with this scenario? The explanation, and the Message, of this Apparition could lie in the Apocalypse. It is the book which contains the interpretation of Universal History.
It is full of the great theme of Redemption in all its phases. Knock is a warning that chastisements are on the way: the cups of Divine Wrath and everything else announced in the Apocalypse. Our Lord Jesus Christ appears in Knock, as in the Apocalypse, as the Immolated Lamb, thus highlighting the central teachings of Palmarian Doctrine laid out in the Treatise on the Holy Mass, so that the Apparition at Knock is one more confirmation that the true Church of Christ is this one now sheltered in the mystical desert of Palmar.
The Apparition of Knock was all in silence, and appeared to give no message, but in reality it was not so. At times silence is more eloquent than words. We must analyze the Apparition attentively to be able to discover the silent message it hides. The Virgin wore the brilliant crown of Queen of Heaven. Given the cases that present themselves, and always with the desire to direct the faithful in the truth, the Church seeks to investigate above all the veracity of the events, excluding every possible mystification or error.
It works to verify that there are no contradictions in the events and persons which might be opposed to faith, morality or Christian life. The Church does so slowly and seriously. That is why sometimes years and years go by without an official pronouncement of the Church, inviting all in the meantime to follow the norms of faith and the principles of a healthy Marian theology and spirituality. Father Castellano Cervera: The list of supposed revelations and apparitions of the Virgin Mary is so large that it is not possible to give an account of them here.
Bishops have the duty to inform the Holy See when a phenomenon goes beyond the boundaries of the diocese. Then, through the competent dicastery, which is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Holy See offers the appropriate instruments and suggests the way to proceed in such cases, always keeping present the good of the faithful and the essence of the faith and of the life of the Church, its liturgical practice, and the value of popular piety, based on the truths of the Bible, Tradition and the magisterium of the Church on Mary, so rich in texts as those of the Second Vatican Council; of Paul VI; the "Marialis Cultus," the 30th anniversary of whose publication is this year; and John Paul II's wonderful encyclical "Redemptoris Mater.
Q: It is now years since the apparition in Lourdes. What has it represented for the history of the faith, and what teachings can we distill? Father Castellano Cervera: The message of Lourdes seems obvious to me. With her apparition, Mary confirms the truth of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, as she herself presents herself to St. From this moment on, the "mariofania" of Lourdes, recognized by the Church as a genuine apparition, becomes a point of reference of Marian devotion.
Lourdes is a charismatic place where the Virgin Mary, through the Church's ordinary pastoral care acts mysteriously also as source of grace and light for the physical, psychic and spiritual health of those who approach it with faith, hope and love. A Recession Antidote Randy Hain. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t. Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.
Embrace every moment as sacred time Mary Regina Morrell. My Dad JoMarie Grinkiewicz. The first child to see her was Eugene, and when he tried to point the attention of the adults around him in the direction of Our Lady, none reported seeing her.
However, the other three children around him all reported seeing her, leading a nun nearby to guide everyone in prayer. God will hear you in a short time. My Son allows Himself to be moved by compassion.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, proves true to her name, appearing to heal Magdalene Kade in , along with healing close to a dozen others shortly after.
Magdalene was bedridden due to many illnesses, and had a friend who would stay and watch over her. Look at that beauty. Magdalene was able to immediately jump up and was completely healed. Mary appeared to two girls, Justyna and Barbara, as they were preparing for their First Communion. The girls found her sitting on a throne holding the infant Jesus under a maple tree in front of the church. The girls spoke to their parish priest, and as word spread, a movement of praying a daily Rosary spread as well, and the area remains a popular place of pilgrimage.
A humble and faithful woodcutter named Thomas Michalek received two visits from the Virgin Mary in sixteenth-century Poland. The first came when he was in the forest, Mary first being seen as a bright light. However, Thomas was scared of what had happened and did nothing.
Our Lady appeared to him again, asking him to take action. On a summer day in , Mary appeared to four young children who were tending a flock of sheep on the outskirts of their village, Siluva.
She was standing on a rock, holding a baby, and crying heavily. The town of Siluva had been turned over to the Calvinists in , and gradually the whole village was conformed to Calvinist beliefs. However, the visits of Mary to the children were enough to turn the entire town back to the Catholic Faith, and abolish Calvinist rule in Siluva. Marie Alphonse, an anti-Catholic Jewish man, started wearing a Miraculous Medal to please his new friend, a baron of the Church.
While waiting for the baron one day, he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin. He then converted to the Catholic Faith, joined the priesthood, and started a ministry for the conversion of Jews. Below are the remaining ten Marian apparitions that have yet to be recognized by the Vatican, but have been approved for devotion by the Catholic Church.
Mary appeared to Adele three times over the course of a year, in the farmlands of what is now Champion, Wisconsin. The shrine of Our Lady of Good Help was just recently approved by Bishop Ricken in , and is already a popular pilgrimage site for many Americans.
Her words were very prophetic, and she warned Mother Mariana about a decline of faith in the twentieth century, especially among priests and other vocations. Upon appearing to her, Mary healed Jeanne of her infirmities and continued to visit her fourteen times after that. The statue was left on the site, and immediately the bishop built a chapel there.
The statue can now be seen at the chapel, and several other miracles have been reported due to the intercession of Our Lady of Eternal Aid. The Madonna of Montagnaga appeared to a simple shepherdess, Domenica Targa, in Italy during the eighteenth century. Upon being frightened while saying the Rosary with her cattle in a basin, Domenica cried out to Christ and Mary for help, and Mary appeared to her. She was wearing all white and held a rosary in her hand.
Our Lady asked Domenica what she was doing, and when she responded that she was praying the Rosary, Our Lady praised her and asked her to travel to the Church of St. Anne on the solemnity of the Ascension, so that she may see her again. The most well-recorded apparition of Our Lady of Sorrows came from two women in as they were going after a group of lost sheep. Fabiana and Serafina were traveling up a neighboring hill when they saw a bright light coming from within a cluster of rocks.
After looking closer, they were astounded to find an image of Our Lady of Sorrows. They returned to their village crying, saying that she was a very beautiful woman, fair and young with ratted hair, bleeding out of wounds received from seven swords.
As people began to pilgrimage to the site afterward, many reported seeing the Blessed Mother, sometimes as Our Lady of Sorrow, and sometimes as the Pieta. Our Lady of All Nations appeared fifty-six times over the course of fourteen years to Ida Peederman, an industrial office worker in Amsterdam. Our Lady entrusted her with a large set of prophecies, as well as an image and prayer that we now know as the holy card of Our Lady of All Nations. The revelations Ida received from Our Lady included future events leading to declared Marian dogmas, especially the Immaculate Conception and Mary as Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, and Advocate.
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