Course: Two Marys
Lecture #9: Marian Apparitions I
MARIAN APPARITIONS -- some definitions
First of all the word apparition is best understood as a specific kind of vision in which a person or being not normally within the visionary's perceptual range appears to that person or persons, not in a world apart as in a dream, and not as a modification of a concrete object as in the case of a weeping icon or moving statue, but as a part of the environment, w/o apparent connection to verifiable visual stimuli.
Since the 11th and 12th century, with a few exceptions, when devotion to the mother of Jesus began to flourish in western Christianity, the figure who has; most often been seen and who has assumed the most importance is the Virgin Mary.
Reports of appearances of the Virgin seem to have sharply declined in most places early in the 16th century, evidently as a result of the protestant Reformation and the Inquisition.
However, in the 19th and 20th century (20th especially) there has been a revival on interest and public attention has been focused on some of these in such a way as to draw great masses of people to certain sites where appearances of the Virgin have allegedly taken place.
For Roman Catholics, these modern "Marian apparitions" have become focal points for what seems to be a significant revival of interest in the supernatural in many parts of the Xian world.
The importance that has become attached to some of the Marian apparitions of the past 2 centuries can be explained by the fact that many of these have been both "serial" and public.
A serial apparition is one in which the seers have been led in an initial experience to expect that this experience will be repeated, and when they speak of it, word spreads and people gather around the seers at the announced time.
A public apparition is simply one in which people surround the seers during their experiences. While those gathered may witness a sign, such as a sun miracle, generally speaking they do not see or expect to see, the Virgin themselves.
A public apparition seems to be, in the history of Xianity, a phenomenon peculiar to the last two centuries. In pre-modern times, those who received visions were usually known for their disciplined religious lives, and were separated from their community and alone at the time of the vision. Or, if not alone, were the only recipient of the vision.
Even though the serial and public nature of recent apparitions is modern, the expectations associated with them is inherited from the Marian piety of the Middle Ages.
Fundamental are the themes of the Virgin's exceptions powers in times of crisis and her loyalty to those who place. themselves in her care.
Between 1000 and 1200 faith in the powers and patronage of Christian Saints, which had grown up around particular tombs or relics, began to give way to faith in the presumably more effective and accessible powers and patronage of the Virgin, leading to widespread belief that devotion to the Virgin in and of itself could protect or save persons anywhere facing a crisis.
Usually, Marian apparitions have to do with the sins of a community defined in terms of ritual transgressions: a host has been desecrated, prescribed prayers have not been said, people have not been going to confession or mass.
The remedy offered by the virgin is also, typically, a kind of ritual: the establishment of a new shrine, the rebuilding of an old, or the promotion of a particular devotional practice.
In Premodern times, the only direct witness to an apparition was usually one visionary. so, communities and Church officials have for centuries sought and found indirect confirmation by signs such as weeping icons. Other ways were the ability for the visionary to read consciences, healings, and later the ability to know a consecrated host from one not consecrated.
Modern seers are seen as persons who prior to their visions. were not especially talented or devout, who are given prophetic gifts and certain paranormal powers at least for the duration of the apparition, and who are presumed in the wake of the experience, destined for the religious life.
While apparitions have had a long history and been important in western Xianity, their official status for Roman Catholics was unclear till Pope Benedict XIV (1740-1758) specifically addressed these revelations.
He said that after careful investigation permission might be given to publicize the revelation for "the instruction and good of the faithful."1 but, even when approved, they should not be given the ascent of catholic faith. Rather, given the ascent of human faith according to the rules of prudence.
One can refuse assent to these revelations providing that one does this with the modesty that comes from having good reasons and w/o the intention of being derisive.
Later statements have been commentaries on this statement.
Since at least the 4th and 5th centuries, teachers and bishops of the Roman Catholic (RC) church have sanctioned and encouraged belief in the intercessory powers of departed saints in general and the special privileges accorded to the Virgin Mary in Particular (431 Ephesus
Because the powers of departed saints have been emphasized less and less in official R. C. teaching since the early Middle Ages the special privileges and powers of the Virgin Mary have been emphasized more and more.
This culminated in 1950 with what was hailed by Carl Jung as one of the most significant events in all of Roman Catholic history, and the top of Mary's ascendency, i.e., the assumption as dogma.
All this has given considerable impetus to the belief that lies at the root of interest by R. C.s in Marian apparitions: the belief that one can obtain special privileges or graces thru devotional exercises which express or help to establish a special relationship with the Virgin Mary.
The prerogative of investigating an apparition and deciding whether it is worth of "the assent of human faith" belongs officially to the bishop in whose diocese it has occurred.
However, in the past 2 centuries only that have been investigated were approved by the local bishop. This out of hundreds of apparitions in the past 2 centuries.
Those approved were: Rue du bac (Paris, France, 1830-already discussed), La Salette (France, 1846); Lourdes (France, 1858); Pontmain (France, 1870); Fatima, (Portugal, 1917); Beauraing (Belgium, 1932-33); and Banneux (Belgium, 1933). in 2010 Charopion, WI was approved our lady of Good help, seen in 1859,
KNOCK, IRELAND: However, those who are not necessarily approved may still draw huge crowds, such as Knock, Ireland where on Aug. 21, 1879 a group of villagers saw the Virgin, John the evangelist, and Joseph around an altar on which was the figure of a lamb. It was investigated but no approval came. However, today Knock is one of the premier pilgrimage sites in Ireland.
MARIAN APPARITIONS then are not simple events with self-evident meanings as Popular apologetic literature would suggest. These are very complex phenomena which have been pared down and subjected to a considerable amount of interpretation by those who have sought to make them publicly accessible. Many initial accounts are no longer extant and with well known visions, peoples perceptions have come to be treated as fact.
IMPORTANT MARIAN APPARITIONS to FATIMA
Mary's appearances began in 40 A.D., probably before she died, to James the Apostle in Saragossa, Spain. The characteristics of her apparitions has remained fairly consistent. She usually appears in a globe of pure white light, dressed in a long dress and head cover which varies in color depending on the content of her messages.
Her feet are usually surrounded by a mist or cloud, and she occasionally is seen holding her Son in her arms. A number of her appearances are preceded by unusual phenomena such as lighting or thunder from a clear sky, apparitions of angelic beings or clouds of unusual shapes and religious significance such as a cross or a doorway.
The following is an overview of some of the major apparitions, but it is not all-inclusive. Do film starting @ 7:30
NOTE: Text in Highlight is Optional
OUR LADY OF THE PILLAR - Saragossa, Spain (ca. 40 AD)
After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, his apostles began to spread the message throughout the Roman Empire. the Greater reportedly traveled as far west as Spain and was disheartened by the failure of his mission.
Tradition says that while in prayer, Mary appeared to him (James)
and gave him a small wooden statue of herself and a column of jasper wood and instructed him to build a church in her honor.
About a year later, James arranged to build a small chapel in Mary's honor, the first dedicated to her. the jasper column and wooden statue can still be seen on special occasions at a church that houses them.
When James returned to Jerusalem, he was executed by Herod Agrippa in about 44 AD, the first Apostle martyred for his faith. Several of his disciples took his body and returned it for burial to Spain. The local queen, seeing the miracles by his disciples, converted to Christianity and permitted his body to be buried in a field.
Eight centuries later, a cathedral in honor of St. James was erected after his gravesite was discovered by a local hermit. The site for the cathedral was called COMPOSTELLA (starry field) and is a major pilgrimage site to this day.
OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM -- Walsingham, England (ca. 1061)
A Lady Richeldis de Faverches, had three visions of Mary in which Mary showed her the house in Nazerath where the angel Gabrial told her of Jesus's birth. Mary asked her to build a replica of her house dedicated as a memorial to the annunciation. Mary promised:
"Let all who are in any way distressed or in need seek me there in that small house that you maintain for me at Walsingham. To all that seek me there shall be given succor."
Walsingham became one of the greatest pilgrimage sites in Europe. A church was built around the house to protect it. Many kings conducted pilgrimages, including Henry the VIII before his break with Rome in 1534.
During the rampage following the reformation, the house and church were destroyed, and a few years later, the statue of Mary was burned.
In the 1920's Walsingham' Holy House was rebuild at the direction of an Anglican Priest. The Slipper chapel, named in honor of those who in the Middle Ages removed their shoes to walk barefoot to the holy house, a small catholic chapel located near the Holy House had managed to escape the destruction of the reformation.
This chapel became the shrine of Mary in England and now both sites have become active pilgrimage sites again.
OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL -- Aylesford, England (1251)
Mary's influence in England continued when she appeared to one Simon Stock, who became a member of the religious order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Mary entrusted him with the brown scapular (two pieces of brown woolen cloth, usually embroidered with an outline of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and tied together by string and worn over the shoulders. She said to him:
"My beloved Son receive this scapular for your Order."
“It is the special sign of a privilege which I have obtained for you and for all God's children who honor me as Our Lady of Mount Carmel."
Those who die devotedly clothed with this scapular shall be preserved from eternal fire.
The Brown scapular is a badge of salvation. The brown scapular is a shield in time of danger. The brown scapular is a pledge of peace and special protection, until the end of time."
After this apparition, Friar Stock went on to establish Carmelite communities near university towns in England, France and Italy. He became superior general of his order several years after the apparition and the brown scapular was widely used.
THE BLACK MADONNA - Czestochowa, Poland (1382)
This is important because of the veneration it hold for the Polish people and especially the Polish Pope, John Paul II.
This particular Black Madonna is said to be a painting of the Madonna and Christ Child which was painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. St. Luke is believed to have used a tabletop from a table built by the carpenter Jesus.
It was while Luke was painting Mary that she supposedly told him about the events in the life of Jesus that he eventually incorporated in his gospel.
St. Helena, Constantine's mother, located it in Jerusalem in 326 AD while on pilgrimage. She gave it to her son who had a shrine built in Constantinople to house it. In a critical battle with the Saracens the portrait was displayed from the walls of the city and the Saracens were routed. The portrait was credited with saving the city.
Years later Emperor Charlemagne visited Constantinople and was presented the painting. Charlemagne then presented it to Prince Leo of Ruthenia.
Hundreds of years later, with enemies invading, the king prayed to The Lady to aid his tiny army. A heavy darkness fell on the enemy and in the confusion began destroying their own troops. Later, in the 14th century, a prince dreamed that Mary requested him to take her picture to Poland and it was entrusted to a group of Pauline Fathers.
When the Tarters attacked the Prince's fortress at Belz, one of the arrows hit the painting and lodged int the throat of the Madonna. Fearing that the painting might fall to the Tartars, the prince fled in the night finally stopping in the town of Czestochowa, where the painting was installed in a small church.
In 1430 the Hussites overran the monastery and tried to take the portrait. It was struck twice with a sword. These all are still visible on the painting.
In 1655, After defeating the King of Sweden, Charles X over a period of time, the Lady of Czestochowa became the symbol of Polish national unity and was crowned "Queen of Poland." Poland was then placed under Mary's protection.
A more recent legend says that when, in 1920 the Russian army was seen massing on the banks of the Vistula river, threatening Warsaw, an image of the Virgin was seen in the clouds. The Russian troops, seeing the image, withdrew.
There have been reports for centuries of miraculous events such as spontaneous healings to those making a pilgrimage to the portrait. With the decline of Communism, pilgrimages to the Black Madonna have increased dramatically.
LA SALETTE -- France, near Grenoble in the Alps, 1846
The apparition at La Salette, to two shepherd children is considered to be the first Marian appearance of modern times outside of a cloistered environment which attracted widespred attention and was officially "recognized" by the roman catholic authorities.
The two children involved were a Melanie Calvat, who was 15 at the time, and had worked as a shepherd from age 10. She could not read, spoke only the dialect of the region and understood French only imperfectly. She had been rejected by her mother, and locked out of her house for days at a time when she said she was kept company by her brother, Jesus.
Pierre-Maximim Giraud was only 11 at the time of the one appearance of the "beautiful lady". His mother died when he was 18 months old and was mal-treated by his stepmother. He could not read and apparently learned his prayers with difficulty. He was indentured as a shepherd at age 11.
They met each other only one or two evenings before the experience That made them famous. When the farmer who hired them noticed a different routine, Maximin told him about the "Beautiful lady who had entertained them in conversation" for a long time. When asked, Melanie confirmed all he had said.
On Sept. 19. 1856 the two children described seeing a bright light which whirled a bit rising to the height of a person. She made out an oval face and hands in the light but couldn't see clearly. Suddenly it stood up and folded its arms across its breast and came toward them and began to speak in French.
THE MESSAGE; was delivered with crystalline tears coming from the apparition. Basically the message was that if her people would not submit she would no longer be able to restrain the heavy hand of her son:
The message was threatening, apocalyptic in tone, for she warned of terrible punishments that would soon befall France as a result of sinful ways. Bad habits of swearing, not going to church regularly, meat eating during lent, etc.
Only if people abandoned these habits and turned to prayer would these disasters, famine, sickness, bad harvests, be avoided. Each child was given a secret not heard by the other. These secrets supposedly revealed years later by the seers and basically had to do with doom and gloom coming to France and the world if it didn't repent.
It is important that at no point did the lady identify herself as the Virgin Mary, nor did the children ever say it was. It was others after being told that said it was the Virgin Mary. Even four years later in 1850 in a famous interview with Maximin, when asked if it was the Virgin Mary, he said he didn't know. This when most pious Catholics were sure it was.
Tho the lady only appeared once, there was lots of interest in tangible, visible evidence of the presumed supernatural intervention. The two seers themselves claimed to have had other extraordinary experiences at the site. A "miraculous" spring even appeared where they had seen the apparition. Reports of healings began to be associated with the spring.
Many of La Salette's healings were associated with mass pilgrimages to the spot and this suggests that psychological factors could have played a part in these healings. These pilgrimages began within a few weeks after the reported siting.
The Bishop of Grenoble appointed a commission to investigate the apparition and results. There was a lot of pro and con arguing, most of the clergy being against recognizing it.
However, on the 5th anniversary of the apparition, Sept. 19, 1851 Bishop Bruillard issued a statement formally authorizing devotion at the site and the continued publication of the story of the apparition and its message.
Two months after the apparition, both children were enrolled in the school of the sisters of Providence. Maximim tried several careers, all unsuitable and died in 1875. Melanie lived an unhappy life bouncing from one convent to another around Europe. She died in 1904 after a controversial life. They both tried to keep control over their apparition experiences tho many were looking, especially to Melanie, as a model of spirituality.
The argument over the "secrets" continued long after their deaths as different versions were published. What has been shown is that a diversity of viewpoints may arise and be tolerated within the R.C. Church with respect to the significance of an apparition recognized by the Church.
It also shows the types and configurations of authority in the framework of which the more enthusiastic devotees arrive and promulgate their views, the importance of dissemination and printed word used to push ones viewpoint.
LOURDES: France, 1858
Because of the immense popularity of Lourdes as a pilgrimage site and because its seer is a canonized saint, Bernadette's experience is probably the best known and most studied of all modern Marian apparitions
While La Salette and Lourdes were only 12 years apart in time, there are some significant differences. The most important is that while the La Salette apparition was a single and private affair the Lourdes apparition was serial and public.
Bernadette had a series of ecstatic experiences at a specific site, and all but the earliest of which came at a more or less predictable time and were witnessed by others, some of the later ones by a great number of people.
Bernadette Soubirous (Subara) came from an indigent family, down on their luck most the time. Most of the stories about her are hagiography so really can't be trusted.
Bernadette's experiences began on Thursday, February 11, 1858. Bernadette, her sister and another friend went to gather firewood near a river. While Marie and her friend crossed the river to search Bernadette stayed on dry land.
She heard a loud noise from a grotto known as Massabielle, once sacred to the great mother. At the mouth of the grotto was a rosebush which was moving as if it were windy, which it was not. From the interior of the grotto, she saw a golden-colored cloud, and soon after a Lady, young and beautiful came and placed herself at the entrance above the rosebush.
The Lady smiled at Bernadette and motioned for her to advance. Bernadette lost any fear she may have had and fell to her knees to pray the rosary. After doing this together with the lady, the lady withdrew slowly to the interior of the grotto and disappeared.
Bernadette experienced eighteen visitations from Mary over a six month period never knowing who the lady was until the last apparition. During the apparitions the Lady instructed Bernadette to dig a hole in the ground and drink and bathe in it.
The hole later turned into a spring of water which the Lady promised would be a healing spring for all who came to use its waters. Bernadette was also told to tell the local pastor to have a chapel built in honor of her appearances there.
The pastor thought she was lying and told her to find out who the Lady was and demanded that she perform a miracle by making the rosebush in the grotto bloom.
On March 25, feast of the Annunciation, the Lady answered the pastor's request by telling Bernadette, who had only a rudimentary religious education, "I am the Immaculate Conception" This had been pronounced by the pope only 4 years earlier and supposedly confirmed that pronouncement.
The apparitions were declared authentic in 1862 and Lourdes rapidly became one of the world's major pilgrimage sites. Thousands have supposedly been cured from a variety of illnesses, both physical and spiritual, and a clinic to support the millions of pilgrims who come to Lourdes operates to this day.
The messages and miracles of La Salette played an important part in shaping people's expectations and experiences at Lourdes. The Broadsheet (p. 157) from la Salatte was displayed at Lourdes and the miracles from the miraculous spring struck the most responsive chord in the perceptions and piety of those coming to Lourdes.
After Bernadette’s visions, supposedly many other seers had visons of various sorts, some claiming to see the Virgin Mary also. Many in the town were more than skeptical and local officials tried to discourage people from going to the grotto, even setting up barricades which were demolished. On Oct. 5 of that year, the barricades were ordered removed.
Bernadette, in the wake of this, was enrolled in the school at Lourdes operated by the sisters of charity. Her family moved to better lodgings and her father had regular employment.
In 1866, Bernadette moved to Nevers to join the order of the Sisters of Charity. She died of T. B. of the bone in 1879. She was canonized by the church on December 8, 1933.
AFTERMATH AND IMPORTANCE -- At Lourde's Bernadette was associated with the miracles that occurred there and was perceived as a saint.
The public's tendency to closely associate the miracle at Lourdes with its seer was transferred to the other young persons who began to have visions at the grotto and gave rise to the small cults which formed around them.
There were visions inspired by the unusual rock formations, phenomena such as an image of a dove on the wall above the grotto, and of course, the healing spring--all of these giving people access to the sacred in direct and concrete ways apart from the presence of any seer.
Manifestations of the sacred similar to these have been noted in connection with most subsequent Marian apparitions. Such things as spinning sun, rosary beads changing colors, etc. all these presumably testifying to a divine presence at the apparition site.
MADONNA OF THE CRUCIFIX -- Pontmain, France, January 17, 1871
In January, 1871 a 12 year old boy, Eugene Barbedette, saw the image of a lady. She was a lady with a crown. Only one other child whom he asked could see the image, young Joseph Barbedette.
Over a period of several hours, whenever they checked, they could still see the image in the sky. None of the adults present could see it but when more children arrived, they all could see the image, even a two year old.
The children saw letter appearing beneath the Lady's feet and when completed it spelled out (in French): "but pray my children". After more hymns and praying, more messages: "God will hear you shortly" and My son permits himself to be moved". The message remained for about 10 minutes, then disappeared.
Finally, there were changes in the image. She turned sorrowful, a small cross (red) appeared on her heart, a large cross in her hands, a banner that read "Jesus Christ." Finally, a white veil engulfed her from below until she disappeared entirely. The entire apparition lasted a little less than three hours.
The apparition appeared at a time when the Franco-Prussian war was in its final stages. France had suffered a series of humiliating defeats. Also, many of the families were worried about sons involved in the war. Thus, the apparition gave, by way of a written message, the hope that their loved ones would be safe.
The Prussians were about to enter the town of Laval but, whether by coincidence or not, decided not to. An armistice ending hostilities was signed on Jan. 28, just 11 days after the Pontmain apparition. This, naturally, had the effect of enhancing belief in the apparition.
Tho usually the church acts cautiously, this one was embraced by the church authorities, at least in France. In 1872, a year later, the bishop of Laval issued a pastoral letter in which he professed his own belief in the reality of the apparition and authorized devotion.
That same year construction began on a basilica at Pontmain, and by 1873, over 100,000 pilgrims had visited the shrine there. Although Pontmain has been eclipsed by other Marian sites in France, it still attracts about 300,000 visitors a year.
OUR LADY OF KNOCK - Ireland, august 21, 1879
I want to finish up the 19th century apparitions with one which I have mentioned before in passing because it never received official church approval but nevertheless attracts huge numbers of pilgrims.
Ireland at this time, the 1870s, was suffering from much unemployment, dislocations of families, forced evictions, etc. which produced another wave of immigration to the U.S.A.
A young woman, Margaret Beirne, was sent to lock up the village church in the village of Cnoc Mhuire in county Mayo. As she returned home she noticed a strange brightness covering the church. She met up with another member of her family and as they walked down the road they came to a location where they could clearly see the church and its gable. Mary O'Beirne said "O look at the statues! Why didn't you tell me the priest had got new statues for the chapel?"
Margaret said she had heard nothing of these and as they approached the church they decided to look more closely. Mary remarked, "but they are not statues, they're moving. It's the blessed virgin."
Before it was over, 15 people saw what they believed to be the blessed virgin, clothed in white garments, wearing a large brilliant crown. Her hands were raised in prayer.
On her right stood St. Joseph, his head inclined towards her. On her left stood St. John the Evangelist, dressed as a bishop. To the left of St. John was an altar on which stood a lamb and a cross surrounded by angels.
All of this was seen on the gable wall of the church in a cloud of light that lasted for about an hour and a half. Other villagers, not involved in the apparition, reported seeing a bright light illuminating the area around where the church was located. There were subsequent reports of inexplicable healings associated with visits to the church at Knock.
The churches response was typically circumspect. A commission was formed to gather testimonies of those claiming to see the apparitions and then a record of purported cures and devotional material was maintained till 1936. At that time, the head of the diocese of Tuam, archbishop Gilmartin, tentatively authorized the publication of a pamphlet supporting devotion to the apparition at Knock.
The shrine at Knock received a special papal blessing in 1979, its centennial, when Pope John Paul II visited the site along with half a million pilgrims.
CONCLUSION: With this we end a survey of the apparitions up to the 20th century. What you will note is that in the 20th century, the number of apparitions seems to be multiplying geometrically. There is no way I can discuss them all but the handout gives you an idea of how many we are dealing with. The internet keeps up on the latest ones, but there are so many there is no way I can afford to hand them all out.