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Marian apparition

May 02, 2023

A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time.

In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian apparition, the person or persons who claim to see Mary (the "seers") must claim that they see her visually located in their environment.[1] If the person claims to hear Mary but not see her, this is known as an interior locution, not an apparition. Also excluded from the category of apparitions are dreams, visions experienced in the imagination, the claimed perception of Mary in ordinarily-explainable natural phenomena, and miracles associated with Marian artwork, such as weeping statues.

Believers consider such apparitions to be real and objective interventions of divine power, rather than subjective experiences generated by the perceiving individuals, even in cases where the apparition is reportedly seen by only some, not all, of the people present at the event's location.

Marian apparitions are considered expressions of Mary's ongoing motherly care for the church. The understood purpose of each apparition is to draw attention to some aspect of the Christian message, given the needs of a particular time and place. Apparitions are often accompanied by other alleged supernatural phenomena, such as medical cures. However, such miraculous events are not considered the purpose of Marian apparitions, but are alleged to exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message.[2]

Examples

Main article: List of Marian apparitions
 
The Marian Vision of Saint Bernard, by Fra Bartolommeo, c. 1504. Uffizi, Florence.
 
Statue of Our Lady of La Salette, an apparition reported to have occurred in France.
 
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima is one of the largest Marian shrines in the world

Each Marian apparition is often associated with one or more titles given to Mary, often based on the location of the apparition, such as Our Lady of Pontmain in Pontmain, France (1871). Others are named using a title which Mary purportedly applies to herself during the alleged apparition, as in the case of the disputed apparition entitled The Lady of All Nations (Netherlands, 1945..1959).

Some Marian apparitions have only one purported seer, such as that of Our Lady of Lourdes (France, 1858). Other apparitions have multiple seers; in the case of Our Lady of Fatima (1917), there were only three seers of the apparition itself, but miraculous phenomena were reported by a crowd of approximately 70,000 people, and even by others located miles away.[3] In other cases, the entirety of a large group of people claims to see Mary, as in the case of Our Lady of La Vang (Vietnam, c. 1800). Some modern mass apparitions, claimed to have been witnessed by hundreds of thousands, have also allegedly been photographed, such as Our Lady of Zeitoun (Egypt, 1968..1971).[4]

Most alleged apparitions involve the verbal communication of messages, but others are silent, such as the apparition of Our Lady of Knock (Ireland, 1879).

Some apparitions are one-time events, such as Our Lady of La Salette (France, 1846). Others recur over an extended period of time, such as Our Lady of Laus (France, 17th/18th centuries), whose seer claimed 54 years of appearances. Public, serial apparitions (in which a seer not only says that they have experienced a vision, but that they expect it will reoccur, causing people to gather to observe) appear to be a relatively recent phenomenon; up until about the seventeenth century, most reported apparitions happened when the individual was alone, or at least no one else was aware of its occurrence.[5]

Physical contact is hardly ever reported as part of Marian apparitions. In rare cases, a physical artifact is reportedly left behind, such as the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico, 1531), which is said to have been miraculously imprinted on the cloak of Juan Diego.

Assessment by the Catholic Church

See also: Normae Congregationis
 
Jetzer being tricked. Jetzer was a Dominican monk in Bern, and some of his brothers tricked him into thinking he was receiving a revelation from the Virgin Mary. Eventually he realized the truth. As punishment for this scandal, four Dominicans were burned at the stake by order of Pope Julius II with an audience of 30,000 people on May 1st, 1509.[6]
 
In Marpingen, Germany, Our Lady is said to have appeared several times to three groups of visionaries: in 1876–1877, then in 1934–1936, and in 1999. The investigation performed by the Bishop of Trier after the last apparition concluded in 2005 that "the events in Marpingen cannot be confirmed as being of supernatural origin".[7]

The Catholic Church believes that it is possible for actually-supernatural Marian apparitions to occur, but also believes that many claimed apparitions are fabricated by the seer or the result of something other than divine intervention. For this reason, the Catholic Church has a formal evaluation process established for assessing claimed apparitions.

In 1978, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith promulgated the currently-used investigation guidelines in a document entitled "Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations," better known as Normae Congregationis, a shortening of its Latin title. Investigations into alleged apparitions can be carried out by the local ordinary (i.e. diocesan bishop), the national episcopal conference, or the Holy See. Apparitions are evaluated on multiple criteria, including the sincerity and moral uprightness of the seers, the theological accuracy of the messages, and positive spiritual benefits resulting from the apparition event.[8]

Occasionally, an ecclesial authority will decide not to investigate the veracity of an apparition in itself, but will approve the religious practices that have grown around the alleged apparition, such as by authorizing public veneration connected with the apparition, or by granting a request contained in the apparition messages. Pope Leo XIII, for example, authorized the use of a scapular described in the messages of Our Lady of Pellevoisin (France, 1876),[9] but did not pass judgment on the supernatural character of the apparition itself.[10]

Even if a Catholic bishop approves an apparition, belief in the apparition is never required of the Catholic faithful.[11][12] The Catholic faith is based on so-called Public Revelation, which ended with the death of the last living Apostle. A Marian apparition, however, is considered private revelation, which may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose, but can never add anything new to the deposit of faith.

In the Catholic Church, approval of a Marian apparition is relatively rare. The majority of investigated apparitions are rejected as fraudulent or otherwise false.[13] Recently rejected apparition claims include those of "Our Lady of Surbiton," denounced as fraudulent in 2007,[14] and those associated with Holy Love Ministries in Elyria, Ohio, condemned in 2009.[15] Some whose apparition claims are rejected secede from the Catholic Church as a result and initiate new groups, as for the case of the Mariavite Church, the Palmarian Catholic Church, and the Fraternité Notre-Dame.

Cultural impact

See also: Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church

Marian apparitions, particularly those that are approved officially, often affect Christian piety and the general public. Apparitions can become a part of national identity, as Our Lady of Guadalupe is for the majority-Catholic population of Mexico.

In many cases, apparition seers report a request from Mary for the construction of a shrine on the place of the apparition. Such Marian shrines often become popular sites of pilgrimage. The most-visited Marian shrine in the world is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, which draws 10 million pilgrims each year.[16] Other popular apparition-related Marian pilgrimage sites include the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima in Portugal (6–8 million per year[17][18]) and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France (5 million annually).

Apparitions often result in the establishment of Marian confraternities, movements, and societies that seek to heed and spread the messages of a particular apparition, such as the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fátima.

Occasionally, apparitions will introduce prayers that become incorporated into widespread Catholic practice, as for the case of the Fátima prayers, or the legendary revelation of the Rosary to Saint Dominic.

References

  1. ^ Zimdars-Swartz, Sandra L. (2014). Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje. Princeton University Press. p. 4. ISBN 9781400861637. An 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, 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 part of the environment, without apparent connection to verifiable visual stimuli.
  2. ^ Dictionary of Mary, Catholic Book Publishing Co. New York. 1985, Imprimatur, p25-26
  3. ^ Arcement, Katherine (October 13, 2017). "Our Lady of Fatima: The Virgin Mary promised three kids a miracle that 70,000 gathered to see". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Kosloski, Philip (May 5, 2019). "This Marian apparition in Egypt was witnessed by at least 250,000 people". Aletia. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  5. ^ Zimdars-Swartz, Sandra L. (2014). Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje. Princeton University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9781400861637.
  6. ^ History of the Great Reformation of the Sixteenth Century in Germany, Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigné, Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1870
  7. ^ Louis, Justine (2008). "La Prudence Comme Mot d'Ordre" (PDF). L'Église catholique face à l'extraordinaire chrétien depuis Vatican II: Mémoire de thèse (PhD) (in French). Lyon: Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3. pp. 150–151. S2CID 160094467. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  8. ^ "Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations". Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. February 24, 1978.
  9. ^ Cruz, Joan Carroll (2012). See How She Loves Us: 50 Approved Apparitions of Our Lady. Charlotte, North Carolina: TAN Books. pp. 205–211. ISBN 9780895558039.
  10. ^ "All About Mary: Pellevoisin Apparitions". The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute. from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  11. ^ Kosloski, Philip (May 15, 2019). "This map illustrates 500 years of Mary's apparitions". Aleteia. Retrieved October 7, 2019. Even if the Church recognizes an apparition as worthy of belief, no Catholic is obligated to believe in any private revelation, such as an apparition. The Church simply says that a person can find spiritual aid from an apparition, if he or she so chooses.
  12. ^ "Private and public revelation". Catholic Culture. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  13. ^ "Apparitions Statistics, Modern : University of Dayton, Ohio". udayton.edu. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  14. ^ Petre, Jonathan (September 23, 2007). "Vatican rejects woman's Virgin Mary claim". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on December 23, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  15. ^ Armstrong, Patti (November 20, 2009). "Proclamation on Holy Love Ministries Will Test Hearts and Obedience". Catholic Exchange. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "Shrine Of Guadalupe Most Popular In World", Zenit News, June 13, 1999
  17. ^ "Religion moves 330 million tourists a year and six million go to Fátima", Diário de Notícias, February 19, 2017.
  18. ^ "Fátima expects to receive 8 million visitors in 2017", in Sapo20, December 15, 2016.

Further reading

  • 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.
  • Odell, Catherine M. (1995). Those Who Saw Her: Apparitions of Mary. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor. ISBN 0-87973-664-X.
  • Connell, Janice T. (1996). Meetings with Mary: Visions of The Blessed Mother. United States: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-39705-3.
  • Sparrow, G. Scott (2004). Sacred Encounters with Mary. Chicago: Thomas More Association/Ave Maria Press. ISBN 1-59471-047-3.
  • Cruz, Joan Carroll (2012). See How She Loves Us: 50 Approved Apparitions of Our Lady. Charlotte NC: TAN Books. ISBN 9780895557186.
  • Maunder, Chris. Our Lady of the Nations: Apparitions of Mary in 20th-century Catholic Europe, Oxford University Press, 2016 ISBN 9780198718383
  • Zimdars-Swartz, Sandra L., Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje, Princeton University Press, 2014, ISBN 9781400861637

May 02, 2023
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A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary mother of Jesus or a series of related such appearances during a period of time In the Catholic Church in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian apparition the person or persons who claim to see Mary the seers must claim that they see her visually located in their environment 1 If the person claims to hear Mary but not see her this is known as an interior locution not an apparition Also excluded from the category of apparitions are dreams visions experienced in the imagination the claimed perception of Mary in ordinarily explainable natural phenomena and miracles associated with Marian artwork such as weeping statues Believers consider such apparitions to be real and objective interventions of divine power rather than subjective experiences generated by the perceiving individuals even in cases where the apparition is reportedly seen by only some not all of the people present at the event s location Marian apparitions are considered expressions of Mary s ongoing motherly care for the church The understood purpose of each apparition is to draw attention to some aspect of the Christian message given the needs of a particular time and place Apparitions are often accompanied by other alleged supernatural phenomena such as medical cures However such miraculous events are not considered the purpose of Marian apparitions but are alleged to exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message 2 Contents 1 Examples 2 Assessment by the Catholic Church 3 Cultural impact 4 References 5 Further readingExamples EditMain article List of Marian apparitions The Marian Vision of Saint Bernard by Fra Bartolommeo c 1504 Uffizi Florence Statue of Our Lady of La Salette an apparition reported to have occurred in France This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Marian apparition news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima is one of the largest Marian shrines in the world Our Lady of Guadalupe is widely considered integral to the cultural identity of Mexico and Latin American culture Each Marian apparition is often associated with one or more titles given to Mary often based on the location of the apparition such as Our Lady of Pontmain in Pontmain France 1871 Others are named using a title which Mary purportedly applies to herself during the alleged apparition as in the case of the disputed apparition entitled The Lady of All Nations Netherlands 1945 1959 Some Marian apparitions have only one purported seer such as that of Our Lady of Lourdes France 1858 Other apparitions have multiple seers in the case of Our Lady of Fatima 1917 there were only three seers of the apparition itself but miraculous phenomena were reported by a crowd of approximately 70 000 people and even by others located miles away 3 In other cases the entirety of a large group of people claims to see Mary as in the case of Our Lady of La Vang Vietnam c 1800 Some modern mass apparitions claimed to have been witnessed by hundreds of thousands have also allegedly been photographed such as Our Lady of Zeitoun Egypt 1968 1971 4 Most alleged apparitions involve the verbal communication of messages but others are silent such as the apparition of Our Lady of Knock Ireland 1879 Some apparitions are one time events such as Our Lady of La Salette France 1846 Others recur over an extended period of time such as Our Lady of Laus France 17th 18th centuries whose seer claimed 54 years of appearances Public serial apparitions in which a seer not only says that they have experienced a vision but that they expect it will reoccur causing people to gather to observe appear to be a relatively recent phenomenon up until about the seventeenth century most reported apparitions happened when the individual was alone or at least no one else was aware of its occurrence 5 Physical contact is hardly ever reported as part of Marian apparitions In rare cases a physical artifact is reportedly left behind such as the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe Mexico 1531 which is said to have been miraculously imprinted on the cloak of Juan Diego Assessment by the Catholic Church EditSee also Normae Congregationis This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Marian apparition news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Jetzer being tricked Jetzer was a Dominican monk in Bern and some of his brothers tricked him into thinking he was receiving a revelation from the Virgin Mary Eventually he realized the truth As punishment for this scandal four Dominicans were burned at the stake by order of Pope Julius II with an audience of 30 000 people on May 1st 1509 6 In Marpingen Germany Our Lady is said to have appeared several times to three groups of visionaries in 1876 1877 then in 1934 1936 and in 1999 The investigation performed by the Bishop of Trier after the last apparition concluded in 2005 that the events in Marpingen cannot be confirmed as being of supernatural origin 7 The Catholic Church believes that it is possible for actually supernatural Marian apparitions to occur but also believes that many claimed apparitions are fabricated by the seer or the result of something other than divine intervention For this reason the Catholic Church has a formal evaluation process established for assessing claimed apparitions In 1978 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith promulgated the currently used investigation guidelines in a document entitled Norms of the Congregation for Proceeding in Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations better known as Normae Congregationis a shortening of its Latin title Investigations into alleged apparitions can be carried out by the local ordinary i e diocesan bishop the national episcopal conference or the Holy See Apparitions are evaluated on multiple criteria including the sincerity and moral uprightness of the seers the theological accuracy of the messages and positive spiritual benefits resulting from the apparition event 8 Occasionally an ecclesial authority will decide not to investigate the veracity of an apparition in itself but will approve the religious practices that have grown around the alleged apparition such as by authorizing public veneration connected with the apparition or by granting a request contained in the apparition messages Pope Leo XIII for example authorized the use of a scapular described in the messages of Our Lady of Pellevoisin France 1876 9 but did not pass judgment on the supernatural character of the apparition itself 10 Even if a Catholic bishop approves an apparition belief in the apparition is never required of the Catholic faithful 11 12 The Catholic faith is based on so called Public Revelation which ended with the death of the last living Apostle A Marian apparition however is considered private revelation which may emphasize some facet of the received public revelation for a specific purpose but can never add anything new to the deposit of faith In the Catholic Church approval of a Marian apparition is relatively rare The majority of investigated apparitions are rejected as fraudulent or otherwise false 13 Recently rejected apparition claims include those of Our Lady of Surbiton denounced as fraudulent in 2007 14 and those associated with Holy Love Ministries in Elyria Ohio condemned in 2009 15 Some whose apparition claims are rejected secede from the Catholic Church as a result and initiate new groups as for the case of the Mariavite Church the Palmarian Catholic Church and the Fraternite Notre Dame Cultural impact EditSee also Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Marian apparition news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Marian apparitions particularly those that are approved officially often affect Christian piety and the general public Apparitions can become a part of national identity as Our Lady of Guadalupe is for the majority Catholic population of Mexico In many cases apparition seers report a request from Mary for the construction of a shrine on the place of the apparition Such Marian shrines often become popular sites of pilgrimage The most visited Marian shrine in the world is the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City which draws 10 million pilgrims each year 16 Other popular apparition related Marian pilgrimage sites include the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal 6 8 million per year 17 18 and the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France 5 million annually Apparitions often result in the establishment of Marian confraternities movements and societies that seek to heed and spread the messages of a particular apparition such as the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima Occasionally apparitions will introduce prayers that become incorporated into widespread Catholic practice as for the case of the Fatima prayers or the legendary revelation of the Rosary to Saint Dominic References Edit Zimdars Swartz Sandra L 2014 Encountering Mary From La Salette to Medjugorje Princeton University Press p 4 ISBN 9781400861637 An 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 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 part of the environment without apparent connection to verifiable visual stimuli Dictionary of Mary Catholic Book Publishing Co New York 1985 Imprimatur p25 26 Arcement Katherine October 13 2017 Our Lady of Fatima The Virgin Mary promised three kids a miracle that 70 000 gathered to see The Washington Post Retrieved October 11 2019 Kosloski Philip May 5 2019 This Marian apparition in Egypt was witnessed by at least 250 000 people Aletia Retrieved October 13 2019 Zimdars Swartz Sandra L 2014 Encountering Mary From La Salette to Medjugorje Princeton University Press p 5 ISBN 9781400861637 History of the Great Reformation of the Sixteenth Century in Germany Jean Henri Merle d Aubigne Philadelphia Porter amp Coates 1870 Louis Justine 2008 La Prudence Comme Mot d Ordre PDF L Eglise catholique face a l extraordinaire chretien depuis Vatican II Memoire de these PhD in French Lyon Universite Jean Moulin Lyon 3 pp 150 151 S2CID 160094467 Retrieved July 13 2021 Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith February 24 1978 Cruz Joan Carroll 2012 See How She Loves Us 50 Approved Apparitions of Our Lady Charlotte North Carolina TAN Books pp 205 211 ISBN 9780895558039 All About Mary Pellevoisin Apparitions The Marian Library International Marian Research Institute Archived from the original on April 13 2016 Retrieved October 8 2019 Kosloski Philip May 15 2019 This map illustrates 500 years of Mary s apparitions Aleteia Retrieved October 7 2019 Even if the Church recognizes an apparition as worthy of belief no Catholic is obligated to believe in any private revelation such as an apparition The Church simply says that a person can find spiritual aid from an apparition if he or she so chooses Private and public revelation Catholic Culture Retrieved January 11 2012 Apparitions Statistics Modern University of Dayton Ohio udayton edu Retrieved June 19 2020 Petre Jonathan September 23 2007 Vatican rejects woman s Virgin Mary claim The Telegraph Archived from the original on December 23 2012 Retrieved October 13 2019 Armstrong Patti November 20 2009 Proclamation on Holy Love Ministries Will Test Hearts and Obedience Catholic Exchange Retrieved September 8 2016 Shrine Of Guadalupe Most Popular In World Zenit News June 13 1999 Religion moves 330 million tourists a year and six million go to Fatima Diario de Noticias February 19 2017 Fatima expects to receive 8 million visitors in 2017 in Sapo20 December 15 2016 Further reading EditMcClure Kevin 1983 The Evidence for Visions of the Virgin Mary Wellingborough Aquarian Press ISBN 0 85030 351 6 Laurentin Rene 1991 1990 The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary Today Dublin Veritas Publications ISBN 1853901199 Odell Catherine M 1995 Those Who Saw Her Apparitions of Mary Huntington Our Sunday Visitor ISBN 0 87973 664 X Connell Janice T 1996 Meetings with Mary Visions of The Blessed Mother United States Ballantine Books ISBN 0 345 39705 3 Sparrow G Scott 2004 Sacred Encounters with Mary Chicago Thomas More Association Ave Maria Press ISBN 1 59471 047 3 Cruz Joan Carroll 2012 See How She Loves Us 50 Approved Apparitions of Our Lady Charlotte NC TAN Books ISBN 9780895557186 Maunder Chris Our Lady of the Nations Apparitions of Mary in 20th century Catholic Europe Oxford University Press 2016 ISBN 9780198718383 Zimdars Swartz Sandra L Encountering Mary From La Salette to Medjugorje Princeton University Press 2014 ISBN 9781400861637 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Marian apparition amp oldid 1146365760, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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