Medjugorje,: Good Fruit from an Ambiguous Tree?

I visited Medjugorje in the early 90s with a friend. We'd spent two weeks exploring Ireland and she wanted to make a return visit to Medjugorje. She had been practicing the Wednesday and Friday fasts and attributed her return to the faith to Medjugorje. So we joined a group of Irish pilgrims and spent the last week of our trip in the little village which was already beginning to experience a tourist boom. 

Wonderful Post Today at Non Veni Pacem Honoring the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary!

Featured at Non Veni Pacem

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary. Blessed be her Holy Name!

Following is a condensed version of the Miraculous Medal story, followed by a little advice:

Catherine rose, knelt beside the Blessed Mother and rested her hands in the Virgin’s lap. Mary said: “God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world.” (Continued here.)

Book Review: Medjugorje Complete by Donal Anthony Foley

Medjugorje Complete: the Definitive Account of the Visions and Visionaries    

 by Donal Anthony Foley

Published 2021 by Angelico Press

Brooklyn, New York 

Donal Foley has been studying Marian apparitions for decades and has two published books on the Medjugorje phenomena. His current work, Medjugorje Complete: the Definitive Account of the Visons and Visionaries, is an expanded version of his earlier works. Extensively documented with hundreds of end notes, a bibliography, and an index, Foley offers a detailed analysis of Medjugorje, comparing and contrasting it to approved apparitions. Foley is fair in his approach letting both critics and supporters defend their positions. In the process, he builds a persuasive argument against the authenticity of the apparitions by contrasting them to Lourdes, Fatima, LaSalette, and other Marian events fully approved by the Church. 

In Preparation for the 100th Anniversary of Fatima on Friday...

...read this wonderful account of Lucia's experiences. It begins:

Editor’s note: The following, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the apparitions at Fatima, come from Jonathan and Clara Fleischmann. This is Part I of a four-part series. Parts I and II were originally published by Missio Immaculatae Magazine and are edited and reprinted here with the authors’ permission. 

Introducing Lucia 

Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, also known as Lucia of Fatima, or by her religious name, Sr. Maria Lucia de Jesus e do Coração Imaculado (Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart), OCD, was born on March 28, 1907, in Aljustrel, a parish of Fatima, Portugal. She was the seventh [1] and youngest child of António Santos and Maria Rosa. They were hardworking and happy peasants, not poor, as they had good fertile land and a sizeable herd of sheep. Lucia was a loved and almost spoiled little girl, as she relates in her memoirs: Read more here. 

Guest Post: La Salette -- The Church will be in Eclipse

By David Martin

Our Lady of LaSalette

The historic solar eclipse that cut across America on August 21 is being seen by many as an apocalyptic omen, and this notion is strengthened when we consider that the apparition of Our Lady of La Salette—who prophesied a worldwide apocalyptic eclipse of the Faith—received its glorious approbation from Pope Leo XIII, on August 21, 1879.

On August 21 that year, Pope Leo XIII formally granted a canonical coronation to the image of Our Lady of La Salette. The coronation was the high point of a special ceremony in which the Basilica of La Salette was consecrated. The statue of Our Lady was solemnly crowned by the Papal Legate, the Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, before a vast assembly of bishops, priests and lay people. http://traditioninaction.org/religious/a061_Knock_3.html

Meanwhile, it was on the same day that Pope Leo lavished this blessing on La Salette that the Blessed Virgin was making her appearance at Knock, Ireland. As relayed by first-hand witnesses, Our Lady appeared in the village of Knock on August 21, 1879, surrounded by a luminous glow, though not delivering any message. It appeared that her appearance at Knock was an endorsement of the pope's approval of La Salette. This clearly was the message of Our Lady of Knock. She was even looking in the direction of La Salette and Rome during the apparition, as if to ratify the pope's approbation.

"In the End, My Immaculate Heart Will Triumph." Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Does your heart sometimes cry out..."When?...When, Mary, will your Immaculate Heart triumph? In the midst of wars and terrorist attacks and the martyrdom of so many Christians around the world...when, O kind Mother, will your Immaculate Heart triumph?"

Where Will You Be on May 13th?

My kitchen shrine to Our Lady and Jacinta.

I wish I could say that I will be in Fatima for the 100th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to the three little shepherd children: Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and Lucia dos Santos. That's where Pope Francis will be and during his visit he will canonize Jacinta and Francisco. Praised be to God!

 I love those little ones who present such a heroic example of piety and sacrifice. The penances they embraced to "save poor sinners from hell" would challenge the strongest adults. They even suffered a spiritual martyrdom when they kept Mary's secret to the point of believing they would be boiled in oil for their faithfulness. 

If you haven't read their story, make it a priority. As the Scripture says, "A little child shall lead them." (Isaiah 11:6)

Since I can't be in Fatima I intend to be at a Marian shrine. In fact, I intend to do that on all the anniversaries of the apparitions. Mary appeared to the children six times -- on the 13th of the month from May through October when she displayed a miracle of the sun for the world. Only once did she come to the children later than the 13th-- on August 19th-- because the little ones were prevented from going to the Cova de Iria, the site of the apparitions, by the mayor of Ourem who kidnapped them and held them in jail for two days. Our Lady appeared a few days after their release.

Fatima and Akita contain serious warnings for the world. Pay Attention!

It is instructive to study the history of St. Margaret Mary as well. She begged King Louis XIV in 1689 to follow Our Blessed Lord's instructions to consecrate France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He did not and neither did his successors. Louis XVI did it privately in jail after he had been deposed and was no longer king. It did not save him or his family from the guillotine.

National Geographic Calls Mary, "The Most Powerful Woman

Check it out!

How the Virgin Mary Became the World’s Most Powerful Woman

Are you listening to Mary's messages from Fatima? Do you pray the rosary every day? Do you honor her request to make the five first Saturdays? 

It's not that hard to listen to Mary and I guarantee the reward is great -- heaven itself! 

Of course, you don't have to listen, but if you knew you could win the greatest lottery on earth by following simple instructions wouldn't you do it? 

Pray the daily rosary.

Make the five first Saturdays.

Honor the Mother of Jesus Christ. He did!

Who is Telling You the Truth? Our Lady or the Ear Ticklers? Repent and Pray!

This is the last audible message given to Sr. Agnes during the approved apparitions at Akita, Japan (Thanks for sending me to EWTN for this, Janet!) My comments in red:

October 13, 1973 

"My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior." 

After a short silence: 

"As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity.

Will Medjugorje Finally Be Resolved?

Medjugorje Bombshell

Should This Make Us Nervous?

Taiwan Aims Missiles at China

Update: According to Donal Foley, Akita is controversial. I thought it was among the approved apparition sites, but apparently the Vatican has never given approval, which, I guess, puts it in the same category as Medjugroje. Go here for more. 

The first thing I thought of when I read this was the scenario that began World War II. Great Britain stayed out of things until Hitler invaded Poland, their ally. Hitler's invasion of Poland marks the first armed attack of the war in Europe and his blitzkrieg defeated the nation within hours. A mounted horse cavalry was hardly an effective deterrent to Nazi tanks.

Well, we have an agreement to defend our ally Taiwan in case of attack by Beijing which continues to aim at reunification of the island nation with mainland China. What will happen if China attacks Taiwan? Not a happy thought is it. But Mother Teresa predicted that the fruit of abortion would be WW III. I see no indications that the countries of the world are becoming more moral. In fact, comparing our behavior to the end of WW II, we are more depraved in every area and in every one of the seven deadly sins. This is surely a time to listen to the Blessed Mother's call for repentance and penance. The messages of Akita should send all Christians to their knees.

The Blessed Mother gave us this prayer during her apparitions. Please pray it every day:

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Thy Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of his Kingdom. Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as Thou wilt for the glory of the Father and salvation of souls. Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Thy Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Thy special child. Amen

Our Lady of Akita, pray for us. 

The Third Secret of Fatima and World Events

The message below (an extended post with links) was assembled by Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican. Thanks to Jane who sent it via email.with his permission. It relates to the Fatima message, the third secret, and current events. Sr. Lucy believed we were in the end times. How long they will last, we can have no way of knowing, but with the number of natural disasters and the increasing wars around the world we are certainly being warned. (Read Matthew 24.) If you aren't saying the daily rosary, please start for your own sake. On a number of occasions the Blessed Mother has warned us of coming punishments that can only be mitigated, not stopped, because of the magnitude of sin in the world. When will we take our loving mother seriously and repent? Live the message of Fatima! Pray and do penance. Don't wait any longer.  (I highlighted in red sections I thought should be stressed.)
______________________________________

Fatima and tsunamis -- just random items collected from the internet.... from Robert Moynihan

Published Testimony:

Pope John Paul II in Fulda, Germany (1980)

The October 1981 issue of the German magazine Stimme des Glaubens reported on a discussion that Pope John Paul II had with a select group of German Catholics, in November of 1980. The following is a verbatim report of the discussion 1:

Text of the Published Report

The Holy Father was asked, "What about the Third Secret of Fatima? Should it not have already been published by 1960?"

Pope John Paul II replied: "Given the seriousness of the contents, my predecessors in the Petrine office diplomatically preferred to postpone publication so as not to encourage the world power of Communism to make certain moves.

"On the other hand, it should be sufficient for all Christians to know this: if there is a message in which it is written that the oceans will flood whole areas of the earth, and that from one moment to the next millions of people will perish, truly the publication of such a message is no longer something to be so much desired."

The Pope continued: "Many wish to know simply from curiosity and a taste for the sensational, but they forget that knowledge also implies responsibility. They only seek the satisfaction of their curiosity, and that is dangerous if at the same time they are not disposed to do something, and if they are convinced that it is impossible to do anything against evil."

At this point the Pope grasped a Rosary and said: "Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray, and ask for nothing more. Leave everything else to the Mother of God."
The Holy Father was then asked: "What is going to happen to the Church?"
He answered: "We must prepare ourselves to suffer great trials before long, such as will demand of us a disposition to give up even life, and a total dedication to Christ and for Christ … With your and my prayer it is possible to mitigate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because only thus can the Church be effectively renewed. How many times has the renewal of the Church sprung from blood! This time, too, it will not be otherwise. We must be strong and prepared, and trust in Christ and His Mother, and be very, very assiduous in praying the Rosary."

Medjugorje Revisited

Te Deum Laudamus has posted a portion of an interview conducted by a German newspaper with theologian Manfred Hauke on Medjugorje. (You can read the entire interview here.) The selection is ineresting and a warning as well about a possible backlash against the Church in the event of a negative finding because of allowing the activities there to continue for so long. That, I think, is a real possibility. I know some Medjugorje supporters who, if it came to a choice, would likely spurn the Church in favor of the seers.

I've read a lot about Medjugorje over the years and even visited around 1991 but one paragraph in the interview was new to me and shocking:

Medjugorje is often cited as an "oasis of peace" during the civil war at the beginning of the '90s. Yet there are also uncomfortable facts that disturb the harmonious view. When revenue from the pilgrimage industry went down in 1992, there were press reports in the wake of a violent conflict among three family clans that served pilgrimage businesses. In a "cleansing action" about 140 inhabitants of Medjugorje were killed, while 600 others had to flee. "This was all kept secret from the the outside world, since it naturally could not be brought into accord with belief in the Queen of Peace" (R. Franken, "A Journey to Medjugorje", 2000, p, 45). Thus there are not only good fruits to the Medjugorje phenomenon.

The Medjugorje promoters in this country never share this piece of information with potential pilgrims.

Fr. Hauke also gives an example from the Middle Ages of a nun who appeared to be a holy seer, but was actually possessed by the devil. It's certainly a cautionary tale:

For the devil there is no problem, for example, in making statues cry, calling forth ecstasies and stigmata, to manipulate cameras, to make people speak in tongues, or produce marvelous scents. Because of his surpassing knowledge of the natural world he can also, to a limited degree, make assertions about the future, in cases when the influences of the already recognizable factors is extrapolated. He can also reveal hidden things that are unknown to a person (with the exception of secrets of the innermost part of man). A known example for the working of the devil in pseudo-mystical phenomena is, say, in Spain in the 16th century, the life of the religious sister Magdalena of the Cross (1487-1560). From the age of five she had plenty of ecstasies and visions. She tells the story that Saints Dominic and Francis had prepared her for receiving her first Communion. Three months before being granted permission to receive the Eucharist, she is receiving Communion daily "in a mystical manner", in which every time she emits a scream. At the age of 17 she enters a convent of the Poor Clares in Cordoba. She receives stigmata and clairvoyantly knows how to find hidden objects. At her perpetual profession the nuns are surprised at the lengthy presence of a dove, which is taken to be a sign of the Holy Spirit. Karl I, the king of Spain, has Magdalena bless, among other things, the royal standard and the clothing of his son Philip. Cardinal Cisneros and numerous other princes of the Church are also impressed. Even the Holy Father personally asked the Spanish Poor Clare for her intercession. Only a few reflective contemporaries such as St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. John of Avila remain skeptical. Their doubts are confirmed when the Poor Clares start to wonder about the lax leadership of their superior and elect a successor. The "miracle nun" was then visited with convulsions. When the exorcism undertaken thereafter exposes a demonic presence, the Inquisition undertakes a trial against Magdalena. In it she testifies that in the year 1504 she made a forty-year pact with the devil, which had reached its end in 1544. Her paranormal abilities ceased. After she abjured her errors, she does penance for several years, she can no longer be elected to any offices in the Order, and lives an exemplary life until her death. In other words: the devil can succeed to make fools of the highest princes of the Church for decades long. Such an example warns us to caution in the face of present-day happenings.

Fr. Hauke discusses the Medjugorje phenomenon, and apparitions in general, so clearly that this interview is essential reading for those interested in the subject. I also recommend Donal Foley's book, Understanding Medjugorje.

Our Lady's Apparitions in Kibeho

In 1981 Our Lady appeared to three young people in Kibeho, Rwanda. Ultimately seven would claim visions, but it is the visions of the first three young people which have been approved by the Church. Mary warned about the Rwandan massacre to come when corpses would lie in the streets and the rivers would run with blood. Ultimately over a million people were murdered in the bloody genocide. One of the visionaries was killed in the massacre. Another joined a contemplative order of nuns and the third remains as a lay person in the parish. Mary's message was consistent with the messages of Lourdes and Fatima: prayer and conversion are the road to peace. At the time Rwanda was a peaceful country, a paradise. No one could except an authentic messenger of God could predict the horrors that would come a decade later. And yet Mary showed them to the young people.

“In July, 1982, and the following months, August 15, 1982, the Assumption, and again on September 4th and in January 1983, Our Lady showed us a lot about the war. Often she talked in general that the world is bad, that people do not have love, contrary to what God shed his blood for; Our Lady insists as well on love. Our Lady talked about and showed us some visions of reality where people killed each other, blood running, fire burning on the hill, mass graves, skulls, beheaded bodies, skulls put apart....

“Our Lady appeared here to remind us what we have forgotten....Her message: she insisted on prayer and on conversion, on penance and humility.”

Pray the rosary daily for peace in the world! Read more here and here.

Medjugorje Continues to Divide

Update: directives on Medjugorje

Both the post and the comments are interesting. I find Medjugorje unbelievable. Pious pilgrims can experience God anywhere, but it doesn't prove the authenticity of the apparitions. I went, I prayed, I confessed. I still don't believe there was anything supernatural from God that took place there. The phenomenon itself is unbelievable. Mary, the woman who pondered things in her heart, gives tens of thousands of banal messages? Is that reasonable? She acts like a living vending machine who agrees to appear on demand and will even pop up on request in other countries to create new "shrines" for eager (and gullible) Catholics to visit.

How much money, exactly, has Medjugorje brought in for all those promoting the site?

Thank you to the bishop for his common sense.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Continues to Witness Miraculously

Our Lady of Guadalupe ‘completely beyond' scientific explanation, says researcher

Juan Diego's tilma should have disintegrated years ago, but still it witnesses to Our Lady's visit to Mexico almost 500 years ago. Its existence is "completely beyond any scientific explanation."

Mary told Juan she was his mother and her image reminds us of that still. She wants to bring us straight to her Son. She is the patroness of the Americas.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us and for our poor country.

Go here for extensive information about Mary and her apparitions to Juan Diego in 1531.

Apparitions Anyone?

I get lots of emails recounting the latest messages of visionaries. As eager as I am to have the Blessed Mother appearing like she did at Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe I tend to be a skeptic. One thing I know for sure. True visionaries never benefit monetarily from their visions. St. Bernadette wouldn't take a sou from anyone and was furious at her little brother when a visitor left a coin on the bench in their home and he put it in his pocket. The three little peasants at Fatima did not benefit monetarily although because of the apparitions Lucia was sent to school to learn to read. Mary told Francisco and Jacinta they were going to heaven soon so they did not. Francisco, however, could often be found in the church with his arms wrapped around the tabernacle. He and Jacinta died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Bernadette and Lucia became nuns. Juan Diego was still a poor Aztec indian after Mary blessed her "little son" with several visits and entrusted him with her mission to the bishop.

So when I see today's "seers" living in mansions, collecting buckets of cash (unaccounted for), and receiving all kinds of benefits because of their "visions of Our Lady," I just can't buy it. Is this the same woman who told Bernadette she could not promise her happiness in this life, but in the next? Visionaries more typically get extra sufferings; they don't win the lottery.

The Medjugorje apparitions are particularly unbelievable to me. Mary is like a vending machine: put in your buck and get out a message -- 40,000 and counting. Is this the humble lady who speaks only a handful of sentences in Scripture "pondering things in her heart?" When did she become the town cryer?

Compare that with approved apparitions:

1531 Guadalupe - Our Lady appeared four times to Juan Diego
1838 Paris - Mary appeared three times to St. Catherine Laboure
1858 Lourdes - Bernadette spoke with Mary at Massabielle 18 times
1879 Knock - Mary, St. Joseph, John the apostle, and a lamb on an altar appeared over the church and no one said anything
1917 Fatima - Three peasant children received an apparition with an angel and six apparitions with Mary
1932-33 Beauraing and Banneux, Belgium - 33 and 8 Marian apparitions respectively
1972-1981 - Sr. Agnes received three messages from Our Lady; other signs included a statue of the Blessed Mother weeping 101 times over several years.

Go here for a list of approved apparitions. Note how few times Mary appeared to the visionaries and how little she said. She appeared several dozen times at most. And yet today countless visionaries claim that Mary appears daily for 15 or 20 years leaving all kinds of banal messages for the world. Is this plausible? Not to mention things like the Scottsdale debacle with child abuser Fr. Dale Fushek, an early proponent of Medjugorje, who is now leading people right out of the church. If the Medjugorje folks point to every good thing that happens to someone who went to Medjugorje as a "fruit" they certainly need to take responsibility for the evil things as well.

In most cases the Church makes no decision about the claimed apparition. They take the position of Gamaliel in Acts of the Apostles when he advised the Sanhedrin how to handle the apostles preaching, "My advice is that you have nothing to do with these men. Let them alone. If their purpose or activity is human in its origins, it will destroy itself. If, on the other hand, it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them without fighting God himself." If you look at a list of alleged apparitions, you note that most came to nothing without the Church taking any action. If the Blessed Mother wants them approved it will happen through the Church. But some apparition promoters claim that a non-decision by the Church implies the authenticity of the apparition. That is dishonest nonsense.

No doubt a Medjugorje enthusiast will criticize what I've written saying I've never been there. Well, in fact, I have. I went for a week with a friend in the early 90s. We were traveling in Ireland and hitched up with a group of Irish pilgrims. I saw nothing unorthodox, and heard some good homilies at the English Masses. I walked up the mountain and prayed. I spent a lot of time reading scripture, meditating, saying the rosary and praying. It was a good personal retreat, but I came home unconvinced. The fact that people find comfort and are converted in Medjugorje is no proof of anything supernatural taking place there. The Lord and His mother will always bless a sincere heart.

But there is a dark side to Medjugorje as well and many unanswered questions. I recommend Donal Foley's book Understanding Medjugorje: Heavenly Visions or Religious Illusion? You can read reviews of the book here and here. The second one is mine.

My personal recommendation is, if you have money for a pilgrimage, go to an approved site where you know the Blessed Mother actually appeared. Or just stay home and go to your local parish. Jesus is there in the tabernacle waiting for you.