Tag Archives: Marian apparitions

“Mondays with Mary” – Our Lady of Absam

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As much as I think I know about the teachings of the Catholic Church in regards to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the primary approved apparitions, there is still so much I don’t know and so many apparitions of the Blessed Mother I have never heard of before – today’s feast day in Austria is no different.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly our Mother and never leaves us for she seems to have appeared, and continues to appear, in nearly in every country across the globe. I realize that many of us know about Guadalupe, Fatima, Lourdes, Amsterdam, and La Salette, but how many of you are aware of Our Lady of Absam in Austria?

In 1797, a young 18-year-old female by the name of Rosina Buecher was sewing by her window. At the same time, our father was working in the salt mines. Out of nowhere, she felt a terrible feeling that something was wrong with her father, maybe he had an accident in the mines. As she stared out her window wondering about her father, she saw an image of a beautiful woman on the window. After calling her mother into her room, who also saw the image, they both believed that they were looking at the Blessed Virgin Mary. Not sure if they were correct or not, they called their neighbors and their parish priest to confirm their belief.

The parish priest had the windowpane removed so it could be scientifically tested. During the testing of the window, it came to be that when the window was submerged under water – the image would disappear, but when the window was a dried off, the image would then reappear. The scientists who examined the window were not able to conclude how the image was created on the glass.

our-lady-of-absam-image

Realizing that it was more than likely a miracle and not explainable through the scientific process, the priest returned the image to the Buecher family. As word spread, the miraculous image of what would become known as Our Lady of Absam grew in popularity and many people came to venerate the holy image.

The family decided to donate the image to the parish church so people could come and view it. Quickly word spread of Our Lady’s face on the pane glass window. Many people from all over Austria descended upon the small town six miles outside of Innsbruck, and just as quickly miraculous healings began.

Today the image can be seen in the parish of St. Michael the Archangel, which has been raised to a Minor Basilica. The holy image of Our of Absam is enshrined on a side altar. It measures 5”x7”.

The parents and grandparents of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were married in Absam. According to Georg Ratzinger, the brother of Pope Benedict says in his book, My Brother the Pope, that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has a special devotion to Our Lady of Absam.

Our Lady of Absam…Pray for Us.

Source:

Guide, The Catholic Travel. “Innsbruck, Austria: Our Lady of Absam Shrine.”Our Lady of Absam Austria Miraculous Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

“Mondays with Mary” – Our Lady of La Salette

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Traditionally, in the Roman Liturgical Calendar, September 19 was the day we honored the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title, Our Lady of La Salette. For today’s “Mondays with Mary”, I will briefly explain to you the story about the La Salette, the apparition witnessed by Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat, and the aftermath and approval of the devotion.

On Saturday, September 19, 1846, Maximin, eleven years old, and Melanie, fourteen years of age, were blessed to see a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the town of Corps close to Grenoble, in the southeast part of France. They saw Mary high up above the pasture, above La Salette, as they were tending to cattle and sheep for their employer.

They explained that they witnessed seeing a beautiful, tall, woman who was wearing a long, white, pearl covered sleeved dress, covered by a white shawl with a crown on her head adorned with roses. She wore white shoes that were decorated in roses of many different colors. Her arms were folded over her breast. Around her neck was a crucifix, which was large, and was covered with a small hammer and pincers. The figure of Christ on the crucifix shined very brightly. The entire image – the woman along with the very bright crucifix were covered in light. The children also said that the woman was seated on a stone and her head was in her hands.

Speaking with a melancholic voice and tears from her eyes, Our Lady explained to the children that she was sad because people were not repenting of their sins and that the arm of her son was becoming heavy. She did not know how long she could hold it up. She explained that she was praying hard for the people, even though they continued to blaspheme and worked on Sundays. She declared that punishments were coming in the form of famines and blights to the crops.

our-lady-of-la-salette

Our Lady secretly shared information with each of the two children, which were not to be shared with anyone, however, in-time, the secrets were shared with Pope Pius IX in 1851. The secret given to Maximin was eventually published in “Annales du Surnaturel” in 1888. The secret given to Melanie was shared (Our Lady said it could be) in 1858; the same year Our Lady appeared in Lourdes.

Before disappearing from the children’s sight, she asked them to spread her message. Once they returned home, accounts were written down. As often happens in cases like this, opposition and skepticism began to grow rapidly. And as often, the witnesses of such apparitions remain steadfast in their accounts – this case is no different. Both Maximin and Melanie maintained that their story was true, despite the opposition they faced in the form of bribes, teasing, threats, and nasty tricks. Every time they were asked to explain their accounts (often separately), the accounts came out exactly the same.

Bishop Bruillard also faced opposition, but after five years of intense investigation examining the facts, with two different commissions of inquiry, he approved devotion to Our Lady of Salette. On September 19, 1851, Bishop Bruillard declared that a miraculous event did occur and said,

“We declare that the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to two shepherds, on September 19, 1846, on a mountain in the Alps in the parish of La Salette, bears in itself all the marks of truth and that the faithful are justified in believing without question in its truth. And so, to mark our lively gratitude to God and the glorious Virgin Mary, we authorize the cult of Our Lady of La Salette.”

In 1852, a new religious order was founded by the Bishop, the Missionaries of La Salette. Melanie also started her own religious community and may have used the Rule given to her by Our Lady. A new basilica was being built to honor Our Lady of La Salette, as Bishop Bruillard laid the cornerstone. Pilgrims quickly began to descend upon the small town. Our Lady became known as “Reconcilatrix of sinners.” Many people developed a great devotion to Our Lady of La Salette, including three great saints – St. John Bosco, St. John Vianney, and St. Madeleine Sophie Barat.

Even though this apparition happened 170 years ago, the messages given to these two young children should ring loudly with us today. Our Lady said that materialism; atheism, spiritualism, and secularism would increase on a large scale. Many people, including those who whole-heartedly believed in Jesus Christ, would lose their faith. Blaspheming of the Sunday Sabbath would continue and people would place other things in front of that time with God. War and destruction would come and go, particularly in the beginning of 20th century.

Our Lady of La Salette, appearing only four days after Our Lady of Sorrows, truly is the Mother of Sorrow, because she is weeping for the sins of humanity.

Our Lady of La Salette…Pray for Us. 

our-lady-of-la-sellete-with-children-statue

Sources:

Fongemie, Pauly. “Our Lady of La Salette.” Our Lady of La Salette. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

“Lady of La Salette.” Lady of La Salette. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

“Secret of La Salette – Our Lady of La Salette (France).” ~Secret of La Salette -Our Lady of La Salette (France)~. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

“What Is the Story of Our Lady of La Salette? – Catholic Straight Answers.”Catholic Straight Answers. N.p., 22 May 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2016.

“Mondays with Mary” – Our Lady of America, Part I

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Since today is Independence Day and the 240th anniversary of Our Declaration of Independence from England here in the United States of America, I thought it would be the perfect day to write about one of the Marian apparitions that has occurred on our nations soil – Our Lady of America.

Now some of you might be thinking to yourself that Our Lady of Guadalupe has been given this title, but that would be incorrect. Our Lady of America refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her patronage over the particular country of the United States of America and is distinctly different from Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is known by her title, “Empress of The Americas”, which refers to her patronage over all the nations that compose the Americas. Blessed Pope Pius XII declared the title in reference to Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1945.

In a 2007 letter to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, then Archbishop Raymond Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, said the following at the conclusion of his letter regarding to the two patronages I mentioned above,

“As one deeply devoted to fostering the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe in our nation, I have wondered about the relationship of the devotion to Our Lady of America to the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Archbishop Leibold, in fact, raised the question with Sister Mary Ephrem. Sister Mary Ephrem responded that Our Lady of Guadalupe is Empress of all the Americas, whereas “Our Lady of America, The Immaculate Virgin,” is the patroness of our nation, the United States of America. The two devotions are, in fact, completely harmonious. As our late and most beloved Pope John Paul II reminded us, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America and Star of the New Evangelization, draws all of the nations of America into unity in carrying out the new evangelization. Our Lady of America calls the people of our nation to the new evangelization through a renewed dedication to purity in love.”

On the night of September 25, 1956, Our Lady first appeared to Sr. Mary Ephrem, although she had mystical experiences since 1938. She didn’t think anything of them since she thought all religious had experiences such as these. Realizing that these experiences particularly focused around the Blessed Virgin Mary, which Sister was asked to circulate, she asked Monsignor Paul F. Leibold to be her spiritual director. Even as the Archbishop of Cincinnati he served her in this role until 1972, when he suddenly passed away do to aneurysm.

The Archbishop believed so heartedly that the messages to Sister from Our Lady were real; he authenticated her writings, gave them his Imprimatur as well as authenticated the design of the medal. During one of the apparitions, Our Lady asked Sister Mary to have a medal struck, which would bear the image of Our Lady of America on the front, and on the back, would be the symbol of the Christian Family and the Blessed Trinity.

Our Lady of America medal

During the apparitions, the Blessed Virgin pledged that if the United States did what was asked by her, the miracles in the country would be greater than those gifted at both Fatima and Lourdes. Because the Blessed Virgin Mary had a love for the children of America, Sister Mary said Our Lady called herself – Our Lady of America. She would often give affirmations in the apparitions regarding the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and since so many had a devotion to Mary in America, the title confirms her response to those individuals.

Appearing again to Sr. Mary Ephrem, this time on October 13, 1956, she held in both hands a small replica of the finished Immaculate Conception shrine in Washington, D.C., which was referenced many times by Our Lady in the apparitions. She hoped that once it was built it would become a place for pilgrimages and a place to honor her under the title of “Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin.” During the consecration of the United States to Our Lady, which happened in 1959 at the National Shrine, and then again on November 11, 2006, by Bishop David Ricken, the Blessed Mother was addressed as the “Immaculate Virgin.”

In the years of 1957 and 1958, Our Lady gave very strong warnings of the things that were growing and potentially coming to the United States of America. In the late summer of 1957, Our Lady said that although consecration to the Immaculate Heart had occurred, more needed to happen. All must seek after inner holiness and reform their lives. Those that cling to sin were unable to receive the treasure of grace that was awaiting them.

The Blessed Virgin promised that if her statue as Our Lady of America were given a place of honor in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, she would then protect the country. If a picture or a statue of Our Lady of America were placed in the homes, she would then protect the family. Anyone that wore the medal with great faith and devotion would be protected from evil.

As many of you know, our country, and our world, the culture in which we live, has become very hostile to Christianity, but even more so, Catholicism. It attacks the family in ways we have never seen before in the history of the Church. It seems to me that we as a country must rededicate ourselves to Our Lady, not only through the apparitions of Fatima and Lourdes, but also to Our Lady of America.

So today, as we celebrate the 240th anniversary of our Independence, let us turn back towards Our Lady of America and recommit ourselves to learning more about her (much more than what’s in this article) and doing what she asked of us in the apparitions to Sr. Mary Ephrem.

To print up a high-resolution photo of Our Lady of America and place it in your home, as well as prayer cards and the message book, please visit this page. For the benefit of our families here in the USA, please do this as soon as possible!

Our Lady of America…Pray for our Country and for all of us 

Our Lady of America

Update: Here is the high resolution 8×10 picture of Our Lady of America in my home now. It cost me $15.07 at Walgreens – $3.99 for the print, $9.99 for the frame, plus the tax.

Our Lady of America in my home #1

Our Lady of America in my home #2

To continue reading more about this Marian apparition, check out “Mondays with Mary” – Our Lady of America, Part II.

Sources:

“The Story of Our Lady of America.” The Story of Our Lady of America. Langsenkamp Family Apostolate of Indianapolis Indiana, n.d. Web. 04 July 2016.

“Regarding Our Lady of America.” Regarding Our Lady of America. Eternal Word Television Network, n.d. Web. 04 July 2016.

“Mondays with Mary” – Our Lady of Fatima

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The apparitions at Fatima continue to be the most magnificent of all the Marian apparitions to affect the world in the modern era. Mary under her title, “Our Lady of the Rosary” at Fatima gave us specific instructions that would lead us closer to her son, Jesus Christ.

She asked that the Rosary be prayed on a daily basis; she asked that our daily sacrifice’s be offered up for the conversion of sinners; that we would adore the Blessed Sacrament more frequently; that there would be an increase of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and an offering of the First Saturdays of Reparation.

The apparitions at Fatima occurred during the First World War and the messages from Our Lady declared that if the world did not stop offending God, then another war even greater than the current war would occur. She is obviously talking about World War II, the war that began during the pontificate of Pius XI, a fact that was also declared at Fatima.

The July 13, 1917 apparition could be called the most important private revelation of the Age of Mary.  The message that came this day speaks of how fundamentally important it is to have a devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; there was a vision of Hell and souls that are suffering there; the potential chastisement that would come upon the mankind during the 20th century; and the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and that the Immaculate Heart will triumph.

She says in one of the messages, “To prevent this I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart…if my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not she will spread her errors throughout the world…”

Lucia, one of the very young visionaries (she was 10 years old; Jacinta was 7 and Francisco was 8), asked Our Lady what was to be done. Our Lady said, “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners, and say many times, especially whenever you make some sacrifice: O Jesus, it is love for You, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Throughout her apparitions to the three young children, specifically in the third Fatima message, she emphasizes the importance of the Holy Rosary, her title as “Our Lady of the Rosary” and the importance of praying the Rosary on a daily basis for world peace and end of World War I. She said in one of the messages, “I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honour. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will return to their homes.” Not only was the Rosary to be prayed until the war has ceased, but we must continue to pray the daily rosary today. In a time with so much strife and hostility, the daily rosary is a prayer that can fight the evils of the time. St. Pio of Pietrelcina said it’s the greatest weapon against Satan.

There is also the event known as “The Miracle of Fatima” or “How the Sun Danced at Noon over Fatima” where 70,000 pilgrims witnessed the “solar miracle.” The sun danced in the sky and appeared to give off different types of color. It is also approached the earth very rapidly and then returned to its place in the sky just as rapidly.

Although there are many other events, visions, and messages from Fatima, I will conclude here and allow you to continue to read about this great Marian apparition on your own. Below are some links that will guide you in your study and devotion to Our Lady of Fatima:

  1. The Official Website of Fatima in English
  2. Pope Benedict’s Homily from 2010 at Fatima – “I too have come as pilgrim.” This is a fantastic homily and truly displays the Holy Father’s love for Fatima and his ability to teach so eloquently with the Scriptures. Sacrifice is the key when it comes to Fatima.
  3. Fatima Prayer Petitions
  4. Rosary Army
  5. “Mondays with Mary” – Pope Francis, Pope St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Our Lady of Fatima
  6. “Mondays with Mary” – 7 Quotes on Fatima from Pope St. John Paul II

Our Lady of Fatima…Pray for Us!

Our Lady of the Rosary…Pray for Us!