Marian Apparitions Throughout History

 Throughout history, it is the belief of many that the Mother of Christ has manifested herself to mankind, often bringing dire warnings, words of consolation and alleged visions of another world. The Catholic Church does not require people to believe in approved apparitions; it does not consider them a necessary part of salvation. Yet they are an established and pious tradition throughout history. An attempt to dive into the exact theology and history surrounding the sizeable number of approved apparitions is not the purpose of this post, but to rather try to outline a few of the more major apparitions and their implications.

Catholic tradition states the belief is that the first Marian apparition was to James the Greater while he was preaching in what is modern day Spain, around the year 40 AD. James was struggling to bring converts to the Catholic faith, and filled with discouragement, lost himself in prayer at the banks of Ebro River which is now in modern day Zaragoza. Mary who was living in Jerusalem at the time, suddenly appeared before him, standing on top of a stone pillar and surrounded by hosts of angels, and consoled James. This apparition became known as, "Our Lady of the Pillar" and was a widely held devotion in Spain for centuries. It was approved by Pope Innocent XIII in 1723.

Statue of Our Lady of the Pillar at the basilica of the same name in Zaragoza, Spain.

Although Our Lady of the Pillar brought Saint James heavenly consolation and bliss, Many Marian apparitions have brought dire warnings of famine, war and disaster if mankind does not repent. Most famous of these are the apparitions at La Sallette, France, which occurred in 1846, and Fatima, Portugal in 1917. At La Sallette, Mary appeared weeping, telling two shepherd children that if mankind did not return to God, a terrible famine would take place. Many today believe that this was the great potato famine in Ireland which took place in the years immediately following. At Fatima, Mary's warnings were even more dire. She warned of grave political turmoil caused by the errors of the new ideas sweeping the political spectrum. She gave the three visionaries (who were coincidentally also shepherds) a terrifying vision of the fires of hell and warned them of impending disaster, specifically the second World War. Both of these apparitions would be found worthy of belief by the Catholic Church after investigation. The odd fact of these apparitions is that many of the dire warnings came to reality, exactly as predicted. Although surrounded by a healthy skepticism, the uncanny veracity of their portends is an undeniable fact which is difficult to refute.

Stained glass depiction of Our Lady of La Sallette 

Perhaps the most powerful effect of these apparitions is the conversions that they bring. I think the most notable of apparitions of this nature was the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which occurred in December in 1531. A woman surrounded by light appeared to a man by the name of Juan Diego at a place known as Hill of Tepeyac, in Mexico. The Lady, garbed in the traditional clothing of an Aztec princess spoke to Juan Diego as a mother would speak to a dear son. Upon that hill in Tepeyac, sprung ruby red roses, in the dead of winter. The Lady asked Juan to bring them to the bishop of Mexico City. Juan liberally gathered him in his cactus flax cloak called a tilma rushed to bring the miraculous bundle to the bishop. Servant's hands wrenched at Juan's cloak which he held close to his heart, insisting that it was for the bishop. When he was finally admitted to an audience with the bishop, he opened the tilma eagerly. As the roses cascaded to the floor, the bishop gasped in amazement; for on the tilma was the image of the Lady Juan had insisted he had seen. This miraculous tilma puzzles scientists to this day; cactus flax is a material not known for its longevity, yet the tilma has endured 500 years. The images are neither sewn nor painted, but it is part of the fabric. Perhaps most incredibly, in the eyes of the tilma, are the astonished faces of the bishop and Juan gazing at the tilma. This event caused a dramatic change in Mexico. 9 million people converted to the Catholic Church within ten years of its occurrence. Our Lady of Guadalupe has not only become the patroness of Mexico, but the Americas. Truly no other apparition has had such a profound effect or garnered such immediate fervent belief. 

Tilma of Juan Diego on display in the Guadalupe Basilica, Mexico City, Mexico.

So what do these apparitions mean to us? In the words of the late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, "the blessed Virgin Mary has always been present to our lives and to the world...the message is always the gospel message, repent, believe, and help others to do the same." If there was one central theme, a binding string through history, from apparition to apparition, it would be a call to a holier life. A call to repentance, a call to truly live the gospels, as Mary has done.

 Author's Note: These are merely summaries of apparitions. Many of these lasted across multiple days or months, this just presents a summary of their messages. I encourage you to research them.