Miracles and Apparitions—Past and Present
By Awake! correspondent in France
GUADALUPE, Fátima, and Lourdes—what do those names mean to you? For many they are just towns in Mexico, Portugal, and France. But for millions of sincere Catholics, they are sanctuaries, three of the most famous Marian shrines in the world. Catholic devotion to such places is far from waning in this 20th century. For instance, in 1982 some 4,500,000 visitors poured into Lourdes, while even greater throngs crowded Guadalupe.
For the Catholic Church, these shrines are places of alleged miraculous cures. This is particularly so in the case of Lourdes, described by Pope Pius X as “the center of Marian worship and the throne of Eucharistic mystery, seemingly surpassing in glory all similar centers throughout the Catholic world.” Thousands of people have claimed to have been cured during or after a pilgrimage to Lourdes. However, the church has recognized only 65 “miracles” to date.
Whether you believe in God or not, you have a right to ask questions. What about these apparitions, mainly of Mary, around the world? Are the miraculous cures and other events associated with them proof of divine approval? At a conference held in Lourdes in 1986, the bishop of Tours encouraged his hearers to ‘meditate on the meaning of the apparitions’ so as to ‘establish the important distinctions between false and true apparitions.’ If you are a Catholic, you too might be interested in taking a closer look at the subject.
Apparitions—True or False?
The Roman Catholic Church does not officially commit itself regarding such apparitions, nor does it oblige its members to believe in them. But what are sincere Catholics to conclude when they see Pope John Paul II drinking water from the Lourdes grotto or talking with Lucie, the only person alive to have seen the apparition of Fátima? Is this not a clear demonstration of his (and the church’s) official approval? Moreover, during his travels, the pope never fails to visit Marian sanctuaries, such as the shrine of the Black Virgin of Czestochowa in Poland.
Other more modest shrines have been approved by the church, such as Beauraing and Banneux in Belgium. Sometimes worship is permitted only on a local level, as is the case in Tre Fontane, Italy, and Marienfried, Germany.
Since the end of the 19th century, however, many have laid claim to seeing apparitions. The book Vraies et fausses apparitions dans l’Église (True and False Apparitions in the Church) estimates that there were over 200 cases from 1930 to 1976. Why were so few officially recognized when, according to the author, “the messages, apart from a few exceptions, were not absurd and, upon examination, turned out to be practically identical”?
The French magazine L’Histoire offers an explanation in an article dealing with 19th-century apparitions of Mary in the Loire area of east central France. According to the author, the church did not investigate these occurrences and left them in obscurity in order to avoid “competition” with already recognized shrines.
Today, some are of the opinion that the church’s present reserve is due to its recent concern for “scientific” exactitude. René Laurentin, a French Catholic authority on these matters, even says that apparitions like those at Lourdes would have little chance of being officially recognized today. But should not signs—if authentically from God—be accepted as such at any time in history?
More Modern Apparitions
Apparitions are still taking place. At San Damiano, Italy, crowds of pilgrims throng to the place where Mamma Rosa (who died in 1981) claimed she had seen “the Virgin.” The church remains reserved on the subject, but some of the faithful hope for a change in attitude following the conversions supposed to have taken place there.
In the little village of Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, children and teenagers recently reported over a thousand apparitions of the “Virgin.” Here again, in spite of the church’s discretion, certain groups fight for official recognition of the phenomena. Catholics, however, may well wonder what attitude to adopt while awaiting the decision of the ecclesiastical authorities. In the meantime, should they put faith in such testimonials?
To complete the picture, there are also apparitions rejected by the church, such as those at Palmar de Troya, Spain. Concerning the latter, the bishop of Seville warned the faithful not to “nourish public credulity as concerns phenomena that the church does not recognize and even condemns.” Despite the warning, a division nevertheless occurred, leading to the excommunication of an archbishop and several priests, who, in defiance of the church, maintained that the apparitions were authentic.
How is it possible to decide whether apparitions are authentic or not? The following article will deal with that question in detail.