Visions of the Virgin

Visions of the Virgin

Many such visions have been reported, but few have been declared genuine

A shepherdess named Bernadette Soubirious was not the first child to report that she had spoken with Mary, the mother of Jesus, but hers is the name most commonly associated with visions of the Virgin Mary. Two young cowherds. Melanie Calvat an Maxamin Giraud had told of a vision in 1846, at Ka Salette in the French Alps, the first such apparition to be officially recognized by the Catholic Church.

                A 14-year-old living in poverty, Bernadette did not identify her earliest visions as the Virgin. When on 11 February 1858 she saw ‘something white in the shape of a woman or a girl’ in a frotto at the Massabielle cliff in Lourdes, the figure was identified as that of a local girl who had died the previous year. Only later was the vision accepted as the Virgin Mary, and only at one of the last sightings, on 25 March, did the figure say the famous words, ‘I am the Immaculate Conception.’

                In France and elsewhere Thousands saw Bernadette experience visions on 18 occasions, and hundreds saw her discover the spring of water that now forms the basis of the Lourdes shrine. Yet none shared her visions. Visionaries are often children, and it is common for others present to see and hear nothing. At Pontmain, in France, village children saw a vision of Mary in the night sky on 17 January 1871. Around the figure words appeared that seemed to predict the unexpected retreat of the German Army. But France does not have a monopoly of the phenomenon. Among numerous others there are accounts of apparitions at Robinsonville, Wisconsin, USA, in 1859; at Knock in Ireland, in 1879; and at Llanthony, Wales, in 1880. Fatima, Portugal, became famous for its mysterious ‘Dance of the Sun’. On 13 May 1917 three children aged 10.  9 and 7, were tending sheep when they saw a ‘brilliantly white’ female figure Lucia, the eldest, set down an account years later, reporting that the figure said, ‘I come from Heaven… I have come to ask you to be here six times running at the same time on the thirteenth of each month.’ She promised a miracle for October. Thousands gathered at the final sighting on 13 October, after which many reported seeing a mysterious rotation of the sun.

            In Belgium children reported a series of experiences at Beauraing in 1932-33, and 11-year-old Mariette Beco met the Blessed Virgin at Banneux eight times in 1933. Similar visions followed in Italy, the United States and Siberia. Extraordinary apparitions took place on the roof of the Coptic church at Zeitoun, a Cairo suburb, between 1968 and 1971. A luminous statue with a halo glided around the roof, sometimes bowing and moving its hands. Flights of ‘luminous doves’ were also reported. Up to a 100 000 people were present, yet relatively few saw anything exceptional , while others experienced the visions ‘in flashes only’. Photographs were taken but are mostly of poor quality.

            Recent visions These often involve religious or national politics. Four children at Garabandal in Spain saw visions between 1961 and 1965, and reported warnings or punishment for human behavior. The series of visions experienced by six children at Medjugorje near Citluk, in former Yugoslavia, began in 1981 and have continued intermittently. Various ‘secrets’ Some apparently referred to the ensuing civil war.

            The Catholic Church investigates promising visions in lengthy procedures – few have been deemed genuine. Catholic dogma states that the visions are not ghosts, but mystical Phenomena permitted by God.

            Sick and disabled people are often brought to the site of a vision. At Lourdes 58 healings have been recognized as miracles by the Church. One such case involves Alice Couteault from Le Puy-Notre-Dame, France, who suffered from multiple sclerosis. During the Blessed Sacrament procession on 16 May 1952, she suddenly felt she had to get up from her bed. The nest day she was examined by doctors at Lourdes, who found she had been ‘cured’. The cure was declared miraculous by Church authorities the following year. Whether such recovered result from a miracle, faith or self-healing remains a matter of opinion. What cannot be contested is the fact that they do happen. *Visions