Mary’s apparitions, are they all over the world?
Mary's efforts to save us are found in her apparitions at Lourdes(1858), Belgium(1933), Akita(1973), Kibeho(1981), Fatima(1917), Knock(1879), and Guadalupe(1531), to mention a few. Fatima's Miracle of the Sun on October 13th, 1917, to create conversions, was witnessed by thousands of people in Portugal.
Mary's messages stress that praying the Rosary is necessary for our daily lives. The frequency of apparitions has increased, probably because there are more souls on Earth than at any time in human history; Mary's effort to save souls is incessant.
Book: The Apparitions and Miracles at Knock by John Macphilpin
Why do we need to visit those locations? Jesus said in March 2010,
I want My priests to go in pilgrimage to Knock. There My Mother waits for them. There abundant graces will be given them. There they will recover the joy of their youth and the purity and innocence that makes My Church shine in a world threatened by the darkness from below.
Book: In Sinu Jesu: When Heart Speaks to Heart - The Journal of a Priest at Prayer by A Benedictine Monk
Mary's apparition in Rwanda, people chanting: "Show us a miracle!" and Jesus thundered back at them, saying, "You are the miracle!" It demonstrates that miracles are not what build faith and confidence in God; rather, it is our loving hearts and faith in Jesus that do so.
I always felt Jesus' presence and love, but my understanding of Mary was limited. Some people have posters of cool people in their rooms, like Arnold in the '90s or any other tough action hero, actor, or politician. My poster would be of the Mother of Jesus herself, as a true defender, her incessant work for people, and their protection. There has never existed another human person more deserving of human praise in history than the Virgin Mary for her ongoing suffering, resoluteness, obedience, and zero grievances. She is the strongest human ever created, after the humanity of Jesus, able to withstand the most difficult hardships. "Who never passed an hour on earth without tribulation and discomfort of heart" (S.Bridget 1360). We always fail in our weaknesses; she has conquered them all on her own strength (with God's grace) and managed to speed our redemption in the process. As I said, my whole admiration is for the Virgin Mary, and any time I see her image I say "Thank you!" (rolling tears too, as we can meditate on what she has accomplished for us). A few miracles related to her Rosary prayer are described in the "101 Stories of the Rosary" book, like when a Second World War bomber plane was destroyed in combat, the only survivor was praying the Rosary at the moment, closest to the explosion.
Mary's true image,
Book: Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa by Ilibagiza, Immaculee
Book: One Message One Truth: The Prophecies of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima, Lourdes, Akita and Other Approved Apparitions by Connolly, Daniel
Book: Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love by Carl Anderson
Book: 101 Inspirational Stories of the Rosary by William S. Skylstad
Book: The Flame of Love by Elizabeth Kindelmann
[Mary speaks] Say to that same friar, on my behalf, that because of his good will and my prayer, God in his goodness has already forgiven him all the sins that he ever committed in all the days of his life. Tell him also that because of my prayer the love that he has for God will always increase in him right up to his death and will in no way diminish. [S.Bridget,1360]
Elizabeth Kindelmann asked Mary in 1962, "Mother, why do you not work miracles as you did at Fatima, so people will believe in you?" Mary answered, "The more miracles I work, the fewer people who believe. I asked for the first Saturday and no one paid attention."
In Saint Bridget's revelations (1360), Jesus said:
Everyone who calls on your name [Mary] and has hope in you along with a purpose of amendment for his sins shall be given these three things [repentance, penance and atonement] as well as the kingdom of Heaven. Your words are so sweet to me that I cannot deny you anything you plead for, for you want nothing other than what I want. You are indeed like a shining and burning flame by which the extinguished lights are enkindled and the burning lights are strengthened, for by your love which arose in my heart and drew me to you, those who are dead in sin will come to life again and those who are tepid and black like smoke will become strong in my love.
Saint Bridget also beautifully describes, in the "Sermon of the Angel", why Mary is "the most perfect of all creatures" and the reason "God took more pleasure in her than in all other beings."
Book: The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden: Volume 1 by Saint Bridget
Sister Agnes in Akita teaches us "the necessity of offering all the suffering of our daily life in union with the Passion of Jesus Christ".
Book: Akita: The Tears and Message of Mary by Teiji Yasuda
The Immaculate Conception is the conception of the Virgin Mary free from original sin by virtue of the merits of her son Jesus. Saint Thomas Aquinas in 1250, explains why Mary is most "pure, poor, prudent, devout, humble, obedient, patient, merciful, faithful and sorrowful"; Mary loves us more than our own mothers,
For any woman who conceives must needs suffer sorrows and bring forth her child with pain: except the Blessed Virgin, who "conceived without corruption, and bore without pain", because her conceiving was not according to the law of nature, transmitted from our first parents.
On August 13th, 2019, at 7 pm, at my weekly Mass, the strongest, sweetest perfume of roses saturated the air in the church, never experienced before. I was stunned by this miracle the next day, after remembering that Mary's death was in fact on August 13th, and her body's ascension to heaven was three days later, on August 15th, from her Jerusalem tomb. This truth is only mentioned in Mary of Agreda's "Mystical City of God"; it states that Mary died on August 13th at 3 pm. Thank you, Mary of Agreda, for your infallible book! Thank you, Mary, for enlightening us and reassuring us once again! I would be the happiest man if I could hold on to the side of her mantle for a few seconds.
Book: The Love of Mary by D. Roberto, Hermit of Monte Corona
You can always join the Legion of Mary at your local church:
Book: The Official Handbook Of The Legion Of Mary by Concilium Legionis Mariae
Let saint Mechtilde of the Blessed Sacrament (1614-1698) instruct us,
The sincere devotion to the very pure and very immaculate Mother of God is the door to salvation and to interior life... even though it seems that the soul has affectionately attached to the Blessed Virgin more than to God, if the soul is faithful, she will be well instructed in the ways of grace, and this tenderness, if it is holy as it should be, will never fail to bring the soul to an intimate union with Our Lord Jesus Christ, and I dare say singularly, because the Most Holy Mother of God, having no point of view in herself, cannot hold back any creature for her... You have to start with the Mother, then herself will lead you to her divine Son, she has the most power to do so, and the know-how to produce it in us... the one who conceived Jesus by the operation of the Holy Spirit... One should not be afraid to give too much nor to exceed the duties that are given to her, since nothing remains in her and everything returns to Jesus and in Jesus... if I could express the benefits of this devotion: it opens the mind and makes people understand ineffable things about the sacred Mysteries, about the ways of grace, teaches us to pray and mortifications, supports us and consoles us in sorrows, preserves us from falling into temptations, drives out our enemies visible and invisible, and defends us against their malicious designs.
Book: The Mystery of Incomprehensible Love: The Eucharistic Message of Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament by Mother Mectilde de Bar
Marian Apparition Locations
