Visions of Jesus and Mary
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A number of people have claimed to have had visions of
The first reported visions of Christ, and personal conversations with him, after his
Acceptance and impact
Author Michael Freze argues that Catholic practices such as Eucharistic adoration, rosary devotions and contemplative meditation with a focus on interior life facilitate visions and apparitions.[1]
In recent centuries, people reporting visions of Jesus and Mary have been of diverse backgrounds: laity and clergy, young and old, Catholics and Protestants, the devout and the previously non-believing.
Vatican guidelines
The Sacred
Controversies
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Over the years, a number of people, for the sake of monetary gain, have claimed to converse with Jesus and been exposed. A well-known example was Protestant televangelist Peter Popoff who often claimed to receive messages from God to heal people on stage. Popoff was exposed in 1987 when intercepted messages from his wife to a small radio receiver hidden in his ear were replayed on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[6]
Messages from Jesus reported by Catalina Rivas were later found to correspond to exact pages of books previously written by other authors (e.g. José Prado Flores), and published instructional literature for Catholic seminarians.[7][8]
Reported Marian messages from Veronica Lueken were declared invalid by Bishop Francis Mugavero of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn[9] and reports of Our Lady of Surbiton claiming that Mary appeared every day under a pine tree in England were flatly rejected by the Vatican as a fraud.[10]
In December 1906, during the reign of
Some of the reported visions of Jesus simply fade away by virtue of predictions that fail to materialize. Messages from Jesus reported by John Leary in Rochester, New York, in 1999 had predicted that Pope
Influence
Despite the expected controversies, post-Ascension visions of Jesus and the Virgin Mary have, in fact, played a key role in the direction of the Catholic Church, e.g. the formation of the
of Jesus.From 1673 to 1675,
Catherine of Siena was a Dominican tertiary who lived, fasted and prayed at home in Siena Italy. In 1370 she reported a vision in which she was commanded to abandon her life of solitude and to make an impact on the world. She corresponded with Pope Gregory XI and other people in authority, begging for peace and for the reformation of the clergy, writing over 300 letters. Her arguments, and her trip to Avignon, eventually became instrumental in the decision of Pope Gregory XI to return the Avignon Papacy to Rome[13] where she was summoned to live until her death. She is one of only three female Doctors of the Church.
Reported messages from Jesus have also influenced papal actions and encyclicals. The 1899 consecration of the world to the
Pilgrimages
Churches and sanctuaries built based on reported visions of Jesus and Mary attract many millions of pilgrims each year. According to Bishop Francesco Giogia the majority of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world are vision based, in that with about 10 million pilgrims, the
Visions of the early saints
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The Bible includes primarily pre-Ascension visions of Jesus, except for the vision of Christ by Saint Stephen in Acts 7:55,[19] and the conversation between Jesus and Ananias in Damascus in which Ananias is ordered to heal Paul (Acts 9:10–18).
In 1205, while praying in the Church of San Damiano just outside Assisi, Francis of Assisi reported a vision in which an image of Jesus came alive and told him: "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins."[20] This vision led Francis to renounce the outlook of his merchant family, embrace poverty and form the Franciscan order.
Starting in 1208,
In 1372, the English anchorite and saint,
On St. Peter's Day in 1559,
In the early 17th century,
At her profession as a
Mary is traditionally said to have appeared to the English Carmelite priest Simon Stock in 1251, and given him the Carmelite habit, the Brown Scapular.
19th-century visions
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Anne Catherine Emmerich was a German Augustinian nun who lived from 1774 to 1824. She was bedridden as of 1813 and is said to have had visible stigmata which would reopen on Good Friday. She reported that since childhood she had visions in which she talked with Jesus. In 1819 the poet Clemens Brentano was inspired to visit her and began to write her visions in his words, with her approval. In 1833, after her death, the book The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ was released by Brentano and was used in part by Mel Gibson for his movie The Passion of the Christ in 2004. In 1852 the book The Life of The Blessed Virgin Mary was published. Emmerich's visions allegedly led a French priest Julien Gouyet to discover a house near Ephesus in Turkey in 1881. This house is assumed by some Catholics and some Muslims to be the House of the Virgin Mary. The Holy See has taken no official position on the authenticity of the discovery yet, but in 1896 Pope Leo XIII visited it and in 1951 Pope Pius XII initially declared the house a Holy Place. Pope John XXIII later made the declaration permanent. Pope Paul VI in 1967, Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 visited the house.
In 1820, Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, reported that God the Father and Jesus appeared to him in a vision in the woods near his home in rural New York. This led to a series of other manifestations through which he claimed to receive divine instruction, authority, and power to restore the true Church of Jesus Christ to the world. He also claimed to receive a vision of Jesus while in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836. His record of the revelation has since become known as the 110th section of the Doctrine and Covenants.[27]
In 1843
In December 1844,
In 1858 Bernadette Soubirous was a 14-year-old shepherd girl who lived near the town of Lourdes in France. One day she reported a vision of a miraculous Lady who identified Herself as the Virgin Mary in subsequent visions.[31] In the first vision she was asked to return again and she had 18 visions overall. Eventually, a number of chapels and churches were built at Lourdes as the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes – which is now a major Catholic pilgrimage site. One of these churches, the Basilica of St. Pius X can accommodate 25 thousand people and was dedicated by the future Pope John XXIII when he was the Papal Nuncio to France.
In 1866
In 1899
20th-century visionaries
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The Franciscan
In 1916, during
The visions of the Virgin Mary appearing to three shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal, in 1917 were declared "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church in 1930 but Catholics at large are not formally required to believe them. However, seven popes – Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis – have supported the Fátima messages as supernatural. John Paul I met with Sister Lúcia on July 11, 1977 while he was still Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. He reported being deeply moved by the experience, and vowed to perform the Consecration of Russia as Lucia said Mary had asked.[34] Pope John Paul II was particularly attached to Fátima and credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life after he was shot in Rome on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fátima in May 1981. He donated the bullet that wounded him on that day to the Roman Catholic Sanctuary of Fátima, in Portugal. Every year on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of Fátima apparitions, pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima with crowds that approach one million on each day.[35]
In the 1930s, several apparitions and messages given by Jesus and Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Tears, were reported in the city of Campinas, Brazil. In that same decade, the local bishop gave his approval to these same apparitions, messages and devotions – the Medal and the Chaplet of Our Lady of Tears – derived from them.[36]
The Holy See has, at times, reversed its position on some visions. In 1931
On the first Friday in Lent 1936,
From 1944 to 1947 the bed ridden Italian writer and mystic
Between 1972 and 1978, Jesus Christ is said to have appeared 49 times in Dozulé to Madeleine Aumont,[38][39] a mother of five children, in the presence of her parish priest Victor L’Horset and other faithful people, and is believed to have dictated a series of messages, containing teachings and of warnings for all people, according to those who believe in them. Among them is the daily «Prayer of Dozulé».[40] The messages are seen as an annunciation of the return of Christ. The followers of the messages of Dozulé believe also that they are the continuation of the Three Secrets of Fátima and that they ask, for the conversion of humanity to avoid a material and spiritual catastrophe.
On August 19, 1982, some teenagers in
Living visionaries
Among recent visions, the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary to six children in
For several decades,
As recently as 1985 other people such as
In the 1998 book Visions of Jesus Phillip Wiebe chronicled the stories of 30 people from truly diverse backgrounds who claim to have had recent conversations with Jesus. Wiebe analyzed these claims from multiple perspectives, including hallucinations, dreams and real visions.[47]
Types of visions
Visions vs dictations
Some visionaries merely report conversations and images while others also produce large amounts of handwritten notes. Julian of Norwich wrote a book based on her reported visions, the book was written 20 years after her first vision and she did not declare it to be a dictation. At the other end of the spectrum is the case of Anne Catherine Emmerich who narrated her messages to
There have been other mystics who have produced large volumes of text, but considered them meditations rather than visions or interior locutions. For instance,
Physical marks
Some visionaries report receiving physical signs on their bodies. Francis of Assisi was one of the first reported cases of stigmata, but the best known recent example is a Capuchin friar, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, one of several Franciscans in history with reported stigmata.[50]
Physical contact
Some visionaries have reported physical contact with Jesus. The Bible suggests that post-resurrection (yet pre-ascension) physical contact with Jesus is possible, for in John 21:17 Jesus told Mary Magdalene: "Don't touch Me for I have not yet ascended to the Father"". In John 20:27 Jesus ordered Thomas the Apostle: "Put your hand into My side". But the Bible does not mention if Thomas followed that command. Margaret Mary Alacoque reported putting her head on the heart of Jesus.[citation needed]
Physical artifacts
Some visionaries produce artifacts based on their reported visions, although this is rare. In 1531, Juan Diego reported an early morning vision of Mary, in which he was instructed to build an abbey on the Hill of Tepeyac in Mexico. The local prelate did not believe his account and asked for a miraculous sign, which was later provided as an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe permanently imprinted on Diego's cloak where he had gathered roses. Over the years, Our Lady of Guadalupe became a symbol of the Catholic faith in Mexico. By 1820 when the Mexican War of Independence from Spanish colonial rule ended Our Lady of Guadalupe had come to symbolize the Mexican nation. Today it remains a strong national and religious symbol in Mexico.[51]
See also
References
- ^ Freze 1993, p. 91.
- ISBN 0-19-512669-6p. vii
- ^ Šeper, Francis. "Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding inn the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions ...", CDF, February 25, 1978
- ^ "Vatican recognizes Marian apparitions in France". Catholic News Agency. May 5, 2008.
- ^ "Vatican recognizes Marian apparitions in France", Catholic News Agency, May 5, 2008
- ^ "Evangelist Popoff Off Air, Files Bankruptcy Petitions". Los Angeles Times. September 26, 1987.
- ^ "Plagiarism of Carmelita Rivas"
- ^ "Catalina Rivas", Skeptics Dictionary
- ^ Mugavero, Francis. "Declaration Concerning The 'Bayside Movement'", November 4, 1986
- ^ Petre, Jonathan. "Vatican rejects woman's Virgin Mary claim", The Telegraph, September 23, 2007
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- ^ Doll, Sister Mary Bernard. "St. Margaret Mary Alacoque." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 Jun. 2023 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Saint Catherine of Siena | Biography, Facts, Miracles, & Patron Saint of | Britannica".
- ^ Bainvel, Jean. "Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 17 Jul. 2013
- ^ a b "Shrine Of Guadalupe Most Popular In World", Zenit News, June 13, 1999
- ^ "Religion moves 330 million tourists a year and six million go to Fátima", Diário de Notícias, February 19, 2017.
- ^ "Fátima expects to receive 8 million visitors in 2017", in Sapo20, December 15, 2016.
- ISBN 1-57607-004-2p. 38
- ^ Bible gateway Acts 7:55
- ^ Chesterton, G.K., Saint Francis, Hodder & Stoughton, 1924, pp. 54-56
- ISBN 1-57607-355-6, p. 457
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- ISBN 0-521-80618-6p. 157
- ISBN 0-8308-2569-X, p. 228
- ^ Hess, Lawrence. "St. Veronica Giuliani." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, [1912]. 2013
- ^ Freze 1993, p. 38.
- ^ "Doctrine and Covenants 110:3". churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
- ISBN 0-87973-910-Xpp. 239 & 635
- ISBN 1-931709-77-7p. 200
- ^ Spalding, Arthur W.1947 "Footsteps of the Pioneers" pp. 22–23. For recent scholarship, see Terrie Dopp Aamodt, Gary Land and Ronald L. Numbers, Ellen Harmon White: American Prophet (Oxford, 2015).
- ISBN 1-57607-355-6p. 816
- ISBN 0-85244-620-9.
- ^ Jacques Benoist, Le Sacré-Coeur des femmes, de 1870 à 1960, Editions de l'Atelier, 2000, p. 1560 (in French.)
- ^ Camillo Bassotto, My Heart Is Still in Venice (Krinon, 1990), p. 113.
- ISBN 978-1-884964-02-2p. 245
- ^ Renato Carrasquinho; Our Lady of Tears: Apparitions, Messages and Devotion. International Apostolate of Our Lady of Tears, (2017)
- ^ Catholic News Agency [1]
- ^ Jean Stiegler; DOZULÉ – The ultimate message of Christ. 88 pp. Editions Résiac, France.
- ^ Father Jean Baptiste Manceaux; DOZULÉ – The Glorious Return of the Son of Man. Les Nouvelles Editions Latines, Paris.
- ^ Jean Stiegler; Prayers in Dozulé. 48 pp. Editions Résiac, France.
- ^ "Declaration Of The Bishop Of Gikongoro, June 29, 2001
- ^ "Jordan, Paul. "Witness to Genocide – A Personal Account of the 1995 Kibeho Massacre", Anzac Day Commemoration Committee". Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
- ^ Kosloski, Philip (2018-04-18). "These apparitions were officially approved by the Holy See as 'worthy of belief'". aleteia.org. Archived from the original on 2018-04-18. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
- ^ "The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Akita, Japan, to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa"
- ^ Notification of 6 October 1995
- ^ Circular letter to the presidents of the episcopal conferences regarding the writings and activities of Mrs Vassula Rydén
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- ISBN 0-8189-0069-5
- ^ "Stolica Apostolska o Medjugorie". Instytut Gość Media. 2013-11-06. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- ISBN 0-87973-422-1p. 255.
- ^ "Poznaj Guadalupe..." www.guadalupe.pl. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
- Freze, Michael (1993). Voices, Visions, and Apparitions. OSV Publishing. ISBN 0-87973-454-X.