Bound in Love

What is a Marian Apparition?

A Marian apparition is a supernatural appearance of Mary to a person (or group of people) on earth.
Since the early centuries of the Church, there have been thousands of reported Marian apparitions. “Reported” is a key word here; just because someone says that they saw Mary doesn’t mean that they really did.
The Church, under the guidance of the bishop in whose diocese the alleged apparition occurs, carefully investigates alleged apparitions according to a set of criteria established by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

It’s worth pointing out that the Church never judges an apparition to be “authentic”; the strongest positive statement that they will make is that an apparition is “worthy of belief.” Even the small handful of apparitions judged “worthy of belief” (which include Mary’s appearances at Lourdes, France, and the visits of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico) are considered to be “private revelation,” and are therefore not required elements of belief. Many Catholics have a strong affinity for certain Marian apparitions; other Catholics never give them much thought.
And why would Mary bother to come to earth in the first place? Well, the character of her visits offers a clue. Many of her messages carry the same themes: a call to prayer, a desire for peace, an invitation to personal penance. I personally like to think of Marian apparitions as ways that she gets our attention when we’ve strayed off course, nudging us back on the path that was laid out for us by Christ.

Appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Marian apparitions are known as appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary coming down from heaven to earth.

These appearances are often paired with some type of message Our Lady wants to communicate, and depending on the nature of her visit, can be anywhere from one short appearance to several over the course of years.

There is always at least one witness to an apparition, and it is not uncommon for the witness to later become a saint or holy figure within the Church.

26 approved apparitions

Over the course of Church history, there have been many reports of Marian apparitions. However, the twenty-six that have been approved worthy of belief are spread all across the globe from Japan, to Wisconsin, to Egypt.

What are the Guidelines?

The Church is very careful when it comes to approving and recognizing Marian apparitions.

In fact, for the benefit of the bishops, Church officials, and the faithful, the Vatican released a set of guidelines to the public on approving apparitions and other revelations.

Firstly, the question of whether the apparition and revelations given during the appearance is positive or negative is addressed.

• Positive apparitions follow general criteria such as:
  • Holding great probability of factual content after thorough investigation
  • Showing honesty of moral values, docility to Church authority, and capacity of returning to a normal regimen of the Faith.
• On the contrary, negative apparitions show the following:
  • Errors concerning the nature of the apparition
  • Errors concerning God, Mary, the saints, and/or Church teaching
  • Evidence of the apparition being directly aimed towards gaining some type of profit
  • The presence of grave immoral acts that were committed at the time of the apparition
  • Psychological complications regarding the witness of the apparition.

Secondly, if the apparition proves to be of a positive nature, the Church will go forward in allowing some type of public devotion to be celebrated.