From: CCCAMPER@MIZZOU1.BITNET
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.christia
Subject: Fatima, part 4 (history of apparitions
Date: 14 Oct 92 17:14:46 GMT
Organization: University of Missouri-Columbia Campus Computing, 314-882-2000
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

(Con't....From Fatima, Part 3....19th and 20th century apparitions)

  While the Blessed Mother has made appearances throughout the centuries
the apparition to Sr. Catherine Laboure' at Rue du Bac in 1830 began
a new phase of Marian apparitions. It announced the onset of a great
battle. "The times are evil," she said, "Misfortunes will fall upon
France. The throne will be overturned. The entire world will be
overcome by evils of all kinds."
  In September, 1846, Our Lady appeared to 11 year old Maximin Graud
and 14 year old Melanie Mathieu in the mountains of Lasalette, France.
She glowed with a supernatural light of indescribable beauty and
there were tears on her cheeks. "Come, my children, and fear not. I
am here to proclaim important news to you. If my people do not with
to submit themselves, I am forced to let go of the Hand of my Son. It
is so heavy and weighs  me down so much I can no longer keep hold of
it......All the civil governments will have one and the same plan,
which will be to abolish and do away with every religious principal
to make way for materialism, atheism, occultism, and vice of all
kinds.
  "The chiefs, the leaders of the people of God, have neglected prayer
and penance, and the devil has bedimmed their intelligence. They have
become wandering stars which the old devil will drag with his tail to
make them perish. God will allow the old serpent to cause divisions
among those who reign in every society and in every family. Physical
and moral agonies will be suffered. God will abandon mankind to itself
and will send punishments which will follow one after the other for
more than 35 years. The society of men is on the eve of the most
terrible scourges and gravest events. Mankind must expect to be ruled
with an iron rod and to drink from the chalice of the wrath of God."
  There were also warnings of working on the Sabbath and using
Christ's name in vain. She said priests were angering God with impiety
toward the holy mysteries and obsession with honor, money and pleasures.
Political leaders were angering God as well. Napolean III, she said,
would soon fall on his own sword.
  The apparition of Lasalette was approved in 1851 but the secrets
were not released until later. Pope Pius IX lamented that "There
are scourges that menace France, but Germany, Italy, all of Europe
is culpable and merits chastisement."
  In 1858 the Blessed Mother appeared to Bernadette Soubirous in
a grotto in Lourdes, France. During the 18 apparitions she identified
herself as the Immaculate Conception. She stressed penance and prayer
for sinners. While there were not many messages given, in an age of
growing occultism Mary brought forth a spring of miraculous healing
waters and showed people what the power of God could do.
Today over 5000 healings have been attributed to Lourdes, and
64 have even been officially recognized by the Church as miraculous.
These apparitions were approved in 1862.
  Since Lourdes, the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin have continued
to multiply. In 1879 in Knock, Ireland, at least 22 people saw the
Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph and St. John the Apostle. Fatima occured
in 1917, then she appeared in Beaurang and Banneaux, Belgium in
late 1932 and January 1933. In Banneaux she identified herself as
the Virgin of the Poor and again led a young visionary to a spring
"reserved for all nations" and to relieve the ill. She asked for
prayer, much prayer. Both of these apparitions were approved in
1949.
  In the twentieth century there have been reports of over 300
different apparitions in 32 countries. In the 1960s in Garabandal,
Spain, Our Lady (allegedly) appeared over a 4 year period to 4
young peasant girls, Conchita Gonzalez, Mari Cruz Gonzalez, Jacinta
Gonzalez, and Mari Loli Mazon. The messages were very similar to those
of Medjugorje and involved a warning, a great sign, and chastisement.
Initially there were problems with these apparitions. However, there
were grave errors in the investigations and today the Church has
re-opened the Garabandal case and many believe it will be approved.
  From April 4, 1968 through May 29, 1971 there were apparitions
of Our Lady, the Child Jesus, the Holy Family, Angels and luminescent
doves at the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Mary in Zeitoun, Egypt.
There were no messages given, but the impact of these apparitions
was profound on the area. Crowds of as many as 250,000 people would
gather to witness the awesome sight and they were of many faiths,
such as Christians, Moslems, and Jews. The average length of the
apparitions were two hours.
  Today in the United States there are apparitions of the Blessed
Mother giving specific instructions and messages for our life and
times. While some are undoubtedly false, two very notable cases are
Estela Ruiz in Phoenix, Arizona and Nancy Fowler in Conyers, Georgia.
Estela was a busy woman who had little time for her husbands devotion
to the faith. With her children grown she was climbing the ladder
of success and attending night school. She had no time to go with her
husband to Medjugorje in September of 1988. During his absence, she
passed by a painting in her hallway of Our Lady of Guadalupe that
her husband, Reyes, painted in 1981 and heard the greeting, "Good
morning, daughter". Estela wished to tell no one of this event,
but she slowly softened her attitudes toward religion and the Blessed
Mother began appearing to her in her home. Estela had no idea why
she should receive such a gift, since she had never had a devotion
to Our Lady, but was told, "I have come to ask you to be my messenger
and I want to know if you will do it? I'm going to help you and
your children and make many changes. There will be a period of time
where I will prepare the family and I will send many messages to
the family."
  Since that time the Ruiz family has undergone beautiful conversions.
Mother and children used to call Reyes "old fashioned" and seemed
slightly embarassed as he attended daily mass and prayed the rosary
daily. No longer. Even a son who had a terrible drug problem for
years underwent a conversion and is now married and helps others with
drug problems.
  At this time Estela has an apparition every Saturday. She recieves
a message from Our Lady in the morning. In the evening Our Lady appears
again and prays with everyone who has come to visit the small shrine
that is now located in the backyard of the Ruiz home. There are usually
300 to 1000 people present. The basic messages are the same as
most of this time, peace, prayer, penance, fasting, and conversion.
  While there have been reports of healings, the scent of roses,
and beams of light seen descending on the small shrine as Our Lady
arrives, it is the conversions that are the greatest signs of the
presence of the Mother of God.
 (The messages of Our Lady to Estela Ruiz are available by writing
Reyes Maria Ruiz, 30 East Cody Dr., Phoenix, AZ 85040.)
  Nancy Fowler of Conyers, Georgia receives a special apparition
on the 13th of each month at 12 noon. There is a Holy Hill that
was designated by Our Lord and waters that He blessed and are reported
to have healing powers. I have heard amazing testimonies from personal
friends in regards to this sight, but do not have background information
Books of messages are available from: Our Loving Mother, P.O. Box 675,
Newington, Virginia, 22122.

(To be continued ...Medjugorje)