Marian apparitions: Encyclopedia - Marian apparitions

Marian apparitions

Marian apparitions are events in which the Virgin Mary is purported to have supernaturally appeared to one or more persons, typically but not always Christians, often Catholics in various settings. They are often given names based on the town in which they were reported, or on the sobriquet which was given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition, or on her reported clothing and hairstyle. They have been interpreted as psychological (pareidolia), and as religious phenomena, occasionally as theophanies. Apparitions sometimes recur at the same site over an extended period of time.

Marian apparitions - List of Marian apparitions

This is a list of some of the more noteworthy Marian apparitions. The veracity of these claims is difficult to establish and not all have been approved by the Catholic Church. This is a complete list of Marian apparitions in Excel File [1] PDF File [2]

Marian apparitions - Papal Marian apparitions

It has been claimed that apparitions were experienced by a number of popes, including Pope Leo XIII in 1884, Pope Pius XII at various stages during his papacy, and Pope John Paul II in 1981, while he recovered from an assassination attempt which occurred on the anniversary of the Fatima apparition. John Paul II's particular devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was indicated in his coat of Arms (image, left), which contains a large letter "M," representing Mary at the foot of the Cross, as well as his motto "Totus Tuus," ("Totally yours"), dedicated to Mary. He also visited many of the most famous alleged apparition sites, notably Fatima, Lourdes, and Knock, and according to some reports may have experienced another visitation on his last visit to Lourdes in 2003.

Possibly the best-known apparition sites are Lourdes and Fatima. Over sixty out of thousands of reported spontaneous healings at the Lourdes Spring have been classified as "inexplicable" by the physicians of the Lourdes Bureau, a medical centre set up by the Church to assess possible miracles. The so-called Three Secrets of Fatima received a great deal of attention in the press.

Not all claims of visitations are dealt with favourably by the Catholic Church. For example, the so-called apparitions of Our Lady, Jesus Christ and various saints at Bayside, New York were never condoned or sanctioned in any way, nor were those at the Necedah Shrine in Necedah, Wisconsin. The behavior of the women who claimed these heavenly favors was deemed not to compare favorably with the "quiet pragmatism" of Bernadette Soubirous—Church authorities are said to use Bernadette as a model by which to judge all who purport to have visitations. When the Church does approve a visitation, Catholics are not required to believe in it: it is called "worthy of belief".

Marian apparitions - Criticism and Controversy

The Holy See has officially confirmed the apparitions at Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, Pontmain, Beauraing, Banneux, and Knock. However, the vast majority of Marian apparitions cannot be confirmed because usually it is only a few people that see her. The exception to this is Zeitoun, where thousands claimed to have seen her over a period of three years.

Marian apparations are criticized by many non-believers as being the result of Christian (and particularly Catholic) superstition.

Supposedly spontaneous healings reported at apparition sites such as Lourdes are also disputed by some scientists and skeptics, who say that most of these are far from spontaneous, often taking place some time after the visit or over a period of weeks or months (rather then being instantaneous, as required by the Lourdes Bureau for a miraculous healing). Other scientists have claimed that unexplained cures have occurred; the Lourdes Bureau has recorded sixty "inexplicable" healings which match its exceedingly stringent requirements. Critics maintain that some healings are incomplete, leaving the sufferer with disabilities or chronic illness, and that other claimed healings are likely to be the relatively rare but entirely unmiraculous spontaneous remission of illness or injury. Such remissions would be expected to occur in a few of the large numbers of ill (and perhaps credulous) people who visit such sites. That viewpoint is debated by religious people and by some in the medical profession. The Lourdes Bureau will not review cases of claimed healing involving illnesses that go into remission by themselves, such as multiple sclerosis, or incomplete healings or those which take place gradually.

See also

• Marian shrine
• Weeping statue
• Apparition
• Pareidolia
• Unusual depiction of a religious figure

Categories: Blessed Virgin Mary | Ghosts

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Marian apparitions", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki