Are they legitimate? Elaborate hoaxes? Or does it vary in your opinion?
Should Christians expect legitimate Marian apparitions, sent by God, from time to time?
Are Marian apparitions simply hallucinations / tricks of the mind?
Are Marian apparitions real but from the "dark side"?
What do you think is the truth in this matter?
What do you think of marian apparitions like Fatima or Medjugorje. I have heard of rosaries turning gold there.
Hello, I want to tell you about a recent sight of the Virgin Mary that I had recently and get some input on what it might mean, if anything.
Background on me: I am not Christian, I was raised Roman Catholic and have studied Classics and Religious Studies at a university level. It is safe for me to say that I am a non-believer of Christian dogma and prefer Buddhist teachings in my day-to-day life. I am also a sailor by trade, and when I saw the alleged Marian apparition, I was on the boat at the time.
The vision: I was asleep in my bunk on a tugboat operating in Eastern Canada. When I'm at work I like to take melatonin to ensure a restful sleep, and also because I like the dreams that melatonin can illicit. It is often dark out early in the mornings when I start my day, but when I saw the Virgin Mary I was awake bodily, but not as much mentally. When I opened my eyes I saw golden sunlight pouring into my room from the tiny porthole in my cabin with the blackout curtain drawn, and as I opened my eyes the face of a marble statue began to appear on the wall in front of me. Then the face started to take form and I instantly recognized it as the Virgin Mary. She did not say anything, and the apparition only lasted a minute or so before I fell asleep again. Nothing has happened since and it hasn't affected me in terms of faith, blessing, curses or any other spiritual consequence, I just think about it from time to time.
So what is your input? Has anything like this happened to you before? Does it have anything to do with believing or not believing? Why did I see the Virgin Mary specifically? Should I get my brain scanned for tumors?
Thanks! I look forward to reading your messages!
I find it's not uncommon for people to talk about miracles on here. Some Catholics come here asking how you can ignore them and some people who want to become ex-catholic but simply can't get past the miracles. While it's hard to 1) define all catholic miracles and 2) disprove every single one, I've decided to make a post talking about the six Marian apparitions that are approved and endorsed by the Holy See.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
I found it's very hard to find resources about Our Lady of Guadalupe that are not Catholic. I found that this website provided the most information and I'm paraphasing most of it.
- Hernán Cortés, the Spaniard known for "conquering" the Aztec Empire, grew up with a dark skinned Marian image called Our Lady of Guadalupe. Since her skin color was close to that of the Aztecs, Spanish missionaries decided to use her a symbol to try to convert. Cortés conquered the Aztecs in 1521, 10 years before Juan Diego saw Mary.
- Bishop Zumárraga, the bishop Juan Diego presented his tilma to, was known to be a very prolific writer but never mentioned Juan Diego, a Marian apparition, or the tilma in any of his writings.
- In 1555, a young Aztec convert painted a portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe on a tilma in which Mary in a traditional European Marian pose, close to this.
- Writings from 1556 gives us the most information about the tilma. However, there is no mention of Juan Diego. Instead, Franciscans referenced it was painted by a native.
- The only evidence Juan Diego story comes from the Codex Escalada, a parchment allegedly from 1548 explaining the story. Interestingly, the document was not found in 1995 which was the same period of time where there was mass debate over if Juan Diego should be canonized.
Now onto the scientific research, perhaps the most notable examination done by a non-Catholic party was Philip Callahan's in 1981. It seems near impossible to find the PDF of his findings so I am again referencing the link above as it gives one of the best summaries of it. He has a couple main findings
- there are multiple layers to the painting.
- It seems to be done from a single brushstroke.
When asked if he could do more tests, the Catholic church only let him do one which "nothing unusual" was found.
Overall, Juan Diego most likely was myth created to help co
... keep reading on reddit ➡As a child, I was always fascinated with Marian apparitions and just thought they were the coolest thing ever. Now looks back, I realize most of them were probably just physical illusions or delusions from the viewers.
What does make me curious is cases where multiple people saw it? I think some of it was probably group think or some group rumor.
Anyway, I’m just curious about your thoughts on it all
Should we believe?Some are a bit dubious ie Medjugorje
Assalamu Alaikum, everybody!
I have another question for you (sorry :/): What is the Islamic position on Eucharistic Miracles and Marian Apparitions? Roman Catholics tend to use these as evidence for Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism. I was wondering, what is the Islamic position on these events and how, if possible, one can counter them.
Any thoughts?
BarakAllahu feekum.
So my friend is a hardcore Catholic - has visited Medjugorje and swears by it. He is currently raising money to bring his son with him next time he goes. However, I digress, I live in SELA, which is sort of a desert for Episcopalians. Typically I am the only Episcopalian that anyone in my town knows. So they come to me with questions as if I am some Episcopalian sooth sayer.
So of course I get asked: “Well, what do y’all think about Marian apparitions.” Which should have been immediately been recognized as a trap question. My mother raised me low church, and she had a baptist background. I go to a mixed church. No thurible.
So of course I say, “look, I say this cause we can share these things as friends, I think they’re a bit of witchcraft. But I don’t have the Catechism of faith memorized, so you know I’ll have to consult my prayer book.”
“You and your prayer book. Well you know y’all celebrate Our Lady of Walsingham. That’s an honored feast day and that was pre-reformation.”
Me: look I’ve read about it. I know about it. And at the end of the day, my church has people who still pray the rosary. We hav ex Catholics who still do a hard genuflect when they come in, and we have ex-Baptists who still pull the Bible for readings because the pamphlet never felt right to them. So I can promise you there are some who are hardcore Marian apparitions, and some who are like me and they just shrug their shoulders.”
However, I was a cradle TEC who stopped going at 8. I restarted last year 34 years old. I skimmed the catechism. I’m sure I missed something.
Do we as an official stance as a church on Fatima, Medjugorje, and the other apparition sites around the world?
I apologize if this has been answered this before.
Is there widespread belief in Marian apparitions akin to the Roman Church?
Have Orthodox believer's claimed to have been visited by Mary?
Could you help me on getting a reliable database of Marian Apparitions?
