Chapel of (dis) apparitions
Some time ago, here in Fatima, I participated in a meeting for priests and religious that culminated in a Mass at the Chapel of the Apparitions. I was shocked by the fact that the president of this celebration made no mention of the importance of the place where we were celebrating the Eucharist; he did not mention, not even once, Our Lady of Fatima nor did he make much mention of Mary in general.
When I told another colleague what had happened, I was told: "You know, I don’t really believe in these apparitions either.” As devoted as I have always been to our Lady, and a believer of her apparitions, the accusation made against Pope Paul VI of having imposed Fatima on the Church immediately came to mind. At that time, the Pope defended himself by saying that it was not he who imposed Fatima on the Church, it was Fatima that imposed itself.
"The Virgin appears to all the fools"
With this Spanish proverb in mind, the Church is aware that there are many apparitions that are not genuine; so, it uses all kinds of scientific investigation, which corresponds to "the devil's advocate" in the beatification of saints, to disprove them. The Church only takes its hat off and bows before something that is genuinely supernatural.
"Against facts, there are no arguments"
A scientific investigator, dispassionate and impartial, applying all the methods and instruments of modern scientific investigation to Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima, the three great apparitions that the Church proposes to its faithful, cannot fail to be astonished by the halo, of mystery and supernaturality, that surrounds facts, whose explanation is irreducible to reason and science.
Faced with this, there are two free but always faith-based options: to deify science, believing that in the future it will be able to explain what today it cannot; or to believe that God is behind these facts, and in this case, that Mary really is visiting her people.
From now until the end of the world, Heaven can no longer say anything new
The reason why I am writing these lines is not to propose again Mary’s apparitions because of the inexplicable mystery that surrounds them, but to reflect on the theological reasons that justify them.
Of course, neither Guadalupe, nor Lourdes, nor Fatima are dogmas of faith. Heaven, in Jesus Christ, the eternal Word of God made flesh, has already said all it has to say; it makes no sense for it to speak again after God has sent his only begotten son; in fact, when he returns, it will be to judge the living and the dead.
Mary's visits
We explain and justify that Mary is our mediator and intercessor in heaven with the episode of the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-11), in which she presents the needs of the guests to her son, while at the same time exhorting them to do everything he says; and why not explain and justify Mary's visits with the episode of her visit to her cousin Elizabeth? (Luke 1:39-45)
Mary, in her visits, does not bring a new gospel, a new message, but, like the Holy Spirit to whom she is espoused, she recalls the forgotten parts of her son's message (ref. John 14:26) and reinterprets them in the "here and now" of human history. In fact, one of the important factors in the authenticity of these messages is their agreement with the gospel.
Mary continues to visit those to whom she is mother, at pivotal moments in the history of her children, to help incarnate the eternal Word of her son in those moments and places.
Guadalupe – Support for evangelization
How could the indigenous people in Mexico in 1531 have willingly accepted the religion of the Spanish conquerors, explorers and murderers if Mary had not appeared to a humble indigenous man? In fact, the indigenous people, who until that time had been reluctant to accept Christianity, converted en masse after the apparitions.
Lourdes – Heaven confirmed
The important part of the Lourdes message is the confirmation from Heaven, in 1858, of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, instituted by Pope Pius IX four years earlier in 1854.
Fatima - "Penance and Prayer" is the solution
Between the two world wars, Maria proposed at Fatima, among other things, "Penance and Prayer" as a means to confront, at that time and even today, materialistic and atheistic communism, as well as materialistic and consumerist capitalism which is no less atheistic.
Conclusion – Since Mary visited her cousin in time of need, she has never stopped visiting the Humanity to tell her son we have no wine and to tell us to do what His will.
Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC
AMEN 🙏📿❤️
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