It would be interesting to find out several hundred years from now if any
archaeological teams that uncover images of Mary will conclude that today's
world was a woman's orientated society. Biblical portraits of Mary tell us
that she was willing to sacrifice her life and free will to do God's work.
Since the time of Mary, society has changed dramatically, particularly in
the last few years in response of feminists and female equality.
Mary has appeared numerous times to visionaries over the centuries. But in
the 20th Century has seen an unprecedented rise in Mary visitations
throughtout the world. Some Catholics speculate that Jesus is sending Mary
because she is approachable in a motherly way and in the manner that God
sent John the Baptist. It has been thought that Mary is preparing the way
for the Second Coming of Jesus.
Each individual sighting of Mary needs to be verified. The most enduring
ones are investigated by a religious organizations, most notably the
Catholic Church, is involved in doing this. Most Mary apparitions are
investigated for years before recieving official approval from the Church.
The criteria by which these sightings are judged go through several stages
before verified. The visionaries go through extensive testing during normal
circumstances, then again during apparitions when they are in a state of
ecstasy. Then apparitions are seen if they produce any "fruit". If they
result in an increase of faith among the general public, then it is regarded
as a positive sign. Documented physical and spiritual healings at the
apparition site adds to the authenicity of the sightings, along with
supernatural phenomena witnessed by non-visionaries at the location.
Examples of these phenomena are solar miracles and usual occurrences in the
sky.
Mary has a tendency to appear in war torn or anxious countries before these
areas experience troubles. Not favouring any one area over another, Mary has
apapeared in numerous countries on every continent. In the last decade there
have been an increasing number of visons of Mary in the United States.
It has been pointed out that Mary doesn't favour Catholics despite claims to
the contrary. Mary appears where she is most honoured. Her messages are
meant for the entire world, whether they are believers or non-believers.
Along with warnings of the impending arrival of Jesus, Mary's main messages
are that people should seek peace through prayer, fasting, conversion,
confession and sacrifice. Angels have heralded many of her visitations and
at times they have accompanied Mary. Visionaries at Fatima have recieved
visions and messages from an angel as well as from Mary.
Today:
Printer
friendly version
