Apparitions of the Virgin Mary
A Protestant Look at a Catholic Phenomenon:
(Part Two)
by Kenneth R. Samples
In Part One
I presented a descriptive survey of the unusual
Catholic phenomenon
known as Marian apparitions. I explained how the
Catholic church specifically
defines an apparition and described its method of
evaluating these elusive, ethereal
visions. I also surveyed some of the more important
and popular alleged
apparitions of Mary at such places as Guadalupe,
Lourdes, and Fatima.
In the
present article I will conclude my description of
this extraordinary
phenomenon, discussing in detail the currently
reported apparitions in Medjugorje,
Yugoslavia. I will also examine how apparitions in
general have influenced Catholic
piety. Finally, I will respond to some of the
difficult theological questions this
phenomena raises, addressing them from an evangelical
Protestant perspective.
Glossary
apparition: The
sudden appearance of a supernatural entity which
directly
manifests itself to a human person or group (a
supernatural vision).
encyclical: A letter
of instruction from the Pope which circulates
throughout the
church.
indulgence: The
partial or complete remission of the penalties still
due to be paid
for sins which have already been forgiven in the
sacrament of penance.
Mariology: (1) The
totality of Catholic dogmas, beliefs, and
speculations regarding
Mary, the mother of Jesus. (2) That branch of
Catholic theology concerned with
the study of Marian doctrines.
papal bull: An
official document, edict, or decree from the Pope.
purgatory: In
Catholic theology, a state of purification and/or
maturation one may
experience after death for the purpose of preparing
one's soul to enter the
presence of God.
MEDJUGORJE, YUGOSLAVIA 1981
As the
decade of the 1980s began, few people outside of
Yugoslavia had heard of
Medjugorje (pronounced Med-ju-gory-ah): a small and
remote farming community
nestled between the hills in the province of
Hercegovina, in southwestern
Yugoslavia.[1] In the summer of 1981, however, events
transpired that would
transform this once-obscure community into an
international pilgrimage center. In
fact, over a ten year period, some 10 to 15 million
people from five different
continents have journeyed to Medjugorje.[2] This is
even more significant when it
is recognized that Yugoslavia is a Communist country.
What could
attract so many people to this out-of-the-way place?
It is the startling
claim of six Croatian youths that, for the past
decade, they have communicated
almost daily with an apparition that identifies
itself as the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Beginning of the
Apparitions
On
Wednesday, June 24, 1981, two teenage girls -- Ivanka
Ivankovic (15 years
old) and Mirjana Dragicevic (16) -- had gone out to a
hillside behind their homes to
smoke cigarettes. While walking down the rocky slopes
of Podbrdo (Pod-bre-do)
hill in the late afternoon, Ivanka looked up and saw
the luminous figure of a young
woman in a grey robe, hovering three feet above the
ground. "Look, Mirjana,"
Ivanka said excitedly, "it's the Gospa" (the Croatian
word for Madonna, or Virgin
Mary). Mirjana, seeing that her friend was genuinely
startled, replied: "Don't be an
idiot. Why on earth would the Gospa appear to the
likes of us?"[3] Both of the girls
were gripped with fear and ran down the hill to the
village.
About an
hour later, the two girls reluctantly agreed to go
back up the hill to help a
friend round up a small flock of sheep that had been
grazing on Podbrdo. When
they reached the spot where Ivanka had seen the
apparition, all three girls saw a
figure of a woman holding a child in her arms. Just
then a fourth teenage girl joined
them, Vicka Ivankovic, who had come looking for her
friends. Vicka was especially
terrified by the woman and ran down the hill seeking
help. Two teenage boys were
summoned and they also witnessed the apparition. The
radiant figure beckoned the
youths to come toward her, but all six were shaken
and ran down the hill to their
homes.[4]
The next
day, four girls and two boys encountered the
apparition again at the
same place on the hill. This group was slightly
different than those who had seen
the apparition the previous day. It included from the
first day Ivanka, Mirjana,
Vicka, and Ivan Dragicevic (16). The young people who
joined the group on the
second day were Marija Pavlovic (16) and the young
boy, Jacov Colo (10). These
six Croatian youths would become Medjugorje's
permanent group of "visionaries"
or "seers." They are the only people who can see the
apparitions.
On this
second day, it was again Ivanka who first saw the
figure. As before, the
luminous woman beckoned the children to come toward
her. Still fearful, but
nevertheless feeling strangely drawn to "the Lady,"
the children rushed toward the
glowing apparition, knelt down in front of it, and
began to pray. Still grieving from
her mother's recent death, Ivanka was the first to
speak: "Where is my mother?"
The Lady told the girl that her mother was well, that
she was with her, and not to
worry. Ivanka asked if her mother had left a message
for her children. The Lady
responded: "Obey your grandmother and be good to her
because she is old and
cannot work."[5] Mirjana, being concerned with what
others would say,
complained: "Dear Gospa, they will not believe us
when we go home. They will tell
us that we are crazy." The Lady merely smiled and
promised to return the next
day. "Go in the peace of God," was her salutation as
she disappeared from sight.
The apparition had lasted some ten to fifteen
minutes.[6]
News about
the apparitions spread like wildfire throughout
Medjugorje and its
surrounding areas. By Friday, the third day of the
appearances, two or
three
thousand people joined the visionaries on the
hill awaiting the apparition. A bright
light flashed three times on the horizon just before
the apparition appeared. The
young people were much bolder now in approaching the
mysterious Lady. Vicka,
the most outspoken, brought forth some holy water
mixed with salt. She sprinkled
the apparition, saying: "If you are really Our Lady,
then stay with us. If not, leave
us!" The Lady only smiled in response. Then the
following dialogue ensued:
Visionaries: "Who are you?"
Apparition: "I am
the Blessed Virgin Mary."
Visionaries: "Why
have you come here? What do you desire?"
Apparition: "I have
come because there are many true believers here. I
wish to
be with you to convert and to reconcile the whole
world."
Visionaries: "Why
are you appearing to us? We are not better than
others."
Apparition: "I do
not necessarily choose the best."
Visionaries: "Give
us a sign which will prove your presence."
Apparition: "Blessed
are those who have not seen and who believe."[7]
Following
the dialogue, the Lady joined with the young people
in reciting several
traditional Catholic prayers. Seven times they
recited the "Our Father" (also known
as the Lord's Prayer), the "Hail Mary" (with the Lady
not participating), and the
"Glory Be to the Father." At the Lady's insistence,
they also recited the Apostles'
Creed.[8]
The
apparitions were drawing so much attention by the
fourth and fifth days that
the communist police immediately cracked down on the
new movement. They
dispersed the large crowds (15,000 present on the
hill during the fourth day of
apparitions) and interrogated the visionaries. All
six youths were submitted to
rigorous medical and psychiatric examinations. But
when the tests showed no sign
of maladjustment, they were allowed to return to
their homes. The police also
ordered the priests of St. James parish (the Catholic
church in Medjugorje) to ban
the apparitions. Ten days after the appearances had
begun, Yugoslavian television
condemned them as "a Croatian nationalist plot."[9]
The communists suspected
that the apparitions were really a front, intended to
cover a politically motivated
uprising.
The local
Franciscan priests were initially very skeptical
about the apparitions.
Father Jozo Zovko, the newly appointed pastor of St.
James Parish, at first
thought the youths were using drugs. Zovko gradually
grew to accept the
visionaries' claims, and sought to protect them from
the police. In a private
interview he informed me that he himself witnessed a
silent apparition one night
during mass. Shortly after his acceptance of the
apparitions, Zovko was arrested
for "inciting the crowds." He ended up serving 18
months of a three year prison
sentence.
The police
did their best to stop the phenomenon, but to no
avail. As the visions
continued, most of the villagers in and around
Medjugorje began to be convinced
of their authenticity. Because the communists do not
allow religious services
outside the
church, the visionaries asked the Lady if she would
appear to them in
the church. Soon after their request, they began
receiving apparitions in the church
rectory of St. James Parish. Except for a few
apparitions in the visionaries' homes,
the appearances have remained in the church.
What Do The Visionaries
Claim To See?
The young
people all attest that three flashes of light almost
always precede the
coming apparition. They also claim they see the
Virgin Mary as a real, external
person, occupying three-dimensional space. They
describe her as a young woman
wearing a grey robe, with a white veil, having a
crown of stars around her head,
and having blue eyes, black curly hair, rosy cheeks,
and floating on a cloud. They
say Mary speaks to them in their native language of
Croatian, and that they can
both hear and touch her. While they all see the same
figure, sometimes the
messages to particular visionaries are individual and
private. They also claim that
other persons have appeared to them, including:
various angels, Jesus, the Devil,
and certain deceased relatives. They have also
reported seeing visions of heaven,
purgatory, and hell.[10]
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