Signs and Wonders
We are living in precarious times. The natural and manmade disasters of plagues, wars, and floods headline our news stories. If you have read your bible, you will know these are times of great signs. Signs and wonders were the sensational side of Jesus’s reputation. Though Jesus tells us not to seek signs and wonders like the Pharisees asked for, he nevertheless gives them to us as a form of communication when we do not ask for them.
As usual, the recent article, The Fifth Great Awakening – France, sparked my interest and many thoughts on the subject of religion. And in this instance, France and personal awakenings.
As a Catholic, I am aware of the historical significance France has played for centuries. The most famous cathedral in the world, Notre Dame, was named after the mother of Christ. In English, it translates to “Our Lady.” Built in the 12th century, it was the jewel of Paris and was the tallest structure until the Eiffel Tower was built. The French State has owned the building since 1905 and is responsible for its maintenance, including restoration after the 2019 fire. The Catholic church has permission to use it for religious services. The title “Our Lady” shows the reverence and trust the Church showed to the mother of Christ.
The faith of the Catholic Church has grown through the centuries as it reached new continents. Her history is documented through the good (and some bad) leadership in every century for 2,000 years. But fear not, “the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” Mt. 16:18.
One layer of this history is found in approved apparitions. They are appearances of Jesus or Mary to individuals. Apparitions of Mary have taken place throughout the world. They seem to come at historically pivotal times for man. Some of the largest numbers of apparitions happened in France, whose population was mostly Catholic for centuries. It takes a thorough investigation and many years for the Church to approve an apparition. The following are just a few of the Church-approved apparitions.
In 1664, Mary revealed her identity as “Mary the mother of God” to a small, uneducated Shepard girl, Benoite Rencurel. These apparitions lasted for over 4 months, during which Our Lady taught the young girl about Catholicism. She continued to receive periodic apparitions over the next 54 years. She also saw Saints and Jesus crucified on the cross. As instructed, a new church was built in the nearby town of Laus, France.
Our Lady’s messages always point to her son, Jesus Christ. With God’s permission, she visits humble souls, asking for prayer, repentance of sin, and a return to Jesus, “for the conversions of sinners.” Saving souls is her constant goal. She is God’s biggest cheerleader. Her pure love for God is never ceasing.
Mary always comes to simple, humble, trusting people. That is why they are often children. Two such children were an 11- and 14-year-old tending to cows in a pasture on September 19, 1848, in the village of La Salette, France. Returning home, they saw a bright light followed by the vision of a lady seated and weeping profusely in her hands. She told them of the suffering her son was enduring for humanity. People had worked on Sunday, rather than going to church, many did not attend at all. They scoffed at the religion. Others blasphemed the name of Jesus and God.
(This message, by the way, was the same one given to Sister Mary of St. Peter in Tours, France, about the Holy Face devotion, revealed by Jesus, at about the same time period. This message warned of destruction by revolutionary men if men did not turn back to God.)
Our Lady explained to the children that the people had been punished with the potato famine the year before. And a worse one would come if people did not repent and change their ways. The second famine never came, as people began to return to the Church with reverence for Jesus instead of scorn. Will we, too, learn from history?
Sometimes these signs are meant to be visible to the entire world. In 1830, Sister Catherine Laboure was awakened by the voice of a small child beckoning her to come to the convent’s chapel, where she was told the Blessed Virgin awaited her. She went to the chapel but saw no one. While anxiously waiting, Mary suddenly appeared. Catherine rushed to her, placed her head in her lap like a child, and looked into her eyes. She described it as “the sweetest moment of her life.”
Sister Cathrine was told of the evil and sorrows France and the world would have to overcome. (Forty years later, the Franco-Prussian War left France in shambles.) Though the message was frightful, she was given hope. She was told, “Come to the foot of the altar. There, graces will be shed upon all, great and little, who ask for them. Graces will be especially shed upon those who ask for them.” She foretold of the contempt man would have for Jesus’s cross. “My child, the whole world will be in sadness.”
Leaving her hope, Mary charged Sister Catherine with a mission. She assured her that personal protection against the upcoming evil would be made through her intercession. Four months later, Mary appeared again with a medal with images on both sides called the Miraculous Medal.
The front of the image shows Mary with her arms stretched down. Shining rays from God descend from her hands, representing graces for those who ask. The words in French surrounding the oval medal say, “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”
On the back of the medal was a large M with a cross above it, 12 stars surrounding it, and 2 hearts beneath the M, representing the hearts of Mary and Jesus. (see Rev.12:6, 13-17, Lk. 2:35, Gen. 37: 8-10) Mary said many graces would be granted to those who wear it with confidence.
This and other apparitions show us that Mary comes to intercede for us. Like a mom, holding back the hand of the Father, ready to punish a disobedient child. Millions of faithful Catholics wear the miraculous medal, given to St. Catherine Laboure. It is not a lucky charm. It is worn with faith as a symbol of promises and as a sign of obedience to God.
On February 11, 1885, Bernadette Soubirous saw a “beautiful Lady” in a grotto at the town refuse while searching for firewood. Since she was the only one who could see and hear her, many doubted her story. After returning to see her several times, she was instructed to ask the lady for her name. Mary replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” This 14-year-old, uneducated girl had no idea what it meant. When she told the priest what she was told, he finally believed her story. Wanting for the town to believe her story, she asked the Lady for a sign to show them. Mary instructed her to dig in the dirt for the water. Though it made no sense to her, she responded obediently and started digging with her hands. Watching this spectacle, some people laughed at her. The laughter soon stopped when water began to spring from the ground, now known as the miraculous healing water of Lourdes.
To this day, thousands of people have been healed by these waters through faith. It is an instrument used by God. And as instructed, a great church was built for the millions of Pilgrams who would visit each year in the town of Lourdes, France. A famous movie with Loretta Young, ‘Song of Bernadette,’ beautifully tells this story.
The Virgin Mary has the heart of a mother for her children, not wanting any of them to lose the grace, love, and mercy of her son, Jesus. Three children of Fatima, Portugal (1917), were also visited by “a beautiful Lady”. She appeared for 6 months on the 13th of each month, starting in May. The children also asked for a sign to prove to the people they were telling the truth. Mary said God would perform a great miracle in October if people repented and trusted in God. They were told the Great War was ending, but if people did not repent and turn to God, a worse war would come. On October 13, 1917, the children and over 70,000 people, including reporters, saw the “Miracle of the Sun” in Fatima, Portugal. As great a miracle as it was, the children were told it could have been far greater if people would only have more faith and Trust in God’s mercy.
Trust was found in St. Faustina, a Polish nun. She was given the Image of Divine Mercy by Jesus in 1931 and told to share His message of trust and repentance. Sister Faustina was told by her spiritual advisor to write down everything Jesus told her. These conversations appear in her famous diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” where Jesus reveals the mercy he wishes to give the world. However, the people must repent. Jesus told St. Faustina that time was running out. He told her he could not hold back the wrath of God much longer. He told her to have His image, as she sees Him, painted, and to place these words under His Holy Image: “Jesus, I trust in you.”
Faustina’s confessor asked her to ask Jesus the meaning of the two rays coming from his heart. She replied. “Very well, I will ask the Lord.” During prayer, she heard these words within her, “The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls…These two rays issued forth from the very depth of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of my Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.” (Notebook #1 section 299 ‘Divine Mercy in My Soul’ Diary of St. Faustina)
In the year 2000, the Catholic Church, through Pope John Paul II, finally honored that request. It is called Divine Mercy Sunday.
In 1973 (the same year as Roe v. Wade), in Akito, Japan, Our Lady visited a nun, whose convent later had a statue of the Virgin Mary that wept real tears. In Rwanda, “Our Lady of Kibeho” appeared to young teens. The 1982 apparition foretold of a “river of Blood”. The 1994 Genocide fulfilled the prophecy.
Heaven always asks for repentance, fasting, and prayers. Praying the rosary is also another frequent request. Messages are often given, sometimes as secrets to be revealed at a future time. If the messages have not been concluded, then the church cannot approve them.
Such is the case of the 1981 apparitions in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. A couple of the “seers” still receive messages audibly or visually. There, Mary is known as the “Queen of Peace” for her messages on peace, prayer, conversion, and fasting. Many have experienced spiritual awakenings there. Dozens of men have received their priestly vocation there.
One only needs to read these well-documented stories of recent apparitions to realize that they are occurring more frequently and earnestly. How many times does your mother have to tell you to clean your room before Dad gets home? If the Mother of Christ, coming down from heaven to earth, to warn us by these wonders and signs, does not get your attention, what in Heaven will?
