The important subject of the apparitions of “Mary” must be addressed in the light of Biblical truth because the message given in the apparitions is either from God, and thus for the instruction of the believers, or from Satan, and thus to the destruction of believers. It is of such great importance because many of those in the Roman Catholic Church have their lives centered around the apparitions, and because the apparitions confirm and give a dramatized background to the official teaching of the Church of Rome itself.
We must examine the subject carefully because we are warned in 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” and also in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is not great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Since the apparitions claim to have a message of salvation, that message must be seen in the light of the gospel message given in the Scriptures. The Apostle Paul gives a severe warning in Galatians 1:8-9 for those who preach another gospel, and warns believers to examine the message even if it came to them from “an angel from heaven.”
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Justification, which the gospel brings, is objective and outside the believer who, by grace through faith, is “accepted in the Beloved.”(Eph 1:6) It is forever counted perfect in Christ based on Christ’s righteousness and on His finished sufficient sacrifice on the cross. If, like the Apostle Paul and all true reformers throughout history, we measure “right standing” or “eternal curse” before the All Holy God in the light of the gospel, there can be no doubt on which side the appearances of “Mary” falls.
On the following pages you will read many exact quotations from apparitions and locations of “Mary” throughout the world, which have been documented in two publications, Quite Contrary: A Biblical Reconsideration of the Apparitions of Mary and Graven Bread: The Papacy, the Apparitions of Mary, and the Worship of the Bread of the Altar[1] by Timothy Kauffman. The apparitions present Mary in many different formats. Some of these are quite similar, yet there are always distinguishing characteristic to each of the different messages. One such characteristic is that “Mary” appears to be a co-redeemer. Another is that she is presented as a co-mediator with Christ Himself, or as a high-priestess on behalf of believers. She is also presented as the promised Messiah and even sometimes as being part of the Trinity. As you read these apparition messages, you should be horrified to find that “Mary” often claims the unique aspects of glory, which are due to Christ alone, for herself.
Apparitions Present Mary as Co-Redeemer
Examples of such are seen in the following claimed apparitions:
Apparition of Mary to Lucia Abobora, Fatima, Portugal 1917
“‘Jesus wishes to make use of you to have me acknowledged and loved. He wishes to establish in the world the devotion o My Immaculate Heart’ ..[Lucia Recalled,] ‘Before the palm of the right hand of Our Lady was a Heart encircled by thorns which seemed to have pierced it like nails. We understood that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary outraged by the sins of humanity, for which there must be reparation.’”[2]
Apparition of Mary to Nancy Fouler, Conyers, Georgia, USA, 1987-Present
“Our Loving Mother said, ‘We are both revealing our suffering faces to you. Tell others we suffer for them in love.’”3 “During the vision, Jesus appeared to Nancy on the cross and, then, merged with an image of His Mother. This vision was repeated over and over and over and over. The vision appeared to show the oneness of their suffering.”4
Apparition of Mary to Tarcisio di Biasi, Oliveto Citra, Italy 1985
“My son, when you recite the rosary, you should think that in each mystery there is contained all the love and suffering of my Son and of myself for all of you.”5
Apparition of Mary to Maximin Graud and Melanic Mathieu, LaSelette, France: 1846
“For a long time I have suffered for you; if I do not want my son to abandon you, I am force to pray to him myself without ceasing. You pay no heed. However much you would do, you could never recompense the pain I have taken for you.”6
Apparition of Jesus to Nancy Fouler, Conyers, Georgia, USA. Starting 1987
“Look from where graces flow, where they start. If there were no graces from Me, there would be no one on earth. My graces flow through My Mother. Now I am giving you My graces.”7
Apparitions Present Mary as Co-High Priestess
Examples of such are seen in the following claimed apparitions:
Apparition of Mary to the Children of Medjugorje, Bosnia: Starting 1981
“I am with you and day after day I offer your sacrifices and prayers to God for the salvation of the world.”8
Interior Locution of Mary to Cyndi Cain, Bella Vista, Arkansas: 1989-Present
“Ask the heavenly Father to permit my Immaculate Heart to Triumph. Pray. Be my little victims, for so many souls are saved by your loving sacrifice.”9
Apparition of Mary to Nancy Fouler, Conyers, Georgia, USA: Starting 1987
“Dear children, thank you for responding to my call here in Conyers. I call all my children here. Thank you for your prayers and sacrifices. My Son receives all your prayers and sacrifices and He stopped the war.”10
“I cannot restrain my Son’s hand. Please help me help you. Offer your daily sacrifices and prayers, please, in reparation for the sins of the world.”11
Apparition of Mary to Lucia Abobora, Faitma, Portugal 1917
“..Pray a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to sacrifice and pray for them.”12
Apparitions Present Mary as Co-Messiah
Examples of such are seen in the following claimed apparitions:
Apparition of Mary to the Children of Medjugorje, Bosnia Starting 1981
“I seek your prayers, that you may offer them to me for those who are under Satan’s influence, that they may be saved.”13
“I love you with my motherly love and I call upon you to open yourselves completely to me, so that through each of you I may be enabled to convert and save the world, where there is much sin and many things that are evil.”14
Apparition of Mary to Theresa Lopez, Denver, Colorado, USA: Starting 1981
“I have come to save the world through you, dear children.15
Apparition of Mary to Estela Ruiz, Phoenix, Arizona, USA: Starting 1988
“Satan has claimed many souls. Know that I am here in the world to defeat him.”16
Apparition of Mary to Sister Agnes Sasagawa, Akita, Japan: 1973-1981
“I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved.”17
Apparition of Jesus to Nancy Fowler, Conyers, Georgia, USA: Starting 1987
“I am Jesus, Son of the Lining God. I was born of My Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin Mary, who will crush the head of Satan.”18
Apparitions Present Mary as Goddess
Apparition of Jesus to Nancy Fowler, Conyers, Georgia, USA: Starting 1987
“Look at the four points on the cross. I will explain. See the Holy Trinity of God in three points. See in the other point My Mother, part of the Holy Trinity of God.”19
“One branch was selected from all branches. This branch is the most pure, the most delicate, the most perfect of all branches. My Mother is above all creatures and She is elevated to the Throne of God.”20
Interior-Locution of Mary to Carlos Lopez, San Francisco, California, USA: Starting 1991
“Trust also in your Mother. I am the Morning Star whom announces the day, the Light which is near, the Light of God, the Light of Love, the Light of peace, the Light of eternal salvation. . . I will ascend to heaven to take possession of My throne alongside of My Son.”21
Interior Locution of Jesus to Cyndi Cain, Bella Vista, Arkansas: Starting 1989
“My little ones, I ask you to listen to the words of My Mother, for they are My Words and My Infinite Graces and Merits which She, the Eternal Virgin, dispenses. Yes, Eternal, for before time began She was known to the Trinity.”22
Biblical Response
The apparitions preach a “gospel” which is always the same. Consider the most popular of the apparitions mentioned above: Fátima. In 1917, the apparition of Mary at Fátima, Portugal, stated that the children there needed to increase the level of their sacrifices, because, “…many souls go to hell because they have no one to sacrifice and pray for them.”
This stands in direct contradiction to the teaching of the Scripture which plainly states that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was the first, last, and only meritorious sacrifice for the remission of sins (c.f., also Hebrews 10:4):
“For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”(Hebrews 9:26) “Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin” (Hebrews 10:18).
Clearly, the visions of Mary at Fátima serve to detract from the message of the cross and, indeed, to undermine its efficacy. The same is true of visions of Mary at Medjugorje, at Denver Colorado, Phoenix Arizona, Conyers Georgia, and across the world.
The Medjugorje visions have a particular offense against the Cross of Christ that unashamedly and blatantly contradicts the gospel message of Christ. In the below citation, take note of what it is that the vision of Mary puts forth as the cause of God’s anger toward mankind. On April 5, 1985, the vision of Mary at Medjugorje stated,
“Dear children, this evening I pray that you especially venerate the Heart of my Son, Jesus. Make reparation for the wound inflicted on the Heart of My Son. That Heart is offended by all kinds of sin.”2[3]
The reason this statement by the apparition of Mary is so damaging to the Gospel of Christ is that it portrays Christ’s sufferings as the cause of our separation from God when in fact Christ’s sufferings are the cause of our reconciliation. As it is written in Isaiah 53:11, God contemplated Christ’s sufferings and was satisfied:
“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
We are informed by Paul in Romans 5:1 that the reason “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” is that Christ’s sufferings removed the cause of separation by satisfying the Father’s wrath against us. His sufferings completely atoned for our guilt and satisfied the wrath of God, for Christ in His sufferings bore the iniquities of “the many.” God, in Christ, punished our iniquities and thereby removed the offense by which His children were separated from Him. What is more, the Scriptures teach us that the Lord did not do this reluctantly. Rather, it was pleasing to Him:
“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…” (Isaiah 53:10).
The Scriptures teach us that the sufferings of Christ removed the offense that separated us from God. The apparition of Mary says exactly the opposite. As the citation above demonstrates, the vision of Mary at Medjugorje teaches that the sufferings of Christ are the offense: “Make reparation for the wound inflicted on the Heart of My Son.” A testimony to the absolutely confusing and hopeless gospel of the apparitions of Mary is the fact that they assert that we need to make reparations to God for the wounds inflicted on His Son. The truth is that the wounds inflicted on Christ are the reason we do not need to make reparations!
These two visions of Mary have shown contempt for the sanctity and purpose of the Cross of Christ. Both have lied about their identity (i.e., Mary) and both have lied about their origins (i.e., heaven). We must therefore let the authority of the Apostle Paul weigh in on the matter, and he renders his verdict: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14) The apparitions and their message come under the judgment of God on those who teach a false gospel.
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8-9).
Clearly Pope John Paul II saw himself as the custodian of the Fátima apparition’s mandate to consecrate Russia to “Mary’s Immaculate Heart.” which he has done. On October 8th, 2000, he went so far as to consecrate the world and the new millennium to “Mary Most Holy.”2[4]
In this manner, the visions of Mary have lent themselves to increasing John Paul’s esteem in the eyes of men. Likewise have the popes—John Paul II in particular—lent their influence to increasing the apparitions’ esteem in the eyes of the world. Is their relationship not one of mutual support and mutual endorsement? Have they not together influenced the world?
Paragraph 67 of the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church Para. states,
“Throughout the ages, there have been so-called ‘private’ revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ’s definitive revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history. Guided by the magisterium of the [Roman Catholic] Church, the sensus fidelium knows how to discern and welcome in these revelations whatever constitutes an authentic call of Christ of his saints to the Church.”
Rome rationalizes acceptance of other sources of extra-Biblical revelation by stating that the ordinary faithful Catholics welcome whatever the “magisterium” that is the teaching power of the Roman Church guides them into accepting. She consolidates her power over the rank and file Catholics by denying in practice that revelation is complete and definitive.The apparitions have become part of the tradition of Rome. This is shown by such as Roman Catholic priest, Michael Scanlon at Holy Family Catholic Church in Ogden, Utah. On January 6, 1994, when he stated, “We’re a Church that believes in Scripture and Tradition. This is our tradition. This is part of the belief of our Church: the traditions of our Lady’s apparitions and those messages.”2[5] Scanlon acknowledged the apparitions of Mary as part of the deposit of faith.
More detailed analyses of the messages of the apparitions of Mary, their demonic origins and their interactions with Popes, are contained the books Quite Contrary and Graven Bread. The reader is encouraged to investigate these issues further. Upon doing so, one finds the Roman Catholic church allied with a demon and its messages of establishing ones own righteousness by self suffering, reparation, and prayer and obedience to one claiming to be Co-Redeemer, co High Priestess, even elevated Throne of God.
1 Timothy F. Kauffman, Quite Contrary, 189 pp. including bibliography, glossary, and indices; Graven Bread, 204 pp. including appendices, bibliography, glossary, indices. Out of print can only be purchased second hand
2 Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima, pp. 68-9 Brackets added for clarity.
3 To Bear Witness, pg. 99, para. 172 Message of February 2, 1991
4 To Bear Witness, pg. 68, para. 86 Vision of March 29, 1991
5 Our Lady Queen of Peace,” Our Lady in Italy,” pg. 14, Message of May 7, 1986. Used by permission.
6 Zimdars-Swartz, pg. 30 Message of September 19, 1846
7 To Bear Witness, pg. 63, para. 73 Message of August 26, 1990
8 Caritas of Birmingham,, “Messages From Our Lady,” September-December 1990 issue, pg. 1. Message of November 25, 1990
9 A Call to Peace, vol. 4, no. 1, “1992 Locutions from the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart,” pg. 15. Message of August 14, 1992
10 To Bear Witness, pg. 75, para. 106. Message of march 13, 1991. The reference is to the Gulf War of 1991.
11 The Apparition of Mary’s message to the United States, October 13, 1992
12 Walsh, Our Lady of Fatima, pp. 51-2, 120
13 O’Carrol, pg. 222. Message of February 25, 1988
14 Caritas of Birmingham, June-October 1992 edition, pp. 1-2. Message of
August 25, 1992
15 Kuntz, pp. 61-2. Message of November 10, 1991
16 Our Lady Queen of Peace, “Messages from Our Lady of the Americas,” pg. 9. Message of January 13, 1991. Used by permission.
17 Our Lady Queen of Peace, “Our Lady in Italy,” pg. 14. Message of January 10, 1986. Used by permission.
18 To Bear Witness, pg. 58, para. 65. Message of November 17, 1990
19 To Bear Witness, pg. 38, para 22. Message of August 14-15, 1990
20 To Bear Witness, pg. 38, para. 22. Message of July 11, 1991
21 Sign of the Times, Volume 6, Number 2, April/May/June 1994
Published by Signs of the Times, Sterling, Virginia, Maureen Flynn, editor. “Heaven’s Global Tapestry.” pg. 49. Message of February 2, 1994
22 A Call to Peace, vol. 4, no. 1, “ Locutions from the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate heart,” pg. 4. Message of January 23, 1992
23 Words From Heaven: Messages of Our Lady from Medjugorje, 5th ed., (Birmingham, AL: St. James Publishing Company, ©1991) , pg. 162. Message of April 5, 1985
24 “The culminating moment of the Jubilee of Bishops was the Mass concelebrated by the Pope and Bishops in St Peter's Square on Sunday morning, 8 October. Tens of thousands of the faithful gathered for the sacred liturgy, which concluded with the Act of Entrustment to Mary Most Holy.” L'Osservatore Romano Weekly edition in English 11 October 2000.htm
25 From a video of Michael Scanlon’s sermon.. (Emphasis in original)