Early Apparitions (40 - 999 A.D.)

40

Zaragoza (Spain)

Visionary: St. James the Greater

Title: Our Lady of the Pillar

According to ancient Christian tradition, the Mother of the Savior appeared to the apostle James the Greater. James had left Jerusalem to go to the ends of the earth and, before starting the journey, the Blessed Mother had promised to visit him. Indeed, on one occasion, when James preached the gospel, she would appear majestically on a marble column to encourage him to continue the evangelization of Spain. Also gave him a commission to erect a church to his glory where he was to be kept this column of marble. She bilocated, that is, she appeared in Spain while still living in Jerusalem (or Ephesus). The origin of the Cathedral of Zaragoza is built around the chapel of Santa Maria del Pilar. [ Read more ]

ca. 48

Ephesus, Asia Minor (Turkey)

Visionaries: The Apostles

According to some legends, the Holy Virgin Mary appeared to the apostles, three days after her Assumption into heaven. Clad in a bright light than the sun, she turned to them that they had begged for his help and protection from heaven: "I'll stay with you in eternity." Whether Mary rested in Ephesus or Jerusalem remains a controversial issue.

India

Visionary: St. Thomas (Apostle)

According to some legends, the Holy Virgin Mary appeared to the St. Thomas in India, after her Assumption into heaven.

81

Patmos (Greece)

Visionary: St. John the Evangelist

Title: The Woman Clothed in the Sun

According to some legends, St. John the Evengelist received a vision of the Virgin Mary before he composed the Book of Revelation.

105

Kuravilangad (India)

Visionaries: shepherd children

It is believed that Our Lady appeared to a few children at Kuravilangad, who were tending their flock in the bushes. Our Lady asked them to build a church at the place from where a miraculous perpetual spring sprouted, a spring which exists even today. The children reported this matter to the elders and a church was built there. The present church was completed in 1960 when Rev. Fr. Thomas Manakattu was the parish priest.

Source: http://www.kuravilangadpally.com/contentpage.aspx?pid=History

231

Neocaesarea (Asia Minor)

Visionary: St. Gregory the Wonder-Worker (213 ca.- 270)

The Virgin Mary and the Apostle John would appeared to St. Gregory the Wonderworker (213-270), before he was ordained bishop of Neocaesarea. The apostle, at the urging of Mary, would provide all the necessary clarifications to the Saint around the theological issues, particularly on the mystery of the Trinity, then the subject of strong controversy.

Source: Gamba, Mario. "Apparizioni mariane nel corso di due millenni" 1999 Ediz.Segno

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July 11, 250

Le Puy en Velay (France)

Title: The Black Virgin of the Puy-en-Velay

Feast Day: July 11

In 47, the Lady appeared in Le Puy (Haute-Loire, France), in a chapel built by the faithful few years before on a high mountain, to a woman recently converted to Christianity. Villa was plagued by a serious illness and no doctor had been able to help. Our Lady, during her appearance, completely cured her.

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ca. 250

Lenola (Italy)

Visionary: St. Paterno (an Egyptian monk)

While passing through on the way to visit the graves of St. Peter and Paul, an Egyptian monk St. Paterno was brought to a secret community of persecuted Christians to help them bury those who died in a massacre at the hands of Emperor Decius. That night, Our Lady and Child appeared to him in a vision.

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August 10, 258

Rome (Italy)

Visionary: St. Lawrence (Martyr)

The Virgin's appearance to this Roman deacon during his torture on the grill, is without any authenticity and totally unverifiable. Neither "Acts of St. Lawrence" (originating in the 4th Century), a text replete with improbabilities as pointed out by Rouillard (column 52), neither the work of the poet Prudence "Peristephanon" (PL t. LX 294-340), neither the "Acts of Polychronius (originating in the 6th century) naming a similar event. The legend of St. Lawrence began in the first half of the 4th Century, during the reign of the emperor Constantine with the Edict of Milan (313). A basilica is built above his tomb. His cult began growing in popularity from that time.


Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART. p.448

ca. 300

Edessa

Visionary: St. Alessio

According to an unverifiable medieval legend, Alessio, born in Rome around 350, in a senatorial family, received an apparition of the Virgin in a church in Edessa. The apparition called his name and prclaimed him a "man of God". The first account of the life and miracle of Alessio appeared in the west in the 10th century. The cult of St. Alessio was supressed in 1969.

Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART. p.66

ca. 300

Italy

Visionary: St. Julian of Antioch, the "Poor Man", the Hospitaller (Martyr)

A personality of historic uncertainty, he promised on his wedding day to live in virginity with the future saint Basilissa. Being "both in prayer, their room trembled, then an overwhelming light appeared. Two choirs then appeared in the room, one of a great multitude of saints, manned by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the other of innumerable virgins who had in their midst the Virgin of Virgins, Mother of God" according to Ribadeneira (according to Legende Doree of Jacopo da Varazze). This legendary tale has no trustworthy historical foundation.

Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART. p351. A. Butler e Godescard, Vies des saints, t. I, Lille, 1855, 68. Collin de Plancy, La Grande Vie des saints, t. I, Paris, 18788, 350; Ribandeneira, Les FLeurs des vies des saints, t, I, 1660, 53.

305

Alexandria

Visionary: St. Catherine of Alexandria

Legend says that St. Catherine of Alexandria studied philosophy when she was young as was fashionable in Alexandria's high society. During the course of her studies she learned about Christ. Then Catherine was converted by a vision of Our Lady and the Holy Child. She refused marriage to an emperor because Christ had already appeared to her in person and placed his gold ring on her finger (like St. Catherine of Siena). She later received a vision of Christ in prison. [ Read more ]

325

Myra, Lycia (Asia Minor)

Visionary: St. Nicholas of Bari (the Miracle Worker) (c.270 - 345)

One of the most revered Orthodox saints, the healer Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, in Lycia (Asia Minor) in the first half of the fourth century, also known in Italy as Nicholas of Bari.
He would receive, according to tradition, two apparitions of the Virgin Mary, the first prior to his ordination, and the second during the celebration of a Holy Mass at the end of the Council of Nicaea. The two appearances urged him to fulfill his spiritual mission. In this council he was very committed to support the doctrine of the divinity of Christ.

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335

Kuravilangad (India)

Visionaries: shepherd children

Our Lady asked them to build a church at the place from where a miraculous perpetual spring sprouted, a spring which exists even today. The children reported the events to the elders and a church was built there. The church is noted for its old bell, which contains inscriptions belonging to some unknown script. Another significant artifact is a model of a ship made from wood.

Source: http://kuravilangadpally.com

ca. 350

Island of St. Nicholas (Italy)

Visionary: a pious hermit
Title: Santa Maria a Mare

Towards the middle of the fourth century the Holy Virgin appeared to a pious hermit who had retired to the island to show him the place where he had buried a treasure with which he had to build him a church. The hermit, fearing a demonic temptation, did not obey. The Virgin appeared to him again, ordering him to obey. The hermit then dug at the place indicated and found a jeweled crown and vessels containing pieces of silver and gold. With the coins, he built the church, and crowned with a diadem found a statue of Madonna made raised above the altar.

Source: "Apparizioni mariane" M.Gamba

August 4, 352

Rome (Italy)

Visionaries: John of Rome and wife (wealthy Christian couple), Pope Liberius

A wealthy Christian couple with no children of Rome wanted to appoint the Virgin Mary as heiress of their property. In the night between August 4 and 5, Mary appeared to the couple and at the same time as Pope Liberius (+ 366), expressing the wish that a church was erected on the Esquiline Hill, and precisely on where the next morning the snow would have covered soil. In fact, on the morning of August 5 actually the snow fell on a narrow piece of land. In that place was then erected a shrine to the Virgin Mary, the Church of Liberius, which was then replaced in the fifth century with a great church named Santa Maria Maggiore, consecrated in 432. The feast of Our Lady of the Snows (August 5) commemorates this event. [ Read more ]

363

Caesarea (Asia Minor)

Visionary: St. Basil (Bishop) (330 - 379)
Title: Sovereign Mediatrix of her Son Jesus

The Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, had decided to destroy, as soon as he returned from the war against the Persians, the Church of St. Basil, one of the leading bishops and theologians of the time. Then the Virgin Mary appeared to Basil, as "sovereign mediator of His Son Jesus," promising to protect him from the anger of the Roman emperor.The emperor was not able to implement his plans for he died on the battlefield in the third year of his reign.

Source: "Marian Apparitions" by Marino Gamba Ed.Segno

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371

Tours (France)

Visionary: St. Martin of Tours

Sulpicius Severus (+ ca. 420), and inspired writer, columnist, in his biography of St. Martin of Tours (316/7-397), reports that he would often receive the grace of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially by when it had become, in 371, bishop of Tours. The biographer says that Mary was acting against St. Martin in a dual capacity: as a queen and as a real mother.

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380

Tagaste (Algeria)

Visionary: St. Monica (332-387)

The Virgin appeared to St. Monica (332-387), the mother of St. Augustine, consoling in her afflictions, and noted that she had to dress in her state of widowhood.

Source: "Marian Apparitions" by M. Gamba Ed.Segno

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ca. 400

Constantinople

Title: Hodegetria
Visionaries: two blind people

The Hodegetria takes its name from the miracle of the blind and the monastery of Hodegium in Constantinople. According to legend, the Blessed Mother appeared to two blind people in Constantinople, took them by the hand and showed them the way or guided them to the monastery of Hodegium where she restored their sight. Since that time, the blind and all those who suffer eye disorders have come to wash their eyes in the waters from a spring near the church. Although distinctly Eastern, the Virgin Hodegetria has been and remains one of the preferred images of the West.

Source: Mary in Our Life

420

Egypt

Visionary: St. Mary of Egypt

According to her Life (not verified) written by the Palestinian hermit St. Zosima (V century), quoted by Alfonso Liguori, 52-53, she would have lived at the court of Alexandria working as an actress. At age thirty, she went to Jerusalem, where she converted during the feast of the Holy Cross. A irresistible force prevented the four times in a row to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. An interior light touched her: she realized that she was rejected by the Lord for her sins. "I look up towards an image of the Virgin and began to pray: O Mother of God! Have pity on a poor sinner! You are the refuge of sinners, for the love of Jesus, your Son, help me! Immediately you hear an inner voice say: Well, since you turned to me and I want to convert, enter the church: the door will no longer closed for you. She did penance in church then return before the image of Mary. "My sovereign, here I am at your orders; where you want me to do penance? - depart, cross the Jordan, and find the place of your rest," She retired to the desert of Transjordan, which was found by two disciples of St. Cyriac.

Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART.

431

Behuard (France)

Visionary: St. Maurilius (364 - 435)

On the tiny island of Behuard, not far from the city of Angers lived Maurilio the hermit, who later became also bishop of this city. Around the year 431, he had an apparition of the Virgin Mary who showed him the spiritual path to follow. In gratitude Maurilio built on the spot a church dedicated to Mary, which has since become the destination of many pilgrimages.

Source: http://www.latheotokos.it

450?

Agde, Hérault, diocese of Montpelier (France)

Visionary: monk
Title: Notre Dame de l’Agenouillade (Our Lady of the Kneeling)

With dating uncertain (around 450) the Virgin appeared on top of a rock to a monk of Saint-Severe from Syria, after an earthquake. According to the legend, the rock retained traces of the knees of the apparition. Hundreds of faithful venerate Our Lady of the Genuflection. In 1583, a convent of cappuchins was constructed at the location. But the sanctuary was destroyed in 1789, then it was taken over by the White Penitents in the 18th century.

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455

Constantinople

Visionary: Emperor Leo I
Title: Our Lady of the Golden Fountain

According to legend, Emperor Leo I (457-474) one day while still a soldier, was leading a blind man walking around of town, when suddenly he heard a voice coming from above and saw the Holy Virgin. She predicted that he would become emperor and that the blind man regained his sight. She also asked him to erect a shrine in her honor. As the Holy Virgin had predicted, he became emperor and the blind man regained his sight. Leo I, to honor the promise made to the Mother of God, immediately built a large church on the site of the apparition.

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In 455 , according to legend, the future emperor Leo I , as a soldier , was accompanying a blind person in a walk out of town, when he first heard a voice calling from above, then saw the Virgin Mary. The appearance would have predicted his future election to the imperial throne and the healing of the blind from their disability, and he urged the erection of a sanctuary in his name. After the fulfillment of prophecies , Leo built a church on the site of the reported Mariophany.

SOURCE: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_di_Costantinopoli

ca. 490

Visionary: Corentin

492

Gargano, Naples (Italy)

Visionary: Pope Gelasio I

500?

Sicea, Galatia (Turkey)

Visionary: St. Theodore of Sicea (Bishop)

A native of Galatia, son of an imperial official, became a monk in Jerusalem. He was the victim of a poisoning attempt. The Virgin appears to him in a dream, reveals the name of the guilty man, puts in his hands three pills for him to reject the poison and then disappears. He was consecrated bishop in 590 of Anastasiopolis. He was canonized in 613.

Poire, Triple Couronne, 1630, t. III, 116 e Sausseret*, t. I. 1854, 104-105.

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART.

526

Rome (Italy)

Visionary: Pope John I

530

Visionary: St. Dosithée

535

Visionary: St. Melaine

538

Adana (Cilicia

Visionary: St. Theophilus of Adana (The Penitent)

Saint Theophilus the Penitent, or Theophilus of Adana (died ca. 538), was a cleric in the sixth century Church who is said to have made a deal with the devil to gain an ecclesiastical position as bishop.

Years later, fearful for his soul, Theophilus repented and prayed to the Virgin for forgiveness. After forty days of fasting, the Virgin appeared to him and verbally chastised him. Theophilus begged forgiveness and Mary promised to intercede with God. He then fasted a further thirty days, at which time Mary appeared to him again, and granted him Absolution. However, Satan was unwilling to relinquish his hold over Theophilus, and it was a further three days before Theophilus awoke to find the damning contract on his chest. He then took the contract to the legitimate bishop and confessed all that he had done. The bishop burned the document, and Theophilus expired, out of sheer joy to be free from the burden of his contract.

c. 550

Visionary: St. Galla

c. 550

Visionary: St. Gregory of Tours (ca. 538 - v. 594)

c. 550

Spoleto (Italy)

Visionary: St. Isaac of Spoleto

Isaac fled to Italy from his native Syria to escape life under the Monophysite heretics who denied that Christ had two natures (divine and human). Upon arriving in Spoleto, he obtained permission to remain in one of the city’s churches after dark in order to pray in the quiet of the night. He continued thus in prayer for three days and nights until a sacristan of the church, jealous of his piety, accused him of hypocrisy, struck him, and drove him away. The ill-tempered sacristan then fell under demonic possession. St. Isaac had stretched himself upon the body of his assailant. "Isaac is driving me out !" exclaimed the evil spirit, thus disclosing to the inhabitants of Spoleto the identity of the stranger. It was only through Isaac’s prayers that the demon was finally expelled. The townsfolk, convinced that they had in their midst a very holy man, offered him presents and would have built him a monastery, but he refused all gifts and retired to a cave on Monte Luco to live as a hermit. In his solitude he experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who instructed him to begin accepting followers to be trained in the religious life. Isaac subsequently established at Mount Luco a laura, a community of hermits, each living in his own cell, but regularly assembling for divine worship. He served as the community’s abbot. Saint Gregory the Great speaks of Isaac’s penchant for humor in sometimes yielding to “extreme joviality.”

All that we know of St. Isaac is derived from the third book of the Dialogues of St. Gregory.

Source: Catholic.org

552

Constantinople

In 552 the Madonna would have appeared to a child jew to motivate, successfully, to shy away from the ill-treatment of his father. The child and his mother were expected to baptize after the event.

SOURCE: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_di_Costantinopoli

552

Gualdo Tadino (Italy)

Visionary: Narsete

560

Genoa (Italy)

Title: Our Lady of the Vineyards
Visionary: Arghenta

Formerly outside the city walls of Genoa, the majestic "Santuario delle Santa Maria delle Vigne" takes its name from vineyards in the midst of which was first erected a chapel to the Virgin, with her appearance to a certain Lady Argenta in the sixth century. The seer, built a small chapel, the first step towards the current sanctuary.

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5th century

Evesham, Worcestershire, England, UK

In the 600s, a swineherd named Eoves saw an apparition of three women singing psalms and heavenly melodies. He told Bishop Egwin, who went the next day to the same place and saw the same vision. Bishop Egwin knew that the woman holding an open book and golden cross was the blessed Virgin. She made a sign of blessing with the cross and then her two maids disappeared. Egwin promised to build a shrine to Our Lady on the site of his vision. The shrine, destroyed under Henry VIII, has been revived, and a pilgrimage established on the second Sunday in June.

Source: http://www.wherewewalked.info

6th century

Saydnaya, Syria

According to tradition, the Our Lady of Saydnaya Patriarchal Monastery was built by the Emperor Justinian I (527-65).  Legend relates that while the emperor was hunting in the Qalamoun region, he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary, who ordered him to build a convent on the high rock upon which she was standing.  The next day, Justinian began work on the foundations of the convent of Saydnaya, and when it was completed, the emperor’s sister Theodosia became its first superior.

Source: Monasteries of Antiochian Orthodox Patriarchate, University of Balamand Publications, 2007. http://antiochpatriarchate.org/

6th century

Constantinople

Visionaries: St. Leo the Great
Title: Life-Giving Spring of the Most Holy Theotokos
Feast Day: May 10

There once was a beautiful church in Constantinople dedicated to the Mother of God, which had been built in the fifth century by the holy Emper...or Leo the Great (January 20) in the Seven Towers district.

Before becoming emperor, Leo was walking in a wooded area where he met a blind man who was thirsty and asked Leo to help him find water. Though he agreed to search for water, he was unable to find any. Suddenly, he heard a voice telling him that there was water nearby. He looked again, but still could not find the water. Then he heard the voice saying “Emperor Leo, go into the deepest part of the woods, and you will find water there. Take some of the cloudy water in your hands and give it to the blind man to drink.Then take the clay and put it on his eyes. Then you shall know who I am.” Leo obeyed these instructions, and the blind man regained his sight. Later, St Leo became emperor, just as the Theotokos had prophesied.

Leo built a church over the site at his own expense, and the water continued to work miraculous cures. Therefore, it was called “The Life-Giving Spring.”

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the church was torn down by the Moslems, and the stones were used to build a mosque. Only a small chapel remained at the site of the church. Twenty-five steps led down into the chapel, which had a window in the roof to let the light in. The holy Spring was still there, surrounded by a railing.

After the Greek Revolution in 1821, even this little chapel was destroyed and the Spring was buried under the rubble. Christians later obtained permission to rebuild the chapel, and work began in July of 1833. While workmen were clearing the ground, they uncovered the foundations of the earlier church. The Sultan allowed them to build not just a chapel, but a new and beautiful church on the foundations of the old one.

Construction began on September 14, 1833, and was completed on December 30, 1834. Patriarch Constantine II consecrated the church on February 2, 1835, dedicating it to the Most Holy Theotokos.

The Turks desecrated and destroyed the church again on September 6, 1955. A smaller church now stands on the site, and the waters of the Life-Giving Spring continue to work miracles.

There is also a Life-Giving Spring Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos which is commemorated on April 4.

KONTAKION Tone 8

O most favored by God, you confer on me the healing of your grace from your inexhaustible Spring. Therefore, since you gave birth incomprehensibly to the Word, I implore you to refresh me with the dew of your grace that I might cry to you: Hail, O Water of salvation.

626

Constantinople (Turkey)

Visionary: Patriarch Sergius

636

Boulogne (France)

Visionaries: A crowd
Title: Our Lady of Boulogne (statue)
Feast: February 23

A rudderless ship without a crew was carrying a statue of the Virgin Mary and Child Jesus and landed at Boulogne, France. According to the legend, Mary appeared to the people gathered near the ship and announced that she had chosen the city as a place of grace. Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Boulogne is also related to the Marian devotion of Godfrey of Bouillon who, having gone on pilgrimage to Boulogne, he offered his crown of Jerusalem to the Mother of God. The ancient miraculous statue was destroyed during the French Revolution, only a hand of Mary was saved but it was still venerated. In 1866 a new cathedral was erected where it a copy of the statue of Mary was placed, revered as the "Star of the Sea."

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658

Visionary: St. Giudicaele

660

Hainault, Flanders

Visionary: St. Aldegonde of Maubeuge (c. 639–684)

La Vita prima Aldegundis (published and translated by Michel Rouche, Maubeuge, 1989) contains messages and visions of the Virgin that insist on her taking the role of the holy bride of Christ: "Thou shalt have no other husband but the Lord... The Lord has been married for eternity so that you receive this incorruptible crown: Then she saw Him adorned with wedding robes" (quoted by Jean Heuclin "The Marian cult in Gaul during the The High Middle Ages" La Devotion mariale de l'an mil a nos jous. Etudes reunies par Bruno Bethouart et Alain Lottin, artois Presses Universite, 2005, 70)

Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART. p 65

August 15, 660

Toledo (Spain)

Visionary: St. Ildefonso (607 - January 23, 667), Archbishop of Toledo (657-667)

Ildefonso, Archbishop of Toledo (657-667), had a strong Marian devotion and was a staunch defender of the true Christian faith. On the feast day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the early morning Ildefonso came in with some priests in the Cathedral of Toledo, and found it was, surprisingly, lit up. On the gate of the chapel, Mary praised the religious fervor of the bishop and handed him a valuable garment as a symbol of his protection. For a long time in the diocese of Toledo a special celebration was held to commemorate this apparition.

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663

Benevento (Italy)

Visionary: St. Barabatus (+682)

In 1663, the Virgin appeared to him under the walls of the besieged city of Constantine II, Eastern Roman Emperor (641-668), according to unverified sources, taken from the legend, 1999, 266.

Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

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684 or 700

Clermont-Ferramd (France)

Title: Our Lady of the Snow
Visionary: St. Bonitus, bishop of Clermont-Ferrand

St. Bonitus, a devotee to the Blessed Virgin Mary, succeeded his elder brother in the episcopal office of Clermont. One morning after a night spent in prayer vigil, he saw the Mother of God with a large throng of angels and saints in his presence to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass. Two years later the bishop of Clermont retired permanently in the abbey of Manlieu, where he died in 710.

According to some uplifting stories of the thirteenth century, St.. Bonet saw the Virgin in 684 or 700, while praying alone in a church dedicated to St Michael. Sausseret reprints the facts reported in the bottom of a letter: "the guards closed the doors. St. Bonit, full of joy for a chance to give free rein to his mercy from that moment, lay prostrate on the floor of the bathroom of the temple with his tears. But as soon as he had been in this position, you feel suddenly come down from heaven and filled with the sounds of harmony. He saw, at the same time, all heavenly choirs fill the sacred area with this light and enter a multitude that his faith had blessed him with. There were, in fact, legions of angels and saints, who composed a the procession for their Queen, mother of Jesus Christ, who appeared after them, seated on a throne carried by seraphim and similar to a queen that a large honor guard precedes and accompanies [...] All these immortal beings continued along the main nave and when they came in front of 'main altar, some of them asked who among them would say the mass. Then the Blessed Virgin spoke up and said, 'Here Bonit, we seek you my faithful servant and excellent bishop, and worthy of fulfilling this holy function "

Some blessed then, obeying the order that she had just given detachment from others and went to the holy bishop who was trembling. Taken by the hand,he accompanied the choir. The saints clothed him in a pontifical ornaments and then he began to say mass with glorified beings as assistants [...] When Mass was over, the Holy Virgin, left him.>> (I, 118-120). Reliable historical sources are almost non-existent: Sausseret cites the reports of Surius, which in turn is based on oral testimony of two successor to Bonet.

Source: Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

6th c.

Bonito (Italy)

Visionaries: Some farmers

The modern shrine of the Blessed Mary of the Snow stands on the site where according to tradition in the late sixth century she had appeared to some farmers as a sweet female figure holding a baby. On her appearance, the oxen knelt. The figure, suspended in the air, was bathed in bright light and was accompanied by angels and archangels who sang sweet music. It was the Madonna. Since then devotion to the apparitions have continued.

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708 or 717

Evesham (England)

Visionary: St. Egwin (of Rochester), bishop of Worcester

The Bishop of Worcester, Saint Egwin, loved to retire to prayer in the quiet solitude of Evesham. One day, while the Bishop was drawing near to meditation, he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary with a court of angels, with a book in her left hand and a cross in her right hand. Bishop Egwin gratitude founded a convent in Evesham, on the site of the apparition and consecrated the church to the Immaculate Conception, Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. In this place the Marian cult is still alive.

Charged with being overly strict by his clergy, Egwin went to Rome. Upon his return to England, he founded Eversham Monastery with the aid of the kingdom of Mercia. A vision of Mary prompted this founding. In 709, Egwin returned to Rome, accompanied by King Cenred of Mercia and King Offa of the East Saxons.

714

Constantinople

Visionary: Mother of St. Stephen the Younger

in the early years of their marriage, the parents of St. Stephen the Younger (+ 764) had no children. The mother of Stephen decided to turn to the Mother of God and begged to be blessed with this great joy. With the hope to obtain this grace, the woman, animated by sincere fervor within, frequently went to pray in a church in Constantinople. One day, the Mother of God, moved with compassion, appeared to her and told her: "Your suffering is over, your prayer will be answered." In fact, the same year she gave birth to a son, Stephen, and consecrated him to God. He became a priest and a staunch defender of the faith. Stephen was especially active in the controversy concerning images under the Emperor Constantine The Iconoclast. He suffered martyrdom in 764.


SOURCE: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_di_Costantinopoli

715

Propezzano (Italy)

Visionary: Three Archbishops on the way back from the Holy Land

The legend is that three archbishop returning from the Holy Land stopped to rest, hanging their bags on a dogwood. When they tried to take them back to continue the journey the tree grew enormously and prevented them from taking their luggage. Fallen into a deep sleep, all three had the same dream: the Virgin showed them a model of a chapel and begged them to build one in her honor that place. So it was that they decided to build the altar in a church setting where the dogwood grew. Hearing about the miracle, Pope Gregory II went there and May 10 of that year, and consecrated the altar of the church.

Source: Article by Sergio Scacchia - 5.18.2007 - http://www.teramonews.com/

720

Farfa (Italy)

Visionary: St. Thomas of Farfa

A native of Maurienne in Savoy, he went to Jerusalem with two companions. One night, he prayed at the Holy Sepulchre. The Virgin appears and tells him to return to the West. He then went to Italy where he became a hermit. The sources of this tale are not verifiable.

Sources:
"Les extases monastique Western entre dans la tradition et saint saint Benoit bernard", unpublished article.

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

727

Maastricht (Germany)

Visionary: St. Hubert of Maastricht

Hubert of Maastricht (the saint, bishop of Maastricht, 727) In the 705-706 or so, the Virgin would appear, when the bishop's seat moved from Maastricht to Liege, according to unverified sources reported by Gamba, 1999, 267. According to legends that have spread from the end of the fourteenth century, he would have converted after a miraculous vision of a deer wearing a light cross between its horns. This story, in fact, comes from an early Christian text from the second century, told by a Roman officer, Eucstachio, who was martyred under the Emperor Trajan (23-117). The legend of the animal "Crucifer" was adapted from John of Damascus in the seventh century, then taken up by Jacopo da Varazze, in his Golden Legend (1261-1266).

Bibliography: P. Sbalchiero, Hubert (saint), DMEC, 2002, 353

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

731

Savoy

Visionary: St. Marino

Marino (saint, blessed, martyr, +731). A native of Savoy, became a hermit and attracted many followers. He thought about retiring to a secret location. One night, the Virgin, accompanied by the twelve apostles, appeared in his sleep, to help him survive his extreme loneliness. He died under the blows of the Saracens.

Bibl. AAS III-II, 536, n. 4, G.-M. Oury, "Les extases monastique Western entre dans la tradition et saint bernard saint Benoit" article unpublished (Arch Sbalchiero).

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

754

Mainz (Germany)

Visionary: St. Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz

St. Boniface, "the apostle of the Germans" (672-754), was born in Windfrid at Crediton, in Devonshire, ordained to be a priest in 710, the metropolitan of the Beyond-Rhine (723), legate of Pope (738) Archbishop of Mainz (747), founder of the Abbey of Fulda, and regarded as the apostle of Germany. while he was absorbed in contemplation of a miraculous icon of the Mother of God hanging from an oak tree, heard Mary's voice say: "The trunk of this oak tree is to remain forever my portrait. " The circumstances of the occurrence and other details remain unknown.

Moganza 754
Gamba, 1999, 267

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

766

Montreuil (France)

Visionary: St. Opportuna

Opportuna (saint, blessed, abbess of Ameneches, +766). Of Norman origin, the sister of St. Crodegando, bishop of Sees, heard her childhood God's call to renounce the world. Seeking her parents' permission to become religious, "Let me now follow the ways of my holy Lord and Mary, Mother of God. I refuse to join the children of other mothers, except that the Virgin conceived, growth remains Virgen: (AASS t. II-III, 222, n. 3) Shortly before her death, at the Norman monastery Montreuil, of which she was abbess, " St. Cecilia and St. Lucia appeared " Mary, Virgin most pure, wait your arrival so that you be united in heaven with her Son that you loved with all your heart in the world. Crowned with a crown of glory, your lamp access, you must come to the meeting of the Bridegroom [...]>> Iibid. 230 n.19) During her agony, she said: "Here is my Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom I entrust you, that you will not see again for a long time in this world ". And stretching out her arms as if she wanted to embrace the Mother of God, herholy soul was freed from the flesh" (ibid. 230-231 n. 20) This story is dated to the first half of the ninth century.

Bibl. AASS, t. III-II, 223-224, n. 6;
Gamba, 1999, 267
A Liguori, Marie de Vertus, 164

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

c. 800

Rosenthal (Germany)

Visionary: Luciano Cerna and others

During the Saxon wars, a general of Charlemagne pitched camp near Ostro. In this place stood a woman in royal robes that wandered around the camp. Even after the departure of the soldiers were repeatedly observed its presence in the surrounding fields and meadows. The lady was seen once even by the noble Luciano Cerna during the chase, chased the man rode up to a linden tree where he discovered, full of surprise, a statue of the Blessed Virgin. In this place he built a chapel and placed it inside the statue that was revered. The image shows Mary with Child, in her right hand while holding a pear, the Child, in turn, holds an apple. The statue of the Virgin Mary has a golden royal robe interwoven with flowers, wearing a purple-red cape trimmed with gold and decorated with lilies on her head a beautiful crown of roses. The monastery of Maria Stella cirstercense became famous thanks to direct asset pilgrimage to "our beloved Lady of lime. The healings and answered prayers attest to the vitality of faith in this place.

c. 810

Corbie (France)

Visionary: St. Anscario, monk of Corbie, archbishop of Hamburg then bishop of Bremen (801-865)

St. Anscario was born in 801 in Picardy, near Corbie. In his youth the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to him, urging him to devote his earthly life in the service of Catholicism. Anscario actively was engaged in apostolate, especially in Scandinavian countries. He was a teacher at the monastery school of Corvey, Monaco Benedictine, bishop of Hamburg (from 831) and Bremen (from 845). He was among the first evangelizers of Sweden and Denmark and, since 827, was known as "the apostle of the North." In 852, Anscario converted King Olaf of Sweden to the Catholic faith, thus promoting the spread of Catholicism in these lands. Pope Gregory IV appointed him legate of the Holy See for the whole of Scandinavia. He often retired to the monastary to meditate, but was also was very active in charitable and spiritual work. He died in Bremen in 865.

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART

836

Toulouse (France)

Visionary: Gondislave

The holy archbishop of Toulouse, Gondisalve, received the grace of some of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Once, during the celebration of Holy Mass, the Mother of God appeared to him and expressed the desire of spreading the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and the institution of a party concerned. Gondisalve dedicated to this task the rest of his life.

840

Tours (France)

Visionary: Audrade of Sens

ca. 900

Blacherne (Istanbul)

Visionary: Andrew and Epiphanius

The Russians attacked Blacherne in the year 860 but fled before the relic of Mary's cloak and they asked the missionaries for their country. 

In the next century (X century), to Blacherne, the Virgin appeared to Andrew, a Foolishness for Christ of Slavic origin, and his disciple Epiphanius. 

Hence the Orthodox feast of the "Protection of the Mother of God" celebrated on 1 October (14 per schedule Julian used by the Orthodox Churches of Slavic rite).  For a long time, the two seers saw the veil shine above the crowd, to which refers the Slavonic liturgy from 1 October (Pokrov).

Source: Cf. René and Patrick SBALCHIERO LAURENTIN, article "recognized apparitions" in: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Our Lady's apparitions. Inventory origins to today. Methodology, personification, interdisciplinary approach, Fayard, Paris, 2007

930

Reims (France)

Visionary: Fr. Gerhard

September 13, 948

Einsiedeln (Switzerland)

Visionary: St. Konrad, Bishop of Konstanz
Title: Our Lady of Einsiedeln

In 934, St. Eberhard of Strasbourg, arrived and set about building a large monastery and Church, the latter enclosing and protecting the hermit and martyr Meinrad's holy little chapel, which was only eight and a half yards long by six yards wide. When this work was completed in the summer of 948, Eberhard, having become the first Abbot of Einsiedeln, invited St. Konrad, the Bishop of Konstanz, to consecrate and dedicate the Chapel of Our Lady of the Hermits. St. Konrad's party, which included the Bishop of Augsburg and many princes and knights of the German Empire, arrived at the hermitage in the Dark Wood, on the eve of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The holy Bishop of Konstanz retired to his room early in the evening in order to rest after the trip. However, despite his fatigue, he did not fail to get up, as was his custom, before midnight, and to go with several religious to pray in the chapel which he was due to consecrate the next morning. While he was fervently beseeching the Blessed Virgin to accept this holy shrine and to make it henceforth a center of pilgrimages where for centuries and centuries she would heal and help her suffering children, suddenly, at exactly midnight, St. Konrad and those with him began to hear the sound of many harmonious voices, chanting a melody of heavenly beauty. Looking up, he saw with amazement that the sanctuary of the chapel was filled with a brilliant light that made everything clearer than the brightest noonday sun, and that the altar was completely illuminated as for a solemn festival. Then he saw coming down from Heaven a magnificent procession of Angels under the leadership of St. Michael the Archangel. Some of them formed the choir and were chanting celestial psalms, while others bearing swinging golden censers took their places before the altar.

After the angels came St. Peter, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, St. Gregory, St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. Then came, vested as deacon and subdeacon, the Martyr-Saints Lawrence and Stephen. And finally, as High Priest, arrayed in pontifical vestments and wearing a violet chasuble, there appeared in all the splendor of His Divinity, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then, as a breathtaking climax, just before God the Son began the Mass that was to consecrate this holy shrine forever to His Immaculate Mother, Mary herself took her place above the altar of her chapel, radiant with dazzling glory and attended by her train of angelic spirits! In speechless awe, St. Konrad followed every detail of this extraordinary Mass. He observed with rapt attention that the solemn ceremony was performed in the minutest particulars according to the ritual prescribed by the Church for the consecration of a temple, except that, at the Sanctus, the angels sang: "Holy God, have mercy on us in the court of the Glorious Virgin! Blessed be the Son of Mary Who has come to this place and Who is to reign for ages of ages!" More than an hour later, having formally dedicated the shrine to His Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady of the Hermits, the King of Kings returned in all His majesty to Heaven with His distinguished company of Saints and Angels. The beautiful living Virgin vanished too, leaving in her place the lovely statue. The singing ceased. The bright light was magically extinguished. And soon the newly consecrated shrine was, to all outward appearances, exactly as it had been before. The saintly Bishop of Konstanz, however, remained kneeling for hours in ecstatic meditation over the marvels which he had just witnessed. Later that morning, when all the dignitaries had assembled, and after he had kept them waiting quite a while, he was politely informed that it was time for him to begin the dedication ceremony. Still deeply moved, he firmly declared that the chapel had already been miraculously consecrated by God Himself during the night. But when the Abbot Eberhard and the other officials refused to accept this story, and insisted that the ceremony for which so many persons had come together should start at once, St. Konrad yielded. Then another striking supernatural intervention took place: as the Bishop put his foot on the first altar step, the great Church was suddenly filled with a strong and impressive voice which everyone present heard exclaim three times: "Stop! Stop, Brother! This Chapel has been Divinely consecrated!"

Later on, a full investigation of these extraordinary events was undertaken by the highest civil and ecclesiastical authorities, and in the year 964, in the presence of the German Emperor Otto and of St. Konrad the Bishop, His Holiness Pope Leo VIII issued a bull confirming the miraculous dedication.

Source: http://www.salvemariaregina.info

c. 950

Castelnuovo di Conza, Salerno, Campania (Italy)

Visionaries: Cantelnovese townsperson
Title: Madonna delle Colture (Our Lady of the Crops)
Commemorated: January 15th

Santa Maria della Petrara is the mother church of the town of Castelnuovo di Conza in the province of Salerno in the region of Campania in southwest Italy.* It succeeded the Church of San Nicola around the tenth century. The site of present-day Castelnuovo dates back to antiquity. The name “Petrara” stems from an ancient village perched on a promontory with caverns and caves. The legend of Castelnuovo recounts that the Blessed Mother appeared to a Cantelnovese man or woman on the path and asked for a piece of ‘unfit’ bread. It is said the person went to his/her house and took a piece of leaven dough ‘smeared with oil or paste’ and offered it to the Madonna. It is said that the Lady asked that an image of her be placed in a church built on the spot. A statue was crafted depicting the Madonna with a piece of bread in her hand, a genuine product of the earth. So was born the image of Madonna delle Colture and the church of Santa Maria della Petrara, a title by which Our Lady is also known, as well as Maria della Petrara. The title is also quite popular in Syria where she is commemorated annually on January 15th. *Not far from Castelnuovo is the Benedictine monastery of St. Menna that plays prominently in the town’s early history. Castelnuovo was hit by the earthquake of January 14, 1466, and was at the epicenter of the earthquake of November 23, 1980.

Source: Santtoro, Nicholas. Mary In Our Life, Atlas of the Names and Titles of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and Their Place In Mar...

959

Herford (Germany)

Visionary: A beggar
Title: Our Lady of the Cross

A beggar who passed a convent suddenly heard someone call his name, turned and saw, to his great emotion, the Blessed Virgin Mary! The Mother of God reassured him with the sign of the cross after a blessing and then gave him the task of going to the monastery with a message of repentance and conversion. Madonna also sent the proof to say that this appearance would be seen a white dove on the wooden cross erected by the beggar in front of the convent. The abbess and nuns were convinced of the authenticity of the message when they saw the white dove perched on the cross. On the site of the apparition a church was later built, consecrated in 1011 by the Bishop of Paderborn, with the name of Our Lady of the Cross. Herford became a famous place of pilgrimage.

More on this apparition >>

963

Mt. Athos (Greece)

Visionaries: St. Peter the Anthonite (Hermits on Mt. Athos)

Peter the Hesychast Aghiorita settled on the holy mountain in 681. Peter was a greek who was a soldier in the imperial court in Constantinople. After being a prisoner of the Arabs voted for the monastic life and went to Rome. One night he dreamed the Blessed Virgin Mary who told him that Mount Athos would become a monastic center. Guided by the mystical force of this vision, Peter went on the holy mountain where he lived for fifty years, until his death in a cave.

Abraham, who in 952 took the name of Athanasius, is considered the founder of monasticism cenobite on Mount Athos, was born in 925-30. in Trabzon on the Black Sea coast in his long stay in Constantinople, he had the opportunity to make friends with the brothers Leo and Nicephorus Phocas.

In 957, under a pseudonym, Athanasius settled on Mount Athos with an old hermit. He lived as a hermit in a first time and faced heavy temptations. One day the Virgin appeared to him and lifted him from these difficulties, consoling him and exhorting him not to leave the Mount and not fail in his monastic vocation. Inspired by this apparition, Athanasius devoted himself with greater zeal to understand the significance of its spiritual mission. Some time later, supported by the emperor,he beca,e the first superior of this monastery, which was established according to the Benedictine rule.

Laurentin, Rene and Sbalchiero, Patrick. Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 2010 Edizioni ART pp.592

965

Cologne (Germany)

Visionary: Herman I - Archbishop of Cologne

The Holy Virgin Mary appeared to the deacon Hermann von Bonn. In this apparition, he was inspired to become archbishop of Cologne, succeeding Bruno I. Unfortunately he fell astray and was deposed.

Source: Hierzenberger, Gottfried. Tutte le apparizione della Madonna in 2000 anni di storia. p. 62

970

Sion Les Saintos (France)

Visionary: St. Geraud (935-April 23, 994)

The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on a hill to St. Geraud, Bishop of Toul, and manifest a desire to see that place in a church dedicated to her veneration. Saint Geraud fulfilled the desire of Mary as he built a Marian shrine on the site. The Bishop of Toul showed a tireless charitable and apostolic zeal; was canonized in 1050 by Pope Leo IX.

Source: Hierzenberger, Gottfried. Tutte le apparizione della Madonna in 2000 anni di storia. p. 62

980

Canterbury (England)

Visionary: St. Dustin (909-988)

One night, while St. Dustin (909-988), archbishop of Canterbury since 960, visited the cathedral to pray, the Virgin Mary appeared to him with a heavenly choir. The Angels and the Saints sang hymns of praise and accompanied the bishop to the entrance of the cathedral, then disappeared. Dustano belonged to the Benedictine Order, devoted himself to the reform of the Church of England and to the renewal of monastic life.

Source: Hierzenberger, Gottfried. Tutte le apparizione della Madonna in 2000 anni di storia. p. 62

PICCIANO (Italy)

Visionary: A shepherd
Title: Our Lady of Picciano

Shortly before the year 1000, the Holy Virgin appeared on the branches of an oak to a shepherd of Abruzzo, looking for his lost cow found her kneeling at the foot of the tree. The church was built to commemorate the event in 1200, although there is evidence dating back to that time.