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Summary
Church sacristan Bernardo Martinez entered an old chapel and observed a supernatural light illuminating from a statue of the Blessed Virgin. On another day, the Virgin appeared clothed in white (similar to the statue in the church) and asked for the daily Rosary with Biblical citations and have the First Saturday Devotions renewed. She also warned of future sufferings for Nicaragua if the people didn't change. Not wanting further problems, he ignored the Virgin's request to spread the message, and when he avoided the location of the apparition, the Virgin appeared to him a few days later in a pasture promising him help. |
Timeline
1880 |
Fr. Andres Rongier, SJ, a Jesuit missionary from Mexico, prophesied that Cuapa would be a famous future site of a Marian apparition. |
Aug 20, 1931 |
Bernardo Martinez is born. |
April 15, 1980 |
Bernardo discovered that the statue in the chapel was supernaturally lighting up on its own. |
May 8, 1980 |
The Virgin appeared clothed in white (similar to the statue in the church) and asked for the daily Rosary with Biblical citations and have the First Saturday Devotions renewed. She also warned of future sufferings for Nicaragua if the people didn't change. Not wanting further problems, he ignored the Virgin's request to spread the message.
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May 16, 1980 |
Not wanting further problems, he ignored the Virgin's request to spread the message, and when he avoided the location of the apparition, the Virgin appeared to him in a pasture promising him help. The next morning, an inner peace filled his soul which allowed him to tell what happened with no fear of ridicule. |
June 8 , 1980 |
The Virgin gave him a nighttime vision (a 'movie in the sky') which moved from the early church to men in white (likely Dominicans) praying the Rosary, then Franciscans, and finally ordinary people with Rosaries whose example he was told to follow. |
July 8, 1980 |
An Angel appeared and told him and foretold several events which shortly took place (including the death of a cousin which could have been prevented had he listened to Bernardo's warnings). |
Sept 8, 1980 |
The Virgin appeared as a child and told him to not raise funds for a new Church: "The Lord does not want material churches. He wants living temples which are yourselves." |
Oct 13, 1980 |
The Virgin Mary appeared in a big luminous circle forming over the ground and allowed everyone (50) there to witnessed. When her form appeared he pleaded with her to allow herself to be seen by the others for they didn't believe. Her face turned pale and her garments grey as she became visibly saddened by their hardness of heart. As Bernardo apologized profusely, she instructed him to pray the Rosary, turn from violence, pray for the world, and make peace. She tells him that he will no longer see her in that place and vanishes. |
1982 |
Bishop Bosco M. Vivas Robelo, Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Managua, authorizes "the publication of the narration of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Cuapa." |
Nov 13, 1982 |
Pablo Antonio Vega Mantilla, Bishop of Juigalpa, (the diocese of the apparitions) declares that he has "an obligation to assure the authenticity of the events in order to be able to assist in discerning the true value of the alluded to message." |
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Bernardo Martinez is ordained a priest. |
Photo Gallery
Painting of Our Lady of Cuapa with Bernardo Martinez (Nicaragua 1980)
Painting of Our Lady of Cuapa (Nicaragua 1980)
Painting of Our Lady of Cuapa with Bernardo Martinez (Nicaragua 1980)
Chapel of Our Lady of Cuapa (Nicaragua 1980)
Chapel of Our Lady of Cuapa (Nicaragua 1980)
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Description of the Virgin
"Suddenly I saw a lightning flash. I thought and said to myself, 'It is going to rain.' But I became filled with wonder because I did not see from where the lightning had come. I stopped but I could see nothing - no signs of rain. Afterward I went over near a place place where there are some rocks. I walked about six or seven steps. That was when I saw another lightning flash, but that was to open my vision, ans she presented herself.
"I was then wondering whether this could be something bad, whether it was the same statue as in the chapel. But I saw that she blinked and that she was beautiful. She remained above the pile of rocks as if on a cloud. And there was a little treeon top of the rocks and over that tree was the cloud. The cloud was extremely white. It radiated in all directions the ray of sun light. On the cloud were the feet of a very beautiful lady. Her feet were bare. The dress was long and white with a celestial cord around the waist, and it had long sleeves. Covering her was a veil, a pale cream color, with gold embroidery along the edge. Her hands were held together over her breast. It looked like the statue of the Virgin of Fatima."
- Bernardo Martinez
Messages
The Virgin asked for the daily Rosary with Biblical citations and have the First Saturday Devotions renewed. She also warned of future sufferings for Nicaragua if the people didn't change.
After the initial 4 apparitions, the Virgin reportedly subsequently appeared in later years with messages of the destruction of atheistic communism and the whole world. She also requested the propagation of the devotion to the shoulder wounds of Christ.
Click here to read Bernardo Martinez's official statement given to Bishop Mons. Pablo
Antonia Vega, Prelate Bishop of Juigalpa.
Approval
In 1982, both Bishop Bosco M. Vivas Robelo, Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Managua and Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega M., Prelate Bishop of Juigalpa (the diocese where the apparitions took place) released statements positively affirming the apparitions.
Click here to read the official church statements regarding the apparitions at Cuapa.
Prayer
The Virgin Mary encouraged Bernardo Martinez to say this prayer:
St. Mary of Victory, Favorite Daughter of God the Father, give me your faith; Mother of God the Son, give me your hope; Sacred Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, give me your charity and cover us with your mantle."
She requested that she be invoked with these words:
"Holy Virgin, you are my Mother, the Mother to all of us sinners..."
Books and Videos
Sirias, Silvio. Bernardo and the Virgin: A Novel, Northwestern University Press, 2005
Varghese, Roy Abraham . God-Sent: A History of the Accredited Apparitions of Mary.Crossroad Publishing Company. New York 2000.
Weglian, Miriam and Stephen. Let Heaven and Earth Unite! Milford, Ohio. Faith Publishing Co., 1996
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