Vatican Recognition (after Investigation and approval by Local Bishop)*
* Please note: As established in the Council of Trent (1545-63), the local bishop is the first and main authority in the judgement of the authenticity of apparition claims. Vatican approval is not required for an apparition to be considered authentic. After an episcopal approval, the Vatican may do nothing but it may release an official statement or after some time give non-written forms of approval such as a papal visit with the crowning of the associated icon or a gift such as a golden rose, the approval of the construction of (or elevation of an existing shrine to) a basilica, the establishment of a feast day, or the canonization of the associated visionary.
Positive judgments by the local bishop (but not yet by the Vatican) theoretically are able to be reversed by a subsequent bishop - but this has never happened in the history of the Church. Negative judgments (Constat de non supernaturalitate) and rulings of no evidence of supernaturality (Non constat de supernaturalitate) have later been changed to positive judgments on a few rare occasions with the ruling of a subsequent bishop.
If a Marian apparition is recognized by the bishop, it means that the message is not contrary to faith and morals, that Mary can be venerated in a special way at the site and that the faithful can believe with confidence in the supernaturality of the event. But, because belief in a private revelation is not required by the church, Catholics are at liberty to decide how much personal spiritual emphasis (if any) to place on apparitions and the messages they deliver.
Click here for more on the discernment of apparition claims.
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Title: Our Lady of Guadalupe |
Feast Day: December 12th |
Investigated: 1666, 1723 |
First Apparition:
Dec 9, 1531 |
Approved: 1555 by Archbishop Alonso
de Montúfar (1551-1572) |
Last Apparition:
Dec 12, 1531 |
Visionaries: St.
Juan Diego (57), Juan Bernardino |
Number of Apparitions: 5 |
Miracles & Signs: Tilma
of Juan Diego with imprint of image of Virgin;
conversion of millions of indians |
Summary: Mary
proclaimed herself "the Mother of the true
God who gives life" and left her image permanently
upon the tilma of Juan Diego, a recent convert
to Christianity. |
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Investigated: Henryk Firlej, Bishop of Przemysl (1631-1635) |
First Apparition:
1578 |
Approved: Maciej Pstrokonski, bishop of Bishop of Przemysl (1601-1608) built a larger church on the site of the apparition in 1606; Henryk Firlej, Bishop of Przemysl (1631-1635) confirms the supernatural origin of the miracle; On September 8, 1752, Pope Benedict XIV himself crowned the image with Waclaw Hieronim Sierakowski, Bishop of Przemysl (1742-1760), who afterwards personally blessed the crown. |
Last Apparition:
1578 |
Visionaries: Thomas Michalek (woodcutter) |
Number of Apparitions: 2 |
Summary: A pious woodcutter saw a bright light in the forest. Tthe Virgin asked him to alert the authorities to build a church. Thomas, scared, did nothing. The Virgin, then, appeared again, asking him to take action and ending his silence. Thomas went to the authorities but was not believed. After the death of the curate who was against the vision, a chapel was finally built by the parish priest. |
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Title: Our Lady of Siluva |
Feast Day: September 8th |
Investigated: 1612 |
First Apparition:
1608 |
Approved: Aug 17, 1775 by Pope Pius VI. |
Last Apparition:
1612 |
Visionaries: 4 children |
Number of Apparitions:
Many over 4 years
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Miracles & Signs: Complete conversion of Calvinist town; blind man cured. |
Summary: One summer day, in 1608, a number of children were playing while tending their sheep in a field on the outskirts of the village of Siluva. They beheld a beautiful young woman standing on the rock holding a baby in her arms and weeping bitterly. The town which had lost its Catholic identity to the Calvinists over the course of 80 years was restored to the Faith. |
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Title: Our Lady of Laus / Our Lady of Happy Meetings |
Feast Day: September 27th |
Investigated: 1665, 2007 |
First Apparition:
1664 |
Approved: May 4, 2008
Bishop Jean-Michel di Falco of the Diocese of Gap |
Last Apparition:
1718 |
Visionaries:
Benoite (Benedicta) Rencurel (17)
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Number of Apparitions: Many (over 54 years) |
Summary: Benoite Rencurel, a poor shepherdess, was born in 1647. The Virgin Mary started appearing to her in 1664 and continued visiting her throughout the rest of her life. The Blessed Mother told her to “pray continuously for sinners.” |
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Title: Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal |
Feast Day : November 27th |
Investigated: 1836 |
First Apparition:
July 18, 1830 |
Approved: July 13, 1836 - Archbishop Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen of Pari |
Last Apparition:
Nov 27, 1830 |
Visionaries:
St.
Catherine Laboure (24) |
Number of Apparitions: 2 |
Miracles & Signs: Miraculous
Medal; Prediction of Paris Revolution (1871);
incorruptible body of Catherine Laboure |
Summary: In the
chapel of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent
de Paul, Mary showed herself three times to novice
Catherine Laboure. Laboure said she was commissioned
by the Virgin to have the medal of the Immaculate
Conception or "Miraculous Medal" made
in order to spread devotion to Our Lady. |
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Title: Our Lady of Zion |
Feast Day : November 17th |
Investigated: Feb 1842 |
First Apparition:
Jan 20, 1842 |
Approved: June 3, 1842 by the Vicar General of Pope Gregory XVI, Cardinal Patrizi |
Last Apparition:
Jan 20, 1842 |
Visionaries:
Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne (28) |
Number of Apparitions: 1 |
Summary: Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne, an anti-Catholic Jew, befriended a baron in Rome and began wearing the Miraculous Medal as a simple test. On Jan 20, 1842 while waiting for the baron in the church Sant Andrea delle Fratte, Ratisbonne encountered a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He converted to Catholicism, joined the priesthood, and began a ministry for the conversion of Jews. |
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Title: Help of Christians |
Feast Day: January 13th |
Investigated: 1866 |
First Apparition:
January 13, 1866 |
Approved: Bishop's commission examined the miraculous event and recognized the healing and supernatural character. Church was elevated to minor basilica and consecrated by Pope Leo XIII in 1885. |
Last Apparition:
January 13, 1866 |
Visionaries: Magdalene Kade (31) |
Number of Apparitions: 1 |
Miracles & Signs: Cure of Magdalene and many others at the shrine. |
Summary: Magdalene Kade, an orphaned 31 year woman bedridden due to many illnesses, received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary who immediately cured her. A bishop's commission examined the miraculous event and recognized the healing and supernatural character. In the period between 1870 and 1885 a neo-Romanesque church was built and was elevated to minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII, who officially consecrated it and dedicated to Mary, "Help of Christians." |
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Title: Our Lady of Gietrzwald |
Investigated: 1877 |
First Apparition:
June 27, 1877 |
Approved: Bishop Filip Krementz 1878; Warmian Bishop, Jozef Drzazga Sept 11, 1977 |
Last Apparition:
Sept 16, 1877 |
Visionaries:
Justyna Szafrynska (13), Barbara Samulowska (12) |
Number of Apparitions: 9 |
Miracles & Signs: Healing spring; return of piety and devotion to the villagers; Primate of Poland Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski is cured on 100th anniversary of apparitions. |
Summary: In 1877, the Virgin Mary appeared to two girls over the course of 3 months and encouraged a return to prayer. |
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Title: Our Lady of Knock |
Feast Day : August 21st |
Investigated: 1879, 1936 |
First Apparition:
August 21, 1879 |
Approved: In 1936 Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Gilmartin's investigative commission returns a positive verdict. |
Last Apparition:
August 21, 1879 |
Visionaries: 18 |
Number of Apparitions: 1 |
Miracles & Signs: 300+
miraculous cures |
Summary: During
a pouring rain, the figures of Mary, Joseph, John
the Apostle and a lamb on a plain altar appeared
over the gable of the village chapel, enveloped
in a bright light. None of them spoke. At least
15 people, between the ages of 5 and 75, saw the
apparition. |
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Title: Our Lady of Fatima / Our Lady of the Rosary |
Feast Day : May 13th |
Investigated: 1919 |
First Apparition:
May 13, 1917 |
Approved: October 13, 1930 (Dom Jose Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of the Diocese of Leiria-Fatima) |
Last Apparition:
October 13, 1917 |
Visionaries: Lucia dos Santos (9), Jacinta Marto (8), Francisco Marto (7) |
Number of Apparitions: 6 |
Miracles & Signs: Dancing
Sun, Healings, Conversion of Russia, Incorruptible
body of Jacinta. |
Summary: While
tending sheep, Lucia de Santos and her two cousins,
Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reported six apparitions
of Mary, who identified herself as "Our Lady
of the Rosary." Mary urged prayer of the
rosary, penance for the conversion of sinners
and consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. |
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Title: The Virgin with the Golden Heart |
Feast Day : August 22nd |
Investigated: 1949 |
First Apparition:
Nov 29, 1932 |
Approved: July 2, 1949 by André Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur |
Last Apparition:
Jan 3, 1933 |
Visionaries: Fernande Voisin (15), Andree Degeimbre (14), Gilberte Voisin (11), Gilberte Degeimbre (9) |
Number of Apparitions: 33 |
Miracles & Signs: Miraculous
cures, fireball |
Summary: Mary
is believed to have come 33 times to the playground
of a convent school to five children. Identifying
herself as "the Immaculate Virgin" and
"Mother of God, Queen of Heaven," she
called for prayer for the conversion of sinners. |
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Title: The Virgin of the Poor |
Feast Day : May 31st |
Investigated: 1935-37 |
First Apparition:
January 15, 1933 |
Approved: March 19th, 1942 Bishop Kerkhofs of Liege; Aug 22, 1949 |
Last Apparition:
March 2, 1933 |
Visionaries:
Mariette
Beco (11) |
Number of Apparitions: 8 |
Summary: In a
garden behind the Beco family's cottage, the Blessed
Mother is said to have appeared to Mariette Beco
(age 11) eight times. Calling herself the "Virgin
of the Poor," Mary promised to intercede
for the poor, the sick and the suffering. |
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