The Vatican’s dramatic approval for the Medjugorje devotion—extraordinary in that the apparitions allegedly are still ongoing—is the strongest thus far as the tenth in a series of official declarations since new norms for discerning mysticism were introduced in January. It is the most active participation of Rome in Catholic mysticism in memory.
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The decision by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the Pope’s express approval, included not just a Nihil obstat for the general theme and messages (currently the highest level an apparition can attain, short of the Pope making his own declaration on supernaturality), which as such is an authorization of public devotion, but a nulla osta or overall certification that the apparition does not contradict Church teaching; thus the Vatican’s “note” on the apparitions constituted not just acceptance but an invitation for the faithful to visit the site or follow its messages, in accordance with the first week of occurrences there in late June of 1981, and for local ecclesial authorities to promote it.
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We encourage all to carefully read the document [full text here].
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The Vatican Note makes clear at repeated junctures that the events and pilgrimages should not center around seers. “It is important to clarify from the outset that the conclusions of this Note do not imply a judgment about the moral life of the alleged visionaries,” said the Vatican news release. “Additionally, when recognizing an action of the Spirit for the good of the People of God ‘in the midst of’ a spiritual experience, present from its beginnings until now, we should remember that the charismatic gifts (gratiae gratis datae) that may be connected to that experience do not necessarily require those involved to have moral perfection.” Clearly, the Vatican found some troubling characteristics with one or more of the six seers.
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Intriguingly, the Note establishes the special Apostolic Visitor or papal envoy for the parish of Medjugorje as the one who will “discern any future messages—or past messages that have not yet been published—and should authorize them before any publication.” The intrigue: whether the current visitor, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, authorizes release of the monthly message, the next of which would normally come out next week (September 25).
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Intriguing also, at the press conference releasing the Note, Cardinal Manuel Fernandez, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, mentioned that he hadn’t met the alleged visionaries (“alleged” being an adjective repeatedly used), but once the notification was ready, had sent a letter to each of the six individuals offering some “suggestions” for the future. He didn’t provide any additional information on what those suggestions might entail. (Always obediently adhere to what the Church discerns and advises.)
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Discerning seers as laymen:
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[Adapted from Michael Brown’s Q&A book, The Day Will Come]:
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Q: In every century they’ve expected the Second Coming. You said many current mystics say the same thing. How do we discern the authentic messages? How do we detect the phonies?
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A: (Michael Brown): I asked Father Jozo Zovko of Medjugorje how to discern. He said false sites of apparition consist of “words without fruits” and are fashioned to attract the curious. They give us a few fireworks and engender a faith that’s superficial. They spread like wildfire and must be taken with extreme caution. It’s a confusing time, and even at a legitimate site, the devil can infiltrate. He can slip in. He can ape Mary or Jesus.
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Look at Lourdes: The legitimate apparitions began on February 11, 1858, and proceeded for eighteen formal apparitions in the grotto or small cave.
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But midway through those apparitions, which are among the most famous in history, others began to claim the same thing. They claimed they too were seeing Mary. This started around April 11 when five women went to an opening in the cliff above the grotto to investigate. Two of them claimed they saw an apparitional woman. A few days later, a second group claimed to see or hear Jesus.
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Remember, at Lourdes a number were suspected of showmanship or infestation by the devil. In fact, during one frenzy, an eerie, high-pitched voice issued from the grotto, thought by some to be the Virgin but, as one observer noted, was “more the devil than the devil himself.” The commotion continued until July, when the Bishop of Tarbes condemned accounts coming from the false seers and established a commission to investigate Saint Bernadette, who of course was found to be authentic. A woman named Marie Courrech also was not discredited by the inquiry. But in one case of those many others, at the opening of the grotto a vague, vaporous figure appeared to a fifty-year-old servant woman. It was the beginning of the rash of apparitions that would soon create forty-eight seers who are known by name, and others whose names have escaped history.
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That’s not to say Mary and the Lord Himself never appear to individual mystics, groups, or that He doesn’t grant fleeting visions, but we are in an age of false prophets, and as Jesus said in Matthew 24:23-27: “If anyone tells you at that time, ‘Look, the Messiah is here,’ or ‘He is there,’ do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will appear, performing signs and wonders so great as to mislead even the chosen if that were possible.”
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“So if they tell you, ‘Look, He is in the desert,’ do not go there; or ‘He is in the innermost rooms,’ do not believe it. As the lightning from the east flashes to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be,” said Jesus.
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Too many in the past several decades have obscured or diluted the message of authentic seers. “We know that evil always follows apparitions, as in the case of Fatima and Lourdes,” said Father Jozo, referring to those many false seers who swarmed upon Lourdes during Saint Bernadette’s apparitions. Instead of the powerful Grace you get from authentic messages, the questionable ones often transmit an almost gritty and confused sensation, and volumes upon volumes of messages, often laden with predictions that fall flat. You become a little uneasy. Listen to your innermost spirit.
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Q: Why would the devil want to ape Mary? Why would he promote something religious?
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A: Simple subterfuge. Many seers have messages that seem holy enough but are actually of human origin. Ninety-nine percent of what they say may be true and Scriptural, but there is often that tiny one-percent flaw. Humility is crucial because it infuses the soul with perspective and balance. It gives us a wide field of vision, while pride and ego lead only to blindness. Many want a magic bullet for determining apparitions but all I can say is, seek spiritual balance. Don’t become too believing, buying into every mystical claim, but neither become hyper-skeptical, which is even worse. Seek a place in between.
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Pray for balance. Pray for discernment. Like any talent, it’s a gift.
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And it’s special. To a degree, it can be developed. But I’ve seen many devout people who simply don’t have much of it. They have other gifts. They have other attributes. But not the discernment of spirits. As it says in 1 Corinthians 12:4-10, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”
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Q: Whether it’s apparitions or people who say they’ve seen angels or other phenomena, how do we know if someone is having a holy experience?
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A: Through patient prayer and fasting. Those who fast or sacrifice in some way will find a keener sense of discrimination because doing so conquers the flesh, declares the spirit to be supreme, and puts evil at more of a distance. It backs evil away. It separates demons and stops them from influencing us and obnubilating the spiritual landscape.
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If you want to make sure something is not from the evil one, fasting will clear the mind and, if done well, will flush the evil out (see Matthew 17:21). On the other hand, an involvement in mysticism without fasting is an invitation to deception and even potential harm. Most false visionaries are not deliberate tricksters but rather are plagued by self-deception. Although the thoughts are of the natural order, they begin to think there’s a Divine origin to all of their thinking. Thank God at Lourdes the attempt at obfuscation didn’t ruin the main and true apparitions.
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Q: Are you saying that we’re seeing the same thing now?
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A: On a more massive scale because at this stage, Medjugorje is much bigger than Lourdes at the same stage; it’s global, not confined to southern France. Its messages engrave themselves almost indelibly upon the memory, whereas the words that come from our own “understanding”—our own internal dialogue–are like the first movement of thought, which passes and is forgotten, said St. Teresa of Avila. A true message employs the rich economy of language witnessed at places such as Medjugorje, Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, and the Miraculous Medal. False ones (usually products of a “locutionst’s” own understanding or subconsciousness) ramble in volume after volume. There are various levels, and the above apparitions are what I would call “first-tier” ones.
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A truly high-level locution will come to us even if we resist it. Some saints have suggested that in the initial testing we do exactly that: resist locutions to see if they do return. Test them by rejecting them. “No soul who does not deal with them as with an enemy,” said John of the Cross, “can possibly escape delusions in a greater or lesser degree in many of them.”
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If a locution is from the devil, it will fade or there will eventually be niggling doubts. St. Ignatius once said that any thought which weakens or troubles us in the least should be suspect. Where there is smoke, where doubts persist, there is often fire, although we must also be cautious that the devil doesn’t instill unnecessary doubts. Once more, sacrifice, discipline, spiritual control, and prayer are the only ways of purifying our discernment.
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[resources: Michael Brown retreat, October 12 and pilgrimage to Medjugorje]
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