Yet one more apparition in the flurry during the 1940s brings with it more questions than answers.
It’s connected to alleged apparitions at Heroldsbach in Germany [see story last week], where seers reported the Virgin Mary at one juncture stating that it was true she also had appeared at Marienfried just under a hundred miles away in a decade of mysticism highlighted by recent Vatican approval and rejections of similar circumstances.
Will the Vatican rule on this one—Marienfried—also? Is there merit? What about its lengthy central message? And what did it say about Mary as a “mediatrix of grace”?
Key questions here, for Rome turned down apparitions during the Forties in Amsterdam in part because they used the title “Mary, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces.”
That Mary is an intermediator for Grace is not the controversy: she long has been known as “Our Lady of Grace.” She’s venerated under that title in many countries under various aspects of it.
Many parishes, churches, and schools bear this name. Our Lady of Grace. Feast day: February 7. The most famous image associated with it is that displayed on the Miraculous Medal, which was fashioned after Saint Catherine Labouré’s 1830 visions in a convent chapel on the Rue du Bac in Paris. (Saint Catherine said that Mary appeared standing upon a globe with her arms outstretched. Dazzling rays of light–Grace–were emitted from her fingers.)
No disputing that.
At the Rosa Mystica apparitions in Italy (among the apparitions recently approved for devotion by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith), the Blessed Mother is referred to as “Mary Grace.” I am Mary of Grace, that is, the Full of Grace, Mother of my Divine Son Jesus Christ,” she said, adding that she had an “abundance” of graces.
But mediatrix of all graces?
That’s one rub: The last three Popes have resisted or at least decided not to act upon requests (especially pronounced at those now-rejected Amsterdam apparitions) to give her a title that places her not so much under Jesus but—as “co-redemptrix”—next to Him. And whether or not it’s simply a problem with semantics, the current Pope has reacted publicly and strongly against equating her in any fashion with Christ.
If by “all graces” it is simply meant “every grace” (that Mary can go to Heaven, to her Son , for any Grace), nothing seems errant. It’s the idea of the mediatrix that perhaps creates the wariness for some and, more so, the idea—not expressed at Marienfried, Heroldsbach, nor most apparitions—of Mary as “co-Redemptrix.” Difficult it is to imagine a humble maiden requesting such an august title.
When we wonder about her role, perhaps it is efficacious to recall the wedding at Cana and how she had to go to her Son for the miracle.
Marienfried?
The Blessed Virgin Mary allegedly appeared there three times to a twelve-year-old named Barbara Reuss, according to the “Miracle Hunter” website.
The importance of the Rosary was highlighted as well as the need to live a life of holiness, sacrifice and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Blessed Virgin stated the great importance of offering acts of love, praise, and adoration to God the Father and the Most Holy Trinity.
At Marienfried Our Lady indeed (allegedly) called herself the Mediatrix of All Graces and declared that it is the will of the Father that the world acknowledge this position of His Handmaid.
“During the first alleged experience, April 25, 1946, an angel appeared calling himself ‘the Angel of the Great Mediatrix of Graces’ and told Barbara to kneel while he addressed a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary: ‘Act as the Mother of Grace; act as the thrice miraculous Mother; the thrice admirable Mother of Grace, Thou Great Mediatrix of Graces!'” notes the website. “As the angel prayed, the Blessed Virgin appeared.”
During the second apparition to Barbara, Mary told the girl, “I am the mediatrix of all graces. Just as no one can meet the Mercy of the Father, except through the sacrifice of Jesus, so you can not be heard by my Son except through my intercession. Christ is not well known because I am not well known and loved.”
Only through her?
Another key question.
The Virgin was described as “unspeakably beautiful and brilliant, a blinding vision of most pure light and radiance… above Her head were brilliant rays forming a three-tiered crown.” When she lifted her hand to give a blessing, she became incredibly brilliant and transparent. So bright was she that Barbara was unable to look at her.
The apparitions of Marienfried are neither approved nor condemned retaining the legal status of “non constat de supernaturalitate” (not evidence enough to establish it either way). In a statement on March 20, 2000, the Bishop of Augsburg declared that the faithful were free to conduct pilgrimages to the Marian Shrine, meaning the Vatican may indeed take a very close look at it.
It was not an apparition accented by tremendous phenomena, such as those at places such as Fatima, Ghiaie di Bonate, Akita, Betania, Kibeho, Rosa Mystica, and Medjugorje. “I have already given many signs and spoken often to the world, but people have not taken them seriously,” she supposedly intoned. “On account of these outward signs the greater multitude do not even grasp the essential things. Outward signs only succeed in distracting many, who do not draw the necessary conclusions from them.”
The most sobering words spoken there?
“The world will have to drain the cup of wrath to the dregs because of the countless sins through which His Heart is offended. The star of the infernal regions will rage more violently than ever and will cause frightful destruction, because he knows that his time is short, and because he sees that already many have gathered around my sign. Over these, he has no spiritual power, although he will kill the bodies of many; but through these sacrifices, my power to lead the remnant host to victory will increase.”
“Some have already allowed my Sign to be impressed on them; their number will increase. But I want to tell you, my children, not to forget that the very cross of those bloody days is a grace.”
“Pray, make sacrifices for sinners. Offer yourselves and your works to the Father through me, and put yourselves at my disposal without reserve. Pray the Rosary. Pray not so much for external things – weightier things are at stake in these times. EXPECT NO SIGNS OR WONDERS (such as the many phony visions and apparitions deluging the world today). I shall be active as the powerful Mediatrix in secret.”
“After this, the devil will be possessed of such power that those who are not firmly established in me will be deceived. There is a time coming when you will stand in this place all alone and will be frightfully calumniated. Because the Devil knows how to deceive men, they permit themselves to be completely blinded to the higher things. But you should establish everything on confidence (in my Immaculate Heart).”
“The devil has power over all people who do not trust in my Heart. Wherever people substitute my Immaculate Heart for their sinful hearts, the devil has no power. But he will persecute my children. They will be despised, but he can do them no harm.”
“I am the powerful MEDIATRIX OF GRACE. It is the will of the Father that the world acknowledge this position of His Handmaid. People must believe that I am the permanent Bride of the Holy Ghost and the faithful Mediatrix of All Graces. God wants it so. Only my children recognize this Sign because it reveals itself in secret, and for it they give glory to the Eternal God. I cannot manifest my power to the world in general. I must still hold myself aloof with my children.”
“In secret I shall work marvels in souls until the required number of victim souls will be filled. Upon you it depends to shorten the days of darkness. Your blood and your sacrifices shall destroy the image of the beast. Then I can manifest myself to the world for the glory of the Almighty. Choose my Sign, so that the Triune God may soon be adored and honored.”
[resources: Queen of Roses]
[Footnote: “Good Day, this is Joseph, the author of the Heroldsbach book. Thank you so much for your support! I have loved your books since I was a teenager and attended several of your retreats. Regarding Church approval for Heroldsbach, I will only say this: we should always be obedient and not rush things. The Church allows us to go there and pray. The penalties were lifted. The story can be spread but as far as full approval I personally don’t see it happening. I currently am writing a book on Heede where I visited last year. Hope to complete within a few months. God bless! -Joseph Michael Rizzi”]