Apparitions of the BVM

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Two questions:
  1. What is the total number of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary reported?
  2. What is the total number of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary actually confirmed by the Magisterium?
 
Dacinom said:
Good morning,

Someone kindly correct me if I am wrong I may not have this exactly right, but:

As a technical clarification…I beleive the answer to your question #2 is zero. It is my understanding that the Catholic Church approves apparations for devotion but it never confirms that Mary ever appeared anywhere. We may, as Catholics beleive that she has, but we are not required to do so.

As a Catholic I can say that I don’t beleive Mary appeared at Fatima or Lourdes and I can remain a Catholic in good standing. Even though I, personally find these apparations beautiful I respect the Holy Catholic Church that no one is ever required to follow or beleive in a private revelation.

So your question technically should be how many has the Church approved for devotion not how many has she confirmed. This may seem technical and picky but I think words matter so I wanted to mention there is a difference.
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Actually i was told that 3 or maybe 4 Popes confirmed Our Lady of Fatima and Mother Church teaches she came there
 
CountrySteve said:
Actually i was told that 3 or maybe 4 Popes confirmed Our Lady of Fatima and Mother Church teaches she came there
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It depends on how you define the word teach.

All apparitions are private revelation, they are not part of the public revelation.

As they are not part of the Deposit of Faith belief in them is not necessary for salvation.

So a faithful Catholic is not required to believe in any of them.
 
While it is correct that we are not required to believe in church approved apparitions, (as it does not add to the deposit of faith,) I can’t help but feel a sense of deprivation and sadness for those who don’t. I believe Our Mother continues to encourage and exhort her children, and to do so in a beautiful and supernatural way, is gift. Listen closely to her messages - at their core, they never change and she ceaselessly calls us back to her Son through prayer, fasting and penance.
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good”.
1 Thess 5:19-21
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Monicad said:
Thank you, I am certainly no apologist! Naturally many Catholics including many Popes beleive Mary has come! I beleive she has too…however I also know we are not required to beleive that she has, therefore I don’t think the Church has officially confirmed that she has. Perhaps this is semantics I was thinking that the word “confirmed” was not the appropriate word.

To Dorothy: wow that website had all the information anyone could hope for! Thank you for linking that!
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You are welcome!
 
Tigg said:
While it is correct that we are not required to believe in church approved apparitions, (as it does not add to the deposit of faith,) I can’t help but feel a sense of deprivation and sadness for those who don’t. I believe Our Mother continues to encourage and exhort her children, and to do so in a beautiful and supernatural way, is gift. Listen closely to her messages - at their core, they never change and she ceaselessly calls us back to her Son through prayer, fasting and penance.
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Yes, the approved apparitions are helpful!

It is good that the Church in her wisdom does not require belief in them.

My favorite is Our Lady of Guadalupe! To think that 8,000,000 Aztecs were converted due to that image, in how it “spoke” to those people about the true God.
 
When was the last apparition? What are your thoughts as to why (if you believe the apparitions are true in the first place) Mary hasn’t made any more appearances?
 
I never thought of this until now, but in mariology does it say anywhere that she “will come again”? I’ve always been fascinated by these appearances.
 
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