Marian apparitions

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Gidras05

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Hey everyone!

I have a simple question:

Why is it that nearly all apparitions or miracles that happened after Jesus’ death and resurrection… are of Mary, or involve her as the messenger? I mean, all I ever hear about are Our Lady of Fatima, or Our Lady of Guadalupe, or Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Laus, Our Lady of La Salette, Our Lady of Akita, Our Lady of Beauraing, Our Lady of Pontmain, Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Our Lady etc etc etc.

Not that I deny Mary’s role in our faith but…

Why is it that practically all of the miracles or revelations have been of Mary? Not only that, but SO MANY orders are entirely devoted to Mary. Again I understand her importance, but I mean…

It seems a little strange to me, at least. That hardly any miracles or apparitions that we ever hear about are of Jesus, or of God, or of an angel, or anything else that doesn’t directly involve Mary somehow. And it doesn’t help a Catholic that is trying to convince Protestants that our devotion to Mary isn’t over-the-top, when all they see are these Marian apparitions, and us calling Mary “Queen of the Universe” or “Queen of the Angels” etc etc.

Thank you! (again I want to reiterate the fact that I do understand the role of Mary and her importance, and I do pray the Rosary personally)
 
For me, I see it as the natural consequence of Our Lady’s role in the New Covenant. Our Lord calls her “woman” identifying her with two figures in the Bible. Genesis, the woman’s seed crushes the serpent and the serpent strikes his heel. An enmity is placed between the Woman and the Serpent, and between her seed and his seed. Fast forward to the Gospels- Our Lady’s seed is struck by the Serpent on the cross and he says to her,“Woman, behold thy Son” and to St. John he says “Behold Thy mother”. Then fast forward to Revelations and we see the figure of Genesis in a much more dramatic spectacle. A Glorious woman adorned with the Sun, moon and Stars appears, in labour and gives Birth to a Son- The Dragon hates this Son and seeks to destroy him but fails and turns on “the rest of the woman’s offspring”.

In short, the Virgin is utterly and completely committed to her offspring- Her Son and those joined to him, and she cannot be uninvolved in the History of the Church- She must watch her children in the Dessert who are targeted by the Dragon- Her great enemy by Divine decree from the beginning. Considering this enmity and the attacks of the Devil against the children of Mary, it’s no surprise that Our lady is so intimately involved in the history of the Church down the ages. It’s a living relationship that should be expected to grow more and more visible as the dragon’s attacks against the church grow more and more frantic.

Also, it’s not true that she’s the only apparition. Some of the greatest devotions in the Church stem from apparitions of our Lord himself, like the Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy devotions, and some of the greatest miracles are Eucharistic.
 
Scripture does say that Jesus wouldn’t return until the second coming. In my opinion, Mary is sent on his behalf. Even just an apparition of Jesus would cause many to falsely think he had returned.
 
Marybeloved said:
For me, I see it as the natural consequence of Our Lady’s role in the New Covenant. Our Lord calls her “woman” identifying her with two figures in the Bible. Genesis, the woman’s seed crushes the serpent and the serpent strikes his heel. An enmity is placed between the Woman and the Serpent, and between her seed and his seed. Fast forward to the Gospels- Our Lady’s seed is struck by the Serpent on the cross and he says to her,“Woman, behold thy Son” and to St. John he says “Behold Thy mother”. Then fast forward to Revelations and we see the figure of Genesis in a much more dramatic spectacle. A Glorious woman adorned with the Sun, moon and Stars appears, in labour and gives Birth to a Son- The Dragon hates this Son and seeks to destroy him but fails and turns on “the rest of the woman’s offspring”.

In short, the Virgin is utterly and completely committed to her offspring- Her Son and those joined to him, and she cannot be uninvolved in the History of the Church- She must watch her children in the Dessert who are targeted by the Dragon- Her great enemy by Divine decree from the beginning. Considering this enmity and the attacks of the Devil against the children of Mary, it’s no surprise that Our lady is so intimately involved in the history of the Church down the ages. It’s a living relationship that should be expected to grow more and more visible as the dragon’s attacks against the church grow more and more frantic.

Also, it’s not true that she’s the only apparition. Some of the greatest devotions in the Church stem from apparitions of our Lord himself, like The Sacred Heart and the Divine Mercy devotions, and some of the greatest miracles are Eucharistic.
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This is an excellent response, and yes the role of Mary, or that of “woman” is quite vast in our tradition and faith.

As for the apparitions though, the main crux of this dilemma, both of these are indeed apparitions of Jesus as recognized by the Church. I knew of these two, but I found it quite strange how prevalent Marian apparitions and miracles are in comparison to Jesus or God in general. I would think that we would have more apparitions or miracles about Jesus, seeing as his role is literally central to our Faith.

That’s not to say that God can’t do what He pleases and can’t let Mary be our intermediary, but I just find it strange how we hardly have any about Jesus (with the exception of the two you mentioned. In fact, those are the only two I knew of myself).
 
Farsight001 said:
Scripture does say that Jesus wouldn’t return until the second coming. In my opinion, Mary is sent on his behalf. Even just an apparition of Jesus would cause many to falsely think he had returned.
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But the Church recognizes two apparitions of Jesus, as was stated above. These are Vatican-approved apparitions.

Your view is actually pretty much my view too, but I wasn’t sure how many people might share that view as well.
 
Another reason is that Mary is one of the few people in heaven who already have their bodies before the general resurrection, so she is well-suited to appear without people thinking she’s a ghost, an angel, or a soul in purgatory.
 
Mary is sent from God for a message for the world. Thats what happens in all the true apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. She always leads us to her Son.
 
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