I am reading a lovely book called, 'See how she loves us by Joan Carrol Cruz at the moment, the story of 50 different Marian Apparitions from around the World. Joan has of course written numerous Catholic books and so is a safe pair of hands.
I like to read one or two of these apparitions before going to sleep at night as they put a smile on my face. But I was reading one last night from France which had a nice sharp edge to it and has me thinking. It was Our Lady of Pellevoisin, France in 1878. Well why sharp and hard? Well at the first vision Estelle Faguette was 33 and on her death bed. The devil was there,as he is at all deathbeds. Our Lady came and chased him. So that was two pretty hard sharp things, the fact she was dying and the fact Our Lady chased him. Another hard sharp thing was that Our Lady did not cure her but said she would either die or be cured in five days time. So that was pretty sharp. Also after Mary left the devil came back again. Hard. Another hard thing was that Our Lady appeared 15 times to Estelle and in one of them pointed out Estelle's sins and faults. Estelle was shocked there were so many, she had no idea. I don't mean hard or sharp in a bad way. But these apparitions remind me apparitions are not, necessarily all fun and games. At Fatima the children being shown hell, for instance was no joke. I kind of like this, it makes them more interesting, less sugar coated.
I really, really love Our Lady of Pellevoisin. Trying to imagine Our Lady appearing and pointing out my faults would probably cause me to reel over backwards and die. It would not be something I would be expecting her to do somehow. My own mother, like other good mothers corrected we children, but it was always my father who had the dread hand. We used often to hear the horrible words, 'I'm telling your father when he come home!' The voice of doom. But somehow I can never picture Our Lady giving a telling off. However she is a mother and mother's treat all their children differently. The visionary, Estelle was, clearly a Victim soul and called to great holiness so I could see her getting the Hard Word a lot more than the rest of us. Padre Pio one night got a very bad physical beating from the devil. It left him unconscious and Our Lady came and placed a pillow under his head. When the Friar came in in the morning he found him like this. Actually I think there are some photos of him badly beaten going about. He went to say mass after this and the wounds could be seen by everyone.I can relate far more to this than Our Lady giving me the bad news about myself. But it is fascinating. Apparently there is a huge recent surge of interest in these apparitions and the scapular. I think I might get one. I can see how it would be a terrific remedy against Modernist Heresy. https://www.pellevoisin.net/en/le-scapulaire/
It's a lovely book to fall asleep to and to pray about and to think about. Our Lady comes to Earth very often , but always with a very good reason. She is more holy than all the saints and angels put together. So every single footprint she makes is pure gold. Some of these apparitions such as Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima she saved literally millions of souls, simply by putting her head round the door. So the stories of her visits from heaven are very, very well worth reading. But the proud distain these. Only the little ones draw near.
There's one thing I notice about the Devil at the moment both inside and outside the Church. It's the top ones he went for and gained control of, not the little guys. How like him. I go from Church to Church every day and all I see are good people and Holy Priests. But when I turn my eyes to places like Rome or Government, all I see are the servants of hell.
This beautiful apparition occurred about this time of year in 1878. For this apparition in Pellevoisin, France, Our Lady told Estelle that she was very touched by the letter she wrote to her in petition for her healing. Estelle wrote in the letter that were she to die, she wouldn't able to send her parents financial help and they would be forced to beg for their food. Then Our Lady told Estelle that she was so moved by the letter, that she showed it to her Son. Isn't that awesome? This link recounts the apparitions and the way Estelle's healing came about https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.90956/30
How beautiful and homely this is, how very down to Earth. It reminds me of the Second Luminous Mystery, The Wedding Feast of Cana. How God operates in the everyday and ordinary. I think Estelle's prayer would have been especially attractive in that she was no begging for herself but for her own poor parents.
Ah, such wonderful stories concerning our precious Mother! I'm taking a leave from MOG for Lent. A busy time for me. I'll be leading the Stations of the Cross every Friday, and will dedicate each week to you all: Simon helps Jesus to carry his Cross.
The CDF gave these apparitions the nihil obstat. From what I've read, prior popes also showed differing signs of approval for this apparition. Cardinal Fernandez doesn't seem to be addressing the apparitions that most people are wondering about for approval
My great take away from these apparitions is that Mary is a person, a woman and with a mother's heart Pope St John 23rd said one time that the great longing of all children is that their mother might tell them that they are the favourite. Well we are all Mary's favourite child. I have never several saints in my life some of whom at least I know will be raised to the Altars of the Church. What really set them apart is that when you talk to them they get their whole loving attention. It is as though you were , for that time, the only person in the universe. For a little while you are their favourite. It is similar with Mary when I talked with her buy even more so. We are her favourite not for a while but for always. We are, for her in her great love the very centre of the Universe. Her one and only favourite child. But the eyes that gaze on us and the heart that loves us us a human heart. Let us not forget this. A human heart, a mothers heart, on fire with love beats in her breast. Let us approach this heart with joy and total confidence as her favourite favourite child.
Our Blessed Mother is a real person with a real Mother's heart. I know this because I met her , saw her and talked to her . A real live human being. Our Mother and she loves us with a love, which if we knew how strong it is, we would die of joy. A real woman. A real person. A real Mother with a real mother's heart. Never forget this
