Mac this priest says that Sr Agnes was thrown out of her convent on the streets! because they didn't want the message? Who are they that didn't want the message and who threw her out on the streets? In the first video which was very good! there is no mention of her being thrown out to the streets! So like Joe I don't understand? I believe that Sr Agnes has definitely suffered but not at the hands of her order or the Catholic heirachy in Japan! Akita is authentic and is approved! despite what some may believe. Akita stands today as an approved prophesy.
I can understand your puzzlement, Joe. This whole matter is a lesson in itself. Even the fact that Mac, the scourge of most modern apparitions , draws attention to this recent development regarding Akita is significant. I think I can add here that Mac is interested because the traditionalist SSPX became interested in the Akita events and visited Sister Sasagawa when she was still present in Akita. But I can confirm that the priest in the video which Mac has posted is correct about what has happened to Sister Sasagawa. A couple of years ago I was in contact with a TLIG friend in Japan who was born in Akita and whose home town it is. He told me: One sad thing is Sr. Sasagawa has been heavily persecuted and treated like a psychiatric patient in Japanese church. Nobody in Japan knows about Our Lady of Akita in fact, and no priest talks about Akita here. Most of priests ignore and even some insult this apparition, even though it has been approved by Bishop Ito. Possibly more than any other modern apparition, we have a perfect example of how some Church leaders and clergy try to block the Holy Spirit. And in the case of Akita and Sister Sasagawa, they seem to have succeeded.
Tell me one saint that hasn't suffered and he/she is probably not a saint. Look at seers of Akita and Fatima. May Gods Will be Done
This is very true. If you're not a threat to the evil one then he leaves you alone. A sign of authenticity to me is that the seer/prophet etc is persecuted
Through suffering, saints win great graces for the world. Some, like Mother Teresa, agree to suffer for their whole lives out of love for Jesus. Think of what she went through by accepting abandonment.
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. John 15:18-25
I believe that the weeping statue of the Blessed Mother at Akita is the only weeping statue which has been declared as worthy of belief by the Holy Office. So that is something very positive. I also find in interesting that the blood type of the actual blood from the statue and the tears & the sweat have different blood types. I wonder if the blood is that of Christ and the tears & sweat is of the Blessed Mother. I don't need scientific proof but I wonder if they have any useable DNA from the Shroud of Turin and imagine if it was a match to the blood from the statue at Akita.
The blood studies from the Shroud of Turin: Heller and Adler further studied the dark red stains and identified hemoglobin, as well as the presence of porphyrin, bilirubin, albumin, and protein.[107] Working independently, forensic pathologist Pier Luigi Baima Bollone concurred with Heller and Adler's findings and identified the blood as the AB blood group.[108] Subsequently, STURP sent flecks from the shroud to the laboratory devoted to the study of ancient blood at the State University of New York (SUNY), Binghamton. Dr. Andrew Merriwether at SUNY stated that it is almost certain that the flecks are blood, but that no definitive statements can be made about its nature or provenance, i.e., whether it is male or from the Near East. He also stated that no blood typing could be confirmed, as the DNA was badly fragmented. Studies indicate that the blood flows are consistent with those of a crucified man.[109] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin
Thank you David for this but I think your contact may be mistaken. When I was there I met a professor priest from the seminary who was a great believer and promoter of Akita. Also why would local Bishop Isao of Nagasaki lead a pilgrimage each year to Akita? As I said, the good nuns told me about Sister Agnes, that she was being well cared for. I now remember this video being posted here some time ago and the suggestion been made that no where in the shrine is there any mention of the messages. This is due to respect for Bishop Ito who himself was awaiting papal approval. Opponents exploited his untimely death and did not complete his mission. As we know there was opposition in certain Vatican quarters and had he lived I believe he would have prevailed. But his mission had already succeeded 100% in the exercise of authority as local ordinary and Vatican emmisary. His examination of the phenomena which he himself witnessed was thorough and lengthy and addresed scientific, spiritual, secular and social elements. His written approval was clear in its conclusion and humble in its expectancy of further approval from The Pope. I was hesitant to mention SSPX as I thought I would be accused again of obsessing about their role. The SSPX as far as I know are mostly happy with Akita. The only reason perhaps that some supporters of SSPX would 'hijack' it would be to present their claimed abuse of Sister Agnes it as an example of so called modernist attitudes. There is however a constant stream of pilgrims from all over the world with visiting priests and a local priest says mass for the nuns each day. When I was there there was a large group of Vietnamese pilgrims from Australia with their priest and a small group of French volunteers also with their own priest who were helping tsunami victims. I spent some time with them. They were very outspoken - in a good way - and were not afraid to criticise the Japanese culture for the way it suppressed the concerns of these victims. They had all learned Japanese and would have told me if anything had happened to Sister Agnes. I think I remember them and the priest from the seminary telling me that they were in touch with sister Agnes and she was fine. I think they told me she was still having mystical experiences. It does indeed appear that some local Church oppisition may be present as there was in Fatima and Lourdes but the shrine is well known locally. All I had to do was show my miraculous medal to the assistant at the information centre in the city and then the bus driver to let them know where I wanted to go. No one spoke English there but immediately on seeing the medal they exclaimed "Maria" and I was on my way. This in a non Catholic country. The nuns kindly let me stay in the chapel by myself with the miraculous statue even when the chapel was closed for a period each day. Great reverence was shown to the statue only exceeded by the reverence shown to The Eucharist. No criticism of the Church was ever made. I would sit for hours in the chapel in view of the statue and the Tabernacle and the it would feel like minutes. They gave me private viewing of the cottons that were used to wipe Our Lady's tears, tears that we honour every Tuesday in my local church in front of our own Statue of Our Lady of Akita as we say the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows. The beauty and the power of Mary saturated every drop of air in that holy place and like our present Advent each moment was full of holy expectancy. I have no doubt about Akita and the witness of Sister Agnes, Bishop Ito and Bishop Isao in his example of leadership. I believe that within a couple of years we will be confirmed in our faith in Akita as strongly as we are confirmed in faith in Fatima and Lourdes.
Joe, how big is the statue? For some reason I imagined it being life sized but I think I saw a picture where it looked quite small, but that may have been a reproduction of it.
Hmm, all a bit strange. The quote I copied above was from an email from 2013. In an email from earlier this year, the same person was being asked if he could arrange for someone to meet Sister Sasagawa in Akita but he replied that she was no longer in Akita but in Kumamoto which is apparently far from Akita. I think the point my friend was making was that although there are tourists/pilgrims, the Japanese Church says nothing about the apparitions.
Watch this again from 15.30mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6isd20OPYY This confirms she was silenced and removed[thrown out] from her convent. Joe confirms the message is not available in Akita and the cottons not on display. If you have a particular question you would like to ask that priest PM it to me.
The cottons can be seen by anyone on request. They are not hidden. They are protected. The messages still await official Papal approbation. That will not come until approval. There is nothing sinister in this. She may have been silenced and poorly treated at one time but like David says this is nothing new for visionaries. This is not the fault of Vatican II.
And they cannot be displayed and protected at the same time? They threw out the prophet and silenced the message. Why is that so difficult to accept Joe?
For the same reason Protestants dumped the Traditions of the Church for , 'Sola Scriptura'. A go it alone approach which did not work out too well for them. For the Church is Mother to Scripture, just as she is Mother to true Mystics who have nothing to fear from the Discernment of their Mother. She ahs been given the task of releasing and binding. Humilty is the true sign of the Mystic and Obedience its fruit. The visionaries of Medugorje have always submitted to the Church. They would be the very first to reject your proposition David, which is very,very misguided.
I am left trying to imagine St Bernadette telling her local Bishop to take a hike. It just won't come to me.
