What to think of the apparitions of Medjugorje? A Mariologist answers

The apparitions help us!

What to think of the apparitions in Medjugorje? The question was addressed to Fr. Stefano de Fiores, one of the best known and most authoritative Italian mariologists. “In general and briefly I can say this: when one follows apparitions on which the Church has already spoken, one certainly travels on a safe path. After a discernment, the Popes themselves often gave an example of devotion, as happened with Paul VI pilgrim to Fatima in 1967 and especially with John Paul II who went on pilgrimage to the main Marian shrines of the world. Indeed, once the apparitions have been accepted by the Church, we welcome them as a sign of God in our time. But they must always be traced back to the Gospel of Jesus, which is the fundamental and normative Revelation for all other manifestations. However, the apparitions help us. They help not so much to illuminate the past, but to prepare the Church for future times, so that the future does not find it unprepared. We must be more aware of the difficulties of the Church on a journey through time and always involved in the struggle between good and evil. It cannot be left unaided from above, because the more we go on the more the children of darkness progress, who refine their tricks and strategies until the coming of the antichrist. As expected s. Luigi Maria di Montfort, and raised a cry to God in the fiery prayer, the last times will see as a new Pentecost, an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit on priests and lay people, which will produce two effects: a higher holiness, inspired by holy Mountain which is Mary, and an apostolic zeal that will lead to the evangelization of the world.

The apparitions of Our Lady in recent times aim at these purposes: to provoke the conversion to Christ by consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We can therefore see the apparitions as prophetic signs that come from above to prepare us for the future. But before the Church speaks, what do we have to do? What do you think of the thousands of apparitions in Medjugorje? I think passivity is always to be condemned: it is not a good thing to ignore apparitions, to do nothing. Paul invites Christians to discern, to believe what is good and to reject what is bad. People must get an idea to mature a belief according to the experience made on the site or contact with the visionaries. Certainly no one can deny that in Medjugorje there is a profound experience of prayer, poverty, simplicity, and that many distant or distracted Christians have heard an appeal to conversion and to an authentic Christian life. For many Medjugorje it represents a pre-evangelization and a way to find the right way. When it comes to experiences, these cannot be denied. "

Source: Eco di Maria nr. 179