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Below are a few links which reveal the troubling aspects of the various Marian apparitions of the Latin Church, especially those of Medjugorje which is even opposed by the Vatican, and why Orthodox Christians should avoid them and not give devotion to them. Various perspectives are given and I do not necessarily endorse every view point, but the information is valid to help form your own conclusion regarding these events which are fundamentally opposed to Orthodox Marian devotion. Especially consider the fact that the Medjugorjian visions occurred on the same Hill of Vision that was the site of a massacre of Orthodox Christian Serbs by Roman Catholic Croats in 1941. Consider also the visions of Fatima and Lourdes are a direct attack on Orthodox teachings of the Virgin Mary and that of Fatima especially seeks justification to bring Papal authority to the Russians and other Orthodox formerly living under Communist conditions.
Visions Outside the Church
The Marian Apparitions: Divine Intervention or Delusion?
Journey to Medjugorje
Mary-Making in Herzegovina: From Apparitions to Partitions
The Myth of Medjugorje
Marian Apparitions and the Yugoslav Crisis
Medjugorje, Successful Satanic Cult
THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDJUGORJE
Globalization and Medjugorje
Medjugorje -- A False Apparition
Medjugorje Deception or Miracle?
Politicizing the Virgin Mary: The Instance of the Madonna of Medjugorje
The Medjugorje Hoax
The Troublesome Priest of Medjugorje
Vatican Denounces Group's Claim of Seeing the Virgin Mary More than 40,000 Times as 'work of the devil'
The Appearances At Fatima And ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE FATIMA APPARITION
The Vatican and Russia
Former Soviet Country Celebrates Lourdes Apparitions (This is unfortunate!)
The Most Holy Mother of Jesus (This also is unfortunate, along with a creepy "Agni Parthene" being chanted in the background)
Visions Outside the Church
The Marian Apparitions: Divine Intervention or Delusion?
Journey to Medjugorje
Mary-Making in Herzegovina: From Apparitions to Partitions
The Myth of Medjugorje
Marian Apparitions and the Yugoslav Crisis
Medjugorje, Successful Satanic Cult
THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDJUGORJE
Globalization and Medjugorje
Medjugorje -- A False Apparition
Medjugorje Deception or Miracle?
Politicizing the Virgin Mary: The Instance of the Madonna of Medjugorje
The Medjugorje Hoax
The Troublesome Priest of Medjugorje
Vatican Denounces Group's Claim of Seeing the Virgin Mary More than 40,000 Times as 'work of the devil'
The Appearances At Fatima And ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH SPEAKS OUT ABOUT THE FATIMA APPARITION
The Vatican and Russia
Former Soviet Country Celebrates Lourdes Apparitions (This is unfortunate!)
The Most Holy Mother of Jesus (This also is unfortunate, along with a creepy "Agni Parthene" being chanted in the background)
"[Pope] Benedict says that the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM) allegedly making daily appearances in the village of Medjugorje in Herzegovina is a fraud designed by the Devil to lure Catholics from the path of righteousness."
ReplyDeleteBelfast Telegraph, August 6, 2009
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/eamon-mccann/medjugorje----a-shrine-to-the-virgin-mary-or-a-sham-14444295.html
I agree with the pope on this to be honest. In fact I think all genuine apparitions are the work of Lucifer designed to take Catholics off the path of Righteousness. The devil will do anything possible to get Christians to worship him be it appearing as a religious icon or pretending to be the souls of lost loved ones etc.. do not be deceived by any of these.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe that the Panagia DID appear @Lourdes, but that the Catholic hierarchy has manipulated the situation in order to promote the RCatholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The strongest hint is given by Bernadette Soubirous herself, who complained that the typical pietist Lourdes statues did in no way resemble the lady she saw in her visions. Therefore Monsignor Delannoy, Bishop of Aire & Dax showed her a book with pictures of the Virgin Mary. Finally she said only a picture of "Notre Dame de Graces" resembled her. This is an icon, brought by a Byzantine Orthodox delegate as a present at the council of Constanz, and now at Cambrai Cathedral... (see http://cathedrale.cathocambrai.com/page-23876-cambrai-lourdes.html )
ReplyDeleteAccording to Bernadette's account, during a visitation that she claimed, she again asked the lady her name but the lady just smiled back. She repeated the question three more times and finally heard the lady say, in Gascon Occitan, "I am the Immaculate Conception" (Qué soï era immaculado councepcioũ, a phonetic transcription of Que soi era immaculada concepcion). Four years earlier, Pope Pius IX had defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception; that, alone of all human beings who have ever lived (save for Jesus, Adam, and Eve), the Virgin Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. Her parents, teachers and priests all later testified that she had never previously heard the words 'immaculate conception' from them.
ReplyDeleteThe photo that you use for this article did not take place at a Catholic church, but at a Coptic Orthodox church in the Zeitoun suburb of Cairo.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't the Immaculate Conception simply mean that Mary is the crown jewel of Judaism...that her parents were brought to a holy life and were one soul, like Adam and Eve in the garden? I never thought there was anything magical or pixie dust about it. We are all invited to follow that path. I am Catholic and have often attended orthodox liturgies and love them.
ReplyDeleteI loathe magical talk and often religious writers avoid common sense and use pixie dusty language.
I really liked your Medjugorje and globalization essay. I think the business there is elitist and dangerous...as usual God wants more and more money!! Don't but it!
The Immaculate Conception means that Mary was given a special grace to be preserved from original sin when she was born. i have heard that Orthodox object to this partly because of the very different views of the Fal that they have. In Orthodoxy ( so I hear) man doesn't inherit the guilt of original sin or inherit original sin through propagation the way it is taught in Catholicism through the teachings of St. Augustine.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, Medjugorge has never been approved by the Catholic Church and if you look at some of the messages ( God is pleased with ALL religions; Muslims be good Muslims etc.) than in no way--if the Catholic Church is indeed protected from error in faith or morals can she ever give official approval of this supposed apparition.