TRADITIONALLY APPROVED
Zaragoza, Spain (40)
In the year 40 AD, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to Saint James the Great, in Zaragoza, Spain. The vision is now called Our Lady of the Pillar and is the only reported Marian apparition before her Assumption. The Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar was built in Zaragoza, Spain and a key piece of Roman Catholic Marian art, the statue of Our Lady of the Pillar, refers to this apparition. MORE >
Alexandria, Egypt (305)
Legend says that St. Catherine of Alexandria studied philosophy when she was young as was fashionable in Alexandria's high society. During the course of her studies she learned about Christ. Then Catherine was converted by a vision of Our Lady and the Holy Child. She refused marriage to an emperor because Christ had already appeared to her in person and placed his gold ring on her finger (like St. Catherine of Siena). She later received a vision of Christ while in prison aslo.
Rome, italy (352)
Our Lady of the Snow is based on a legend that during the pontificate of Pope Liberius, during the night of August the 5th, snow fell on the summit of the Esquiline Hill in Rome. And based on a vision that same night a basilica was built in honour of Our Lady, on the spot which was covered with snow.
The church built there is now the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and the feast was celebrated at that church for centuries on August 5 each year. However, there was no of mention of this alleged miracle in historical records until a few hundred years later, not even by Pope Sixtus III in his dedicatory inscription, and it may be that the legend has no historical basis. However, in the 14th century the feast was extended to all the churches of Rome and finally it was made a universal feast by Pope Pius V.
Covadonga, Spain (722)
Our Lady of Covadonga is a title of the Virgin Mary, and a shrine devoted to her at Covadonga in the province of Asturias in north west Spain. The shrine rose to prominence following the Battle of Covadonga in 722, at which the Moorish invasion of Spain was first resisted. A statue of the Virgin Mary, secreted in one of the caves, was believed to have miraculously aided the Christian victory. Our Lady of Covadonga is the patron of Asturias, and a basilica was built to house the current statue. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine at Covadonga to honour the Virgin Mary.
Barcelona, Spain (12Barcelona, Spain (1218)
This is the Story of our Patroness, Our Lady of Ransom. In the twelfth century A.D., the Blessed Virgin appeared in separate visions to St. Peter Nolasco, St Raymond of Penafort and King James I of Aragon. She asked these men to establish an order for ransoming enslaved Christians from the Moors. Under Mary's special protection, the order grew rapidly. St. Peter, St. Raymond, and King James devoted themselves not only to collecting alms for the ransom of Christian captives, but also by giving themselves up to voluntary slavery to free others. The feast of Our Lady of Ransom is celebrated on September 24, and was instituted in 1696 AD.
Aylesford, England (1251)
In answer to St. Simon Stock's appeal for help for his oppressed order, the Virgin Mary appeared to him with a scapular in her hand and the promise of safety from Hell. Soon after, he instituted the confraternity of the Brown Scapular.
Cacerces, Spain (1326)
In 1326, near the Guadalupe river in Cacerces, Spain, cowherd Gil Cordero experienced an apparition of the Virgin Mary who directed him to a miraculous buried statue given to Spain from Pope Gregory the Great 600 years prior.
Brescia, Italy (1464)
Blessed Stephana de Quinzanis (1457- 1530) was an Italian Dominican tertiary and stigmatic. She received many mystical experiences in her life including visions of Our Lord, His Blessed Mother, St. Dominic, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Catherine of Siena.
Liguria, Italy (1490)
Liguria, Italy (1490)
Liguria, Italy (1490)
According to tradition, on August 29, 1490 the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant called Benedetto Pareto and asked him to build a chapel on the mountain.
Garaison, France (1515)
In France, in the Pyrenees, the Virgin appeared to a shepherdess, Angleze Sagazan. Mary visited her three times near the source of the Cier. Mary made the request to her, "I want a chapel to be built here to me."
Ocotlán, Tlaxcala, Mexico (1541)
A young native Tlaxcalan man named Juan Diego Bernardino was going to draw water from a river believed at the time to have healing properties. Our Lady appeared to him and lead him to a special spring of water. She promised him that an image of herself could be found within a tree. The Franciscans discovered the image and placed it in the San Lorenzo monastery.
Vailankanni, India (1580)
There are three major events associated with Our Lady of Good of Health in Vailankanni. The Virgin Mary is said by tradition to have appeared to a shephered boy named Tamil Krishnannesti Sankaranaranayamwho offered her child milk. She is subsequently said to have appeared to and healed a crippled boy selling buttermilk. A group of Portuguese sailors attribute being saved from a violent storm to her intercession. They constructed a larger chapel at their landing spot in Vailankanni.
Castellazzo, Italy (1720)
St. Paul of the Cross had a vision of our Lady in a black habit with the name Jesus and a cross in white on the chest. In the vision, the Blessed Virgin told him to found a religious order devoted to preaching the Passion of Christ. He later founded the Passionist Order.
LaVang, Vietnam (1798)
Many Christians took refuge in the jungle near Quang Tri where they prepared themselves for martyrdom. Many people died from the weather, wildlife, sickness and starvation. One night while praying the rosary they were visited by an apparition of Our Blessed Mother holding a child in her arms, with two angels at her sides. She comforted them and told them to boil the leaves from the surrounding trees to use as medicine. She also told them that all those who came to this place to pray, would get their prayers heard and answered. All those who were present, including Buddhists, witnessed this miracle.
Lichen, Poland (1813, 1850)
According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared in Lichen, Poland to Tomasz Klossowski, a wounded soldier, in 1813 who was healed and discovered a miraculous portrait of Our Lady. She then appeared to a poor shepherd, Mikolaj Sikatka, in 1850 who promoted her devotion. She foretold of a cholera epidemic and interceded for the healing of many who sought her help.
Pompeii, Italy (1884)
The Virgin appeared as the Queen of the Rosary on March 3, 1884 to Fortuna Agrelli after she and her parents had prayed for her recovery from an illness. The girl was healed on May 8 of that year.
Dong Lu, China (1900)
The Virgin Mary appeared as a beautiful lady in the skies when Catholics implored Her to save them from their enemies and their city from destruction during the Boxer Rebellion. In thanksgiving for Our Lady’s protection over the city of Donglu, a beautiful church was built in her honour. It was meant to serve as a constant reminder to the people of Mary’s loving and motherly protection.
VATICAN APPROVED APPARITIONS
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Mary proclaimed herself "the Mother of the true God who gives life" and left her image permanently upon the tilma of Juan Diego, a recent convert to Christianity.
Our Lady of Good Success
Our Lady of Good Success appeared to Spanish-born Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres at her Conceptionist Royal Convent in Quito, Ecuador. She requested that a statue be made in her likeness and warned of diminishing faith and vocations in the 20th century.
Our Lady of Siluva
One summer day, in 1608, a number of children were playing while tending their sheep in a field on the outskirts of the village of Siluva. They beheld a beautiful young woman standing on the rock holding a baby in her arms and weeping bitterly. The town which had lost its Catholic identity to the Calvinists over the course of 80 years was restored to the Faith.
Our Lady of Laus / Our Lady of Happy Meetings
Benoite Rencurel, a poor shepherdess, was born in 1647. The Virgin Mary started appearing to her in 1664 and continued visiting her throughout the rest of her life. The Blessed Mother told her to “pray continuously for sinners.”
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
In the chapel of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, Mary showed herself three times to novice Catherine Laboure. Laboure said she was commissioned by the Virgin to have the medal of the Immaculate Conception or "Miraculous Medal" made in order to spread devotion to Our Lady.
Our Lady of Zion
Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne, an anti-Catholic Jew, befriended a baron in Rome and began wearing the Miraculous Medal as a simple test. On Jan 20, 1842 while waiting for the baron in the church Sant Andrea delle Fratte, Ratisbonne encountered a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He converted to Catholicism, joined the priesthood, and began a ministry for the conversion of Jews.
Our Lady of La Salette
Six thousand feet up in the French Alps, Mary is believed to have come to Maximin and Melanie while they tended sheep. Her appearance in sorrow and tears called for conversion and penance for sins.
Our Lady of Lourdes
At the Grotto of Massabielle, the Virgin showed herself 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous. Under the title "the Immaculate Conception," she called for penance and prayer for the conversion of sinners.
Our Lady of Hope
Mary appeared on a farm to students at the nearby convent school. Mary's message was written on a banner that unfurled from her feet: "But pray my children. God will hear you in a short time. My Son allows Himself to be moved by compassion.
Our Lady of Gietrzwald
In 1877, the Virgin Mary appeared to two girls over the course of 3 months and encouraged a return to prayer.
Our Lady of Knock
During a pouring rain, the figures of Mary, Joseph, John the Apostle and a lamb on a plain altar appeared over the gable of the village chapel, enveloped in a bright light. None of them spoke. At least 15 people, between the ages of 5 and 75, saw the apparition.
Our Lady of Sorrows
Two women, Fabiana Cecchino (35) and Serafina Giovanna Valentino (33), had a vision of Mary first as the Pieta and later as Our Lady of Sorrows in a cave at Castelpetroso, Italy.
Our Lady of Fatima / Our Lady of the Rosary
While tending sheep, Lucia de Santos and her two cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reported six apparitions of Mary, who identified herself as "Our Lady of the Rosary." Mary urged prayer of the rosary, penance for the conversion of sinners and consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
The Virgin with the Golden Heart
Mary is believed to have come 33 times to the playground of a conTvent school to five children. Identifying herself as "the Immaculate Virgin" and "Mother of God, Queen of Heaven," she called for prayer for the conversion of sinners.
The Virgin of the Poor
In a garden behind the Beco family's cottage, the Blessed Mother is said to have appeared to Mariette Beco (age 11) eight times. Calling herself the "Virgin of the Poor," Mary promised to intercede for the poor, the sick and the suffering.
"Nyina wa Jambo" (Mother of the Word)
The apparitions began in November 1981 when six young girls and one boy claimed to see the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus. But only the visions of the first three -- 17-year-old Alphonsine, 20-year-old Nathalie, and 21-year-old Marie Claire -- have received Bishop Misago's solemn approval. Because there were reservations about the other four visionaries, and the supposed visions of Jesus, Bishop Misago didn't confirm the authenticity of either those visions or visionaries.
