Our Lady of Good Success

Visionary Venerable Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres.

Mother Mariana's early life is shrouded in mystery, so let us begin with the favour that was granted to this most Holy and extraordinary woman of Spain!

Mother Mariana was to be the recipient of Divine Prophecies, but in her wish to remain hidden from the world not much is known about this most wonderful Religious.

God gifted Mother Mariana with the ability to discern souls and to advise her fellow sisters in what is pleasing to God and that all of them should live to please their Father in Heaven and spend less time worrying over the opinion of others. The sisters listened to their Superior as they knew she was wise and that God had touched this woman in a singular way.

But not all the sisters were in favour of these messages nor of their Superior, who strove to maintain a disciplined religious life, many of the sisters did not wish to have such a regimented life and longed for the Rule to be relaxed. They opposed Mother Mariana and those that listened to this most Holy Nun, so much so that they threw Mother Mariana and her supporters into prison.

Mother Mariana suffered severe torments for the sake and the souls of these disobedient Nuns, but her Faith remained undisturbed and her heart at peace, for she remained truly humble and accepted all from the hand of a Loving God.

Mother Mariana was a Spanish Conceptionist who set sail for the new world in order to spread the Word and Love of God into distant lands, hence she arrived in Ecuador, in order to fulfill this mission of making God known throughout the world.

But Mother Mariana was no ordinary woman and it soon became apparent that God had found favour with her and she became the recipient of Divine Prophecies and Mystical events. It has been recorded that Mother Mariana suffered several deaths and at her first death she appeared before God and was given the choice to remain in Heaven or return to earth and suffer for those who's lives would become abhorrent to our Heavenly Father. Mother Mariana chose the latter and suffered in expiation for those who had no love nor reverence for God as would happen when the world entered the twentieth century! She also died on Good Friday in the year 1588 where upon her death she was shown the terrible heresies which would afflict the Church in the twentieth century. She was horrified at such sights and her heart was grieved at the outrages she saw in this vision!

Mother Mariana was to receive many visions and also prophetic messages in her life time, beginning as a child when she was only 9 years old and she saw our Lady appear to her and informed her that she would become a religious of the Order of the Immaculate Conception. In 1582 our Lady once again appeared to Mariana and said to her, "My daughter, will you sacrifice yourself for the people of this time?" Upon seeing in a vision what the future held for the Church, Mariana agreed to our Lady's request, for she was truly horrified to see the decadence which would be all pervasive in the twentieth century!

Our Lady warned Mother Mariana of great Chastisements that would befall this world if the lack of reverence for God persisted and revealed to Mariana the great level of disbelief that would herald in the end for the world as we know it.

Mother Mariana became aware that the greatest grief for our Lord was the indifference and ingratitude towards His Most Sacred Heart and His Presence in the Tabernacles by His Priests and religious, Mariana was obviously deeply distressed at this and offered herself in expiation against these outrages!

Our Lady told Mother Mariana, "Oh, if only human beings and religious knew what Heaven is and what it is to possess God, how differently they would live, sparing no sacrifice in order to enter more fully into possession of it! But some let themselves be dazzled by the false glamor of honors and human greatness while others are blinded by self-love, not realizing that they are falling into lukewarmness, that immense evil which in religious houses destroys their fervor, humility, self-renunciation and the ceaseless practice of religious virtues and fraternal charity and that child-like simplicity which makes souls so dear to my Divine Son and to me, their Mother." Our Lady always emphasized greater devotion to her Son and also the Sacrament of Penance and to restore among her priestly sons a love for God and His Church.

And also gave these prophetic Messages, that in the twentieth century due to a lack of religious fervor by the sons and daughters of the Church, a great falling away would happen. And our Lady continued, "under the appearance of virtue and bad-spirited zeal, would turn upon Religion, who nourished them at her breast." "During this time," she continued, "insomuch as this poor country will lack the Christian spirit, the Sacrament of Extreme Unction will be little esteemed. Many people will die without receiving it – either because of the negligence of their families or their false sentimentality that tries to protect the sick from seeing the gravity of their situations, or because they will rebel against the spirit of the Catholic Church, impelled by the malice of the devil. Thus many souls will be deprived of innumerable graces, consolations and the strength they need to make that great leap from time to eternity..." "As for the Sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with His Church, it will be attacked and profaned in the fullest sense of the word. Masonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the objective of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin, encouraging the procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church. The Christian spirit will rapidly decay, extinguishing the precious light of Faith until if reaches the point that there will be an almost total and general corruption of customs. The effects of secular education will increase, which will be one reason for the lack of priestly and religious vocations..." "Moreover, in these unhappy times, there will be unbridled luxury which, acting thus to snare the rest into sin, will conquer innumerable frivolous souls who will be lost. Innocence will almost no longer be found in children, nor modesty in women, and in this supreme moment of need of the Church, those who should speak will fall silent."

Our Lord also warned Mariana, "Know, moreover, that Divine Justice releases terrible chastisements on entire nations, not only for the sins of the people, but for those of priests and religious persons. For the latter are called, by the perfection of their state, to be the salt of the earth, the masters of truth, and the deflectors of Divine Wrath. Straying from their divine mission, they degrade themselves in such a way that, before the eyes of God they quicken the rigor of the punishments..."

But also with a message of hope, for our Lord added, "For in all times I have need of valiant souls to save My Church and the prevaricating world." And that our Lord would be appeased by such souls who offered themselves in expiation for the sins of others.

Remember all this and more was revealed to Mother Mariana in the 16th century, we in this century are left with much to ponder on, among Mother Mariana's prophecies was also this, that the Immaculate Conception and Papal Infallibility would be strictly defined and declared dogma!

Mother Mariana died on January 16, 1635.

When her body was exhumed from its rest, her body was found to be incorrupt.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.

Our Lady of Lavang

Our Lady of Lavang - La'Vang, Vietnam 1798

In 1533 the first Catholic missionaries arrived in Vietnam. Just one hundred years later there were over a hundred thousandCatholics and seminaries were established and in 1668 the first 2 native priests were ordained.

All through history Catholics have been persecuted including in Vietnam. Specially in 1698 there were severe persecutions. In the 18th and 19th century there were more persecutions. But the Vietnamese Catholics stood firm no matter how dangerous it was. In the 18th century there were already a hundred thousand martyrs. Today bishops and priests are still harrassed because of the communist regime.

By the end of the 17th century the Catholics in Vietnam was so bad that many people fled into the jungle near Lavang near Quang Tri a village in central Vietnam. There a lot of people became sick and they were hungry. One day as the people there were praying the rosary together, they saw a beautful lady holding a little child, with angels all around her. She was simply dressed but with a long cape and she had a crown on. The people recognized her as Our Blessed Lady, Queen of Heaven. Our Blessed Lady comforted and consoled them and taught them how to make medicine from leafs of trees. And anybody who would go there to pray she would protect. She appeared several times to the people of Lavang.

They built a simple church for Our Blessed Lady and several people were cured there.

In 1805 the Vietnamese emperor wanted to get rid of all the Catholics. 30 Catholics were killed by the soldiers right at the little church and the church was burned, but, not by the soldiers who were afraid cause they heard about the miraculous cured people. The altar and the chandeliers were not destroyed in the fire although they were made of wood.

In 1885 a new church was build made of bricks on the same spot as the old one was. It was completed in 1900 and one year later the first celebration of the Shrine of Our Lady took place.There were over 130,000 people there at the shrine. During the years this number only grew more and more and in 1925 they had to enlarge the church, which was completed in 1928. This church was destroyed in the summer of 1972 duringthe Vietnam War.

On June 19th 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Vietnamese martyrs and recognized the importance of theLady of Lavang and desired a rebuilding of the Basilica forthe 200th anniversary of the first apparition of the Lady of Lavang in August of 1998.

Our Lady of Banneux

Banneux, Belgium 1933: January 15th - March 2nd 1933
Visionary: Mariette Beco (11 years old)

Mariette was born on March 25, 1921 and the oldest of 7 children. Her family was very poor. Mariette came from a Catholic family who never went to church or pray. Still she was religious, she once found a rosary and kept it with her all the time.

It was January 15th 1933 and it had snowed and it was cold. She was looking after the baby of the family and while she sat there she suddenly saw outside a young lady who was very beautiful with light all around her. She called her mother and said this is Our Blessed Lady and she is smiling at me. She then took out her rosary and started to pray while she kept looking at the Lady. The Lady wanted her to come to her, so Mariette wanted to go outside, but her mother locked the door cause she had not seen the Lady and didn´t trust it. Mariette looked outside the window and the Lady was not there anymore.

January 18th Mariette goes outside in the evening, and although she is very afraid of the dark she starts to pray her rosary kneeled down in the snow. She sees Our Blessed Lady again, and she must follow Our Lady. Mariette obeys and comes to a small stream where Our Blessed Lady stands above the road. Our Blessed Lady says to Mariette that she needs to put her hands into the water and the Lady said that the stream was specially for her. The lady says goodnight and leaves again.

January 19th Mariette goes outside again with her fathers old coat over her head to protect her from the cold. She kneels down again to pray. Her father was in the garden too. Mariette then saw the Lady again and asked herwho she was. Our Blessed Virgin then said:

"I am the Virgin of the Poor".

Our Blessed Lady then leads her again to the stream and Mariette asks Her why the stream is devoted to her(whilst she was pointing at herself). Our Blessed Lady said that this stream was for all nations..... for the sick! Mariette thanked Her and Our Blessed Lady said goodbye to her.

January 20th Mariette goes out again although she feels sick, to pray the rosary. Then she sees Our Blessed Lady again and asks Her what Her wishes are. Our Blessed Lady then answers that she would like a small chapel. And blesses Mariette for this task. Mariette looses consciousness cause she is sick but was carried inside by her father and a neighbour. Inside she regaind consicousness again.

From January 21 till February 11th Mariette keeps prayingher rosary outside in the carden, even though it is very cold. She didn´t see Our Blessed Lady and so far only Mariette beliefs in Our Blessed Lady of the Poor.

February 11th Mariette is outside with a few other people praying the rosary. Near the end of the second rosary, people see Mariette stand up and kneel down at the stream. She dips her hands into the water and makes the sign of the cros. Our Blessed Lady says: I have come to relief the suffering, I shall see you again soon. After that she disappears.

February 15th Our Blessed Lady appears again and Mariette asks Her for a sign as her Chaplain has instructed. Our Blessed Lady answers: Have faith in Me: I shall believe in you. She then tells Mariette a secret. Then she says:Pray a lot and goodbye.

February 20th Our Blessed Lady appears again at the end of thesecond rosary Mariette is praying and leads her to the stream. She asks Mariette again to pray a lot and says goodbye again.

March 2nd.It was 7 pm and raining. Mariette goes out and starts praying the rosary. At the third rosary the rain suddenly stops. Our Blessed Lady appears again and says to Mariette:
I am the Mother of the Savior, Mother of God, pray a lot. Adieu. This was the last time
Mariette saw Our Blessed Lady.

The apparitions of Our Blessed Virgin in Banneux arefully approved by the Holy See in 1949.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Visionary St. Bernadette Soubirous

Lourdes is probably one of the best known Apparitions of Our Lady, which also verified and made clear the Dogma/Doctrine of The Immaculate Conception, which was authorised by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854.

But let us take a closer look at this young girl and the message of Our Lady, which was entrusted to the young Bernadette Soubirous. She was born into a poor peasant family, in the year 1844, the first of six siblings. These were difficult years for her family and five of her brothers were to die at very young ages. Bernadette herself almost died of cholera, but, was able to survive this illness. As the family was destitute neither parent could afford medications.

Because of the poverty of her parents, Bernadette lived at different times with a foster mother at Bartres. Being that she was so poor, Bernadette was denied a decent education, and could neither read nor write. This was discovered as she began to receive instruction to prepare for her first Communion.

But it was in the year 1858 on February 11th, that Bernadette’s life would be changed forever. It was a cold day and Bernadette with two of her sisters were sent out to gather firewood for their cold and austere home. Being fragile in health, Bernadette did not cross the stream, but instead decided to wait for her sisters.

It was here that Bernadette thought she heard what sounded like a clap of thunder, as she pulled her shawl closer about her shoulders. It was as she was gazing at the sky to see if there were storm clouds, that Bernadette first saw a very beautiful woman looking at her from across the stream. The beautiful lady was dressed in what looked like a luminous white dress with a sash of blue around her waist and two golden roses on her feet. Bernadette was awestruck but also frightened as to what to do, she then saw the beautiful lady make the sign of the Cross before she disappeared, no words were spoken.

Bernadette was entranced by this beautiful lady, and thereby she returned to what is the grotto at Massabielle. It was on February 18th that Our Lady told Bernadette that she would not live a happy life on earth, but that her happiness was assured in Heaven. Our Lady gave several messages to Bernadette asking for Penance from the people and a greater devotion to our Lord and Savior.

It was here that Our Lady requested that Bernadette dig the ground so that a spring could burst forth. Bernadette immediately began digging the ground, taking no account of some of the derision from the crowds. Eventually a spring did burst forth which remains to this day.

But it was the message on March 2nd where Mary told Bernadette, "Tell the priests that people should come here in procession and that a chapel should be built on the site." Also on March 25th, the Blessed Virgin revealed to Bernadette, "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Our Lady was true to her word and Bernadette upon the completion of the messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary, decided after suffering ridicule and the curious crowds which followed her around, to enter the Religious life.

She eventually entered the Sisters of Notre Dame, but after a health scare she was given the last rites, the Church therefore gave approval for Bernadette to make her vows. Bernadette was able to recover and spent time working in the Sacristy as part of her duties.

Bernadette was a very humble soul and disliked the 'fame' that seemed to plague her. She always referred to herself when questioned by the curious as 'the broom placed behind the door once it has been used', she never sought nor received special treatment. If anything the opposite occurred, when some in her community became jealous of the favour that was shown to this young nun. She suffered in silence many cruel taunts and persecutions from within her religious community. After suffering much agony and in her death throes, she cried out "Blessed Mary, Mother of God, pray for me! A poor sinner, a poor sinner".

Bernadette died on April 16, 1879, at the age of 35.

She was canonized in 1933 by Pope Pius XI.

Upon exhuming the body of this Great Saint her body was found incorrupt and she lay in a glass reliquary, in the convent chapel.

I encourage all to read about this most momentous Vision, Our Lady of Lourdes.

Peace of Christ to you ALL

Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.