A Marian Apparition is when one sees the image of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She has been reported to have appeared to people all over the world, usually giving messages of love and peace, but also relying prophesies of events to come. The Catholic church carefully and painstakingly investigates all reported Marian sitings. Many have received full church approval--meaning, they believe that Mary has actually appeared to the seer.
Apparitions are not a "new age" phenomena--Mary has been making appearances at irregular intervals throughout the two thousand years since she gave birth to Jesus. Despite the diversity of the people who have seen her, the characteristics of her apparitions has remained fairly consistent. She usually appears surrounded by a globe of pure white light, dressed in a long dress and head cover which vary in color depending on the content of her messages. Her feet are usually surrounded by a mist or cloud and she occasionally is seen holding her Son in her arms. A number of her appearances are preceded by unusual phenomena such as observations of lightning and thunder from a clear sky, apparitions of angelic beings or clouds of unusual shapes and religious significance such as a cross or a doorway as well as other inexplicable events.
Best Known Sites
Lourdes--by far, the best known Marian site is Lourdes, a French town about 30km southeast of Pau, in the heart of the Pyranees. On February 11, 1858, a poor and sickly 14 year old peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous was out gathering firewood with two companions. At the front of the rock of Masabielle, where the canal of the Mill of Savy joined the Gave river, she saw a vision of a lady dressed in white, standing in the Grotto. All together, Bernadette witnessed 18 visions of Mary, who finally revealed herself as the Immaculate Conception. She asked that a chapel be built on the site of the vision, and told Bernadette to drink from a fountain in the grotto. There wasn't a fountain in the grotto, but the vision pointed to a spot and told Bernadette to dig. When she did, water began to flow, and the spring is reputed to have remarkable healing power, though it contains no curative property that science can identify.
