Our heavenly mother who never gives up on her children

A Protestant dies and goes to heaven. Being a Protestant, he gets in straightaway. Jesus Himself gives the guided tour. They pass a high brick wall, with the sound of people singing on the other side. “Master,” says our Protestant, “Who are they on the other side of the wall?” Laughing, Our Lord replies, “Oh, they’re the Catholics. They think they’re the only ones up here.”

There is a Catholic counterpart to this little tale.

A Protestant dies and goes to heaven. Being a Protestant, he gets in straightaway. Jesus Himself gives the guided tour. They meet a beautiful woman. Jesus says to the Protestant, “I don’t believe you’ve met my mother?”

Alas, Mary, such a cause of keen division between Catholic and Protestant! How Satan laughs at such divisions…

What’s behind this Catholic devotion to the mother of Jesus? Well firstly, it has been prophesised, by our good Mother herself:

From now on all generations will call me blessed (Lk 1:48)

I wonder what Protestants make of this verse of Holy Scripture? Anyway, moving on:

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (Jn 19:25-27)

And, Catholics would add, from that time on, Mary became the mother not just of St John, but of all humankind. And, like all mothers, Mary never gives up on her children.

Whatever your views on the matter, one thing is in no doubt: there have been many accounts over the centuries of appearances (“apparitions”) of Mary to folks on earth. Since the nineteenth century, possibly with the rise of modern media, it does appear that appearances of Our Lady have occurred with greater frequency. Each of these is remarkable in some way, and many are accompanied by miracles. We looked before at Our Lady of Guadalupe with the appearance on earth of the miraculous tilma of St Juan Diego: an acheiropoieton (“object not made by human hands”). You have probably heard of Our Lady of Lourdes, with the many accounts of miraculous healings.

The miracles make us sit up and take notice. But the central purpose of each apparition is to bring a message.

At Guadalupe (1531) the message brought the Aztecs into worship of the True God. At Lourdes (1858) it was to tell the world that Our Lady was, indeed, immaculately conceived, that is, conceived without original sin to be the only fitting place for the incarnation of God Himself, our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. What about the more recent apparitions – what message do they bring?

It may surprise you to hear that many of the modern apparitions bring a message regarding the future – the End Times. May is traditionally the “month of Mary”, so over the next few weeks we will be looking at a few of these.

Pontmain (1871)

The Wikipedia article on Our Lady of Pontmain gives the following account (I paraphrase):

A war between Prussia (Germany) and France began in 1870. The French forces were no match for their Prussian adversaries and they lost ground rapidly. In January 1871, Prussian forces were just outside the village of Pontmain, advancing on the nearby town of Laval in north-western France.

January 17^th was a clear, starry night. Our Lady appeared to four children. She was wearing a blue gown covered with golden stars, and a black veil under a golden crown. Adults could see only a triangle of stars.

As they prayed the Rosary, the children saw the garment’s stars multiply until it was almost entirely gold. Next, the children saw a banner unfurl beneath the Lady. Slowly, a message appeared: “But pray, my children. God will hear you in time. My Son allows Himself to be touched.”

On the same evening, the Prussian troops in sight of Laval stopped, about the time when the apparition first appeared above Pontmain, a few miles off. Their commander is reported to have said: “We cannot go farther. Yonder, in the direction of Brittany, there is an invisible ‘Madonna’ barring the way.”

An Armistice ended the war just days later.

In a little book called “The Power of the Rosary” by Rev. Albert J. M. Shamon, we glean the following fascinating detail: at Pontmain Our Lady appeared with 43 stars above her head. God was giving France 43 years to come back to the Faith. Unfortunately, the French people failed to seize the opportunity. 43 years from 1871 bring us to 1914, the year World War 1 broke out.

When the fortunes of the French people were at their worst, Our Lady appeared to them to give them comfort – and a warning. We see that time, the passage of years, is very important in heaven’s estimation.