Restriction of another Medjugorje seer

First off let me start by saying I do not wish to step on anyone's toes here. I am only answering this because you asked. I am not on a crusade against Medjugorje. I realize people who follow Medjugorje have a strong pull towards it. I myself used to be a follower. I had a lot of books on it by Wayne Weible etc.

So to answer your question, yes Jerry, I put everything in that fits into that category. That would include Medjugorje. I don't discriminate because I personally like one set of visionaries or one set of messages. If there are books full of messages I avoid the "seer".

Pope Francis gave a warning about this in a homily when he said: “But, look, Our Lady is the Mother of everyone! And she loves all of us. She is not a postmaster, sending messages every day.”

He was alluding to the Church guideline on discernment I was pointing out. Our Lady is a woman of few words. She does not appear constantly and speak volumes.

On a personal note:
In the early 1990's I was on pilgrimage to go to Medjugorje. I flew out to Minnesota and was supposed to catch another flight from there but my appendix burst just hours before the plane was supposed to take off. Nothing happens by accident. I strongly feel that was the intervention of Our Lady keeping me away. Shortly thereafter I made a pilgrimage to Lourdes which was phenomenal.

 

Thank you. I asked you directly because i respect your opinions.

 

You are welcome Jerry
And thank you for the compliment

 

The most important rule of discernment is to judge an apparition by its fruits. Cardinal Schonborn said that the seminaries of Austria would have closed if not for the seminaries who entered after visiting Medjugorje.

 

Well as I mentioned I am not looking for a debate on Medjugorje. Nor am I trying to destroy anyone's personal devotion to it. As I said, I used to have a strong dedication to it as well. So I very much understand people's feelings towards it.
I was asked my opinion. That's all.
There is more than enough evidence against it on the web for anyone who cares to search for it.

 

Sorry if this has been mentioned before - I know this is not about Mother Mary's apparitions, but her son, Jesus':
What about the messages to St Faustina and to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich? The messages were voluminous too.

 

This is true SG. And that is why I make the distinction between approved and unapproved. There are cases, such as the ones you cited, where a longer series of messages are approved. Very often this will be to stigmatics who are very close to the Lord and usually the reason for the messages being so long is for a specific purpose. With St. Faustina it was to deliver the message of Divine Mercy which is essential for our time. I believe with Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich it was to dictate in detail the Life Of The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Life of Our Lord.

We also must remember that much of what these mystics wrote was in the form of a "diary", not necessarily intended by them to be published. I am sure many mystics have journals full of Divinely inspired experiences they have had. This is quite a different thing from a message from Heaven meant for the world, such as at Fatima or Lourdes.

The guidelines I was mentioning are just that "guidelines". They are not hard and fast rules that tell us for certain if a "seer" is authentic. That is finally up to the authority of the Church, but they can help us discern if the messages are something we should avoid or not.

 

Lately, the argument against the Medjugorje messages, specifically the 2nd of the month message for the conversion of unbelievers is that they 'don't seem credible because they are so long.' If we just assume that they are from the Blessed Mother, She has said that She is only allowed to tell us messages within the confines of what the Heavenly Father will allow. The Heavenly Father allows the Blessed Mother to speak in terms of opening our hearts, prayer, good example, reading Scripture, valuing the Eucharist, Confession, keeping the ten Commandments, fasting and praying for priests. The messages about praying for priests started way back in 2006, at least. Also when questioned about the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, Mirjana always stressed that prayer for priests was vital because they are the bridge to the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. Now it is becoming quite clear that if there comes a time when a priest has to make a crucial choice, hopefully our prayers and fasting will assist them in making the right choice.
Just as when Jesus walked the earth, He could only speak words that didn't point out like a neon sign that He was the
Christ. The Heavenly Father wants His children to walk by faith and not by sight.

from Sister Maillard's newsletter https://sremmanuel.org/newsletter/october-2016-report/
Sister Emmanuel Maillard had a question that she asked Mirjana...
One day, I asked Mirjana: "Did Our Lady talk to you about the end of the world?"

"No, never."

"Did she tell you about the second Coming of Christ?"

Mirjana looked at me, as if the answer was obvious, a no-brainer: "Yes, of course!"

"And what did she say to you?"

"This, I can't tell now," said Mirjana. "I will tell you later!"

 

I wonder why long messages might be a problem to some?

 

I have always thought , from Catholic Prophecy that some kind of intermediate coming of CHrist, a 'theophany', might be on the cards.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theophany

 

See this excellent article regarding the Marian Movement of Priests and the 'theophany' you mention. It's all very good but to go to the relevant section skip down to the section entitled "Church Fathers on the "Intermediate Coming"; and "the Millennium."

 

Thank you for posting this wonderful article which is so enlightening.

 

Fr Joseph Iannuzzi is excellent and very holy as well as very learned. He has led the most interesting life.

 

This is very interesting to me Praetorian. I went to Medjugorje in 1989. It was an amazing place and I wanted very much to believe it. But as years passed I began to cool on it. I have decided to stick with Lourdes and Fatima and other approved apparitions. I have begun to see just how exceedingly careful we have to be on so many fronts. I think your category is a good one. We always await the judgement of the Church. I remember St. John Vianney was opposed to LaSalette and then when it was finally approved he immediately changed his opinion. The Church has the special charism to judge these things so one way or another, so I await their final say.

 

ApexMark, Maybe you should create a thread for this article so many members will not miss it. Thank you for posting it.

 

The situation, as far as I have read, was a great deal more complicated than stated here. St. John was a great supporter of La Salette but became unsure after meeting Maximin for the first time. He reported that he was greatly troubled about whether to believe or not for a period of 8 years but the settling of his doubts and his positive opinion were not (as far as I am aware) directly linked to the Church's final decision which was made before he settled his own mind in the matter.

A problem arises when people (just witnesses not the visionaries themselves) are asked to deny what they are certain that they have experienced. This happened after the apparitions at Heede in Germany in the 1930/40's when dozens of those who witnessed the apparitions refused to withdraw statements that they had personally seen Our Lady following a negative decision and were excommunicated for their refusal. Some time later, these people were readmitted to the Sacraments but the same situation would arise for those who have seen supernatural phenomena in any place where the Church gives a negative decision (I would be affected personally but take comfort from the fact that the Church's first official decision has sometimes been reversed - e.g. Sister Faustina's apparitions/locutions).