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Amid the busy city of Lipa stands a church where solemnity and serenity can be best experienced — The convent of the contemplative order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. This church is well known among Batanguenos and perhaps to most Filipinos for this happens to be the site of the mysterious shower of rose petals decades ago.
Carmel, as local folks refer to it, was founded on May 31, 1946, just a year after World War II left the town of Lipa in ruins (Lipa bounced back heavily and was made city in August 1947, after the Japanese killed more than 20,000 innocent Lipa natives, with more casualties resulting from massacres carried out by the Japanese when they were losing the war against the Americans in the ending years).
Through the initiative of Bishop Alfredo Versoza and then auxilliary Bishop Alrfredo Ma. Obviar(who was the first father and chaplain of the monastery), the sisters from Carmel Manila left for their new monastery in Lipa on the same day Carmel Lipa was founded, which was the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. This is primarily the reason why the Carmel has been associated with several forms of the Virgin Mary.
Meanwhile, for those people who might want to know about the nitty gritty detail of the miraculous shower of rose petals in Lipa, here’s what we’ve got for you:
| Sept 12, 1948 | While Teresita was praying in the convent garden, suddenly a vine began to shake. Our Lady allegedly spoke (but not appeared) to the her and requested that she kiss the earth and return to the same spot for fifteen consecutive days. When Our Lady reportedly appeared, She was on a cloud, dressed in white, hands clasped, and a golden Rosary hanging from Her right hand. Her dress was very white, very simple, and had a narrow belt tied around Her. |
| Sept. 16, 1948 |
Our Lady was said to request that the vine to be blessed, and also requested that a statue was to be placed at the site of the apparition. Our Lady reportedly requested that a Mass be held on the 12th day of every month. |
| Sept 27, 1948 | Before She departed for the last time, the Blessed Virgin identified Herself as: ” I am the Mediatrix of All Grace” |
| 1948 | The Church investigators ruled negatively on the apparition. (While the committee of bishops appeared unanimous in their conclusion that Lipa was fraudulent, several of them confessed before they died that they too had been coerced, signing the negative “findings” only under threat of excommunication.)The Bishop and Mother Prioress were released of their jobs. The nuns were ordered to destroy all materials connected with the apparitions. They burned Teresita’s diary, as well as the Mother Prioress’. The statue was also ordered to be destroyed, but the nuns kept it away, and saved it from destruction. The convent was sealed, and the nuns could talk to no one outside of the convent. |
| 1950? | Teresita leaves the convent. |
| Feb 1990 | A new phenomenon was reported in the Granja District of Lipa City. A white luminous outline of a female in prayer began to supposedly appear at night on one of the leaves of a tall coconut tree. |
| May 21, 1990 | Sr. Aphonse pleaded on her deathbed that the Mediatrix statue be again exposed (for the first time in 40 years) in the chapel at the Carmelite convent. Her request was granted the next day. |
| Jan 24, 1991 | Rose petals allegedly began to fall straight from the sky again at the Carmelite convent in Lipa City. A few days later, six children playing in the garden at the convent said that the statue come to life |
| Sept 12, 2005 | Most Reverend Ramon C. Arguelles,D.D., archbishop of Lipa, resurrected the devotion with an official kick-off with “increased activity and devotion” and plans to place statues representing the Virgin of Lipa, as Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace, in every diocese. |
Although veneration of Our Lady Mediatrix of all Grace was permitted by Bishop Verzosa, the Philippine church hierarchy declared in 1951 that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.” Bishop Rufino Santos, who became apostolic administrator after Bishop Verzosa, ordered that 1) no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community; and 2) the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.
While the committee of bishops appeared unanimous in their conclusion that Lipa was fraudulent, several of them confessed before they died that they too had been coerced, signing the negative “findings” only under threat of excommunication.
In 1992, Msgr. Mariano Gaviola, archbishop of Lipa, granted permission to display again the image of the Mediatrix of all Grace. In 1993, he declared his personal conviction that the Lipa apparitions were worthy of belief.
For like three years now, the Carmel church has been the site National Marian Congress or the National Pilgrimage to Lipa. Thousands of Marian devotees attend this special Marian day every 12th day of September.
How to go:
[tags]Lipa, Batangas, Churches in Batangas, Our LAdy of Mt. Carmel Church, Carmel, Carmelite Sisters[/tags]
PLEASE pray for me. I have cancer on the stomach, that part kung saan natatapos ang esophagus at nagsisimula ang tiyan.
Kahapon, ako ay nilagnat. Nandito ako sa ospital, dextrose, kasama ang aking mama.halos mahigit na 2 years ang aking kanser. Malaki na ang nagagastos ng aking mga magulang chemo ko @P45,000.00 x 6 beses.
Gusto ko pang gumaling, mag aral ulit.
PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.
Salamat po.
Gio, Siena College of San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan
PLEASE pray for me. I have cancer on the stomach, that part kung saan natatapos ang esophagus at nagsisimula ang tiyan.
Kahapon, ako ay nilagnat. Nandito ako sa ospital, dextrose, kasama ang aking mama.halos mahigit na 2 years ang aking kanser. Malaki na ang nagagastos ng aking mga magulang chemo ko @P45,000.00 x 6 beses.
Gusto ko pang gumaling, mag aral ulit.
PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.
Salamat po.
Gio, Siena College of San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan
Gio, we’ll pray for you. If possible, may healing mass tomorrow June 30, 2009 dito sa Batangas sa Batangas City Sports Complex. Dadating si Fr. Fernando Suarez. sya yung kilalang healing priest. 3:00 p.m.
I’ll be attending, kung hindi ka makakarating, ipagdadasal kita.
Gio, we’ll pray for you. If possible, may healing mass tomorrow June 30, 2009 dito sa Batangas sa Batangas City Sports Complex. Dadating si Fr. Fernando Suarez. sya yung kilalang healing priest. 3:00 p.m.
I’ll be attending, kung hindi ka makakarating, ipagdadasal kita.
ask ko lang po kung ano mga araw ang may healing mass?
ask ko lang po kung ano mga araw ang may healing mass?
ask ko lang po kung ano mga araw ang may healing mass?
ask ko lang po kung ano mga araw ang may healing mass?
pwede pong malaman kung anu exact address ng our lady of my. carmel church jan s lipa batangas gus2 q
pwede pong malaman kung anu exact address ng our lady of my. carmel church jan s lipa batangas gus2 q
tanung ko lang po sana kung anu exact address ng our lady of mt. carmel jan s lipa batngas..gus2 ko po kc sna pumunta..at anu po b ung araw n mas maganda pumunta jan.. my sakit poh kc aq goiter for 3 yrs na gumaling n po goiter ko pero ung mata ko naapektuhan ng sobra napanood ko po s tv n my mga rose petals nani2wala po aq n kya p akong pagalingin..sna po ma2lungan nyu aq n makapunta jan s pamamagitan ng pabibigay alam ng exact address..tga d2 po aq s bulacan..salamat poh.. maraming salamat poh..
tanung ko lang po sana kung anu exact address ng our lady of mt. carmel jan s lipa batngas..gus2 ko po kc sna pumunta..at anu po b ung araw n mas maganda pumunta jan.. my sakit poh kc aq goiter for 3 yrs na gumaling n po goiter ko pero ung mata ko naapektuhan ng sobra napanood ko po s tv n my mga rose petals nani2wala po aq n kya p akong pagalingin..sna po ma2lungan nyu aq n makapunta jan s pamamagitan ng pabibigay alam ng exact address..tga d2 po aq s bulacan..salamat poh.. maraming salamat poh..
tanung ko lang po sana kung anu exact address ng our lady of mt. carmel jan s lipa batngas..gus2 ko po kc sna pumunta..at anu po b ung araw n mas maganda pumunta jan.. my sakit poh kc aq goiter for 3 yrs na gumaling n po goiter ko pero ung mata ko naapektuhan ng sobra napanood ko po s tv n my mga rose petals nani2wala po aq n kya p akong pagalingin..sna po ma2lungan nyu aq n makapunta jan s pamamagitan ng pabibigay alam ng exact address..tga d2 po aq s bulacan..salamat poh.. maraming salamat poh..
tanung ko lang po sana kung anu exact address ng our lady of mt. carmel jan s lipa batngas..gus2 ko po kc sna pumunta..at anu po b ung araw n mas maganda pumunta jan.. my sakit poh kc aq goiter for 3 yrs na gumaling n po goiter ko pero ung mata ko naapektuhan ng sobra napanood ko po s tv n my mga rose petals nani2wala po aq n kya p akong pagalingin..sna po ma2lungan nyu aq n makapunta jan s pamamagitan ng pabibigay alam ng exact address..tga d2 po aq s bulacan..salamat poh.. maraming salamat poh..
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY COMPLETE HEALING…for the past 3 weeks in and out ako ng ospital, blood transfusion and dextrose. I went home Sept. 14. and todate, nakakabit pa din ang oxygen sa akin. Di makapaniwala na ako ay mag goodbye daw.
I am under strict diet under the care of Dra. Susan Balingit.
Wit this, lots of prayer, alam ko na ako ay gagaling. Pagagalingin ako ni Lord thru Mama Mary…please samahan niyo ako ng inyong mga dasal.
From, Gio
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY COMPLETE HEALING…for the past 3 weeks in and out ako ng ospital, blood transfusion and dextrose. I went home Sept. 14. and todate, nakakabit pa din ang oxygen sa akin. Di makapaniwala na ako ay mag goodbye daw.
I am under strict diet under the care of Dra. Susan Balingit.
Wit this, lots of prayer, alam ko na ako ay gagaling. Pagagalingin ako ni Lord thru Mama Mary…please samahan niyo ako ng inyong mga dasal.
From, Gio
Gio, we’ll pray for you. If possible, may healing mass tomorrow June 30, 2009 dito sa Batangas sa Batangas City Sports Complex. Dadating si Fr. Fernando Suarez. sya yung kilalang healing priest. 3:00 p.m.
I’ll be attending, kung hindi ka makakarating, ipagdadasal kita.
gio, i’l pray for you. this is the first time i’ve been in this site. i am positive you’ll be able to read this even if a year had past.
gio, i’l pray for you. this is the first time i’ve been in this site. i am positive you’ll be able to read this even if a year had past.
gio, i’l pray for you. this is the first time i’ve been in this site. i am positive you’ll be able to read this even if a year had past.
PLEASE pray for me. I have cancer on the stomach, that part kung saan natatapos ang esophagus at nagsisimula ang tiyan.
Kahapon, ako ay nilagnat. Nandito ako sa ospital, dextrose, kasama ang aking mama.halos mahigit na 2 years ang aking kanser. Malaki na ang nagagastos ng aking mga magulang chemo ko @P45,000.00 x 6 beses.
Gusto ko pang gumaling, mag aral ulit.
PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.
Salamat po.
Gio, Siena College of San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan
Gio, we’ll pray for you. If possible, may healing mass tomorrow June 30, 2009 dito sa Batangas sa Batangas City Sports Complex. Dadating si Fr. Fernando Suarez. sya yung kilalang healing priest. 3:00 p.m.
I’ll be attending, kung hindi ka makakarating, ipagdadasal kita.
ask ko lang po kung ano mga araw ang may healing mass?
pwede pong malaman kung anu exact address ng our lady of my. carmel church jan s lipa batangas gus2 q
tanung ko lang po sana kung anu exact address ng our lady of mt. carmel jan s lipa batngas..gus2 ko po kc sna pumunta..at anu po b ung araw n mas maganda pumunta jan.. my sakit poh kc aq goiter for 3 yrs na gumaling n po goiter ko pero ung mata ko naapektuhan ng sobra napanood ko po s tv n my mga rose petals nani2wala po aq n kya p akong pagalingin..sna po ma2lungan nyu aq n makapunta jan s pamamagitan ng pabibigay alam ng exact address..tga d2 po aq s bulacan..salamat poh.. maraming salamat poh..
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR MY COMPLETE HEALING…for the past 3 weeks in and out ako ng ospital, blood transfusion and dextrose. I went home Sept. 14. and todate, nakakabit pa din ang oxygen sa akin. Di makapaniwala na ako ay mag goodbye daw.
I am under strict diet under the care of Dra. Susan Balingit.
Wit this, lots of prayer, alam ko na ako ay gagaling. Pagagalingin ako ni Lord thru Mama Mary…please samahan niyo ako ng inyong mga dasal.
From, Gio
gio, i’l pray for you. this is the first time i’ve been in this site. i am positive you’ll be able to read this even if a year had past.
Gio,
Just believe in her grace and she will heal you. She is so Blessed that I believe as well if YOU believe You will be healed. Just tell her how much you love her and she will show you how much she loves you. Your not alone we are here for you, I love you brother as well Our Mother. You will be healed 🙂 Simply because You and I believed.
Gio,
Just believe in her grace and she will heal you. She is so Blessed that I believe as well if YOU believe You will be healed. Just tell her how much you love her and she will show you how much she loves you. Your not alone we are here for you, I love you brother as well Our Mother. You will be healed 🙂 Simply because You and I believed.
Hi Gio, I’m also praying for you. Try to meditate & repeat the verse in Palm 23, everyday, many times a day, believing in every word of it. Let me pray for you….
Gio, you are the son of God. I see the presence of God in you now. This is the presence of harmony, health, peace, joy, vitality & wholeness. God breathed into you the breath of life. The Spirit of God made you, and I know the breathe of the Almighty gave you life. You inhale the peace of God, and you exhale the love of God. Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And i knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41-42). I also pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Carmel & St. Therese for your immediate healing & recovery.
I have received a white rose petal on Feb. 8, 2007 right in front of me, on the ground, where the remains of St. Therese de Lesiux lies during a vigil…. the least I can do in return for this blessing is to pray for those who are sick, physically & spiritually. My life was never the same since then, I’ve been even more blessed!
Believe that you have received your miracle Gio bec. God has always been with you. God bless you always!
dear ginger,
may i ask your help to please pray for me. i will be undergoing colonoscopy procedure on the 31st of august 2010 to find out if im positive of colon cancer. i need help thru prayers cause i believe that prayers can make miracles. please pray for me and wish that everything would be fine and would be in good shape always.
dear ginger,
may i ask your help to please pray for me. i will be undergoing colonoscopy procedure on the 31st of august 2010 to find out if im positive of colon cancer. i need help thru prayers cause i believe that prayers can make miracles. please pray for me and wish that everything would be fine and would be in good shape always.
Hi Gio, I’m also praying for you. Try to meditate & repeat the verse in Palm 23, everyday, many times a day, believing in every word of it. Let me pray for you….
Gio, you are the son of God. I see the presence of God in you now. This is the presence of harmony, health, peace, joy, vitality & wholeness. God breathed into you the breath of life. The Spirit of God made you, and I know the breathe of the Almighty gave you life. You inhale the peace of God, and you exhale the love of God. Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And i knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41-42). I also pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Carmel & St. Therese for your immediate healing & recovery.
I have received a white rose petal on Feb. 8, 2007 right in front of me, on the ground, where the remains of St. Therese de Lesiux lies during a vigil…. the least I can do in return for this blessing is to pray for those who are sick, physically & spiritually. My life was never the same since then, I’ve been even more blessed!
Believe that you have received your miracle Gio bec. God has always been with you. God bless you always!
Hi Gio, I’m also praying for you. Try to meditate & repeat the verse in Palm 23, everyday, many times a day, believing in every word of it. Let me pray for you….
Gio, you are the son of God. I see the presence of God in you now. This is the presence of harmony, health, peace, joy, vitality & wholeness. God breathed into you the breath of life. The Spirit of God made you, and I know the breathe of the Almighty gave you life. You inhale the peace of God, and you exhale the love of God. Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And i knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41-42). I also pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Carmel & St. Therese for your immediate healing & recovery.
I have received a white rose petal on Feb. 8, 2007 right in front of me, on the ground, where the remains of St. Therese de Lesiux lies during a vigil…. the least I can do in return for this blessing is to pray for those who are sick, physically & spiritually. My life was never the same since then, I’ve been even more blessed!
Believe that you have received your miracle Gio bec. God has always been with you. God bless you always!
Hi Gio, I’m also praying for you. Try to meditate & repeat the verse in Palm 23, everyday, many times a day, believing in every word of it. Let me pray for you….
Gio, you are the son of God. I see the presence of God in you now. This is the presence of harmony, health, peace, joy, vitality & wholeness. God breathed into you the breath of life. The Spirit of God made you, and I know the breathe of the Almighty gave you life. You inhale the peace of God, and you exhale the love of God. Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And i knew that thou hearest me always (John 11:41-42). I also pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Carmel & St. Therese for your immediate healing & recovery.
I have received a white rose petal on Feb. 8, 2007 right in front of me, on the ground, where the remains of St. Therese de Lesiux lies during a vigil…. the least I can do in return for this blessing is to pray for those who are sick, physically & spiritually. My life was never the same since then, I’ve been even more blessed!
Believe that you have received your miracle Gio bec. God has always been with you. God bless you always!
dear ginger,
may i ask your help to please pray for me. i will be undergoing colonoscopy procedure on the 31st of august 2010 to find out if im positive of colon cancer. i need help thru prayers cause i believe that prayers can make miracles. please pray for me and wish that everything would be fine and would be in good shape always.
sorry, typo…. Feb. 8, 2008 not 2007
sorry, typo…. Feb. 8, 2008 not 2007
Dear gio,
How are you today? I am one in praying for your immediate
recovery. Always remember that God is the God of healing. He will heal you through his son Jesus Christ and through our lady mediatrix of all grace. Just hold on, keep believing and do not loose your faith.
Gio, pray the rosary always, meditate in it and feel the touch of mama mary. God bless you Gio and you’ll be in my prayers!
Dear gio,
How are you today? I am one in praying for your immediate
recovery. Always remember that God is the God of healing. He will heal you through his son Jesus Christ and through our lady mediatrix of all grace. Just hold on, keep believing and do not loose your faith.
Gio, pray the rosary always, meditate in it and feel the touch of mama mary. God bless you Gio and you’ll be in my prayers!
Dear gio,
How are you today? I am one in praying for your immediate
recovery. Always remember that God is the God of healing. He will heal you through his son Jesus Christ and through our lady mediatrix of all grace. Just hold on, keep believing and do not loose your faith.
Gio, pray the rosary always, meditate in it and feel the touch of mama mary. God bless you Gio and you’ll be in my prayers!
I BELIEVE IN THE VIRGIN MARY AND I MYSELF PRAY THE ROSARY EVEN WHEN I AM IN A BUS HERE IN MIAMI. ONE NIGHT IN MY MOTHER’S APARTMENT SOMETHING MADE ME LOOK UP LIKE SOMEONE WAS ASKING ME TO LOOK UP AND WHEN I LOOKED UP OUTSIDE MY MOTHER’S WINDOW WAS A FLOATING FIGURE DRESSED IN WHITE WITH HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED LIKE JESUS CHRIST. THIS HAPPENED IN BETWEEN JUNE AND JULY 2009 AND I FELT SCARED BUT I THOUGHT IT LOOKS LIKE JESUS TRYING TO TELL ME TO LOOK OUTSIDE. I STARTED TO FEEL NERVOUS AND I STARTED TO PRAY THE ROSARY AS I WAS LOOKING AT THE FLOATING FIGURE IN WHITE NEAR MY MOTHER’S WINDOW. I BELIEVE IN PRAYER AND AFTER THAT I FELT VERY RELIEVED LIKE GOD HAS VISITED ME.
SCIENTIFICALLY PEOPLE WITH CANCER SHOULD NOT LOSE HOPE. THERE IS A TREATMENT FOR CANCER IN FLAX SEED OIL. FLAX SEED OIL IS SOLD IN PHARMACIES OVER THE COUNTER AND IT IS IN THE FORM OF AN OIL EXTRACT LIQUIFIED. FLAX SEED OIL CAN
BE TAKEN WITH FOOD SUCH AS WITH COTTAGE CHEESE AND MILK OR ANY OTHER FOODS THAT YOU EAT. I MYSELF TRIED IT AND IT IS REALLY MEDICINAL. ALSO TAKING VITAMIN C IS NECESSARY TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR BODY’S NEEDS FOR BUILDING UP OF ANTIBODIES.
I BELIEVE IN THE VIRGIN MARY AND I MYSELF PRAY THE ROSARY EVEN WHEN I AM IN A BUS HERE IN MIAMI. ONE NIGHT IN MY MOTHER’S APARTMENT SOMETHING MADE ME LOOK UP LIKE SOMEONE WAS ASKING ME TO LOOK UP AND WHEN I LOOKED UP OUTSIDE MY MOTHER’S WINDOW WAS A FLOATING FIGURE DRESSED IN WHITE WITH HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED LIKE JESUS CHRIST. THIS HAPPENED IN BETWEEN JUNE AND JULY 2009 AND I FELT SCARED BUT I THOUGHT IT LOOKS LIKE JESUS TRYING TO TELL ME TO LOOK OUTSIDE. I STARTED TO FEEL NERVOUS AND I STARTED TO PRAY THE ROSARY AS I WAS LOOKING AT THE FLOATING FIGURE IN WHITE NEAR MY MOTHER’S WINDOW. I BELIEVE IN PRAYER AND AFTER THAT I FELT VERY RELIEVED LIKE GOD HAS VISITED ME.
SCIENTIFICALLY PEOPLE WITH CANCER SHOULD NOT LOSE HOPE. THERE IS A TREATMENT FOR CANCER IN FLAX SEED OIL. FLAX SEED OIL IS SOLD IN PHARMACIES OVER THE COUNTER AND IT IS IN THE FORM OF AN OIL EXTRACT LIQUIFIED. FLAX SEED OIL CAN
BE TAKEN WITH FOOD SUCH AS WITH COTTAGE CHEESE AND MILK OR ANY OTHER FOODS THAT YOU EAT. I MYSELF TRIED IT AND IT IS REALLY MEDICINAL. ALSO TAKING VITAMIN C IS NECESSARY TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR BODY’S NEEDS FOR BUILDING UP OF ANTIBODIES.
I BELIEVE IN THE VIRGIN MARY AND I MYSELF PRAY THE ROSARY EVEN WHEN I AM IN A BUS HERE IN MIAMI. ONE NIGHT IN MY MOTHER’S APARTMENT SOMETHING MADE ME LOOK UP LIKE SOMEONE WAS ASKING ME TO LOOK UP AND WHEN I LOOKED UP OUTSIDE MY MOTHER’S WINDOW WAS A FLOATING FIGURE DRESSED IN WHITE WITH HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED LIKE JESUS CHRIST. THIS HAPPENED IN BETWEEN JUNE AND JULY 2009 AND I FELT SCARED BUT I THOUGHT IT LOOKS LIKE JESUS TRYING TO TELL ME TO LOOK OUTSIDE. I STARTED TO FEEL NERVOUS AND I STARTED TO PRAY THE ROSARY AS I WAS LOOKING AT THE FLOATING FIGURE IN WHITE NEAR MY MOTHER’S WINDOW. I BELIEVE IN PRAYER AND AFTER THAT I FELT VERY RELIEVED LIKE GOD HAS VISITED ME.
SCIENTIFICALLY PEOPLE WITH CANCER SHOULD NOT LOSE HOPE. THERE IS A TREATMENT FOR CANCER IN FLAX SEED OIL. FLAX SEED OIL IS SOLD IN PHARMACIES OVER THE COUNTER AND IT IS IN THE FORM OF AN OIL EXTRACT LIQUIFIED. FLAX SEED OIL CAN
BE TAKEN WITH FOOD SUCH AS WITH COTTAGE CHEESE AND MILK OR ANY OTHER FOODS THAT YOU EAT. I MYSELF TRIED IT AND IT IS REALLY MEDICINAL. ALSO TAKING VITAMIN C IS NECESSARY TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR BODY’S NEEDS FOR BUILDING UP OF ANTIBODIES.
My doctor told me that they may remove all my reproduction system. And my husband is incapable of producing sufficient cells. We are married for more than a decade, and our relationship is growing for more than 2 decades. He is the first man in my life and will be the last. Our love, as we always believe it, is created by God, and is getting stronger every day. But despite all these, we are not gifted with a child that may complete our lives as one family. Our dream, that may never come true… unless spared by God that we are and will be forever awaiting.
Please help us pray for our healing. I plead to you, to please help me pray for a miracle of even one, just one healthy child. It will not only bring joy to our lives, but will make a dream of my parents come true too.
My doctor told me that they may remove all my reproduction system. And my husband is incapable of producing sufficient cells. We are married for more than a decade, and our relationship is growing for more than 2 decades. He is the first man in my life and will be the last. Our love, as we always believe it, is created by God, and is getting stronger every day. But despite all these, we are not gifted with a child that may complete our lives as one family. Our dream, that may never come true… unless spared by God that we are and will be forever awaiting.
Please help us pray for our healing. I plead to you, to please help me pray for a miracle of even one, just one healthy child. It will not only bring joy to our lives, but will make a dream of my parents come true too.
My doctor told me that they may remove all my reproduction system. And my husband is incapable of producing sufficient cells. We are married for more than a decade, and our relationship is growing for more than 2 decades. He is the first man in my life and will be the last. Our love, as we always believe it, is created by God, and is getting stronger every day. But despite all these, we are not gifted with a child that may complete our lives as one family. Our dream, that may never come true… unless spared by God that we are and will be forever awaiting.
Please help us pray for our healing. I plead to you, to please help me pray for a miracle of even one, just one healthy child. It will not only bring joy to our lives, but will make a dream of my parents come true too.
My doctor told me that they may remove all my reproduction system. And my husband is incapable of producing sufficient cells. We are married for more than a decade, and our relationship is growing for more than 2 decades. He is the first man in my life and will be the last. Our love, as we always believe it, is created by God, and is getting stronger every day. But despite all these, we are not gifted with a child that may complete our lives as one family. Our dream, that may never come true… unless spared by God that we are and will be forever awaiting.
Please help us pray for our healing. I plead to you, to please help me pray for a miracle of even one, just one healthy child. It will not only bring joy to our lives, but will make a dream of my parents come true too.
+ Ave María Purísima
Sor Teresita:
Carísima hermana, la gracia del Espíritu Santo sea siempre en su alma y la colme de su Divino Amor. Por este medio quiero darle las gracias por haberme enviado la imagen de la Stma. Virgen que ya está puesta en esta iglesia y que nos está concediendo a todos tantísimas gracias.
Las personas están muy entusiasmadas con Nuestra Señora. Queremos difundir su Mediación Universal. La Virgen es la Corredentora de las Divinas Gracias.
La señora Lucía es muy buena. La he pedido si nos puede enviar un petalo de los que la Virgen derramó. Lo pondremos en un relicario y lo daremos a la veneración.
Pidan mucho por esta parroquia. Recen para que la Virgen conceda tantas gracias a esta parroquia.
Yo estoy feliz con ella. Y toda la feligresia. Es una imagen que transmite. Cuando la escriba la enviaré un pequeño donativo en acción de gracias y en nombre de toda la comunidad parroquial.
Con mi afecto y bendición y recuerdo en la Santa Misa. Su sacerdote que las quiere y no olvida.
Andrés García Torres
cura párroco
PARROQUIA DE NTRA SEÑORA DE FATIMA
Calle Gazaperas, 15
28944-Fuenlabrada
Madrid
España
Tfno. 916975446
+ Ave María Purísima
Sor Teresita:
Carísima hermana, la gracia del Espíritu Santo sea siempre en su alma y la colme de su Divino Amor. Por este medio quiero darle las gracias por haberme enviado la imagen de la Stma. Virgen que ya está puesta en esta iglesia y que nos está concediendo a todos tantísimas gracias.
Las personas están muy entusiasmadas con Nuestra Señora. Queremos difundir su Mediación Universal. La Virgen es la Corredentora de las Divinas Gracias.
La señora Lucía es muy buena. La he pedido si nos puede enviar un petalo de los que la Virgen derramó. Lo pondremos en un relicario y lo daremos a la veneración.
Pidan mucho por esta parroquia. Recen para que la Virgen conceda tantas gracias a esta parroquia.
Yo estoy feliz con ella. Y toda la feligresia. Es una imagen que transmite. Cuando la escriba la enviaré un pequeño donativo en acción de gracias y en nombre de toda la comunidad parroquial.
Con mi afecto y bendición y recuerdo en la Santa Misa. Su sacerdote que las quiere y no olvida.
Andrés García Torres
cura párroco
PARROQUIA DE NTRA SEÑORA DE FATIMA
Calle Gazaperas, 15
28944-Fuenlabrada
Madrid
España
Tfno. 916975446
OMG. This is one hoax attempted to be perpetuated.
I have read decades ago the negative findings of the commission formed to investigate the miracle.
Negative because: The novice visionary could not speak for herself. Her mother superior dictated to her the answers to questions about her vision. The rose petals were shown to be made by the nuns themselves from the rose garden inside the monastery and were printed with images and then showered from up the monastery walls. The commission was composed of priest-theologians who are experts in divine revelation.
Now, you are reviving this so-called miracle? Please don’t, your own Cardinal Vidal is in hot water in Cebu for his support of a group of monks of unknown order who is now exposed of making up miracles and creating mythical stories of a statue and for profiting from the commercialism spawned by curious and credulous Cebuanos. Part of mementos for sale in that monastery are rose petals resembling those at Lipa. This is not a coincidence!
May the real Mama Mary guide you to the path of true faith, not superstition.
OMG. This is one hoax attempted to be perpetuated.
I have read decades ago the negative findings of the commission formed to investigate the miracle.
Negative because: The novice visionary could not speak for herself. Her mother superior dictated to her the answers to questions about her vision. The rose petals were shown to be made by the nuns themselves from the rose garden inside the monastery and were printed with images and then showered from up the monastery walls. The commission was composed of priest-theologians who are experts in divine revelation.
Now, you are reviving this so-called miracle? Please don’t, your own Cardinal Vidal is in hot water in Cebu for his support of a group of monks of unknown order who is now exposed of making up miracles and creating mythical stories of a statue and for profiting from the commercialism spawned by curious and credulous Cebuanos. Part of mementos for sale in that monastery are rose petals resembling those at Lipa. This is not a coincidence!
May the real Mama Mary guide you to the path of true faith, not superstition.
OMG. This is one hoax attempted to be perpetuated.
I have read decades ago the negative findings of the commission formed to investigate the miracle.
Negative because: The novice visionary could not speak for herself. Her mother superior dictated to her the answers to questions about her vision. The rose petals were shown to be made by the nuns themselves from the rose garden inside the monastery and were printed with images and then showered from up the monastery walls. The commission was composed of priest-theologians who are experts in divine revelation.
Now, you are reviving this so-called miracle? Please don’t, your own Cardinal Vidal is in hot water in Cebu for his support of a group of monks of unknown order who is now exposed of making up miracles and creating mythical stories of a statue and for profiting from the commercialism spawned by curious and credulous Cebuanos. Part of mementos for sale in that monastery are rose petals resembling those at Lipa. This is not a coincidence!
May the real Mama Mary guide you to the path of true faith, not superstition.
OMG. This is one hoax attempted to be perpetuated.
I have read decades ago the negative findings of the commission formed to investigate the miracle.
Negative because: The novice visionary could not speak for herself. Her mother superior dictated to her the answers to questions about her vision. The rose petals were shown to be made by the nuns themselves from the rose garden inside the monastery and were printed with images and then showered from up the monastery walls. The commission was composed of priest-theologians who are experts in divine revelation.
Now, you are reviving this so-called miracle? Please don’t, your own Cardinal Vidal is in hot water in Cebu for his support of a group of monks of unknown order who is now exposed of making up miracles and creating mythical stories of a statue and for profiting from the commercialism spawned by curious and credulous Cebuanos. Part of mementos for sale in that monastery are rose petals resembling those at Lipa. This is not a coincidence!
May the real Mama Mary guide you to the path of true faith, not superstition.
OMG. This is one hoax attempted to be perpetuated.
I have read decades ago the negative findings of the commission formed to investigate the miracle.
Negative because: The novice visionary could not speak for herself. Her mother superior dictated to her the answers to questions about her vision. The rose petals were shown to be made by the nuns themselves from the rose garden inside the monastery and were printed with images and then showered from up the monastery walls. The commission was composed of priest-theologians who are experts in divine revelation.
Now, you are reviving this so-called miracle? Please don’t, your own Cardinal Vidal is in hot water in Cebu for his support of a group of monks of unknown order who is now exposed of making up miracles and creating mythical stories of a statue and for profiting from the commercialism spawned by curious and credulous Cebuanos. Part of mementos for sale in that monastery are rose petals resembling those at Lipa. This is not a coincidence!
May the real Mama Mary guide you to the path of true faith, not superstition.
Excommunication is a sanction given to those who commit a grave offense against the Catholic church. To fraudulently create a miracle and to take advantage of the religiosity of the people is a mortal sin. This is because it leads people to worship or venerate a false god or idol. It is also swindling under criminal law.
Rufino Cardinal Santos and the members of the commission created to investigate the Lipa miracle made a thorough investigation. It would have been a boon for Catholicism and a divine honor to have a genuine miracle at Lipa. But the Fathers chose to tell the truth of their findings. They interviewed the main characters of the supposed vision, searched the monastery and made a lot of sleuthing. They can only come up with a decision after much prayer and thinking that the whole affair was fraudulent. They were guided by the norms set by the Vatican.
They defrocked the mother superior, dissolved the convent and the false visionary had to leave as well. The penalty they recommended was excommunication, but loosened a bit by not imposing it when the characters signed the negative report which is likened to a plea of guilty to a lesser offense. Otherwise, excommunication was the correct penalty.
Now, when everything seemed almost forgotten and most people involved have gone to wherever God placed them, the effort to revive it is even more suspect. Every Batangueno priest who has studied at UST or Ateneo knows about the whole story of Lipa. They would also know that cures and healings would be attributed to the revived miraculous virgin, but they will explain that these are caused by a believing mind, as in faith healing.
The apparition was not approved then. The records of the negative result are in the Vatican. It would be harder for it to be approved now. The shower of petals was already explained and it would be a shame on us if that show would be declared fraudulent a second time.
Last year, The archbishop of lipa, together with some priests of the archdiocese went to the vatican to research on why the 1951 comission came out with a negative decision. But surprisingly, when they looked at the vatican archives they din’t find any documents on the nature of investigation and it’s findings. that’s why the archbishop have enough grounds to re – investigate it. I don’t know where you got your information. It seems that you don’t know the real story of Lipa.You are just basing your story on a hearsay.
Last year, The archbishop of lipa, together with some priests of the archdiocese went to the vatican to research on why the 1951 comission came out with a negative decision. But surprisingly, when they looked at the vatican archives they din’t find any documents on the nature of investigation and it’s findings. that’s why the archbishop have enough grounds to re – investigate it. I don’t know where you got your information. It seems that you don’t know the real story of Lipa.You are just basing your story on a hearsay.
Last year, The archbishop of lipa, together with some priests of the archdiocese went to the vatican to research on why the 1951 comission came out with a negative decision. But surprisingly, when they looked at the vatican archives they din’t find any documents on the nature of investigation and it’s findings. that’s why the archbishop have enough grounds to re – investigate it. I don’t know where you got your information. It seems that you don’t know the real story of Lipa.You are just basing your story on a hearsay.
Last year, The archbishop of lipa, together with some priests of the archdiocese went to the vatican to research on why the 1951 comission came out with a negative decision. But surprisingly, when they looked at the vatican archives they din’t find any documents on the nature of investigation and it’s findings. that’s why the archbishop have enough grounds to re – investigate it. I don’t know where you got your information. It seems that you don’t know the real story of Lipa.You are just basing your story on a hearsay.
Excommunication is a sanction given to those who commit a grave offense against the Catholic church. To fraudulently create a miracle and to take advantage of the religiosity of the people is a mortal sin. This is because it leads people to worship or venerate a false god or idol. It is also swindling under criminal law.
Rufino Cardinal Santos and the members of the commission created to investigate the Lipa miracle made a thorough investigation. It would have been a boon for Catholicism and a divine honor to have a genuine miracle at Lipa. But the Fathers chose to tell the truth of their findings. They interviewed the main characters of the supposed vision, searched the monastery and made a lot of sleuthing. They can only come up with a decision after much prayer and thinking that the whole affair was fraudulent. They were guided by the norms set by the Vatican.
They defrocked the mother superior, dissolved the convent and the false visionary had to leave as well. The penalty they recommended was excommunication, but loosened a bit by not imposing it when the characters signed the negative report which is likened to a plea of guilty to a lesser offense. Otherwise, excommunication was the correct penalty.
Now, when everything seemed almost forgotten and most people involved have gone to wherever God placed them, the effort to revive it is even more suspect. Every Batangueno priest who has studied at UST or Ateneo knows about the whole story of Lipa. They would also know that cures and healings would be attributed to the revived miraculous virgin, but they will explain that these are caused by a believing mind, as in faith healing.
The apparition was not approved then. The records of the negative result are in the Vatican. It would be harder for it to be approved now. The shower of petals was already explained and it would be a shame on us if that show would be declared fraudulent a second time.
Excommunication is a sanction given to those who commit a grave offense against the Catholic church. To fraudulently create a miracle and to take advantage of the religiosity of the people is a mortal sin. This is because it leads people to worship or venerate a false god or idol. It is also swindling under criminal law.
Rufino Cardinal Santos and the members of the commission created to investigate the Lipa miracle made a thorough investigation. It would have been a boon for Catholicism and a divine honor to have a genuine miracle at Lipa. But the Fathers chose to tell the truth of their findings. They interviewed the main characters of the supposed vision, searched the monastery and made a lot of sleuthing. They can only come up with a decision after much prayer and thinking that the whole affair was fraudulent. They were guided by the norms set by the Vatican.
They defrocked the mother superior, dissolved the convent and the false visionary had to leave as well. The penalty they recommended was excommunication, but loosened a bit by not imposing it when the characters signed the negative report which is likened to a plea of guilty to a lesser offense. Otherwise, excommunication was the correct penalty.
Now, when everything seemed almost forgotten and most people involved have gone to wherever God placed them, the effort to revive it is even more suspect. Every Batangueno priest who has studied at UST or Ateneo knows about the whole story of Lipa. They would also know that cures and healings would be attributed to the revived miraculous virgin, but they will explain that these are caused by a believing mind, as in faith healing.
The apparition was not approved then. The records of the negative result are in the Vatican. It would be harder for it to be approved now. The shower of petals was already explained and it would be a shame on us if that show would be declared fraudulent a second time.
Excommunication is a sanction given to those who commit a grave offense against the Catholic church. To fraudulently create a miracle and to take advantage of the religiosity of the people is a mortal sin. This is because it leads people to worship or venerate a false god or idol. It is also swindling under criminal law.
Rufino Cardinal Santos and the members of the commission created to investigate the Lipa miracle made a thorough investigation. It would have been a boon for Catholicism and a divine honor to have a genuine miracle at Lipa. But the Fathers chose to tell the truth of their findings. They interviewed the main characters of the supposed vision, searched the monastery and made a lot of sleuthing. They can only come up with a decision after much prayer and thinking that the whole affair was fraudulent. They were guided by the norms set by the Vatican.
They defrocked the mother superior, dissolved the convent and the false visionary had to leave as well. The penalty they recommended was excommunication, but loosened a bit by not imposing it when the characters signed the negative report which is likened to a plea of guilty to a lesser offense. Otherwise, excommunication was the correct penalty.
Now, when everything seemed almost forgotten and most people involved have gone to wherever God placed them, the effort to revive it is even more suspect. Every Batangueno priest who has studied at UST or Ateneo knows about the whole story of Lipa. They would also know that cures and healings would be attributed to the revived miraculous virgin, but they will explain that these are caused by a believing mind, as in faith healing.
The apparition was not approved then. The records of the negative result are in the Vatican. It would be harder for it to be approved now. The shower of petals was already explained and it would be a shame on us if that show would be declared fraudulent a second time.
Last year, The archbishop of lipa, together with some priests of the archdiocese went to the vatican to research on why the 1951 comission came out with a negative decision. But surprisingly, when they looked at the vatican archives they din’t find any documents on the nature of investigation and it’s findings. that’s why the archbishop have enough grounds to re – investigate it. I don’t know where you got your information. It seems that you don’t know the real story of Lipa.You are just basing your story on a hearsay.
In the court of law, a person interested in something is not allowed to prove the truth of an oral communication or transaction with a dead person. This is the Dead Man’s statute. The rationale for this rule is that it would be easy to attribute something to one who is dead who cannot confirm the truth of the statement.
In the same manner, it would be easy for those interested in the miracle of Lipa to quote Sr. Alphonse that she requested that the image be displayed one more time, or to quote that bishops who signed the negative report on Lipa were coerced under the threat of excommunication. The question is to whom these statements were made? Were these statements written and sworn? Was a video recording done? Without these, the statements cannot be regarded as true.
On the other hand, the half a century old negative report of the committee enjoys more credibility. First, it was conducted at the time when the miracles were still going on and the actors and actresses of the miracle were actually interviewed. Second, the committee witnessed the shower of rose petals and found the human reason behind the shower.
Most importantly, their finding was a declaration against interest, rather than self-serving. Bishops want the propagation of faith and increased piety and conversion of people. Their confirmation of the miracle would certainly achieve this purpose. When they declared the miracle as fraudulent, it was because it was indeed fraudulent and nothing else.
In the civil court, a matter already adjudged should not be revived. This is the res judicata rule, which is copied from canon law. Otherwise, cases would go on and on without any end in sight.
Thus, the revived Lipa devotion has no basis as it does not pass even the human rules of evidence. One would expect a rule even more strict because the matter includes the divine.
I don’t know where you got your information about the lipa apparition. It’s totally different from the documented and well researched sources.To tell you honestly the basis of information about Lipa apparition was not only from the book written by June keithley. The Marian Research Center was the first one who initiated the investigation during the 1980’s, they interviewed some bishops who are vital witnesses, or are closed to the bishops involved.They also submitted evidences of healings and conversion to the bishop at that time. They submitted the evidences to Bishop Mariano Gaviola who later pubicly declared his personal belief that the Lipa apparition is worthy of belief. That’s why he permitted the veneration of the Image at the convent of Carmel.In the case, of Sr. Alfonse she was the one who requested for an audience with the bishop of Lipa. Her deathbed wish is to have the image be venerated. She pesonally testified about the authenticity of it.I’m not forcing you to believe if you don’t like to. I also do not want to have an argument with you. But don’t create stories which are based on hearsay.
I don’t know where you got your information about the lipa apparition. It’s totally different from the documented and well researched sources.To tell you honestly the basis of information about Lipa apparition was not only from the book written by June keithley. The Marian Research Center was the first one who initiated the investigation during the 1980’s, they interviewed some bishops who are vital witnesses, or are closed to the bishops involved.They also submitted evidences of healings and conversion to the bishop at that time. They submitted the evidences to Bishop Mariano Gaviola who later pubicly declared his personal belief that the Lipa apparition is worthy of belief. That’s why he permitted the veneration of the Image at the convent of Carmel.In the case, of Sr. Alfonse she was the one who requested for an audience with the bishop of Lipa. Her deathbed wish is to have the image be venerated. She pesonally testified about the authenticity of it.I’m not forcing you to believe if you don’t like to. I also do not want to have an argument with you. But don’t create stories which are based on hearsay.
I don’t know where you got your information about the lipa apparition. It’s totally different from the documented and well researched sources.To tell you honestly the basis of information about Lipa apparition was not only from the book written by June keithley. The Marian Research Center was the first one who initiated the investigation during the 1980’s, they interviewed some bishops who are vital witnesses, or are closed to the bishops involved.They also submitted evidences of healings and conversion to the bishop at that time. They submitted the evidences to Bishop Mariano Gaviola who later pubicly declared his personal belief that the Lipa apparition is worthy of belief. That’s why he permitted the veneration of the Image at the convent of Carmel.In the case, of Sr. Alfonse she was the one who requested for an audience with the bishop of Lipa. Her deathbed wish is to have the image be venerated. She pesonally testified about the authenticity of it.I’m not forcing you to believe if you don’t like to. I also do not want to have an argument with you. But don’t create stories which are based on hearsay.
In the court of law, a person interested in something is not allowed to prove the truth of an oral communication or transaction with a dead person. This is the Dead Man’s statute. The rationale for this rule is that it would be easy to attribute something to one who is dead who cannot confirm the truth of the statement.
In the same manner, it would be easy for those interested in the miracle of Lipa to quote Sr. Alphonse that she requested that the image be displayed one more time, or to quote that bishops who signed the negative report on Lipa were coerced under the threat of excommunication. The question is to whom these statements were made? Were these statements written and sworn? Was a video recording done? Without these, the statements cannot be regarded as true.
On the other hand, the half a century old negative report of the committee enjoys more credibility. First, it was conducted at the time when the miracles were still going on and the actors and actresses of the miracle were actually interviewed. Second, the committee witnessed the shower of rose petals and found the human reason behind the shower.
Most importantly, their finding was a declaration against interest, rather than self-serving. Bishops want the propagation of faith and increased piety and conversion of people. Their confirmation of the miracle would certainly achieve this purpose. When they declared the miracle as fraudulent, it was because it was indeed fraudulent and nothing else.
In the civil court, a matter already adjudged should not be revived. This is the res judicata rule, which is copied from canon law. Otherwise, cases would go on and on without any end in sight.
Thus, the revived Lipa devotion has no basis as it does not pass even the human rules of evidence. One would expect a rule even more strict because the matter includes the divine.
In the court of law, a person interested in something is not allowed to prove the truth of an oral communication or transaction with a dead person. This is the Dead Man’s statute. The rationale for this rule is that it would be easy to attribute something to one who is dead who cannot confirm the truth of the statement.
In the same manner, it would be easy for those interested in the miracle of Lipa to quote Sr. Alphonse that she requested that the image be displayed one more time, or to quote that bishops who signed the negative report on Lipa were coerced under the threat of excommunication. The question is to whom these statements were made? Were these statements written and sworn? Was a video recording done? Without these, the statements cannot be regarded as true.
On the other hand, the half a century old negative report of the committee enjoys more credibility. First, it was conducted at the time when the miracles were still going on and the actors and actresses of the miracle were actually interviewed. Second, the committee witnessed the shower of rose petals and found the human reason behind the shower.
Most importantly, their finding was a declaration against interest, rather than self-serving. Bishops want the propagation of faith and increased piety and conversion of people. Their confirmation of the miracle would certainly achieve this purpose. When they declared the miracle as fraudulent, it was because it was indeed fraudulent and nothing else.
In the civil court, a matter already adjudged should not be revived. This is the res judicata rule, which is copied from canon law. Otherwise, cases would go on and on without any end in sight.
Thus, the revived Lipa devotion has no basis as it does not pass even the human rules of evidence. One would expect a rule even more strict because the matter includes the divine.
In the court of law, a person interested in something is not allowed to prove the truth of an oral communication or transaction with a dead person. This is the Dead Man’s statute. The rationale for this rule is that it would be easy to attribute something to one who is dead who cannot confirm the truth of the statement.
In the same manner, it would be easy for those interested in the miracle of Lipa to quote Sr. Alphonse that she requested that the image be displayed one more time, or to quote that bishops who signed the negative report on Lipa were coerced under the threat of excommunication. The question is to whom these statements were made? Were these statements written and sworn? Was a video recording done? Without these, the statements cannot be regarded as true.
On the other hand, the half a century old negative report of the committee enjoys more credibility. First, it was conducted at the time when the miracles were still going on and the actors and actresses of the miracle were actually interviewed. Second, the committee witnessed the shower of rose petals and found the human reason behind the shower.
Most importantly, their finding was a declaration against interest, rather than self-serving. Bishops want the propagation of faith and increased piety and conversion of people. Their confirmation of the miracle would certainly achieve this purpose. When they declared the miracle as fraudulent, it was because it was indeed fraudulent and nothing else.
In the civil court, a matter already adjudged should not be revived. This is the res judicata rule, which is copied from canon law. Otherwise, cases would go on and on without any end in sight.
Thus, the revived Lipa devotion has no basis as it does not pass even the human rules of evidence. One would expect a rule even more strict because the matter includes the divine.
In the court of law, a person interested in something is not allowed to prove the truth of an oral communication or transaction with a dead person. This is the Dead Man’s statute. The rationale for this rule is that it would be easy to attribute something to one who is dead who cannot confirm the truth of the statement.
In the same manner, it would be easy for those interested in the miracle of Lipa to quote Sr. Alphonse that she requested that the image be displayed one more time, or to quote that bishops who signed the negative report on Lipa were coerced under the threat of excommunication. The question is to whom these statements were made? Were these statements written and sworn? Was a video recording done? Without these, the statements cannot be regarded as true.
On the other hand, the half a century old negative report of the committee enjoys more credibility. First, it was conducted at the time when the miracles were still going on and the actors and actresses of the miracle were actually interviewed. Second, the committee witnessed the shower of rose petals and found the human reason behind the shower.
Most importantly, their finding was a declaration against interest, rather than self-serving. Bishops want the propagation of faith and increased piety and conversion of people. Their confirmation of the miracle would certainly achieve this purpose. When they declared the miracle as fraudulent, it was because it was indeed fraudulent and nothing else.
In the civil court, a matter already adjudged should not be revived. This is the res judicata rule, which is copied from canon law. Otherwise, cases would go on and on without any end in sight.
Thus, the revived Lipa devotion has no basis as it does not pass even the human rules of evidence. One would expect a rule even more strict because the matter includes the divine.
I don’t know where you got your information about the lipa apparition. It’s totally different from the documented and well researched sources.To tell you honestly the basis of information about Lipa apparition was not only from the book written by June keithley. The Marian Research Center was the first one who initiated the investigation during the 1980’s, they interviewed some bishops who are vital witnesses, or are closed to the bishops involved.They also submitted evidences of healings and conversion to the bishop at that time. They submitted the evidences to Bishop Mariano Gaviola who later pubicly declared his personal belief that the Lipa apparition is worthy of belief. That’s why he permitted the veneration of the Image at the convent of Carmel.In the case, of Sr. Alfonse she was the one who requested for an audience with the bishop of Lipa. Her deathbed wish is to have the image be venerated. She pesonally testified about the authenticity of it.I’m not forcing you to believe if you don’t like to. I also do not want to have an argument with you. But don’t create stories which are based on hearsay.
Msgr. Arguelles officially lifted the ban on the devotion to the Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces. The ban was imposed ca. 1948 after a commission formed to investigate the alleged apparition and miracles reported that there was no supernatural intervention that happened there.
He reasoned out that with or without Vatican approval, there is nothing wrong when we believe in miracles. This is a fallacy of the first kind; a non sequitur. Vatican approval is necessary because the declaration after investigation would guide the believers that indeed there was an apparition that occurred or the were authentic miracles made by God through the statue. Of course we believe in miracles, they do happen. Is the Lipa event a miracle or magic? Without a yes from the Vatican, we would be inserting something alien to our Catholic faith. More importantly, after the thorough investigation made by the 1948 Lipa commission declaring the phenomenon fraudulent, we do not have any basis for our belief. It would have been better had Msgr. Arguelles formed a new commission to re-investigate the matter, made new contrary findings and declared that the earlier finding was indeed erroneous.
As it is, everything is now based on June Keithly’s book which is self-serving and not based on any verified scientific investigation. Without Vatican approval, the statue we are venerating is just a statue which is idolatry.
The declaration by Msgr. Arguelles is dangerous, because anyone now can hype up any statue of any kind as miraculous and there is nothing wrong in that as long as we believe in miracles!
Msgr. Arguelles, do you know where you are leading us to?
Msgr. Arguelles officially lifted the ban on the devotion to the Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces. The ban was imposed ca. 1948 after a commission formed to investigate the alleged apparition and miracles reported that there was no supernatural intervention that happened there.
He reasoned out that with or without Vatican approval, there is nothing wrong when we believe in miracles. This is a fallacy of the first kind; a non sequitur. Vatican approval is necessary because the declaration after investigation would guide the believers that indeed there was an apparition that occurred or the were authentic miracles made by God through the statue. Of course we believe in miracles, they do happen. Is the Lipa event a miracle or magic? Without a yes from the Vatican, we would be inserting something alien to our Catholic faith. More importantly, after the thorough investigation made by the 1948 Lipa commission declaring the phenomenon fraudulent, we do not have any basis for our belief. It would have been better had Msgr. Arguelles formed a new commission to re-investigate the matter, made new contrary findings and declared that the earlier finding was indeed erroneous.
As it is, everything is now based on June Keithly’s book which is self-serving and not based on any verified scientific investigation. Without Vatican approval, the statue we are venerating is just a statue which is idolatry.
The declaration by Msgr. Arguelles is dangerous, because anyone now can hype up any statue of any kind as miraculous and there is nothing wrong in that as long as we believe in miracles!
Msgr. Arguelles, do you know where you are leading us to?
Msgr. Arguelles officially lifted the ban on the devotion to the Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces. The ban was imposed ca. 1948 after a commission formed to investigate the alleged apparition and miracles reported that there was no supernatural intervention that happened there.
He reasoned out that with or without Vatican approval, there is nothing wrong when we believe in miracles. This is a fallacy of the first kind; a non sequitur. Vatican approval is necessary because the declaration after investigation would guide the believers that indeed there was an apparition that occurred or the were authentic miracles made by God through the statue. Of course we believe in miracles, they do happen. Is the Lipa event a miracle or magic? Without a yes from the Vatican, we would be inserting something alien to our Catholic faith. More importantly, after the thorough investigation made by the 1948 Lipa commission declaring the phenomenon fraudulent, we do not have any basis for our belief. It would have been better had Msgr. Arguelles formed a new commission to re-investigate the matter, made new contrary findings and declared that the earlier finding was indeed erroneous.
As it is, everything is now based on June Keithly’s book which is self-serving and not based on any verified scientific investigation. Without Vatican approval, the statue we are venerating is just a statue which is idolatry.
The declaration by Msgr. Arguelles is dangerous, because anyone now can hype up any statue of any kind as miraculous and there is nothing wrong in that as long as we believe in miracles!
Msgr. Arguelles, do you know where you are leading us to?
Msgr. Arguelles officially lifted the ban on the devotion to the Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces. The ban was imposed ca. 1948 after a commission formed to investigate the alleged apparition and miracles reported that there was no supernatural intervention that happened there.
He reasoned out that with or without Vatican approval, there is nothing wrong when we believe in miracles. This is a fallacy of the first kind; a non sequitur. Vatican approval is necessary because the declaration after investigation would guide the believers that indeed there was an apparition that occurred or the were authentic miracles made by God through the statue. Of course we believe in miracles, they do happen. Is the Lipa event a miracle or magic? Without a yes from the Vatican, we would be inserting something alien to our Catholic faith. More importantly, after the thorough investigation made by the 1948 Lipa commission declaring the phenomenon fraudulent, we do not have any basis for our belief. It would have been better had Msgr. Arguelles formed a new commission to re-investigate the matter, made new contrary findings and declared that the earlier finding was indeed erroneous.
As it is, everything is now based on June Keithly’s book which is self-serving and not based on any verified scientific investigation. Without Vatican approval, the statue we are venerating is just a statue which is idolatry.
The declaration by Msgr. Arguelles is dangerous, because anyone now can hype up any statue of any kind as miraculous and there is nothing wrong in that as long as we believe in miracles!
Msgr. Arguelles, do you know where you are leading us to?
Msgr. Arguelles officially lifted the ban on the devotion to the Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces. The ban was imposed ca. 1948 after a commission formed to investigate the alleged apparition and miracles reported that there was no supernatural intervention that happened there.
He reasoned out that with or without Vatican approval, there is nothing wrong when we believe in miracles. This is a fallacy of the first kind; a non sequitur. Vatican approval is necessary because the declaration after investigation would guide the believers that indeed there was an apparition that occurred or the were authentic miracles made by God through the statue. Of course we believe in miracles, they do happen. Is the Lipa event a miracle or magic? Without a yes from the Vatican, we would be inserting something alien to our Catholic faith. More importantly, after the thorough investigation made by the 1948 Lipa commission declaring the phenomenon fraudulent, we do not have any basis for our belief. It would have been better had Msgr. Arguelles formed a new commission to re-investigate the matter, made new contrary findings and declared that the earlier finding was indeed erroneous.
As it is, everything is now based on June Keithly’s book which is self-serving and not based on any verified scientific investigation. Without Vatican approval, the statue we are venerating is just a statue which is idolatry.
The declaration by Msgr. Arguelles is dangerous, because anyone now can hype up any statue of any kind as miraculous and there is nothing wrong in that as long as we believe in miracles!
Msgr. Arguelles, do you know where you are leading us to?
Malinaw sa mga turo ng tatlong pangunahing relihiyon sa mundo ang Judaism, Christianity at Islam na sinabi ng ating Diyos na tayo ay hindi dapat gumawa ng anomang bagay na kawangis ng nasa langit at nasa ibabaw at ilalim ng lupa ni sa ilalim ng dagat at ating hihingan ng tulong at sasambahin bukod sa kanya:
From the Bible (LEVITICUS 26:1)
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
(REVELATION 19:20)
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
From the Quran (SURAT AL-BAQARAH 2:22)
Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).
Di ba ang tunay na diwa ng Kristyanismo ay ang pagsamba sa nag-iisang Diyos? Di pa ba sapat na sa Kanya lamang tayo dumiretso sa paghingi ng ano mang ating kakailanganin dito sa lupa at sa Kanya lamang magpasalamat? Susuway ba tayo sa Kanyang mga utos dahil lamang may mga bagay sa paligid natin na yumayanig sa ating pananampalataya at paniniwala sa Kanya?
Malinaw sa mga turo ng tatlong pangunahing relihiyon sa mundo ang Judaism, Christianity at Islam na sinabi ng ating Diyos na tayo ay hindi dapat gumawa ng anomang bagay na kawangis ng nasa langit at nasa ibabaw at ilalim ng lupa ni sa ilalim ng dagat at ating hihingan ng tulong at sasambahin bukod sa kanya:
From the Bible (LEVITICUS 26:1)
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
(REVELATION 19:20)
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
From the Quran (SURAT AL-BAQARAH 2:22)
Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).
Di ba ang tunay na diwa ng Kristyanismo ay ang pagsamba sa nag-iisang Diyos? Di pa ba sapat na sa Kanya lamang tayo dumiretso sa paghingi ng ano mang ating kakailanganin dito sa lupa at sa Kanya lamang magpasalamat? Susuway ba tayo sa Kanyang mga utos dahil lamang may mga bagay sa paligid natin na yumayanig sa ating pananampalataya at paniniwala sa Kanya?
Malinaw sa mga turo ng tatlong pangunahing relihiyon sa mundo ang Judaism, Christianity at Islam na sinabi ng ating Diyos na tayo ay hindi dapat gumawa ng anomang bagay na kawangis ng nasa langit at nasa ibabaw at ilalim ng lupa ni sa ilalim ng dagat at ating hihingan ng tulong at sasambahin bukod sa kanya:
From the Bible (LEVITICUS 26:1)
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
(REVELATION 19:20)
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
From the Quran (SURAT AL-BAQARAH 2:22)
Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).
Di ba ang tunay na diwa ng Kristyanismo ay ang pagsamba sa nag-iisang Diyos? Di pa ba sapat na sa Kanya lamang tayo dumiretso sa paghingi ng ano mang ating kakailanganin dito sa lupa at sa Kanya lamang magpasalamat? Susuway ba tayo sa Kanyang mga utos dahil lamang may mga bagay sa paligid natin na yumayanig sa ating pananampalataya at paniniwala sa Kanya?
Malinaw sa mga turo ng tatlong pangunahing relihiyon sa mundo ang Judaism, Christianity at Islam na sinabi ng ating Diyos na tayo ay hindi dapat gumawa ng anomang bagay na kawangis ng nasa langit at nasa ibabaw at ilalim ng lupa ni sa ilalim ng dagat at ating hihingan ng tulong at sasambahin bukod sa kanya:
From the Bible (LEVITICUS 26:1)
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
(REVELATION 19:20)
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
From the Quran (SURAT AL-BAQARAH 2:22)
Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).
Di ba ang tunay na diwa ng Kristyanismo ay ang pagsamba sa nag-iisang Diyos? Di pa ba sapat na sa Kanya lamang tayo dumiretso sa paghingi ng ano mang ating kakailanganin dito sa lupa at sa Kanya lamang magpasalamat? Susuway ba tayo sa Kanyang mga utos dahil lamang may mga bagay sa paligid natin na yumayanig sa ating pananampalataya at paniniwala sa Kanya?
Malinaw sa mga turo ng tatlong pangunahing relihiyon sa mundo ang Judaism, Christianity at Islam na sinabi ng ating Diyos na tayo ay hindi dapat gumawa ng anomang bagay na kawangis ng nasa langit at nasa ibabaw at ilalim ng lupa ni sa ilalim ng dagat at ating hihingan ng tulong at sasambahin bukod sa kanya:
From the Bible (LEVITICUS 26:1)
Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
(REVELATION 19:20)
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
From the Quran (SURAT AL-BAQARAH 2:22)
Who has made the earth a resting place for you, and the sky as a canopy, and sent down water (rain) from the sky and brought forth therewith fruits as a provision for you. Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped).
Di ba ang tunay na diwa ng Kristyanismo ay ang pagsamba sa nag-iisang Diyos? Di pa ba sapat na sa Kanya lamang tayo dumiretso sa paghingi ng ano mang ating kakailanganin dito sa lupa at sa Kanya lamang magpasalamat? Susuway ba tayo sa Kanyang mga utos dahil lamang may mga bagay sa paligid natin na yumayanig sa ating pananampalataya at paniniwala sa Kanya?
Vindicated, novice of Lipa apparitions keeps low profile
By Marrah Erika Lesaba, June Keithley
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 11/22/2009
Filed Under: Religions, Churches (organisations)
MANILA, Philippines–Teresita Castillo, to whom the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared in 1948 when Castillo was a young Carmelite novice, has been declining interview requests following the lifting of the Church ban against the public veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, a devotion that stemmed from the apparitions.
“She [Castillo] has decided to maintain a low profile. We have to respect her [wishes],” said Fr. Richard Hernandez, the chair of the new commission created by the Church to reopen the investigation into the apparitions in Lipa.
Hernandez said he was able to interview Castillo, or Teresing as he refers to her, last Thursday.
He said Castillo was so happy and excited when told about the lifting of the ban that he had to calm her down.
Though she underwent so many hardships during the series of investigations into the veracity of the apparitions, Castillo has remained humble, he said.
“She never complained or even asked why she was being questioned,” Hernandez said.
He said Castillo, who is now 82 years old, cannot recall the dates when the Virgin Mary appeared to her but she can clearly state the message that the Blessed Mother wanted her to give the world.
In 1948, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared 19 times to Castillo, who was a postulant at the Carmelite convent in Lipa, Batangas. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In the last of her appearances to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin is said to have identified herself, saying “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The bishop of Lipa at the time, Alfred Verzosa, believed in the apparitions and allowed the veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.
No miracle
In 1951, however, the Church hierarchy declared that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings, including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.”
Verzosa’s successor, Rufino Santos, ordered that “no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community and the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.”
The ban was lifted 40 years later by Archbishop Mariano Gaviola in 1991.
On Nov. 12, Gaviola’s successor, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles issued a formal decree lifting the 1951 ban. Arguelles also created the commission, headed by Hernandez, to conduct a new investigation into the apparitions.
Arguelles said he was merely reiterating Gaviola’s 1991 order and was doing so because he saw “nothing wrong in praising the image of the Blessed Mother” and that he knew the “love of the people for her.”
He noted that despite the ban, the faithful have continued to go on pilgrimages to the Carmel monastery in Lipa to pray and ask for favors from the Blessed Mother.
He said the commission will evaluate the documents still available on the events of 1948 to advise the Church leadership on “the proper pastoral approach” to the continuing pilgrimage of people to the site of the apparitions.
International interest
The news that Arguelles had ordered a new investigation and lifted the ban on the public veneration of the Mediatrix has created interest not just in the local community of devotees but internationally as well.
The Spiritdaily.com website carried links to two articles published in Inquirer.net as well as its own well-researched articles from its archives.
Little wonder as the events of 1948 were headlined in national newspapers and reported internationally. Lipa was referred to as “the Lourdes of Asia” and Philippine Airlines flew special flights to fly pilgrims to Lipa.
A special pilgrim image of the miraculous Mediatrix was made and brought to New York and Madrid. More than 3,000 took part in the procession that was later held on New York’s Second Avenue.
Those were heady days indeed. Even former President Elpidio Quirino attended a Mass in Lipa in 1949 and joined the vast crowds in hopes of witnessing a petal shower. Thousands would line up for the water in which the petals had been immersed and miraculous healings and conversions were reported and documented.
The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.”
“I ask this from Carmel, I wish that my image be placed here. This place must be cleaned so that it may become a shrine for prayer.”
When the image was finished and revealed for public veneration, many unusual occurrences and miraculous events were attributed to it. The fragrance of the amazing shower of petals that occurred from time to time on the grounds outside the convent would fill the air for blocks and draw thousands of devotees and curiosity seekers.
Harrowing events
A message that the Virgin Mary had given in 1948 seems to foretell the harrowing events that were to come: “Do not block or debase my sacred place nor despise my words. ”
Along with the ban it issued in 1951, the Church hierarchy instructed the Carmelites to destroy everything. The nuns obeyed and burned the diaries, petals and prayer cards, but could not bear to smash the image of the Mediatrix, so they bundled it up in rags and jute and hid it among the debris in a bodega.
It would be hidden for the next 40 years until Gaviola gave permission for the statue to be temporarily displayed in 1991. The archbishop soon issued the decree that the image be restored to public veneration and installed in the side chapel of the convent church where it remains to this day.
Blighted lives
Apart from the many miraculous healings and conversions that were ignored and the cruel rumors that the apparitions were a hoax foisted on the public by the nuns to raise money to build a church, there are the heroic actions and blighted lives of the main protagonists that are intrinsic to the apparitions.
Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar, the spiritual director of Carmel Lipa, was unceremoniously removed and remained in limbo until he was demoted and re-appointed to the diocese of Lucena.
Obviar founded the congregation of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese and in acknowledgment of his great virtue, he has been lifted up to the Causes of the Saints and has officially passed the first step in the process toward sainthood.
His tomb and museum in Lucena is the site of many pilgrimages and a number of miracles have been attributed to his intercession.
Verzosa, who allowed the apparitions to be publicized and for the Mediatrix to be venerated, was stripped of all his administrative duties, remaining a bishop in name only.
Though he had used his family’s wealth to rebuild the churches and schools of war-torn Lipa, he was falsely accused of mishandling the war reparations and finances of the diocese. He lived in exile at his Vigan home, reduced to rolling tobacco leaves to augment the family income.
The prioress of Carmel, Mother Cecilia Zialcita, was transferred to another convent and treated like a scullery maid. She is said to have prophesied that at her death, the events of the Lipa apparitions would again be reopened and devotion to the Mediatrix restored.
Castillo has survived all the denunciations and humiliations to which she was subjected. The stress from the investigation resulted in her long illness, requiring her to live at the University of Santo Tomas hospital for long periods of time. She eventually had to voluntarily leave the convent as she failed to complete the required length of stay for a novice.
Discreet silence
She worked at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran and assisted Fr. Leo English with the publication of the now widely used Tagalog/English dictionaries. The now grown baby girl she adopted often accompanies her mother on healing missions.
She has since received a few other messages and experienced showers of petals in her home and at the side chapel of Carmel Lipa, but has maintained a discreet silence about it.
Gaviola and Arguelles have allowed Castillo to speak publicly about the apparitions and there are also a number of accounts detailing the healing of some people that she has prayed over. However, now that the new commission has convened, she has thought it prudent to refrain from speaking or being too publicly visible.
In her 80s, Castillo has been given the grace of living to see the malicious tongues silenced and a resurgence of devotion to her “beautiful lady.”
Vindicated, novice of Lipa apparitions keeps low profile
By Marrah Erika Lesaba, June Keithley
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 11/22/2009
Filed Under: Religions, Churches (organisations)
MANILA, Philippines–Teresita Castillo, to whom the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared in 1948 when Castillo was a young Carmelite novice, has been declining interview requests following the lifting of the Church ban against the public veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, a devotion that stemmed from the apparitions.
“She [Castillo] has decided to maintain a low profile. We have to respect her [wishes],” said Fr. Richard Hernandez, the chair of the new commission created by the Church to reopen the investigation into the apparitions in Lipa.
Hernandez said he was able to interview Castillo, or Teresing as he refers to her, last Thursday.
He said Castillo was so happy and excited when told about the lifting of the ban that he had to calm her down.
Though she underwent so many hardships during the series of investigations into the veracity of the apparitions, Castillo has remained humble, he said.
“She never complained or even asked why she was being questioned,” Hernandez said.
He said Castillo, who is now 82 years old, cannot recall the dates when the Virgin Mary appeared to her but she can clearly state the message that the Blessed Mother wanted her to give the world.
In 1948, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared 19 times to Castillo, who was a postulant at the Carmelite convent in Lipa, Batangas. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In the last of her appearances to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin is said to have identified herself, saying “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The bishop of Lipa at the time, Alfred Verzosa, believed in the apparitions and allowed the veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.
No miracle
In 1951, however, the Church hierarchy declared that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings, including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.”
Verzosa’s successor, Rufino Santos, ordered that “no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community and the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.”
The ban was lifted 40 years later by Archbishop Mariano Gaviola in 1991.
On Nov. 12, Gaviola’s successor, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles issued a formal decree lifting the 1951 ban. Arguelles also created the commission, headed by Hernandez, to conduct a new investigation into the apparitions.
Arguelles said he was merely reiterating Gaviola’s 1991 order and was doing so because he saw “nothing wrong in praising the image of the Blessed Mother” and that he knew the “love of the people for her.”
He noted that despite the ban, the faithful have continued to go on pilgrimages to the Carmel monastery in Lipa to pray and ask for favors from the Blessed Mother.
He said the commission will evaluate the documents still available on the events of 1948 to advise the Church leadership on “the proper pastoral approach” to the continuing pilgrimage of people to the site of the apparitions.
International interest
The news that Arguelles had ordered a new investigation and lifted the ban on the public veneration of the Mediatrix has created interest not just in the local community of devotees but internationally as well.
The Spiritdaily.com website carried links to two articles published in Inquirer.net as well as its own well-researched articles from its archives.
Little wonder as the events of 1948 were headlined in national newspapers and reported internationally. Lipa was referred to as “the Lourdes of Asia” and Philippine Airlines flew special flights to fly pilgrims to Lipa.
A special pilgrim image of the miraculous Mediatrix was made and brought to New York and Madrid. More than 3,000 took part in the procession that was later held on New York’s Second Avenue.
Those were heady days indeed. Even former President Elpidio Quirino attended a Mass in Lipa in 1949 and joined the vast crowds in hopes of witnessing a petal shower. Thousands would line up for the water in which the petals had been immersed and miraculous healings and conversions were reported and documented.
The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.”
“I ask this from Carmel, I wish that my image be placed here. This place must be cleaned so that it may become a shrine for prayer.”
When the image was finished and revealed for public veneration, many unusual occurrences and miraculous events were attributed to it. The fragrance of the amazing shower of petals that occurred from time to time on the grounds outside the convent would fill the air for blocks and draw thousands of devotees and curiosity seekers.
Harrowing events
A message that the Virgin Mary had given in 1948 seems to foretell the harrowing events that were to come: “Do not block or debase my sacred place nor despise my words. ”
Along with the ban it issued in 1951, the Church hierarchy instructed the Carmelites to destroy everything. The nuns obeyed and burned the diaries, petals and prayer cards, but could not bear to smash the image of the Mediatrix, so they bundled it up in rags and jute and hid it among the debris in a bodega.
It would be hidden for the next 40 years until Gaviola gave permission for the statue to be temporarily displayed in 1991. The archbishop soon issued the decree that the image be restored to public veneration and installed in the side chapel of the convent church where it remains to this day.
Blighted lives
Apart from the many miraculous healings and conversions that were ignored and the cruel rumors that the apparitions were a hoax foisted on the public by the nuns to raise money to build a church, there are the heroic actions and blighted lives of the main protagonists that are intrinsic to the apparitions.
Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar, the spiritual director of Carmel Lipa, was unceremoniously removed and remained in limbo until he was demoted and re-appointed to the diocese of Lucena.
Obviar founded the congregation of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese and in acknowledgment of his great virtue, he has been lifted up to the Causes of the Saints and has officially passed the first step in the process toward sainthood.
His tomb and museum in Lucena is the site of many pilgrimages and a number of miracles have been attributed to his intercession.
Verzosa, who allowed the apparitions to be publicized and for the Mediatrix to be venerated, was stripped of all his administrative duties, remaining a bishop in name only.
Though he had used his family’s wealth to rebuild the churches and schools of war-torn Lipa, he was falsely accused of mishandling the war reparations and finances of the diocese. He lived in exile at his Vigan home, reduced to rolling tobacco leaves to augment the family income.
The prioress of Carmel, Mother Cecilia Zialcita, was transferred to another convent and treated like a scullery maid. She is said to have prophesied that at her death, the events of the Lipa apparitions would again be reopened and devotion to the Mediatrix restored.
Castillo has survived all the denunciations and humiliations to which she was subjected. The stress from the investigation resulted in her long illness, requiring her to live at the University of Santo Tomas hospital for long periods of time. She eventually had to voluntarily leave the convent as she failed to complete the required length of stay for a novice.
Discreet silence
She worked at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran and assisted Fr. Leo English with the publication of the now widely used Tagalog/English dictionaries. The now grown baby girl she adopted often accompanies her mother on healing missions.
She has since received a few other messages and experienced showers of petals in her home and at the side chapel of Carmel Lipa, but has maintained a discreet silence about it.
Gaviola and Arguelles have allowed Castillo to speak publicly about the apparitions and there are also a number of accounts detailing the healing of some people that she has prayed over. However, now that the new commission has convened, she has thought it prudent to refrain from speaking or being too publicly visible.
In her 80s, Castillo has been given the grace of living to see the malicious tongues silenced and a resurgence of devotion to her “beautiful lady.”
Vindicated, novice of Lipa apparitions keeps low profile
By Marrah Erika Lesaba, June Keithley
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 11/22/2009
Filed Under: Religions, Churches (organisations)
MANILA, Philippines–Teresita Castillo, to whom the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared in 1948 when Castillo was a young Carmelite novice, has been declining interview requests following the lifting of the Church ban against the public veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, a devotion that stemmed from the apparitions.
“She [Castillo] has decided to maintain a low profile. We have to respect her [wishes],” said Fr. Richard Hernandez, the chair of the new commission created by the Church to reopen the investigation into the apparitions in Lipa.
Hernandez said he was able to interview Castillo, or Teresing as he refers to her, last Thursday.
He said Castillo was so happy and excited when told about the lifting of the ban that he had to calm her down.
Though she underwent so many hardships during the series of investigations into the veracity of the apparitions, Castillo has remained humble, he said.
“She never complained or even asked why she was being questioned,” Hernandez said.
He said Castillo, who is now 82 years old, cannot recall the dates when the Virgin Mary appeared to her but she can clearly state the message that the Blessed Mother wanted her to give the world.
In 1948, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared 19 times to Castillo, who was a postulant at the Carmelite convent in Lipa, Batangas. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In the last of her appearances to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin is said to have identified herself, saying “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The bishop of Lipa at the time, Alfred Verzosa, believed in the apparitions and allowed the veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.
No miracle
In 1951, however, the Church hierarchy declared that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings, including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.”
Verzosa’s successor, Rufino Santos, ordered that “no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community and the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.”
The ban was lifted 40 years later by Archbishop Mariano Gaviola in 1991.
On Nov. 12, Gaviola’s successor, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles issued a formal decree lifting the 1951 ban. Arguelles also created the commission, headed by Hernandez, to conduct a new investigation into the apparitions.
Arguelles said he was merely reiterating Gaviola’s 1991 order and was doing so because he saw “nothing wrong in praising the image of the Blessed Mother” and that he knew the “love of the people for her.”
He noted that despite the ban, the faithful have continued to go on pilgrimages to the Carmel monastery in Lipa to pray and ask for favors from the Blessed Mother.
He said the commission will evaluate the documents still available on the events of 1948 to advise the Church leadership on “the proper pastoral approach” to the continuing pilgrimage of people to the site of the apparitions.
International interest
The news that Arguelles had ordered a new investigation and lifted the ban on the public veneration of the Mediatrix has created interest not just in the local community of devotees but internationally as well.
The Spiritdaily.com website carried links to two articles published in Inquirer.net as well as its own well-researched articles from its archives.
Little wonder as the events of 1948 were headlined in national newspapers and reported internationally. Lipa was referred to as “the Lourdes of Asia” and Philippine Airlines flew special flights to fly pilgrims to Lipa.
A special pilgrim image of the miraculous Mediatrix was made and brought to New York and Madrid. More than 3,000 took part in the procession that was later held on New York’s Second Avenue.
Those were heady days indeed. Even former President Elpidio Quirino attended a Mass in Lipa in 1949 and joined the vast crowds in hopes of witnessing a petal shower. Thousands would line up for the water in which the petals had been immersed and miraculous healings and conversions were reported and documented.
The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.”
“I ask this from Carmel, I wish that my image be placed here. This place must be cleaned so that it may become a shrine for prayer.”
When the image was finished and revealed for public veneration, many unusual occurrences and miraculous events were attributed to it. The fragrance of the amazing shower of petals that occurred from time to time on the grounds outside the convent would fill the air for blocks and draw thousands of devotees and curiosity seekers.
Harrowing events
A message that the Virgin Mary had given in 1948 seems to foretell the harrowing events that were to come: “Do not block or debase my sacred place nor despise my words. ”
Along with the ban it issued in 1951, the Church hierarchy instructed the Carmelites to destroy everything. The nuns obeyed and burned the diaries, petals and prayer cards, but could not bear to smash the image of the Mediatrix, so they bundled it up in rags and jute and hid it among the debris in a bodega.
It would be hidden for the next 40 years until Gaviola gave permission for the statue to be temporarily displayed in 1991. The archbishop soon issued the decree that the image be restored to public veneration and installed in the side chapel of the convent church where it remains to this day.
Blighted lives
Apart from the many miraculous healings and conversions that were ignored and the cruel rumors that the apparitions were a hoax foisted on the public by the nuns to raise money to build a church, there are the heroic actions and blighted lives of the main protagonists that are intrinsic to the apparitions.
Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar, the spiritual director of Carmel Lipa, was unceremoniously removed and remained in limbo until he was demoted and re-appointed to the diocese of Lucena.
Obviar founded the congregation of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese and in acknowledgment of his great virtue, he has been lifted up to the Causes of the Saints and has officially passed the first step in the process toward sainthood.
His tomb and museum in Lucena is the site of many pilgrimages and a number of miracles have been attributed to his intercession.
Verzosa, who allowed the apparitions to be publicized and for the Mediatrix to be venerated, was stripped of all his administrative duties, remaining a bishop in name only.
Though he had used his family’s wealth to rebuild the churches and schools of war-torn Lipa, he was falsely accused of mishandling the war reparations and finances of the diocese. He lived in exile at his Vigan home, reduced to rolling tobacco leaves to augment the family income.
The prioress of Carmel, Mother Cecilia Zialcita, was transferred to another convent and treated like a scullery maid. She is said to have prophesied that at her death, the events of the Lipa apparitions would again be reopened and devotion to the Mediatrix restored.
Castillo has survived all the denunciations and humiliations to which she was subjected. The stress from the investigation resulted in her long illness, requiring her to live at the University of Santo Tomas hospital for long periods of time. She eventually had to voluntarily leave the convent as she failed to complete the required length of stay for a novice.
Discreet silence
She worked at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran and assisted Fr. Leo English with the publication of the now widely used Tagalog/English dictionaries. The now grown baby girl she adopted often accompanies her mother on healing missions.
She has since received a few other messages and experienced showers of petals in her home and at the side chapel of Carmel Lipa, but has maintained a discreet silence about it.
Gaviola and Arguelles have allowed Castillo to speak publicly about the apparitions and there are also a number of accounts detailing the healing of some people that she has prayed over. However, now that the new commission has convened, she has thought it prudent to refrain from speaking or being too publicly visible.
In her 80s, Castillo has been given the grace of living to see the malicious tongues silenced and a resurgence of devotion to her “beautiful lady.”
Only a declaration from the Vatican that the apparition is authentic can vindicate the supposed visionary.
Vindicated, novice of Lipa apparitions keeps low profile
By Marrah Erika Lesaba, June Keithley
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 11/22/2009
Filed Under: Religions, Churches (organisations)
MANILA, Philippines–Teresita Castillo, to whom the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared in 1948 when Castillo was a young Carmelite novice, has been declining interview requests following the lifting of the Church ban against the public veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, a devotion that stemmed from the apparitions.
“She [Castillo] has decided to maintain a low profile. We have to respect her [wishes],” said Fr. Richard Hernandez, the chair of the new commission created by the Church to reopen the investigation into the apparitions in Lipa.
Hernandez said he was able to interview Castillo, or Teresing as he refers to her, last Thursday.
He said Castillo was so happy and excited when told about the lifting of the ban that he had to calm her down.
Though she underwent so many hardships during the series of investigations into the veracity of the apparitions, Castillo has remained humble, he said.
“She never complained or even asked why she was being questioned,” Hernandez said.
He said Castillo, who is now 82 years old, cannot recall the dates when the Virgin Mary appeared to her but she can clearly state the message that the Blessed Mother wanted her to give the world.
In 1948, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared 19 times to Castillo, who was a postulant at the Carmelite convent in Lipa, Batangas. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In the last of her appearances to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin is said to have identified herself, saying “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The bishop of Lipa at the time, Alfred Verzosa, believed in the apparitions and allowed the veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.
No miracle
In 1951, however, the Church hierarchy declared that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings, including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.”
Verzosa’s successor, Rufino Santos, ordered that “no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community and the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.”
The ban was lifted 40 years later by Archbishop Mariano Gaviola in 1991.
On Nov. 12, Gaviola’s successor, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles issued a formal decree lifting the 1951 ban. Arguelles also created the commission, headed by Hernandez, to conduct a new investigation into the apparitions.
Arguelles said he was merely reiterating Gaviola’s 1991 order and was doing so because he saw “nothing wrong in praising the image of the Blessed Mother” and that he knew the “love of the people for her.”
He noted that despite the ban, the faithful have continued to go on pilgrimages to the Carmel monastery in Lipa to pray and ask for favors from the Blessed Mother.
He said the commission will evaluate the documents still available on the events of 1948 to advise the Church leadership on “the proper pastoral approach” to the continuing pilgrimage of people to the site of the apparitions.
International interest
The news that Arguelles had ordered a new investigation and lifted the ban on the public veneration of the Mediatrix has created interest not just in the local community of devotees but internationally as well.
The Spiritdaily.com website carried links to two articles published in Inquirer.net as well as its own well-researched articles from its archives.
Little wonder as the events of 1948 were headlined in national newspapers and reported internationally. Lipa was referred to as “the Lourdes of Asia” and Philippine Airlines flew special flights to fly pilgrims to Lipa.
A special pilgrim image of the miraculous Mediatrix was made and brought to New York and Madrid. More than 3,000 took part in the procession that was later held on New York’s Second Avenue.
Those were heady days indeed. Even former President Elpidio Quirino attended a Mass in Lipa in 1949 and joined the vast crowds in hopes of witnessing a petal shower. Thousands would line up for the water in which the petals had been immersed and miraculous healings and conversions were reported and documented.
The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.”
“I ask this from Carmel, I wish that my image be placed here. This place must be cleaned so that it may become a shrine for prayer.”
When the image was finished and revealed for public veneration, many unusual occurrences and miraculous events were attributed to it. The fragrance of the amazing shower of petals that occurred from time to time on the grounds outside the convent would fill the air for blocks and draw thousands of devotees and curiosity seekers.
Harrowing events
A message that the Virgin Mary had given in 1948 seems to foretell the harrowing events that were to come: “Do not block or debase my sacred place nor despise my words. ”
Along with the ban it issued in 1951, the Church hierarchy instructed the Carmelites to destroy everything. The nuns obeyed and burned the diaries, petals and prayer cards, but could not bear to smash the image of the Mediatrix, so they bundled it up in rags and jute and hid it among the debris in a bodega.
It would be hidden for the next 40 years until Gaviola gave permission for the statue to be temporarily displayed in 1991. The archbishop soon issued the decree that the image be restored to public veneration and installed in the side chapel of the convent church where it remains to this day.
Blighted lives
Apart from the many miraculous healings and conversions that were ignored and the cruel rumors that the apparitions were a hoax foisted on the public by the nuns to raise money to build a church, there are the heroic actions and blighted lives of the main protagonists that are intrinsic to the apparitions.
Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar, the spiritual director of Carmel Lipa, was unceremoniously removed and remained in limbo until he was demoted and re-appointed to the diocese of Lucena.
Obviar founded the congregation of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese and in acknowledgment of his great virtue, he has been lifted up to the Causes of the Saints and has officially passed the first step in the process toward sainthood.
His tomb and museum in Lucena is the site of many pilgrimages and a number of miracles have been attributed to his intercession.
Verzosa, who allowed the apparitions to be publicized and for the Mediatrix to be venerated, was stripped of all his administrative duties, remaining a bishop in name only.
Though he had used his family’s wealth to rebuild the churches and schools of war-torn Lipa, he was falsely accused of mishandling the war reparations and finances of the diocese. He lived in exile at his Vigan home, reduced to rolling tobacco leaves to augment the family income.
The prioress of Carmel, Mother Cecilia Zialcita, was transferred to another convent and treated like a scullery maid. She is said to have prophesied that at her death, the events of the Lipa apparitions would again be reopened and devotion to the Mediatrix restored.
Castillo has survived all the denunciations and humiliations to which she was subjected. The stress from the investigation resulted in her long illness, requiring her to live at the University of Santo Tomas hospital for long periods of time. She eventually had to voluntarily leave the convent as she failed to complete the required length of stay for a novice.
Discreet silence
She worked at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran and assisted Fr. Leo English with the publication of the now widely used Tagalog/English dictionaries. The now grown baby girl she adopted often accompanies her mother on healing missions.
She has since received a few other messages and experienced showers of petals in her home and at the side chapel of Carmel Lipa, but has maintained a discreet silence about it.
Gaviola and Arguelles have allowed Castillo to speak publicly about the apparitions and there are also a number of accounts detailing the healing of some people that she has prayed over. However, now that the new commission has convened, she has thought it prudent to refrain from speaking or being too publicly visible.
In her 80s, Castillo has been given the grace of living to see the malicious tongues silenced and a resurgence of devotion to her “beautiful lady.”
Vindicated, novice of Lipa apparitions keeps low profile
By Marrah Erika Lesaba, June Keithley
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 11/22/2009
Filed Under: Religions, Churches (organisations)
MANILA, Philippines–Teresita Castillo, to whom the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared in 1948 when Castillo was a young Carmelite novice, has been declining interview requests following the lifting of the Church ban against the public veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, a devotion that stemmed from the apparitions.
“She [Castillo] has decided to maintain a low profile. We have to respect her [wishes],” said Fr. Richard Hernandez, the chair of the new commission created by the Church to reopen the investigation into the apparitions in Lipa.
Hernandez said he was able to interview Castillo, or Teresing as he refers to her, last Thursday.
He said Castillo was so happy and excited when told about the lifting of the ban that he had to calm her down.
Though she underwent so many hardships during the series of investigations into the veracity of the apparitions, Castillo has remained humble, he said.
“She never complained or even asked why she was being questioned,” Hernandez said.
He said Castillo, who is now 82 years old, cannot recall the dates when the Virgin Mary appeared to her but she can clearly state the message that the Blessed Mother wanted her to give the world.
In 1948, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared 19 times to Castillo, who was a postulant at the Carmelite convent in Lipa, Batangas. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In the last of her appearances to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin is said to have identified herself, saying “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The bishop of Lipa at the time, Alfred Verzosa, believed in the apparitions and allowed the veneration of the image of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.
No miracle
In 1951, however, the Church hierarchy declared that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings, including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.”
Verzosa’s successor, Rufino Santos, ordered that “no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community and the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.”
The ban was lifted 40 years later by Archbishop Mariano Gaviola in 1991.
On Nov. 12, Gaviola’s successor, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles issued a formal decree lifting the 1951 ban. Arguelles also created the commission, headed by Hernandez, to conduct a new investigation into the apparitions.
Arguelles said he was merely reiterating Gaviola’s 1991 order and was doing so because he saw “nothing wrong in praising the image of the Blessed Mother” and that he knew the “love of the people for her.”
He noted that despite the ban, the faithful have continued to go on pilgrimages to the Carmel monastery in Lipa to pray and ask for favors from the Blessed Mother.
He said the commission will evaluate the documents still available on the events of 1948 to advise the Church leadership on “the proper pastoral approach” to the continuing pilgrimage of people to the site of the apparitions.
International interest
The news that Arguelles had ordered a new investigation and lifted the ban on the public veneration of the Mediatrix has created interest not just in the local community of devotees but internationally as well.
The Spiritdaily.com website carried links to two articles published in Inquirer.net as well as its own well-researched articles from its archives.
Little wonder as the events of 1948 were headlined in national newspapers and reported internationally. Lipa was referred to as “the Lourdes of Asia” and Philippine Airlines flew special flights to fly pilgrims to Lipa.
A special pilgrim image of the miraculous Mediatrix was made and brought to New York and Madrid. More than 3,000 took part in the procession that was later held on New York’s Second Avenue.
Those were heady days indeed. Even former President Elpidio Quirino attended a Mass in Lipa in 1949 and joined the vast crowds in hopes of witnessing a petal shower. Thousands would line up for the water in which the petals had been immersed and miraculous healings and conversions were reported and documented.
The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.”
“I ask this from Carmel, I wish that my image be placed here. This place must be cleaned so that it may become a shrine for prayer.”
When the image was finished and revealed for public veneration, many unusual occurrences and miraculous events were attributed to it. The fragrance of the amazing shower of petals that occurred from time to time on the grounds outside the convent would fill the air for blocks and draw thousands of devotees and curiosity seekers.
Harrowing events
A message that the Virgin Mary had given in 1948 seems to foretell the harrowing events that were to come: “Do not block or debase my sacred place nor despise my words. ”
Along with the ban it issued in 1951, the Church hierarchy instructed the Carmelites to destroy everything. The nuns obeyed and burned the diaries, petals and prayer cards, but could not bear to smash the image of the Mediatrix, so they bundled it up in rags and jute and hid it among the debris in a bodega.
It would be hidden for the next 40 years until Gaviola gave permission for the statue to be temporarily displayed in 1991. The archbishop soon issued the decree that the image be restored to public veneration and installed in the side chapel of the convent church where it remains to this day.
Blighted lives
Apart from the many miraculous healings and conversions that were ignored and the cruel rumors that the apparitions were a hoax foisted on the public by the nuns to raise money to build a church, there are the heroic actions and blighted lives of the main protagonists that are intrinsic to the apparitions.
Auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar, the spiritual director of Carmel Lipa, was unceremoniously removed and remained in limbo until he was demoted and re-appointed to the diocese of Lucena.
Obviar founded the congregation of the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese and in acknowledgment of his great virtue, he has been lifted up to the Causes of the Saints and has officially passed the first step in the process toward sainthood.
His tomb and museum in Lucena is the site of many pilgrimages and a number of miracles have been attributed to his intercession.
Verzosa, who allowed the apparitions to be publicized and for the Mediatrix to be venerated, was stripped of all his administrative duties, remaining a bishop in name only.
Though he had used his family’s wealth to rebuild the churches and schools of war-torn Lipa, he was falsely accused of mishandling the war reparations and finances of the diocese. He lived in exile at his Vigan home, reduced to rolling tobacco leaves to augment the family income.
The prioress of Carmel, Mother Cecilia Zialcita, was transferred to another convent and treated like a scullery maid. She is said to have prophesied that at her death, the events of the Lipa apparitions would again be reopened and devotion to the Mediatrix restored.
Castillo has survived all the denunciations and humiliations to which she was subjected. The stress from the investigation resulted in her long illness, requiring her to live at the University of Santo Tomas hospital for long periods of time. She eventually had to voluntarily leave the convent as she failed to complete the required length of stay for a novice.
Discreet silence
She worked at the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran and assisted Fr. Leo English with the publication of the now widely used Tagalog/English dictionaries. The now grown baby girl she adopted often accompanies her mother on healing missions.
She has since received a few other messages and experienced showers of petals in her home and at the side chapel of Carmel Lipa, but has maintained a discreet silence about it.
Gaviola and Arguelles have allowed Castillo to speak publicly about the apparitions and there are also a number of accounts detailing the healing of some people that she has prayed over. However, now that the new commission has convened, she has thought it prudent to refrain from speaking or being too publicly visible.
In her 80s, Castillo has been given the grace of living to see the malicious tongues silenced and a resurgence of devotion to her “beautiful lady.”
I have no doubts regarding this apparition,and i thank and support Archbishop Arguelles for creating a new commission to re – examine the apparition. I hope and pray that the approval would come very soon.
I have no doubts regarding this apparition,and i thank and support Archbishop Arguelles for creating a new commission to re – examine the apparition. I hope and pray that the approval would come very soon.
The composition of the commission appears to me as biased. The doctor already pronounced something favorable to the apparition in June Keithly’s book. Who among the members would act as the “Devil’s Advocate” to purify the majority findings?
Without such person, the commission would be a rubber stamp of the proposition than the apparition is authentic.
The composition of the commission appears to me as biased. The doctor already pronounced something favorable to the apparition in June Keithly’s book. Who among the members would act as the “Devil’s Advocate” to purify the majority findings?
Without such person, the commission would be a rubber stamp of the proposition than the apparition is authentic.
The composition of the commission appears to me as biased. The doctor already pronounced something favorable to the apparition in June Keithly’s book. Who among the members would act as the “Devil’s Advocate” to purify the majority findings?
Without such person, the commission would be a rubber stamp of the proposition than the apparition is authentic.
You must distinguish between superstition and true faith and piety. We believe first in things that are necessary for salvation, i.e. the central tenets of catholicism. To say that you have no doubts on this one even before the completion of a truly independent investigation, is misplaced, for indeed even the accepted dogmas about Mary are deemed not necessary for salvation.
You must distinguish between superstition and true faith and piety. We believe first in things that are necessary for salvation, i.e. the central tenets of catholicism. To say that you have no doubts on this one even before the completion of a truly independent investigation, is misplaced, for indeed even the accepted dogmas about Mary are deemed not necessary for salvation.
I have no doubts regarding this apparition,and i thank and support Archbishop Arguelles for creating a new commission to re – examine the apparition. I hope and pray that the approval would come very soon.
I have no doubts regarding this apparition,and i thank and support Archbishop Arguelles for creating a new commission to re – examine the apparition. I hope and pray that the approval would come very soon.
I have no doubts regarding this apparition,and i thank and support Archbishop Arguelles for creating a new commission to re – examine the apparition. I hope and pray that the approval would come very soon.
The composition of the commission appears to me as biased. The doctor already pronounced something favorable to the apparition in June Keithly’s book. Who among the members would act as the “Devil’s Advocate” to purify the majority findings?
Without such person, the commission would be a rubber stamp of the proposition than the apparition is authentic.
You must distinguish between superstition and true faith and piety. We believe first in things that are necessary for salvation, i.e. the central tenets of catholicism. To say that you have no doubts on this one even before the completion of a truly independent investigation, is misplaced, for indeed even the accepted dogmas about Mary are deemed not necessary for salvation.
when do batangas children go back to school?
when do batangas children go back to school?
when do batangas children go back to school?
when do batangas children go back to school?
Mga dokumento hinggil sa Mediatrix, ipinasa sa CBCP
-Sr. Julie Micosa MCSH
Ika-27 ng Nobyembre, Pista ng Birhen ng Medalya Milagrosa, nang
maipasa ng Commission on Research and Documentation (CORD) of
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace kina Arsobispo Ramon
Arguelles, Arsobispo ng Lipa, at Obispo Luis Antonio Tagle, Chairman
of CBCP Commission on Faith, ang mga sumusunod ng dokumento:
1) Research Report: Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Minds
and Hearts of the Batangueno Clergy (bilang ng pahina, 288); 2)
Compilations: Miracles and Healings of Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace (bilang ng pahina – 110), Communications: 1948 – 2009
(bilang ng pahina – 161), Published and Unpublished Works on the
Lipa Apparition (bilang ng pahina – 215); at Audio Visual Presentation
Video: Did Mary Appear in Lipa?
Ika – 1 ng Disyembre naman,
sa pagpupulong ng CBCP
Permanent Council, ibinigay
naman kay Obispo Nereo
Odchimar, ang bagong halal na
CBCP President, at kay Msgr.
Juanito Figura, CBCP Executive
Secretary, ang mga nasabing
dokumento.
Bago pa pormal na buo ang
komisyon, ang mga miyembro ng
CORD of Our Lady Mediarix of
All Grace ay nag-umpisa na ang
mga kasapi nito bilang mga
Volunteer Devotees sa pag-aayos
ng mga dokumento tungkol sa
Mediatrix. Ang nagbunsod na
gawin ang hakbang na ito ng
Volunteer Group ay ang
pagpapadala ng liham ng
Arsobispo Ramon Arguelles kay
Obispo Jose Antonio Tagle,
Chairman on Commission on
Faith, noong ika-15 ng Setyembre
upang humingi ng payo sa
kaniyang Komisyon kung anong
mabuting gawin sa patuloy na
lumalagong debosyon sa Our Lady
Mediatrix of All Grace (OLMMG)
sa loob ng 61 taon.
Maliban kina Rdo. P. Richard
Hernandez, Sr. Julie Micosa,
MCSH at Rdo. P. Eric Arada,
pawang mga taga-Arsidiyosesis
ng Lipa, may mga experts na tagaibang
lugal na nag-volunteer na
tumulong nang walang bayad. Ang
naunang kasapi ay sina Dr. Nina
M. Cadiz, botanist at research
adviser ng Graduate School ng
UPLB at si Dr. Leuvina M.
Tandug, statistician at researcher
ng Environmental Research and
Development Bureau (ERDBDENR)
na parehong taga Los
Banos, Laguna. Sumunod na nag
volunteer noong ika-26 ng
Oktubre sina Dr. Irma Coronel,
dalubhasa sa Evaluation and
Research at si Dr. Dolores de
Leon, isang clinical psychologist
at hypnotherapist, parehong taga
Paranaque, Manila.
Nakapagsagawa na ng tatlong
pagpupulong ang nabuong grupo
bago naipasa ang mga dokumento
at naka-isa namang pagpupulong
sa buwang ito para pag-usapan ang
mga susunod pang mga hakbang at
gawain ng Komisyon. Ang mga
pagpupulong ay isinagawa sa mga
bahay ng mga kasapi at sa Lipa.
Kamakailan ay nadagdag pa na nag
volunteer si Dr. Bobby Magsino ng
Mediatrix Medical Hospital upang
siya ang gumawa ng medical
abstract ng mga pinagaling sa
tulong ng Mahal na Birhen.
Sa kasalukuyan ay isinasagawa
pa ang mga sumusunod: 1) Picture
Book – A Memoir on the Lipa
Carmel Apparition, 2)
Enhancement of the Video
Presentation, 3) Video of all the
Interviews of Key Persons on
Mediatrix Events, 4) Addendum on
all the documents submitted at 5)
Gathering of Testimonies.
Inaasahan ng Komisyon na
maipahayag sa mga parokya na
may Komisyon na nangangalak ng
mga patotoo sa mga biyayang
tinanggap sa pamamagitan ng
pagdedebosyon sa Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix of All Grace. #UB
Kaugnay po ng Decreto ng Arsobispo ng Lipa, Ramon C.
Arguelles, malugod po naming ipinaaalam sa inyo na ang
Komisyon na namamahala dito ay nangangalap ng mga
personal na karanasan ukol sa mga natanggap at natatanggap
na biyaya at pagpapala sa tulong ng Our Lady Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace, Lipa Carmel.
Mangyari pong ipagbigay-alam sa mga Madreng Karmelita
kung kayo o ang inyong mga kasamahan ay
* napagaling noon hanggang sa kasalukuyan sa anumang
karamdaman (physical and spiritual healing),
* nagsisi at nagbalik-loob sa Diyos mula sa buhay na
halaghag (repentance and conversion),
* nahipo at nadama ang presensya ng Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix sa pamamagitan ng vision o dream, at
* napagkalooban ng mga kahilingan (favors received),
ipagbigay alam agad po ito sa mga Madreng Karmelita.
Ano ang mga dapat mong gawin?
1. Detalyadong isulat ang inyong karanasan (Ingles o
Tagalog), lagdaan at ilakip contact/telephone number.
Kung sakaling hindi maisulat, personal itong isalaysay
sa mga madreng Karmelita upang ma-i-record.
2. Kung physical healing naman, napakahalaga po na
maipakita ang medical abstract at patotoo ng doctor at
ng mga kasamahan.
3. Maaaring ibigay ang testimonies sa mga madreng
Karmelita o ipaabot sa Komisyon sa pamamagitan ng
email sa
sfsminorprocu@yahoo.com.ph o makipagugnayan
sa pamamagitan ng telepono 09228907203.
Maraming Maraming Salamat po!
Mga dokumento hinggil sa Mediatrix, ipinasa sa CBCP
-Sr. Julie Micosa MCSH
Ika-27 ng Nobyembre, Pista ng Birhen ng Medalya Milagrosa, nang
maipasa ng Commission on Research and Documentation (CORD) of
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace kina Arsobispo Ramon
Arguelles, Arsobispo ng Lipa, at Obispo Luis Antonio Tagle, Chairman
of CBCP Commission on Faith, ang mga sumusunod ng dokumento:
1) Research Report: Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Minds
and Hearts of the Batangueno Clergy (bilang ng pahina, 288); 2)
Compilations: Miracles and Healings of Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace (bilang ng pahina – 110), Communications: 1948 – 2009
(bilang ng pahina – 161), Published and Unpublished Works on the
Lipa Apparition (bilang ng pahina – 215); at Audio Visual Presentation
Video: Did Mary Appear in Lipa?
Ika – 1 ng Disyembre naman,
sa pagpupulong ng CBCP
Permanent Council, ibinigay
naman kay Obispo Nereo
Odchimar, ang bagong halal na
CBCP President, at kay Msgr.
Juanito Figura, CBCP Executive
Secretary, ang mga nasabing
dokumento.
Bago pa pormal na buo ang
komisyon, ang mga miyembro ng
CORD of Our Lady Mediarix of
All Grace ay nag-umpisa na ang
mga kasapi nito bilang mga
Volunteer Devotees sa pag-aayos
ng mga dokumento tungkol sa
Mediatrix. Ang nagbunsod na
gawin ang hakbang na ito ng
Volunteer Group ay ang
pagpapadala ng liham ng
Arsobispo Ramon Arguelles kay
Obispo Jose Antonio Tagle,
Chairman on Commission on
Faith, noong ika-15 ng Setyembre
upang humingi ng payo sa
kaniyang Komisyon kung anong
mabuting gawin sa patuloy na
lumalagong debosyon sa Our Lady
Mediatrix of All Grace (OLMMG)
sa loob ng 61 taon.
Maliban kina Rdo. P. Richard
Hernandez, Sr. Julie Micosa,
MCSH at Rdo. P. Eric Arada,
pawang mga taga-Arsidiyosesis
ng Lipa, may mga experts na tagaibang
lugal na nag-volunteer na
tumulong nang walang bayad. Ang
naunang kasapi ay sina Dr. Nina
M. Cadiz, botanist at research
adviser ng Graduate School ng
UPLB at si Dr. Leuvina M.
Tandug, statistician at researcher
ng Environmental Research and
Development Bureau (ERDBDENR)
na parehong taga Los
Banos, Laguna. Sumunod na nag
volunteer noong ika-26 ng
Oktubre sina Dr. Irma Coronel,
dalubhasa sa Evaluation and
Research at si Dr. Dolores de
Leon, isang clinical psychologist
at hypnotherapist, parehong taga
Paranaque, Manila.
Nakapagsagawa na ng tatlong
pagpupulong ang nabuong grupo
bago naipasa ang mga dokumento
at naka-isa namang pagpupulong
sa buwang ito para pag-usapan ang
mga susunod pang mga hakbang at
gawain ng Komisyon. Ang mga
pagpupulong ay isinagawa sa mga
bahay ng mga kasapi at sa Lipa.
Kamakailan ay nadagdag pa na nag
volunteer si Dr. Bobby Magsino ng
Mediatrix Medical Hospital upang
siya ang gumawa ng medical
abstract ng mga pinagaling sa
tulong ng Mahal na Birhen.
Sa kasalukuyan ay isinasagawa
pa ang mga sumusunod: 1) Picture
Book – A Memoir on the Lipa
Carmel Apparition, 2)
Enhancement of the Video
Presentation, 3) Video of all the
Interviews of Key Persons on
Mediatrix Events, 4) Addendum on
all the documents submitted at 5)
Gathering of Testimonies.
Inaasahan ng Komisyon na
maipahayag sa mga parokya na
may Komisyon na nangangalak ng
mga patotoo sa mga biyayang
tinanggap sa pamamagitan ng
pagdedebosyon sa Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix of All Grace. #UB
Kaugnay po ng Decreto ng Arsobispo ng Lipa, Ramon C.
Arguelles, malugod po naming ipinaaalam sa inyo na ang
Komisyon na namamahala dito ay nangangalap ng mga
personal na karanasan ukol sa mga natanggap at natatanggap
na biyaya at pagpapala sa tulong ng Our Lady Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace, Lipa Carmel.
Mangyari pong ipagbigay-alam sa mga Madreng Karmelita
kung kayo o ang inyong mga kasamahan ay
* napagaling noon hanggang sa kasalukuyan sa anumang
karamdaman (physical and spiritual healing),
* nagsisi at nagbalik-loob sa Diyos mula sa buhay na
halaghag (repentance and conversion),
* nahipo at nadama ang presensya ng Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix sa pamamagitan ng vision o dream, at
* napagkalooban ng mga kahilingan (favors received),
ipagbigay alam agad po ito sa mga Madreng Karmelita.
Ano ang mga dapat mong gawin?
1. Detalyadong isulat ang inyong karanasan (Ingles o
Tagalog), lagdaan at ilakip contact/telephone number.
Kung sakaling hindi maisulat, personal itong isalaysay
sa mga madreng Karmelita upang ma-i-record.
2. Kung physical healing naman, napakahalaga po na
maipakita ang medical abstract at patotoo ng doctor at
ng mga kasamahan.
3. Maaaring ibigay ang testimonies sa mga madreng
Karmelita o ipaabot sa Komisyon sa pamamagitan ng
email sa
sfsminorprocu@yahoo.com.ph o makipagugnayan
sa pamamagitan ng telepono 09228907203.
Maraming Maraming Salamat po!
Mga dokumento hinggil sa Mediatrix, ipinasa sa CBCP
-Sr. Julie Micosa MCSH
Ika-27 ng Nobyembre, Pista ng Birhen ng Medalya Milagrosa, nang
maipasa ng Commission on Research and Documentation (CORD) of
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace kina Arsobispo Ramon
Arguelles, Arsobispo ng Lipa, at Obispo Luis Antonio Tagle, Chairman
of CBCP Commission on Faith, ang mga sumusunod ng dokumento:
1) Research Report: Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Minds
and Hearts of the Batangueno Clergy (bilang ng pahina, 288); 2)
Compilations: Miracles and Healings of Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace (bilang ng pahina – 110), Communications: 1948 – 2009
(bilang ng pahina – 161), Published and Unpublished Works on the
Lipa Apparition (bilang ng pahina – 215); at Audio Visual Presentation
Video: Did Mary Appear in Lipa?
Ika – 1 ng Disyembre naman,
sa pagpupulong ng CBCP
Permanent Council, ibinigay
naman kay Obispo Nereo
Odchimar, ang bagong halal na
CBCP President, at kay Msgr.
Juanito Figura, CBCP Executive
Secretary, ang mga nasabing
dokumento.
Bago pa pormal na buo ang
komisyon, ang mga miyembro ng
CORD of Our Lady Mediarix of
All Grace ay nag-umpisa na ang
mga kasapi nito bilang mga
Volunteer Devotees sa pag-aayos
ng mga dokumento tungkol sa
Mediatrix. Ang nagbunsod na
gawin ang hakbang na ito ng
Volunteer Group ay ang
pagpapadala ng liham ng
Arsobispo Ramon Arguelles kay
Obispo Jose Antonio Tagle,
Chairman on Commission on
Faith, noong ika-15 ng Setyembre
upang humingi ng payo sa
kaniyang Komisyon kung anong
mabuting gawin sa patuloy na
lumalagong debosyon sa Our Lady
Mediatrix of All Grace (OLMMG)
sa loob ng 61 taon.
Maliban kina Rdo. P. Richard
Hernandez, Sr. Julie Micosa,
MCSH at Rdo. P. Eric Arada,
pawang mga taga-Arsidiyosesis
ng Lipa, may mga experts na tagaibang
lugal na nag-volunteer na
tumulong nang walang bayad. Ang
naunang kasapi ay sina Dr. Nina
M. Cadiz, botanist at research
adviser ng Graduate School ng
UPLB at si Dr. Leuvina M.
Tandug, statistician at researcher
ng Environmental Research and
Development Bureau (ERDBDENR)
na parehong taga Los
Banos, Laguna. Sumunod na nag
volunteer noong ika-26 ng
Oktubre sina Dr. Irma Coronel,
dalubhasa sa Evaluation and
Research at si Dr. Dolores de
Leon, isang clinical psychologist
at hypnotherapist, parehong taga
Paranaque, Manila.
Nakapagsagawa na ng tatlong
pagpupulong ang nabuong grupo
bago naipasa ang mga dokumento
at naka-isa namang pagpupulong
sa buwang ito para pag-usapan ang
mga susunod pang mga hakbang at
gawain ng Komisyon. Ang mga
pagpupulong ay isinagawa sa mga
bahay ng mga kasapi at sa Lipa.
Kamakailan ay nadagdag pa na nag
volunteer si Dr. Bobby Magsino ng
Mediatrix Medical Hospital upang
siya ang gumawa ng medical
abstract ng mga pinagaling sa
tulong ng Mahal na Birhen.
Sa kasalukuyan ay isinasagawa
pa ang mga sumusunod: 1) Picture
Book – A Memoir on the Lipa
Carmel Apparition, 2)
Enhancement of the Video
Presentation, 3) Video of all the
Interviews of Key Persons on
Mediatrix Events, 4) Addendum on
all the documents submitted at 5)
Gathering of Testimonies.
Inaasahan ng Komisyon na
maipahayag sa mga parokya na
may Komisyon na nangangalak ng
mga patotoo sa mga biyayang
tinanggap sa pamamagitan ng
pagdedebosyon sa Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix of All Grace. #UB
Kaugnay po ng Decreto ng Arsobispo ng Lipa, Ramon C.
Arguelles, malugod po naming ipinaaalam sa inyo na ang
Komisyon na namamahala dito ay nangangalap ng mga
personal na karanasan ukol sa mga natanggap at natatanggap
na biyaya at pagpapala sa tulong ng Our Lady Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace, Lipa Carmel.
Mangyari pong ipagbigay-alam sa mga Madreng Karmelita
kung kayo o ang inyong mga kasamahan ay
* napagaling noon hanggang sa kasalukuyan sa anumang
karamdaman (physical and spiritual healing),
* nagsisi at nagbalik-loob sa Diyos mula sa buhay na
halaghag (repentance and conversion),
* nahipo at nadama ang presensya ng Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix sa pamamagitan ng vision o dream, at
* napagkalooban ng mga kahilingan (favors received),
ipagbigay alam agad po ito sa mga Madreng Karmelita.
Ano ang mga dapat mong gawin?
1. Detalyadong isulat ang inyong karanasan (Ingles o
Tagalog), lagdaan at ilakip contact/telephone number.
Kung sakaling hindi maisulat, personal itong isalaysay
sa mga madreng Karmelita upang ma-i-record.
2. Kung physical healing naman, napakahalaga po na
maipakita ang medical abstract at patotoo ng doctor at
ng mga kasamahan.
3. Maaaring ibigay ang testimonies sa mga madreng
Karmelita o ipaabot sa Komisyon sa pamamagitan ng
email sa
sfsminorprocu@yahoo.com.ph o makipagugnayan
sa pamamagitan ng telepono 09228907203.
Maraming Maraming Salamat po!
Mga dokumento hinggil sa Mediatrix, ipinasa sa CBCP
-Sr. Julie Micosa MCSH
Ika-27 ng Nobyembre, Pista ng Birhen ng Medalya Milagrosa, nang
maipasa ng Commission on Research and Documentation (CORD) of
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace kina Arsobispo Ramon
Arguelles, Arsobispo ng Lipa, at Obispo Luis Antonio Tagle, Chairman
of CBCP Commission on Faith, ang mga sumusunod ng dokumento:
1) Research Report: Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Minds
and Hearts of the Batangueno Clergy (bilang ng pahina, 288); 2)
Compilations: Miracles and Healings of Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace (bilang ng pahina – 110), Communications: 1948 – 2009
(bilang ng pahina – 161), Published and Unpublished Works on the
Lipa Apparition (bilang ng pahina – 215); at Audio Visual Presentation
Video: Did Mary Appear in Lipa?
Ika – 1 ng Disyembre naman,
sa pagpupulong ng CBCP
Permanent Council, ibinigay
naman kay Obispo Nereo
Odchimar, ang bagong halal na
CBCP President, at kay Msgr.
Juanito Figura, CBCP Executive
Secretary, ang mga nasabing
dokumento.
Bago pa pormal na buo ang
komisyon, ang mga miyembro ng
CORD of Our Lady Mediarix of
All Grace ay nag-umpisa na ang
mga kasapi nito bilang mga
Volunteer Devotees sa pag-aayos
ng mga dokumento tungkol sa
Mediatrix. Ang nagbunsod na
gawin ang hakbang na ito ng
Volunteer Group ay ang
pagpapadala ng liham ng
Arsobispo Ramon Arguelles kay
Obispo Jose Antonio Tagle,
Chairman on Commission on
Faith, noong ika-15 ng Setyembre
upang humingi ng payo sa
kaniyang Komisyon kung anong
mabuting gawin sa patuloy na
lumalagong debosyon sa Our Lady
Mediatrix of All Grace (OLMMG)
sa loob ng 61 taon.
Maliban kina Rdo. P. Richard
Hernandez, Sr. Julie Micosa,
MCSH at Rdo. P. Eric Arada,
pawang mga taga-Arsidiyosesis
ng Lipa, may mga experts na tagaibang
lugal na nag-volunteer na
tumulong nang walang bayad. Ang
naunang kasapi ay sina Dr. Nina
M. Cadiz, botanist at research
adviser ng Graduate School ng
UPLB at si Dr. Leuvina M.
Tandug, statistician at researcher
ng Environmental Research and
Development Bureau (ERDBDENR)
na parehong taga Los
Banos, Laguna. Sumunod na nag
volunteer noong ika-26 ng
Oktubre sina Dr. Irma Coronel,
dalubhasa sa Evaluation and
Research at si Dr. Dolores de
Leon, isang clinical psychologist
at hypnotherapist, parehong taga
Paranaque, Manila.
Nakapagsagawa na ng tatlong
pagpupulong ang nabuong grupo
bago naipasa ang mga dokumento
at naka-isa namang pagpupulong
sa buwang ito para pag-usapan ang
mga susunod pang mga hakbang at
gawain ng Komisyon. Ang mga
pagpupulong ay isinagawa sa mga
bahay ng mga kasapi at sa Lipa.
Kamakailan ay nadagdag pa na nag
volunteer si Dr. Bobby Magsino ng
Mediatrix Medical Hospital upang
siya ang gumawa ng medical
abstract ng mga pinagaling sa
tulong ng Mahal na Birhen.
Sa kasalukuyan ay isinasagawa
pa ang mga sumusunod: 1) Picture
Book – A Memoir on the Lipa
Carmel Apparition, 2)
Enhancement of the Video
Presentation, 3) Video of all the
Interviews of Key Persons on
Mediatrix Events, 4) Addendum on
all the documents submitted at 5)
Gathering of Testimonies.
Inaasahan ng Komisyon na
maipahayag sa mga parokya na
may Komisyon na nangangalak ng
mga patotoo sa mga biyayang
tinanggap sa pamamagitan ng
pagdedebosyon sa Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix of All Grace. #UB
Kaugnay po ng Decreto ng Arsobispo ng Lipa, Ramon C.
Arguelles, malugod po naming ipinaaalam sa inyo na ang
Komisyon na namamahala dito ay nangangalap ng mga
personal na karanasan ukol sa mga natanggap at natatanggap
na biyaya at pagpapala sa tulong ng Our Lady Mary Mediatrix
of All Grace, Lipa Carmel.
Mangyari pong ipagbigay-alam sa mga Madreng Karmelita
kung kayo o ang inyong mga kasamahan ay
* napagaling noon hanggang sa kasalukuyan sa anumang
karamdaman (physical and spiritual healing),
* nagsisi at nagbalik-loob sa Diyos mula sa buhay na
halaghag (repentance and conversion),
* nahipo at nadama ang presensya ng Our Lady, Mary
Mediatrix sa pamamagitan ng vision o dream, at
* napagkalooban ng mga kahilingan (favors received),
ipagbigay alam agad po ito sa mga Madreng Karmelita.
Ano ang mga dapat mong gawin?
1. Detalyadong isulat ang inyong karanasan (Ingles o
Tagalog), lagdaan at ilakip contact/telephone number.
Kung sakaling hindi maisulat, personal itong isalaysay
sa mga madreng Karmelita upang ma-i-record.
2. Kung physical healing naman, napakahalaga po na
maipakita ang medical abstract at patotoo ng doctor at
ng mga kasamahan.
3. Maaaring ibigay ang testimonies sa mga madreng
Karmelita o ipaabot sa Komisyon sa pamamagitan ng
email sa
sfsminorprocu@yahoo.com.ph o makipagugnayan
sa pamamagitan ng telepono 09228907203.
Maraming Maraming Salamat po!
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, Pray for Us!
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, Pray for Us!
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, Pray for Us!
Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, Pray for Us!
“The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.””
Can’t stand this one. It appears to me that the Mary that appeared to Teresing forgot that she is the same Mary appearing as Our Lady of Lourdes, by referring to the said statue in the third person. The correct statement of true Mary should have been …”and to be as large as my statue as Your Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister”.
One of the requirements set forth by the Vatican for an apparition to be considered authentic is that messages allegedly received from the virgin must be theologically correct. The quoted command “Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister, reveals a theological error because it connotes that the Mary appearing in Lipa is not the same as the Mary who appeared in Lourdes. (Much like the Bro that appeared to Santino and the one appearing to Rico).
This is a small nuance but enough to put the whole matter to serious doubt. To me the message is framed by a person lacking in theology rather than the exact words of Mary who should know that she is the same Mary who appeared in all the approved apparitions.
One of the requirements set forth by the Vatican for an apparition to be considered authentic is that messages allegedly received from the virgin must be theologically correct. The quoted command “Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister, reveals a theological error because it connotes that the Mary appearing in Lipa is not the same as the Mary who appeared in Lourdes. (Much like the Bro that appeared to Santino and the one appearing to Rico).
This is a small nuance but enough to put the whole matter to serious doubt. To me the message is framed by a person lacking in theology rather than the exact words of Mary who should know that she is the same Mary who appeared in all the approved apparitions.
“The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.””
Can’t stand this one. It appears to me that the Mary that appeared to Teresing forgot that she is the same Mary appearing as Our Lady of Lourdes, by referring to the said statue in the third person. The correct statement of true Mary should have been …”and to be as large as my statue as Your Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister”.
“The original statue of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, was commissioned from the sculptor Cristobal, in accordance with the instructions that Castillo had received from the Virgin Mary: “I want a statue of myself to be made so that my little ones can see me. Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister.””
Can’t stand this one. It appears to me that the Mary that appeared to Teresing forgot that she is the same Mary appearing as Our Lady of Lourdes, by referring to the said statue in the third person. The correct statement of true Mary should have been …”and to be as large as my statue as Your Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister”.
One of the requirements set forth by the Vatican for an apparition to be considered authentic is that messages allegedly received from the virgin must be theologically correct. The quoted command “Describe me to your chaplain because I want my statue to look as you see me, and to be as large as that of Our Lady of Lourdes which stands inside the cloister, reveals a theological error because it connotes that the Mary appearing in Lipa is not the same as the Mary who appeared in Lourdes. (Much like the Bro that appeared to Santino and the one appearing to Rico).
This is a small nuance but enough to put the whole matter to serious doubt. To me the message is framed by a person lacking in theology rather than the exact words of Mary who should know that she is the same Mary who appeared in all the approved apparitions.
I going through difficult times at the moment and ‘am looking for a place to go – like a retreat. Can someone recommend a place to go?
I going through difficult times at the moment and ‘am looking for a place to go – like a retreat. Can someone recommend a place to go?
I going through difficult times at the moment and ‘am looking for a place to go – like a retreat. Can someone recommend a place to go?
Did Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, Appear in Lipa?
(In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France, the 22nd Mariological Congress was held in Lourdes last September 2008. Archbishop Ramón C. Argüelles of Lipa was one of the speakers. This condensed version of his talk appeared in the January-March 2008 issue of the Totus Tuus Maria magazine.)
It was during the episcopate of Bishop Alfredo Versoza (1916-1950), the first Filipino bishop of Lipa and his auxiliary bishop, the then Msgr. Alfredo Obviar, the so-called Marian Apparitions in the Monastery of Carmel in Lipa (founded 1946) took place.
Teresita Castillo celebrated her 21st birthday on July 4, 1948 by “escaping” early in the morning at five from her father’s house to enter the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa. She is the youngest of seven children of former Batangas Governor Modesto Castillo. At the time of the apparitions, Teresita’s father was the Judge of the Court of Industrial Relations. The Castillos were very influential and distinguished both in the town of Tanauan and the whole Batangas province.
Teresita’s entrance into the monastery was not well received initially by the family, who tried all means to get her back. Teresita steadfastly refused to return home, preferring to follow God’s call. The trials of Teresing did not escape the devil’s interest. Satan tried to draw her away from her chosen vocation. On the 31st of July, at fifteen past eight in the evening, moment of great silence as observed by the Carmelite community, Teresita was startled by knockings at her door. A male voice introduced himself as satan, while emitting foul odor in her cell. The postulant would be subjected to such infernal visits several times in the next days and weeks.
At around five in the afternoon of September 12, 1948, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, postulant Teresing Castillo saw the vine in the garden shake though there was no wind at all. A woman’s voice was heard to say: “Fear not my child. Kiss the ground. Whatever I tell you to do, you must do. For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me here in this spot. Eat some grass, my child.”
The next day, September 13, Monday, again at five in the afternoon, the postulant returned to the place, knelt down and intended to say the Hail Mary. She has only recited until the phrase “Full of Grace” when again the vine moved. A beautiful Lady appeared, her hands clasped on her breast, a golden rosary hanging in her right hand, slightly stooping, her dress was simple and pure white held in the waist by a narrow cloth belt. Her feet were bare and resting on clouds about two feet above ground. Her face, indescribably beautiful, was radiant.
On September 14, Tuesday, the first shower of rose petals took place. Some nuns, awakening early in the morning, found fresh rose-petals of exceptional sweetness, strewn around their rooms or outside their quiet doors. Again at five in the afternoon, the Lady as if enfolding the postulant in a tender maternal embrace said “I wish this place to be blessed tomorrow”. ‘At what time Mother?’ asked Teresing. “Anytime your Mother prioress wants, my child. I forbid you to forget the incidents of these fifteen days”, the Lady said. Then she disappeared.
Meantime, Mother Prioress decided to consult His Excellency, the Most Reverend Alfredo Obviar, auxiliary bishop of Lipa and spiritual director of Carmel, on what to do with the alleged apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The bishop instructed Mother Prioress to tell Postulant Teresing to demand from the Blessed Virgin some proof that the apparition was from heaven.
Days after the first shower of petals, total blindness afflicted the postulant. Mother Prioress heard a voice telling her that the only way Teresing’s blindness would be healed was for her to kiss the eyes of the postulant. Mother asked the bishop to be present at a face off with Teresing. So one day in the presence of Bishop Obviar, the Mother Prioress lifted the veil of Postulant Teresing and imparted a kiss in her eyes. Instantly the girl recovered her sight. Her blindness was cured. Bishop Obviar doubted no more that the apparitions were heavenly.
Here are some of the messages of the Lady to Teresing:
“I want a statue of mine to be placed here. I want you to describe me to your chaplain because I want it to be as you see me, and as big as the statue of Lourdes that is in the cloister. Tell Mother Prioress to have the rosary recited by the community here every afternoon during these days. Clean this part of the garden so that it will be a real place of prayer.”
On September 26, Sunday, the last (15th) day of the apparitions, the Lady said: “My child, you must love and obey your mother. Tell the sisters to love and obey their superiors and not to forget the things I ask. I shall not ask bigger things from you as you expect, because you are my little ones. Do not forget to consecrate yourselves to me on October 7. Be very good, I am Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. I shall always bless the community morning and evening.” Departing for the last time, the Blessed Virgin identified Herself as: “Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The Lipa phenomenon is often and principally associated with the shower of rose-petals. Such took place also on September 30, the fifty-first anniversary of the death of St’ Therese of the Child Jesus. Rose-petals were strewn in the cells of the monastery. Likewise on October 3, feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. During those times, the shower of rose-petals fell on the staircase. Most showers took place within the cloister. Later however they also fell outside the monastery at the sight of many visitors. On November 11, Mrs. Aurora Quezon, the wife of the late President of the Commonwealth, and her party witnessed such shower of roses at the monastery grounds. Bishop Alfredo Obviar himself stated that petals fell on his feet as he went out of the door of the nunnery:
“I was inside the parlor of the Carmelite monastery. The windows and doors were closed. When I was about to step out of the door, outside, several rose-petals fell on my feet, to my great surprise. I picked up some of them.”
The then Supreme Court Chief Justice Manuel Moran fervently remarked:
“The miracle of the shower of rose-petals at the Carmelites’ convent in Lipa City is not the work of man but of God. There can be no doubt about it. If I am not absolutely convinced, I would not waste my time coming to this place.”
Most petals bore images of Jesus or Mary or St. Joseph or one of the saints, most particularly, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
The 1948 apparitions in Lipa highlighted the Blessed Virgin’s plea for humility, penance, prayers for priests and for the Holy Father. As in Lourdes and Fatima the Blessed Mother insisted on the need to pray the Rosary. Our Lady complained about the people losing faith. Teresita added that there was a secret for herself, another for the Carmelite convent in Lipa City and one for China.
The Negative Church Verdict
The veneration of Our Lady Mediatrix of all Grace was permitted by Bishop Verzosa. However on April 11, 1951 the Philippine church hierarchy issued ‘The Verdict’ in a document which read:
“We, the undersigned Archbishops and bishops, constituting for the purpose a special commission, having attentively examined and reviewed the evidence and testimonies collected in the course of repeated, long and careful investigations, have reached the unanimous conclusion and hereby officially declare the above-mentioned evidence and testimonies exclude any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings –including the showers of petals– at the Carmel of Lipa.”
The signatories were: Archbishop Gabriel Reyes of Manila, Bishop Cesar M. Guerrero of San Fernando, Bishop Mariano Madriaga of Lingayen, Bishop Rufino Santos, Administrator of Lipa, Bishop Vicente Reyes Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, and Bishop Juan Sison, Auxiliary Bishop of Nueva Segovia. The document was also signed ‘concordat cum originali’ by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi.
Bishop Rufino Santos, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Lipa, followed up such declaration with a decree that went this way:
Having been declared by the Special Commission composed of several members of the Philippine Hierarchy that, after long, repeated and careful investigations, the evidences and testimonies on the matter exclude any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings –including the shower of petals—at the Carmel of Lipa, I, the undersigned Apostolic Administrator of Lipa Diocese, in keeping with the Decree-Statement of the said Episcopal Commission, BY THESE PRESENT LETTERS dispose and order:
1) No petals nor water should be given out to anyone;
2) The statue of Our Lady (actually in the church) should be retired from public veneration;
3) All out-sisters must be admitted within the enclosure for the time being, excepting Sr. Elizabeth, who shall remain outside to attend to the needs of the Community; and finally
4) All visits are suspended temporarily, no letters will be allowed, until final decision on the matter will come from The Holy See.
The decree was issued at the City of Lipa on April 12, 1951.
The Tragic Aftermath
Bishop Verzosa was forced to resign and sent back to his hometown in Vigan, Ilocos Sur in Northern Philippines. The Auxiliary Bishop, Most Reverend Alfredo Obviar was moved to Lucena, a newly erected diocese, where he served as a mere apostolic administrator for the next twenty-two years. In 1974 he was finally given full episcopal powers as the resident bishop of Lucena Diocese. On October 1, 1979, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the bishop died a holy death, having declared earlier: “They can oblige me to keep silent; but they can never compel me to say it was not true.”
In recent years more and more people go on Pilgrimage to his tomb in the Mother House of the Sisters’ Congregation he founded in 1958, the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese. Numerous reports of miracles are ascribed to this so-termed ‘saint of Holy Obedience’. Bishop Obviar’s cause for beatification has been introduced and is progressing well.
On the other hand, the memory of Bishop Alfredo Versoza, buried in the Cathedral of Vigan and overlooked for four decades, is now the object of research. He too has been invoked for favors miraculously granted. His cause for possible beatification is being considered.
Mother Prioress and the other perpetually professed sisters, notably Sister Mary of St. Joseph, the sub-prioress, and Sr. Mary Anne, the infirmarian, were purposely separated and dispersed to other Carmels. They suffered and died also in the odor of sanctity.
Meanwhile all materials connected with the apparitions were ordered destroyed. Teresita’s diary, as well as that of Mother Prioress, were burned. The statue was also destined for ruin, but the nuns quietly kept it away, saving it from oblivion. The convent was sealed, and the nuns could talk to no one outside of the convent. These events confirm the Blessed Mother’s warning that there would be persecution.
Teresita was subjected to investigation by the ‘commission’. As far as she was concerned the investigating commission consisted only of Bishop Rufino Santos, Bishop Cesar Guerrero, Fr. Blas, OP, and another Dominican priest. Cardinal Santos was always kind to her but would get her any unholy hour and brought to Manila for investigation often times with little time to prepare. Finally, Ma Mére, the French prioress made to replace Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus, tearfully advised Teresita to leave the convent on her own volition so that she could later be readmitted when she would be ready. She could not be admitted for profession because she failed to stay a full year in the novitiate. This was however due to her being often brought hastily to Manila for inquiry. If she chose to remain, the prioress will be forced to send her out depriving her of the possibility to reapply. She returned then to her parents. But, later, each time she would ask to return to the cloister, she would be required to have a medical clearance due to her health. Her health admittedly has never been satisfactory due to the traumatic experiences she endured during interrogations. At one point, because she refused to sign a declaration stating that the apparitions were a hoax, a priest-investigator threw the ash tray at her, fortunately missing her. No medical clearance was ever granted her. The story of the apparitions was buried for 40 years, though the faithful believed in silence and persisted in praying to the Mediatrix of All Grace.
Years After
Almost forty years after, on February 11, 1990, Reverend Father Lorenzo Maria Guerrero, SJ, nephew of Bishop Cesar Guerrero of San Fernando, executed an affidavit asserting:
“that while my uncle, Bishop Cesar Gerrero, was still alive, I heard from his lips that he signed the above Official Statement under duress,: and “that the said Bishop had expressed his personal belief in the fact of the apparitions of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Carmelite Convent of Lipa during the year of 1948.”
The late Bishop Godofredo Pedernal, who worked with Bishop Obviar for twenty-five years as Vicar General and Episcopal vicar, testified that, while accompanying Bishop Obviar in the sixties to console his dying friends, Bishop Guerrero, Archbishop Cuenco and Archbishop Sison, he heard Bishop Obviar ask: “Why did you sign that declaration about the foolishness of the Lipa Carmel Sisters?” The three bishops would silently show their own rose petals and replied: “We were forced to sign.”
Sometime in February 1990 a strange new phenomenon was reported in the Granja District of Lipa City. A white glowing outline of a female in prayer began allegedly to appear nightly on one of the leaves of a tall coconut tree. It was visible only in the evenings. Then on May 21, 1990, Sr. Alphonse pleaded on her deathbed that the Mediatrix statue be exposed again in the chapel at the Carmelite convent. Her request was granted the very next day. She died on that day. For the first time the statue was displayed after 40 years! On January 24, 1991, rose petals began to fall straight from the sky again at the Carmelite convent in Lipa City. A few days later, six children playing in the front garden of the monastery saw the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the monastery grounds come to life and shed tears.
Archbishop Mariano Gaviola granted the permission to display again the image of the Mediatrix of All Grace. The year after, he declared his personal conviction that the Lipa apparitions were worthy of belief. Miracles of physical and spiritual healing took place. Once more again there were reports of showers of rose-petals. Stories of marvelous happenings, as in the late forties, pile up. The faithful never really ceased visiting Carmel in spite of the 1951 decree. The number of pilgrims however swelled since the revival in the early nineties.
Archbishop Gaviola created a new commission headed by then auxiliary bishop now emeritus, Most Reverend Salvador Quizon and largely documentarily accomplished by Justice Hariet Demetriou. Documents from then surviving persons who experienced the events in the late forties as well as new evidences of wonders grew rapidly. Unfortunately, Archbishop Gaviola retired. Was he overwhelmed by sufferings due to what he did for the Blessed Virgin Mary? His successor did not do anything about the said phenomenon except asserting that the authorities of the early fifties could not have been less competent in their investigation than those fifty years after. That means that any recent investigations can never convincingly correct the conclusions done decades ago. The Gaviola commission ceased its inquiry.
Did Mary really appear in Lipa?
From the very start I, the Archbishop of Lipa since July 1994, had never put into doubt the truth of the so-called Marian happenings in Lipa. As a child I was brought there together with my other siblings by my parents. I have frequented the place since then. As a young seminarian, then priest and bishop, I would come to Lipa Carmel to willingly and trustingly entrust to Mary, my concerns, my whole life and all my activities, ignoring the controversies which had enveloped the events from the outset and which lingered thereafter. I have not personally met, nor known nor bothered about Teresing Castillo until years later as a newly ordained bishop.
The controversies surrounding the Lipa apparitions did not at all worry me as a young bishop. I could not fail to notice, in the meantime, how the events in Lipa have taken a new turn since I was a child. Lipa has gained the reputation of being Mary’s privileged place. In fact people from all over do not hesitate to consider it as the Marian capital of the Philippines.
Things became more complicated for me upon my appointment as LipaArchbishop in 1994. I realized I have become part of the controversy. The intricacies of the past that overflow into the present have upset me for the last more than four years. People expect much from me who am reputed to be a profoundly Marian bishop. Some even sort of pressure me to declare the authenticity of the Marian apparitions, so that when asked if I will now give official approval to the Lipa phenomenon, my getaway response is: “Archbishop Ramón Argüelles has long approved it; the present Lipa Archbishop however has not.” Time and again I feel at fault for seemingly dodging the issue. Fellow Marians would prick my conscience by saying: “It is the Blessed Mother Who wants you in Lipa. And for a purpose.” An easy way for me to steer clear of arguments is to state that regardless of the truth or non-truth of the 1948 events, the Mediatrix of All Grace remains a mystery tied up with and to a certain extent advanced by Lipa. Yet deep inside I sense that more is demanded of me.
Pilgrimage to Lipa never ceased. Every 12th of the month people will congregate at the Cathedral and make a penitential procession to the Carmelite Monastery of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, at three in the afternoon. Likewise on first Saturdays increasing crowds join the five o’clock dawn procession from the Cathedral to the monastery ending with the six o’clock morning mass. I often join the procession and preside the Mass. Moreover for the five consecutive years, September 12, the so-called first apparition day, has been declared by government as a National Day of Prayer and Reconciliation. The consecration of the entire nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the afternoon Eucharist is the key point of the annual Pilgrimage to, what forty years ago Bishop Versoza called, Our Lady of Lipa.
The research silently goes on. More and more testimonies need yet to be examined to determine whether the events deserve to be believed in as they are already believed in by many. What more interesting testimony can be had than that coming from the supposed visionary. Sister Teresing is allowed by God to live long. She is already eighty-one. Those who love the Blessed Mother can reflect on her story with her. It is up to the reader or listener to judge whether Sister Teresing is credible or not, if her experience is subjective and if it deserves to be conveyed to numerous souls. But it is my opinion that we have to thank Sister Teresing for telling us the story of Mary in Lipa and for suffering with Bishop Versoza, Bishop Obviar and the other professed nuns of that time.
There is in fact some kind of parallelism in the statements of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes and in Lipa. Teresing was told by the Virgin: “For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me here in this spot”. Bernadette on the other hand was told: “Will you do me the favor of coming here for fifteen days?” The Virgin revealed to Teresing: “My daughter, sufferings and trials will be with you until the end of your life”. To Bernadette: “I do not promise you happiness in this world, but in the next!” Again to Teresing: “My child, kiss the ground and eat a little grass.” To Bernadette: “Go on your knees, kiss the ground in penance for sinners” To Teresing: “I wish this place to be blessed tomorrow.” To Bernadette: “Go, tell the priests that I want that a Chapel be built here!” To Teresing: “I am Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace” To Bernadette: “Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou.”
Can the documents issued in April 1951 be considered a genuine document expressing the definitive stand of the official Church of that time regarding the Lipa apparitions? First, it cannot be considered a final document from the Catholic Hierarchy of the Philippines since only an Archbishop (Gabriel Reyes of Manila), a resident bishop (Cesar Guerrero of San Fernando), an apostolic administrator of the place at issue (Rufino Santos) and three other auxiliary bishops (Sison of Nueva Caceres, Madriaga of Dagupan and Reyes of Manila) signed the document ‘as Archbishops and bishops, constituting for the purpose a special commission’. Second, vis-à-vis the fervor of the many ordinary faithful, there is yet the so-called claim of many of the bishops that they believe in the miracles while those who signed claimed that they were under duress. Third, except for the above-mentioned documents, no record can be shown either by the Carmelite Generalate in Rome nor by the Nunciature as well as the Vatican archives themselves. Of course it is possible that the records of the fifties are not made available by Rome nor by the Nunciature for some reasons only they know. But for the sake of the Truth, and for the good of the faithful, such questions must be answered. Finally, as noted by the late Archbishop Mariano Gaviola, no document from Rome has, as of now, been issued us mentioned in the decree of then Apostolic Administrator Bishop Rufino Santos.
Did she really appear in Lipa?
Did Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace appear in Lipa? I as simply, Ramón C. Argüelles, will readily say, like many others in the Philippines and elsewhere (in fact I will never ever regret saying this: “Yes, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, did appear in Lipa.” It is not only in the fifties that most of the bisops believed in the Lipa Apparitions. Today, many bishops, surely led also by the simple faith of many faithful, believe that the Lipa events were not invented. God and Mary surely favored our land, especially the province of Batangas.
As Archbishop of Lipa, however, due to the unfortunate and confusing historical circumstances that may not be ignored, obviously I vacillate in making a clear-cut pronouncement. Certainly I am privately and silently doing, and I know I must officially initiate, a new inquiry. But no doubt, whatever be the outcome of any serious and thorough research the Archdiocese of Lipa, the City of Lipa or the whole Batangas Province will not become less a specially celebrated place where Mary is intensely honored, loved and sought. A final Church statement may be most desirable by a good number of devotees. But the majority of the faithful will not at all be affected by whatever position the official Church will take. They will go on believing that Mary is powerfully present to her people in this place.
Personally and officially it is my earnest prayer and wish that Mary had truly appeared before and will still reveal herself in Lipa, and even everywhere, to tell the whole world that She is indeed Mediatrix of All Grace. Her call to prayer, penance, return to her Son Jesus, to humility, simplicity and fidelity to God is even more pressing in today’s world. Lipa is a blessed and marvelous site to hear and heed this maternal plea.
The title Mediatrix of All Grace is even theologically unsound. If so, it would mean that all grace shall pass only through Mary. Obversely, no grace shall pass without Mary. What about the grace that we get through the sacraments?
We believe in Mary, the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, etc. and her intercession for us all, but to venerate her under this title is a little too much and tends to border on superstition.
All things necessary for our salvation have been revealed. The apparitions of Mary are not necessary for our salvation, but for an important reason as in Fatima. The message in Lipa is not a novel one as this has always been a part of the Catholic call to holiness. God is does not engage in superfluity.
The title Mediatrix of All Grace is even theologically unsound. If so, it would mean that all grace shall pass only through Mary. Obversely, no grace shall pass without Mary. What about the grace that we get through the sacraments?
We believe in Mary, the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, etc. and her intercession for us all, but to venerate her under this title is a little too much and tends to border on superstition.
All things necessary for our salvation have been revealed. The apparitions of Mary are not necessary for our salvation, but for an important reason as in Fatima. The message in Lipa is not a novel one as this has always been a part of the Catholic call to holiness. God is does not engage in superfluity.
Your story suggests that Teresing was in deep psychological and emotional state when she ran away from home to join the convent and was even pulled out by her parents from the monastery. Such state could cause conversion reaction, especially noting that she became blind and had an eye roll.
Her visions if any could be her hallucinations and the messages she received were part of this process. That is why given her inchoate theological instruction, the Mary that she saw delivered a message which she herself framed to betray her naive theological knowledge, as in Mary not really knowing that she is the same Mary who appeared in Lourdes when she aupposedly ordered the carving of her statue.
The commission formed now seeks testimonials of miracles. More psychiatrists are needed to verify the testimonials, because there will be cures. People who suffer conversion reactions also develop diseases which cannot be healed by ordinary medicine. What would heal them is faith in something or anything, real or imaginary, so that their sick minds which caused the disease would be freed of their guilt or psychological problems, resulting to what appears as a cure of their psychosomatic diseases.
In the end, the whole phenomenon in Lipa could be one caused by one suffering from conversion reaction and healing those with the same psychological ailment. Catholicism should be purified of these things.
Your story suggests that Teresing was in deep psychological and emotional state when she ran away from home to join the convent and was even pulled out by her parents from the monastery. Such state could cause conversion reaction, especially noting that she became blind and had an eye roll.
Her visions if any could be her hallucinations and the messages she received were part of this process. That is why given her inchoate theological instruction, the Mary that she saw delivered a message which she herself framed to betray her naive theological knowledge, as in Mary not really knowing that she is the same Mary who appeared in Lourdes when she aupposedly ordered the carving of her statue.
The commission formed now seeks testimonials of miracles. More psychiatrists are needed to verify the testimonials, because there will be cures. People who suffer conversion reactions also develop diseases which cannot be healed by ordinary medicine. What would heal them is faith in something or anything, real or imaginary, so that their sick minds which caused the disease would be freed of their guilt or psychological problems, resulting to what appears as a cure of their psychosomatic diseases.
In the end, the whole phenomenon in Lipa could be one caused by one suffering from conversion reaction and healing those with the same psychological ailment. Catholicism should be purified of these things.
Your story suggests that Teresing was in deep psychological and emotional state when she ran away from home to join the convent and was even pulled out by her parents from the monastery. Such state could cause conversion reaction, especially noting that she became blind and had an eye roll.
Her visions if any could be her hallucinations and the messages she received were part of this process. That is why given her inchoate theological instruction, the Mary that she saw delivered a message which she herself framed to betray her naive theological knowledge, as in Mary not really knowing that she is the same Mary who appeared in Lourdes when she aupposedly ordered the carving of her statue.
The commission formed now seeks testimonials of miracles. More psychiatrists are needed to verify the testimonials, because there will be cures. People who suffer conversion reactions also develop diseases which cannot be healed by ordinary medicine. What would heal them is faith in something or anything, real or imaginary, so that their sick minds which caused the disease would be freed of their guilt or psychological problems, resulting to what appears as a cure of their psychosomatic diseases.
In the end, the whole phenomenon in Lipa could be one caused by one suffering from conversion reaction and healing those with the same psychological ailment. Catholicism should be purified of these things.
Did Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, Appear in Lipa?
(In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France, the 22nd Mariological Congress was held in Lourdes last September 2008. Archbishop Ramón C. Argüelles of Lipa was one of the speakers. This condensed version of his talk appeared in the January-March 2008 issue of the Totus Tuus Maria magazine.)
It was during the episcopate of Bishop Alfredo Versoza (1916-1950), the first Filipino bishop of Lipa and his auxiliary bishop, the then Msgr. Alfredo Obviar, the so-called Marian Apparitions in the Monastery of Carmel in Lipa (founded 1946) took place.
Teresita Castillo celebrated her 21st birthday on July 4, 1948 by “escaping” early in the morning at five from her father’s house to enter the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa. She is the youngest of seven children of former Batangas Governor Modesto Castillo. At the time of the apparitions, Teresita’s father was the Judge of the Court of Industrial Relations. The Castillos were very influential and distinguished both in the town of Tanauan and the whole Batangas province.
Teresita’s entrance into the monastery was not well received initially by the family, who tried all means to get her back. Teresita steadfastly refused to return home, preferring to follow God’s call. The trials of Teresing did not escape the devil’s interest. Satan tried to draw her away from her chosen vocation. On the 31st of July, at fifteen past eight in the evening, moment of great silence as observed by the Carmelite community, Teresita was startled by knockings at her door. A male voice introduced himself as satan, while emitting foul odor in her cell. The postulant would be subjected to such infernal visits several times in the next days and weeks.
At around five in the afternoon of September 12, 1948, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, postulant Teresing Castillo saw the vine in the garden shake though there was no wind at all. A woman’s voice was heard to say: “Fear not my child. Kiss the ground. Whatever I tell you to do, you must do. For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me here in this spot. Eat some grass, my child.”
The next day, September 13, Monday, again at five in the afternoon, the postulant returned to the place, knelt down and intended to say the Hail Mary. She has only recited until the phrase “Full of Grace” when again the vine moved. A beautiful Lady appeared, her hands clasped on her breast, a golden rosary hanging in her right hand, slightly stooping, her dress was simple and pure white held in the waist by a narrow cloth belt. Her feet were bare and resting on clouds about two feet above ground. Her face, indescribably beautiful, was radiant.
On September 14, Tuesday, the first shower of rose petals took place. Some nuns, awakening early in the morning, found fresh rose-petals of exceptional sweetness, strewn around their rooms or outside their quiet doors. Again at five in the afternoon, the Lady as if enfolding the postulant in a tender maternal embrace said “I wish this place to be blessed tomorrow”. ‘At what time Mother?’ asked Teresing. “Anytime your Mother prioress wants, my child. I forbid you to forget the incidents of these fifteen days”, the Lady said. Then she disappeared.
Meantime, Mother Prioress decided to consult His Excellency, the Most Reverend Alfredo Obviar, auxiliary bishop of Lipa and spiritual director of Carmel, on what to do with the alleged apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The bishop instructed Mother Prioress to tell Postulant Teresing to demand from the Blessed Virgin some proof that the apparition was from heaven.
Days after the first shower of petals, total blindness afflicted the postulant. Mother Prioress heard a voice telling her that the only way Teresing’s blindness would be healed was for her to kiss the eyes of the postulant. Mother asked the bishop to be present at a face off with Teresing. So one day in the presence of Bishop Obviar, the Mother Prioress lifted the veil of Postulant Teresing and imparted a kiss in her eyes. Instantly the girl recovered her sight. Her blindness was cured. Bishop Obviar doubted no more that the apparitions were heavenly.
Here are some of the messages of the Lady to Teresing:
“I want a statue of mine to be placed here. I want you to describe me to your chaplain because I want it to be as you see me, and as big as the statue of Lourdes that is in the cloister. Tell Mother Prioress to have the rosary recited by the community here every afternoon during these days. Clean this part of the garden so that it will be a real place of prayer.”
On September 26, Sunday, the last (15th) day of the apparitions, the Lady said: “My child, you must love and obey your mother. Tell the sisters to love and obey their superiors and not to forget the things I ask. I shall not ask bigger things from you as you expect, because you are my little ones. Do not forget to consecrate yourselves to me on October 7. Be very good, I am Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. I shall always bless the community morning and evening.” Departing for the last time, the Blessed Virgin identified Herself as: “Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The Lipa phenomenon is often and principally associated with the shower of rose-petals. Such took place also on September 30, the fifty-first anniversary of the death of St’ Therese of the Child Jesus. Rose-petals were strewn in the cells of the monastery. Likewise on October 3, feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. During those times, the shower of rose-petals fell on the staircase. Most showers took place within the cloister. Later however they also fell outside the monastery at the sight of many visitors. On November 11, Mrs. Aurora Quezon, the wife of the late President of the Commonwealth, and her party witnessed such shower of roses at the monastery grounds. Bishop Alfredo Obviar himself stated that petals fell on his feet as he went out of the door of the nunnery:
“I was inside the parlor of the Carmelite monastery. The windows and doors were closed. When I was about to step out of the door, outside, several rose-petals fell on my feet, to my great surprise. I picked up some of them.”
The then Supreme Court Chief Justice Manuel Moran fervently remarked:
“The miracle of the shower of rose-petals at the Carmelites’ convent in Lipa City is not the work of man but of God. There can be no doubt about it. If I am not absolutely convinced, I would not waste my time coming to this place.”
Most petals bore images of Jesus or Mary or St. Joseph or one of the saints, most particularly, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
The 1948 apparitions in Lipa highlighted the Blessed Virgin’s plea for humility, penance, prayers for priests and for the Holy Father. As in Lourdes and Fatima the Blessed Mother insisted on the need to pray the Rosary. Our Lady complained about the people losing faith. Teresita added that there was a secret for herself, another for the Carmelite convent in Lipa City and one for China.
The Negative Church Verdict
The veneration of Our Lady Mediatrix of all Grace was permitted by Bishop Verzosa. However on April 11, 1951 the Philippine church hierarchy issued ‘The Verdict’ in a document which read:
“We, the undersigned Archbishops and bishops, constituting for the purpose a special commission, having attentively examined and reviewed the evidence and testimonies collected in the course of repeated, long and careful investigations, have reached the unanimous conclusion and hereby officially declare the above-mentioned evidence and testimonies exclude any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings –including the showers of petals– at the Carmel of Lipa.”
The signatories were: Archbishop Gabriel Reyes of Manila, Bishop Cesar M. Guerrero of San Fernando, Bishop Mariano Madriaga of Lingayen, Bishop Rufino Santos, Administrator of Lipa, Bishop Vicente Reyes Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, and Bishop Juan Sison, Auxiliary Bishop of Nueva Segovia. The document was also signed ‘concordat cum originali’ by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi.
Bishop Rufino Santos, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Lipa, followed up such declaration with a decree that went this way:
Having been declared by the Special Commission composed of several members of the Philippine Hierarchy that, after long, repeated and careful investigations, the evidences and testimonies on the matter exclude any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings –including the shower of petals—at the Carmel of Lipa, I, the undersigned Apostolic Administrator of Lipa Diocese, in keeping with the Decree-Statement of the said Episcopal Commission, BY THESE PRESENT LETTERS dispose and order:
1) No petals nor water should be given out to anyone;
2) The statue of Our Lady (actually in the church) should be retired from public veneration;
3) All out-sisters must be admitted within the enclosure for the time being, excepting Sr. Elizabeth, who shall remain outside to attend to the needs of the Community; and finally
4) All visits are suspended temporarily, no letters will be allowed, until final decision on the matter will come from The Holy See.
The decree was issued at the City of Lipa on April 12, 1951.
The Tragic Aftermath
Bishop Verzosa was forced to resign and sent back to his hometown in Vigan, Ilocos Sur in Northern Philippines. The Auxiliary Bishop, Most Reverend Alfredo Obviar was moved to Lucena, a newly erected diocese, where he served as a mere apostolic administrator for the next twenty-two years. In 1974 he was finally given full episcopal powers as the resident bishop of Lucena Diocese. On October 1, 1979, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the bishop died a holy death, having declared earlier: “They can oblige me to keep silent; but they can never compel me to say it was not true.”
In recent years more and more people go on Pilgrimage to his tomb in the Mother House of the Sisters’ Congregation he founded in 1958, the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese. Numerous reports of miracles are ascribed to this so-termed ‘saint of Holy Obedience’. Bishop Obviar’s cause for beatification has been introduced and is progressing well.
On the other hand, the memory of Bishop Alfredo Versoza, buried in the Cathedral of Vigan and overlooked for four decades, is now the object of research. He too has been invoked for favors miraculously granted. His cause for possible beatification is being considered.
Mother Prioress and the other perpetually professed sisters, notably Sister Mary of St. Joseph, the sub-prioress, and Sr. Mary Anne, the infirmarian, were purposely separated and dispersed to other Carmels. They suffered and died also in the odor of sanctity.
Meanwhile all materials connected with the apparitions were ordered destroyed. Teresita’s diary, as well as that of Mother Prioress, were burned. The statue was also destined for ruin, but the nuns quietly kept it away, saving it from oblivion. The convent was sealed, and the nuns could talk to no one outside of the convent. These events confirm the Blessed Mother’s warning that there would be persecution.
Teresita was subjected to investigation by the ‘commission’. As far as she was concerned the investigating commission consisted only of Bishop Rufino Santos, Bishop Cesar Guerrero, Fr. Blas, OP, and another Dominican priest. Cardinal Santos was always kind to her but would get her any unholy hour and brought to Manila for investigation often times with little time to prepare. Finally, Ma Mére, the French prioress made to replace Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus, tearfully advised Teresita to leave the convent on her own volition so that she could later be readmitted when she would be ready. She could not be admitted for profession because she failed to stay a full year in the novitiate. This was however due to her being often brought hastily to Manila for inquiry. If she chose to remain, the prioress will be forced to send her out depriving her of the possibility to reapply. She returned then to her parents. But, later, each time she would ask to return to the cloister, she would be required to have a medical clearance due to her health. Her health admittedly has never been satisfactory due to the traumatic experiences she endured during interrogations. At one point, because she refused to sign a declaration stating that the apparitions were a hoax, a priest-investigator threw the ash tray at her, fortunately missing her. No medical clearance was ever granted her. The story of the apparitions was buried for 40 years, though the faithful believed in silence and persisted in praying to the Mediatrix of All Grace.
Years After
Almost forty years after, on February 11, 1990, Reverend Father Lorenzo Maria Guerrero, SJ, nephew of Bishop Cesar Guerrero of San Fernando, executed an affidavit asserting:
“that while my uncle, Bishop Cesar Gerrero, was still alive, I heard from his lips that he signed the above Official Statement under duress,: and “that the said Bishop had expressed his personal belief in the fact of the apparitions of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Carmelite Convent of Lipa during the year of 1948.”
The late Bishop Godofredo Pedernal, who worked with Bishop Obviar for twenty-five years as Vicar General and Episcopal vicar, testified that, while accompanying Bishop Obviar in the sixties to console his dying friends, Bishop Guerrero, Archbishop Cuenco and Archbishop Sison, he heard Bishop Obviar ask: “Why did you sign that declaration about the foolishness of the Lipa Carmel Sisters?” The three bishops would silently show their own rose petals and replied: “We were forced to sign.”
Sometime in February 1990 a strange new phenomenon was reported in the Granja District of Lipa City. A white glowing outline of a female in prayer began allegedly to appear nightly on one of the leaves of a tall coconut tree. It was visible only in the evenings. Then on May 21, 1990, Sr. Alphonse pleaded on her deathbed that the Mediatrix statue be exposed again in the chapel at the Carmelite convent. Her request was granted the very next day. She died on that day. For the first time the statue was displayed after 40 years! On January 24, 1991, rose petals began to fall straight from the sky again at the Carmelite convent in Lipa City. A few days later, six children playing in the front garden of the monastery saw the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the monastery grounds come to life and shed tears.
Archbishop Mariano Gaviola granted the permission to display again the image of the Mediatrix of All Grace. The year after, he declared his personal conviction that the Lipa apparitions were worthy of belief. Miracles of physical and spiritual healing took place. Once more again there were reports of showers of rose-petals. Stories of marvelous happenings, as in the late forties, pile up. The faithful never really ceased visiting Carmel in spite of the 1951 decree. The number of pilgrims however swelled since the revival in the early nineties.
Archbishop Gaviola created a new commission headed by then auxiliary bishop now emeritus, Most Reverend Salvador Quizon and largely documentarily accomplished by Justice Hariet Demetriou. Documents from then surviving persons who experienced the events in the late forties as well as new evidences of wonders grew rapidly. Unfortunately, Archbishop Gaviola retired. Was he overwhelmed by sufferings due to what he did for the Blessed Virgin Mary? His successor did not do anything about the said phenomenon except asserting that the authorities of the early fifties could not have been less competent in their investigation than those fifty years after. That means that any recent investigations can never convincingly correct the conclusions done decades ago. The Gaviola commission ceased its inquiry.
Did Mary really appear in Lipa?
From the very start I, the Archbishop of Lipa since July 1994, had never put into doubt the truth of the so-called Marian happenings in Lipa. As a child I was brought there together with my other siblings by my parents. I have frequented the place since then. As a young seminarian, then priest and bishop, I would come to Lipa Carmel to willingly and trustingly entrust to Mary, my concerns, my whole life and all my activities, ignoring the controversies which had enveloped the events from the outset and which lingered thereafter. I have not personally met, nor known nor bothered about Teresing Castillo until years later as a newly ordained bishop.
The controversies surrounding the Lipa apparitions did not at all worry me as a young bishop. I could not fail to notice, in the meantime, how the events in Lipa have taken a new turn since I was a child. Lipa has gained the reputation of being Mary’s privileged place. In fact people from all over do not hesitate to consider it as the Marian capital of the Philippines.
Things became more complicated for me upon my appointment as LipaArchbishop in 1994. I realized I have become part of the controversy. The intricacies of the past that overflow into the present have upset me for the last more than four years. People expect much from me who am reputed to be a profoundly Marian bishop. Some even sort of pressure me to declare the authenticity of the Marian apparitions, so that when asked if I will now give official approval to the Lipa phenomenon, my getaway response is: “Archbishop Ramón Argüelles has long approved it; the present Lipa Archbishop however has not.” Time and again I feel at fault for seemingly dodging the issue. Fellow Marians would prick my conscience by saying: “It is the Blessed Mother Who wants you in Lipa. And for a purpose.” An easy way for me to steer clear of arguments is to state that regardless of the truth or non-truth of the 1948 events, the Mediatrix of All Grace remains a mystery tied up with and to a certain extent advanced by Lipa. Yet deep inside I sense that more is demanded of me.
Pilgrimage to Lipa never ceased. Every 12th of the month people will congregate at the Cathedral and make a penitential procession to the Carmelite Monastery of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, at three in the afternoon. Likewise on first Saturdays increasing crowds join the five o’clock dawn procession from the Cathedral to the monastery ending with the six o’clock morning mass. I often join the procession and preside the Mass. Moreover for the five consecutive years, September 12, the so-called first apparition day, has been declared by government as a National Day of Prayer and Reconciliation. The consecration of the entire nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the afternoon Eucharist is the key point of the annual Pilgrimage to, what forty years ago Bishop Versoza called, Our Lady of Lipa.
The research silently goes on. More and more testimonies need yet to be examined to determine whether the events deserve to be believed in as they are already believed in by many. What more interesting testimony can be had than that coming from the supposed visionary. Sister Teresing is allowed by God to live long. She is already eighty-one. Those who love the Blessed Mother can reflect on her story with her. It is up to the reader or listener to judge whether Sister Teresing is credible or not, if her experience is subjective and if it deserves to be conveyed to numerous souls. But it is my opinion that we have to thank Sister Teresing for telling us the story of Mary in Lipa and for suffering with Bishop Versoza, Bishop Obviar and the other professed nuns of that time.
There is in fact some kind of parallelism in the statements of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes and in Lipa. Teresing was told by the Virgin: “For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me here in this spot”. Bernadette on the other hand was told: “Will you do me the favor of coming here for fifteen days?” The Virgin revealed to Teresing: “My daughter, sufferings and trials will be with you until the end of your life”. To Bernadette: “I do not promise you happiness in this world, but in the next!” Again to Teresing: “My child, kiss the ground and eat a little grass.” To Bernadette: “Go on your knees, kiss the ground in penance for sinners” To Teresing: “I wish this place to be blessed tomorrow.” To Bernadette: “Go, tell the priests that I want that a Chapel be built here!” To Teresing: “I am Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace” To Bernadette: “Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou.”
Can the documents issued in April 1951 be considered a genuine document expressing the definitive stand of the official Church of that time regarding the Lipa apparitions? First, it cannot be considered a final document from the Catholic Hierarchy of the Philippines since only an Archbishop (Gabriel Reyes of Manila), a resident bishop (Cesar Guerrero of San Fernando), an apostolic administrator of the place at issue (Rufino Santos) and three other auxiliary bishops (Sison of Nueva Caceres, Madriaga of Dagupan and Reyes of Manila) signed the document ‘as Archbishops and bishops, constituting for the purpose a special commission’. Second, vis-à-vis the fervor of the many ordinary faithful, there is yet the so-called claim of many of the bishops that they believe in the miracles while those who signed claimed that they were under duress. Third, except for the above-mentioned documents, no record can be shown either by the Carmelite Generalate in Rome nor by the Nunciature as well as the Vatican archives themselves. Of course it is possible that the records of the fifties are not made available by Rome nor by the Nunciature for some reasons only they know. But for the sake of the Truth, and for the good of the faithful, such questions must be answered. Finally, as noted by the late Archbishop Mariano Gaviola, no document from Rome has, as of now, been issued us mentioned in the decree of then Apostolic Administrator Bishop Rufino Santos.
Did she really appear in Lipa?
Did Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace appear in Lipa? I as simply, Ramón C. Argüelles, will readily say, like many others in the Philippines and elsewhere (in fact I will never ever regret saying this: “Yes, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, did appear in Lipa.” It is not only in the fifties that most of the bisops believed in the Lipa Apparitions. Today, many bishops, surely led also by the simple faith of many faithful, believe that the Lipa events were not invented. God and Mary surely favored our land, especially the province of Batangas.
As Archbishop of Lipa, however, due to the unfortunate and confusing historical circumstances that may not be ignored, obviously I vacillate in making a clear-cut pronouncement. Certainly I am privately and silently doing, and I know I must officially initiate, a new inquiry. But no doubt, whatever be the outcome of any serious and thorough research the Archdiocese of Lipa, the City of Lipa or the whole Batangas Province will not become less a specially celebrated place where Mary is intensely honored, loved and sought. A final Church statement may be most desirable by a good number of devotees. But the majority of the faithful will not at all be affected by whatever position the official Church will take. They will go on believing that Mary is powerfully present to her people in this place.
Personally and officially it is my earnest prayer and wish that Mary had truly appeared before and will still reveal herself in Lipa, and even everywhere, to tell the whole world that She is indeed Mediatrix of All Grace. Her call to prayer, penance, return to her Son Jesus, to humility, simplicity and fidelity to God is even more pressing in today’s world. Lipa is a blessed and marvelous site to hear and heed this maternal plea.
Did Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, Appear in Lipa?
(In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France, the 22nd Mariological Congress was held in Lourdes last September 2008. Archbishop Ramón C. Argüelles of Lipa was one of the speakers. This condensed version of his talk appeared in the January-March 2008 issue of the Totus Tuus Maria magazine.)
It was during the episcopate of Bishop Alfredo Versoza (1916-1950), the first Filipino bishop of Lipa and his auxiliary bishop, the then Msgr. Alfredo Obviar, the so-called Marian Apparitions in the Monastery of Carmel in Lipa (founded 1946) took place.
Teresita Castillo celebrated her 21st birthday on July 4, 1948 by “escaping” early in the morning at five from her father’s house to enter the Carmelite Monastery of Lipa. She is the youngest of seven children of former Batangas Governor Modesto Castillo. At the time of the apparitions, Teresita’s father was the Judge of the Court of Industrial Relations. The Castillos were very influential and distinguished both in the town of Tanauan and the whole Batangas province.
Teresita’s entrance into the monastery was not well received initially by the family, who tried all means to get her back. Teresita steadfastly refused to return home, preferring to follow God’s call. The trials of Teresing did not escape the devil’s interest. Satan tried to draw her away from her chosen vocation. On the 31st of July, at fifteen past eight in the evening, moment of great silence as observed by the Carmelite community, Teresita was startled by knockings at her door. A male voice introduced himself as satan, while emitting foul odor in her cell. The postulant would be subjected to such infernal visits several times in the next days and weeks.
At around five in the afternoon of September 12, 1948, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, postulant Teresing Castillo saw the vine in the garden shake though there was no wind at all. A woman’s voice was heard to say: “Fear not my child. Kiss the ground. Whatever I tell you to do, you must do. For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me here in this spot. Eat some grass, my child.”
The next day, September 13, Monday, again at five in the afternoon, the postulant returned to the place, knelt down and intended to say the Hail Mary. She has only recited until the phrase “Full of Grace” when again the vine moved. A beautiful Lady appeared, her hands clasped on her breast, a golden rosary hanging in her right hand, slightly stooping, her dress was simple and pure white held in the waist by a narrow cloth belt. Her feet were bare and resting on clouds about two feet above ground. Her face, indescribably beautiful, was radiant.
On September 14, Tuesday, the first shower of rose petals took place. Some nuns, awakening early in the morning, found fresh rose-petals of exceptional sweetness, strewn around their rooms or outside their quiet doors. Again at five in the afternoon, the Lady as if enfolding the postulant in a tender maternal embrace said “I wish this place to be blessed tomorrow”. ‘At what time Mother?’ asked Teresing. “Anytime your Mother prioress wants, my child. I forbid you to forget the incidents of these fifteen days”, the Lady said. Then she disappeared.
Meantime, Mother Prioress decided to consult His Excellency, the Most Reverend Alfredo Obviar, auxiliary bishop of Lipa and spiritual director of Carmel, on what to do with the alleged apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The bishop instructed Mother Prioress to tell Postulant Teresing to demand from the Blessed Virgin some proof that the apparition was from heaven.
Days after the first shower of petals, total blindness afflicted the postulant. Mother Prioress heard a voice telling her that the only way Teresing’s blindness would be healed was for her to kiss the eyes of the postulant. Mother asked the bishop to be present at a face off with Teresing. So one day in the presence of Bishop Obviar, the Mother Prioress lifted the veil of Postulant Teresing and imparted a kiss in her eyes. Instantly the girl recovered her sight. Her blindness was cured. Bishop Obviar doubted no more that the apparitions were heavenly.
Here are some of the messages of the Lady to Teresing:
“I want a statue of mine to be placed here. I want you to describe me to your chaplain because I want it to be as you see me, and as big as the statue of Lourdes that is in the cloister. Tell Mother Prioress to have the rosary recited by the community here every afternoon during these days. Clean this part of the garden so that it will be a real place of prayer.”
On September 26, Sunday, the last (15th) day of the apparitions, the Lady said: “My child, you must love and obey your mother. Tell the sisters to love and obey their superiors and not to forget the things I ask. I shall not ask bigger things from you as you expect, because you are my little ones. Do not forget to consecrate yourselves to me on October 7. Be very good, I am Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. I shall always bless the community morning and evening.” Departing for the last time, the Blessed Virgin identified Herself as: “Mediatrix of All Grace.”
The Lipa phenomenon is often and principally associated with the shower of rose-petals. Such took place also on September 30, the fifty-first anniversary of the death of St’ Therese of the Child Jesus. Rose-petals were strewn in the cells of the monastery. Likewise on October 3, feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. During those times, the shower of rose-petals fell on the staircase. Most showers took place within the cloister. Later however they also fell outside the monastery at the sight of many visitors. On November 11, Mrs. Aurora Quezon, the wife of the late President of the Commonwealth, and her party witnessed such shower of roses at the monastery grounds. Bishop Alfredo Obviar himself stated that petals fell on his feet as he went out of the door of the nunnery:
“I was inside the parlor of the Carmelite monastery. The windows and doors were closed. When I was about to step out of the door, outside, several rose-petals fell on my feet, to my great surprise. I picked up some of them.”
The then Supreme Court Chief Justice Manuel Moran fervently remarked:
“The miracle of the shower of rose-petals at the Carmelites’ convent in Lipa City is not the work of man but of God. There can be no doubt about it. If I am not absolutely convinced, I would not waste my time coming to this place.”
Most petals bore images of Jesus or Mary or St. Joseph or one of the saints, most particularly, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.
The 1948 apparitions in Lipa highlighted the Blessed Virgin’s plea for humility, penance, prayers for priests and for the Holy Father. As in Lourdes and Fatima the Blessed Mother insisted on the need to pray the Rosary. Our Lady complained about the people losing faith. Teresita added that there was a secret for herself, another for the Carmelite convent in Lipa City and one for China.
The Negative Church Verdict
The veneration of Our Lady Mediatrix of all Grace was permitted by Bishop Verzosa. However on April 11, 1951 the Philippine church hierarchy issued ‘The Verdict’ in a document which read:
“We, the undersigned Archbishops and bishops, constituting for the purpose a special commission, having attentively examined and reviewed the evidence and testimonies collected in the course of repeated, long and careful investigations, have reached the unanimous conclusion and hereby officially declare the above-mentioned evidence and testimonies exclude any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings –including the showers of petals– at the Carmel of Lipa.”
The signatories were: Archbishop Gabriel Reyes of Manila, Bishop Cesar M. Guerrero of San Fernando, Bishop Mariano Madriaga of Lingayen, Bishop Rufino Santos, Administrator of Lipa, Bishop Vicente Reyes Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, and Bishop Juan Sison, Auxiliary Bishop of Nueva Segovia. The document was also signed ‘concordat cum originali’ by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Egidio Vagnozzi.
Bishop Rufino Santos, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Lipa, followed up such declaration with a decree that went this way:
Having been declared by the Special Commission composed of several members of the Philippine Hierarchy that, after long, repeated and careful investigations, the evidences and testimonies on the matter exclude any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings –including the shower of petals—at the Carmel of Lipa, I, the undersigned Apostolic Administrator of Lipa Diocese, in keeping with the Decree-Statement of the said Episcopal Commission, BY THESE PRESENT LETTERS dispose and order:
1) No petals nor water should be given out to anyone;
2) The statue of Our Lady (actually in the church) should be retired from public veneration;
3) All out-sisters must be admitted within the enclosure for the time being, excepting Sr. Elizabeth, who shall remain outside to attend to the needs of the Community; and finally
4) All visits are suspended temporarily, no letters will be allowed, until final decision on the matter will come from The Holy See.
The decree was issued at the City of Lipa on April 12, 1951.
The Tragic Aftermath
Bishop Verzosa was forced to resign and sent back to his hometown in Vigan, Ilocos Sur in Northern Philippines. The Auxiliary Bishop, Most Reverend Alfredo Obviar was moved to Lucena, a newly erected diocese, where he served as a mere apostolic administrator for the next twenty-two years. In 1974 he was finally given full episcopal powers as the resident bishop of Lucena Diocese. On October 1, 1979, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, the bishop died a holy death, having declared earlier: “They can oblige me to keep silent; but they can never compel me to say it was not true.”
In recent years more and more people go on Pilgrimage to his tomb in the Mother House of the Sisters’ Congregation he founded in 1958, the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese. Numerous reports of miracles are ascribed to this so-termed ‘saint of Holy Obedience’. Bishop Obviar’s cause for beatification has been introduced and is progressing well.
On the other hand, the memory of Bishop Alfredo Versoza, buried in the Cathedral of Vigan and overlooked for four decades, is now the object of research. He too has been invoked for favors miraculously granted. His cause for possible beatification is being considered.
Mother Prioress and the other perpetually professed sisters, notably Sister Mary of St. Joseph, the sub-prioress, and Sr. Mary Anne, the infirmarian, were purposely separated and dispersed to other Carmels. They suffered and died also in the odor of sanctity.
Meanwhile all materials connected with the apparitions were ordered destroyed. Teresita’s diary, as well as that of Mother Prioress, were burned. The statue was also destined for ruin, but the nuns quietly kept it away, saving it from oblivion. The convent was sealed, and the nuns could talk to no one outside of the convent. These events confirm the Blessed Mother’s warning that there would be persecution.
Teresita was subjected to investigation by the ‘commission’. As far as she was concerned the investigating commission consisted only of Bishop Rufino Santos, Bishop Cesar Guerrero, Fr. Blas, OP, and another Dominican priest. Cardinal Santos was always kind to her but would get her any unholy hour and brought to Manila for investigation often times with little time to prepare. Finally, Ma Mére, the French prioress made to replace Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus, tearfully advised Teresita to leave the convent on her own volition so that she could later be readmitted when she would be ready. She could not be admitted for profession because she failed to stay a full year in the novitiate. This was however due to her being often brought hastily to Manila for inquiry. If she chose to remain, the prioress will be forced to send her out depriving her of the possibility to reapply. She returned then to her parents. But, later, each time she would ask to return to the cloister, she would be required to have a medical clearance due to her health. Her health admittedly has never been satisfactory due to the traumatic experiences she endured during interrogations. At one point, because she refused to sign a declaration stating that the apparitions were a hoax, a priest-investigator threw the ash tray at her, fortunately missing her. No medical clearance was ever granted her. The story of the apparitions was buried for 40 years, though the faithful believed in silence and persisted in praying to the Mediatrix of All Grace.
Years After
Almost forty years after, on February 11, 1990, Reverend Father Lorenzo Maria Guerrero, SJ, nephew of Bishop Cesar Guerrero of San Fernando, executed an affidavit asserting:
“that while my uncle, Bishop Cesar Gerrero, was still alive, I heard from his lips that he signed the above Official Statement under duress,: and “that the said Bishop had expressed his personal belief in the fact of the apparitions of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace in the Carmelite Convent of Lipa during the year of 1948.”
The late Bishop Godofredo Pedernal, who worked with Bishop Obviar for twenty-five years as Vicar General and Episcopal vicar, testified that, while accompanying Bishop Obviar in the sixties to console his dying friends, Bishop Guerrero, Archbishop Cuenco and Archbishop Sison, he heard Bishop Obviar ask: “Why did you sign that declaration about the foolishness of the Lipa Carmel Sisters?” The three bishops would silently show their own rose petals and replied: “We were forced to sign.”
Sometime in February 1990 a strange new phenomenon was reported in the Granja District of Lipa City. A white glowing outline of a female in prayer began allegedly to appear nightly on one of the leaves of a tall coconut tree. It was visible only in the evenings. Then on May 21, 1990, Sr. Alphonse pleaded on her deathbed that the Mediatrix statue be exposed again in the chapel at the Carmelite convent. Her request was granted the very next day. She died on that day. For the first time the statue was displayed after 40 years! On January 24, 1991, rose petals began to fall straight from the sky again at the Carmelite convent in Lipa City. A few days later, six children playing in the front garden of the monastery saw the statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the monastery grounds come to life and shed tears.
Archbishop Mariano Gaviola granted the permission to display again the image of the Mediatrix of All Grace. The year after, he declared his personal conviction that the Lipa apparitions were worthy of belief. Miracles of physical and spiritual healing took place. Once more again there were reports of showers of rose-petals. Stories of marvelous happenings, as in the late forties, pile up. The faithful never really ceased visiting Carmel in spite of the 1951 decree. The number of pilgrims however swelled since the revival in the early nineties.
Archbishop Gaviola created a new commission headed by then auxiliary bishop now emeritus, Most Reverend Salvador Quizon and largely documentarily accomplished by Justice Hariet Demetriou. Documents from then surviving persons who experienced the events in the late forties as well as new evidences of wonders grew rapidly. Unfortunately, Archbishop Gaviola retired. Was he overwhelmed by sufferings due to what he did for the Blessed Virgin Mary? His successor did not do anything about the said phenomenon except asserting that the authorities of the early fifties could not have been less competent in their investigation than those fifty years after. That means that any recent investigations can never convincingly correct the conclusions done decades ago. The Gaviola commission ceased its inquiry.
Did Mary really appear in Lipa?
From the very start I, the Archbishop of Lipa since July 1994, had never put into doubt the truth of the so-called Marian happenings in Lipa. As a child I was brought there together with my other siblings by my parents. I have frequented the place since then. As a young seminarian, then priest and bishop, I would come to Lipa Carmel to willingly and trustingly entrust to Mary, my concerns, my whole life and all my activities, ignoring the controversies which had enveloped the events from the outset and which lingered thereafter. I have not personally met, nor known nor bothered about Teresing Castillo until years later as a newly ordained bishop.
The controversies surrounding the Lipa apparitions did not at all worry me as a young bishop. I could not fail to notice, in the meantime, how the events in Lipa have taken a new turn since I was a child. Lipa has gained the reputation of being Mary’s privileged place. In fact people from all over do not hesitate to consider it as the Marian capital of the Philippines.
Things became more complicated for me upon my appointment as LipaArchbishop in 1994. I realized I have become part of the controversy. The intricacies of the past that overflow into the present have upset me for the last more than four years. People expect much from me who am reputed to be a profoundly Marian bishop. Some even sort of pressure me to declare the authenticity of the Marian apparitions, so that when asked if I will now give official approval to the Lipa phenomenon, my getaway response is: “Archbishop Ramón Argüelles has long approved it; the present Lipa Archbishop however has not.” Time and again I feel at fault for seemingly dodging the issue. Fellow Marians would prick my conscience by saying: “It is the Blessed Mother Who wants you in Lipa. And for a purpose.” An easy way for me to steer clear of arguments is to state that regardless of the truth or non-truth of the 1948 events, the Mediatrix of All Grace remains a mystery tied up with and to a certain extent advanced by Lipa. Yet deep inside I sense that more is demanded of me.
Pilgrimage to Lipa never ceased. Every 12th of the month people will congregate at the Cathedral and make a penitential procession to the Carmelite Monastery of Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, at three in the afternoon. Likewise on first Saturdays increasing crowds join the five o’clock dawn procession from the Cathedral to the monastery ending with the six o’clock morning mass. I often join the procession and preside the Mass. Moreover for the five consecutive years, September 12, the so-called first apparition day, has been declared by government as a National Day of Prayer and Reconciliation. The consecration of the entire nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary during the afternoon Eucharist is the key point of the annual Pilgrimage to, what forty years ago Bishop Versoza called, Our Lady of Lipa.
The research silently goes on. More and more testimonies need yet to be examined to determine whether the events deserve to be believed in as they are already believed in by many. What more interesting testimony can be had than that coming from the supposed visionary. Sister Teresing is allowed by God to live long. She is already eighty-one. Those who love the Blessed Mother can reflect on her story with her. It is up to the reader or listener to judge whether Sister Teresing is credible or not, if her experience is subjective and if it deserves to be conveyed to numerous souls. But it is my opinion that we have to thank Sister Teresing for telling us the story of Mary in Lipa and for suffering with Bishop Versoza, Bishop Obviar and the other professed nuns of that time.
There is in fact some kind of parallelism in the statements of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes and in Lipa. Teresing was told by the Virgin: “For fifteen consecutive days, come to visit me here in this spot”. Bernadette on the other hand was told: “Will you do me the favor of coming here for fifteen days?” The Virgin revealed to Teresing: “My daughter, sufferings and trials will be with you until the end of your life”. To Bernadette: “I do not promise you happiness in this world, but in the next!” Again to Teresing: “My child, kiss the ground and eat a little grass.” To Bernadette: “Go on your knees, kiss the ground in penance for sinners” To Teresing: “I wish this place to be blessed tomorrow.” To Bernadette: “Go, tell the priests that I want that a Chapel be built here!” To Teresing: “I am Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace” To Bernadette: “Que soy era Immaculada Concepciou.”
Can the documents issued in April 1951 be considered a genuine document expressing the definitive stand of the official Church of that time regarding the Lipa apparitions? First, it cannot be considered a final document from the Catholic Hierarchy of the Philippines since only an Archbishop (Gabriel Reyes of Manila), a resident bishop (Cesar Guerrero of San Fernando), an apostolic administrator of the place at issue (Rufino Santos) and three other auxiliary bishops (Sison of Nueva Caceres, Madriaga of Dagupan and Reyes of Manila) signed the document ‘as Archbishops and bishops, constituting for the purpose a special commission’. Second, vis-à-vis the fervor of the many ordinary faithful, there is yet the so-called claim of many of the bishops that they believe in the miracles while those who signed claimed that they were under duress. Third, except for the above-mentioned documents, no record can be shown either by the Carmelite Generalate in Rome nor by the Nunciature as well as the Vatican archives themselves. Of course it is possible that the records of the fifties are not made available by Rome nor by the Nunciature for some reasons only they know. But for the sake of the Truth, and for the good of the faithful, such questions must be answered. Finally, as noted by the late Archbishop Mariano Gaviola, no document from Rome has, as of now, been issued us mentioned in the decree of then Apostolic Administrator Bishop Rufino Santos.
Did she really appear in Lipa?
Did Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace appear in Lipa? I as simply, Ramón C. Argüelles, will readily say, like many others in the Philippines and elsewhere (in fact I will never ever regret saying this: “Yes, Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, did appear in Lipa.” It is not only in the fifties that most of the bisops believed in the Lipa Apparitions. Today, many bishops, surely led also by the simple faith of many faithful, believe that the Lipa events were not invented. God and Mary surely favored our land, especially the province of Batangas.
As Archbishop of Lipa, however, due to the unfortunate and confusing historical circumstances that may not be ignored, obviously I vacillate in making a clear-cut pronouncement. Certainly I am privately and silently doing, and I know I must officially initiate, a new inquiry. But no doubt, whatever be the outcome of any serious and thorough research the Archdiocese of Lipa, the City of Lipa or the whole Batangas Province will not become less a specially celebrated place where Mary is intensely honored, loved and sought. A final Church statement may be most desirable by a good number of devotees. But the majority of the faithful will not at all be affected by whatever position the official Church will take. They will go on believing that Mary is powerfully present to her people in this place.
Personally and officially it is my earnest prayer and wish that Mary had truly appeared before and will still reveal herself in Lipa, and even everywhere, to tell the whole world that She is indeed Mediatrix of All Grace. Her call to prayer, penance, return to her Son Jesus, to humility, simplicity and fidelity to God is even more pressing in today’s world. Lipa is a blessed and marvelous site to hear and heed this maternal plea.
The title Mediatrix of All Grace is even theologically unsound. If so, it would mean that all grace shall pass only through Mary. Obversely, no grace shall pass without Mary. What about the grace that we get through the sacraments?
We believe in Mary, the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, etc. and her intercession for us all, but to venerate her under this title is a little too much and tends to border on superstition.
All things necessary for our salvation have been revealed. The apparitions of Mary are not necessary for our salvation, but for an important reason as in Fatima. The message in Lipa is not a novel one as this has always been a part of the Catholic call to holiness. God is does not engage in superfluity.
Your story suggests that Teresing was in deep psychological and emotional state when she ran away from home to join the convent and was even pulled out by her parents from the monastery. Such state could cause conversion reaction, especially noting that she became blind and had an eye roll.
Her visions if any could be her hallucinations and the messages she received were part of this process. That is why given her inchoate theological instruction, the Mary that she saw delivered a message which she herself framed to betray her naive theological knowledge, as in Mary not really knowing that she is the same Mary who appeared in Lourdes when she aupposedly ordered the carving of her statue.
The commission formed now seeks testimonials of miracles. More psychiatrists are needed to verify the testimonials, because there will be cures. People who suffer conversion reactions also develop diseases which cannot be healed by ordinary medicine. What would heal them is faith in something or anything, real or imaginary, so that their sick minds which caused the disease would be freed of their guilt or psychological problems, resulting to what appears as a cure of their psychosomatic diseases.
In the end, the whole phenomenon in Lipa could be one caused by one suffering from conversion reaction and healing those with the same psychological ailment. Catholicism should be purified of these things.
“There is no fruit in the history of salvation that does not have as its necessary instrument, the Mediation of Mary.” – Pope Benedict XVI
“There is no fruit in the history of salvation that does not have as its necessary instrument, the Mediation of Mary.” – Pope Benedict XVI
Correct. But was it necessary for Mary to appear in Lipa to tell us what has already been an undisputed part of our Catholic belief? Why did she not insist by punishing the bishops of old who suppressed her message in that apparition? Is the present commission much wiser than the old one composed of bishops and theologians?
Did Mary need another title among the many that we gave her in the litany? Why should the ban be lifted prior to the investigation, and what happens if the investigation would again yield an unfavorable result? Would the ban be ordered again?
Or is the investigating commission only out to find miracles to justify the lifting of the ban? Aren’t you suggesting to the minds of hopeless and helpless peoples and manipulating them to believe so that there would be faith healing which you would then document as miracles? What would be the difference between the healing done by the bogus Judiel, Johnny Midnight, etc. and yours?
Correct. But was it necessary for Mary to appear in Lipa to tell us what has already been an undisputed part of our Catholic belief? Why did she not insist by punishing the bishops of old who suppressed her message in that apparition? Is the present commission much wiser than the old one composed of bishops and theologians?
Did Mary need another title among the many that we gave her in the litany? Why should the ban be lifted prior to the investigation, and what happens if the investigation would again yield an unfavorable result? Would the ban be ordered again?
Or is the investigating commission only out to find miracles to justify the lifting of the ban? Aren’t you suggesting to the minds of hopeless and helpless peoples and manipulating them to believe so that there would be faith healing which you would then document as miracles? What would be the difference between the healing done by the bogus Judiel, Johnny Midnight, etc. and yours?
Correct. But was it necessary for Mary to appear in Lipa to tell us what has already been an undisputed part of our Catholic belief? Why did she not insist by punishing the bishops of old who suppressed her message in that apparition? Is the present commission much wiser than the old one composed of bishops and theologians?
Did Mary need another title among the many that we gave her in the litany? Why should the ban be lifted prior to the investigation, and what happens if the investigation would again yield an unfavorable result? Would the ban be ordered again?
Or is the investigating commission only out to find miracles to justify the lifting of the ban? Aren’t you suggesting to the minds of hopeless and helpless peoples and manipulating them to believe so that there would be faith healing which you would then document as miracles? What would be the difference between the healing done by the bogus Judiel, Johnny Midnight, etc. and yours?
“There is no fruit in the history of salvation that does not have as its necessary instrument, the Mediation of Mary.” – Pope Benedict XVI
Correct. But was it necessary for Mary to appear in Lipa to tell us what has already been an undisputed part of our Catholic belief? Why did she not insist by punishing the bishops of old who suppressed her message in that apparition? Is the present commission much wiser than the old one composed of bishops and theologians?
Did Mary need another title among the many that we gave her in the litany? Why should the ban be lifted prior to the investigation, and what happens if the investigation would again yield an unfavorable result? Would the ban be ordered again?
Or is the investigating commission only out to find miracles to justify the lifting of the ban? Aren’t you suggesting to the minds of hopeless and helpless peoples and manipulating them to believe so that there would be faith healing which you would then document as miracles? What would be the difference between the healing done by the bogus Judiel, Johnny Midnight, etc. and yours?
From Silence to Acclamation
My Journey with Mary Mediatrix of All Grace
Bishop Guillermo V.Afable, D.D.
Diocese of Digos, Davao del Sur
If one was to make a pilgrimage of churches, particularly Marian Churches in the Davao Region, one will be struck by one church, in fact it is a cathedral, named Mary Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral in Digos City, capital of the Province of Davao del Sur. It stands out because it is the only one with this name. In fact, in the entire region of Mindanao, it is the one of only three churches with such a name. Oh what a rarity! One would wonder then, why and how did such a place chose that title of Our Lady and where it originally came from.
Well, the story of the Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral goes back decades ago in 1948 in the now City of Lipa, Batangas. Reportedly, sometime from August to November of that year, a young postulant named Teresita Castillo experienced a series of appearances by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Carmelite Monastery. In one of her appearances, Our Lady called herself “Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace”. As a sign of the Lady’s heavenly origins, Teresita suddenly became blind but later recovered her sights as promised. The series of apparitions were also accompanied by the amazing and inexplicable shower of rose petals experienced by the nuns themselves, including Bishop Alfredo Verzosa DD of the Diocese of Lipa, and his auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar DD of the Diocese of Lipa, as well as countless other people outside the Monastery. Witnesses attest to the fact, that these two Bishops did believe in the veracity of the so called “Miracle of Lipa”. In fact, it is reported that Bishop Verzosa referred to the Lady as “Our Lady of Lipa”.
Upon the request of Our Lady herself, a statue of her, that looks as she was seen by Teresita Castillo was made by one named Irineo Cristobal because she wanted others especially her little ones, to see her too. Later, public veneration of this statue was permitted and encouraged by ecclesiastical authorities which increased in numbers over the three year period from 1948 to 1951. Pilgrimages to Lipa from all over were undertaken. Reports of miraculous cures and conversion were recorded. The Mediatrix story naturally became a sensation, until the fateful day of April 11, 1951 when the decree of the Bishop’s Commission investigating the phenomenal events, was issued.
The commission concluded that the evidence and testimonies of the events of Lipa “excluded any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings.” A subsequent decree also put an end to the spread of the devotion, the display of the statue and all the public veneration of Our Lady in Lipa which unfortunately, even extended far beyond the confines of Lipa. For decades a silence and obscurity of Our Lady of Lipa prevailed over Lipa Carmel and spread quickly to the rest of the country. However, devotees and believers alike, keeping everything in their hearts, they persisted and continued to silently sing and pray to her and with her. One such devotee was Msgr. Clovis Thibault, PME the prelate of the newly established Prelature of Davao, which at that time encompassed the whole Province of Davao.
As intimated in Msgr. Thibault’s fiesta message on August 1951, the new titular and her statue had already been introduced to the community at least three years earlier. And on August 22, 1951, the Municipality of Digos was erected a parish but the patron of the church was formally changed from the popular San Isidro Labrador to the unknown Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, to the great dismay of the towns people. Nevertheless, as years went by, as devoted sons and daughters of Mary, they learned to embrace her as their own.
Why such a radical, unexpected change? I strongly suspect that Msgr. Clovis Thibault, PME had so decided to have this change because of his personal belief in the phenomenal events of Lipa three years earlier. Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, when asked if he had any knowledge of Msgr. Thibault’s devotion to Our Lady of Lipa, said that indeed he was. According to the Cardinal, he had a close association and friendship with Bishop Obviar of Lipa. Msgr. Thibault must have personally wanted a memorial church of that great gift of Our Lady’s visit to the Philippines. A church dedicated to Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. A church as it were, where Our Lady of Lipa “took refuge”
A replica of the image of Our Lady of Lipa was brought to Digos from Manila and placed inside the church by the first parish priest, Rev. Fr. Maurice Levielle, PME of the newly created parish. He testifies to the fact of the connection to Lipa of the Mediatrix Church in Digos. In a letter sent to me, he relates futher that, because of the negative verdict of the investigating Bishop’s Commission, they had the Mediatrix image repainted to another color to hide it’s true identity. They too, were affected by the negative verdict and had somehow veiled the story of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. It would seem, further, that for same reason, the official name adopted was not exactly the same used in Lipa. And so, through the decades and so, Our Lady of Lipa in Digos, though venerated and honored as Mediatrix since 1951, her true story was never completely and truly disclosed.
The Apostolic Daughters of Mary, a local congregation of women religious founded on August 22, 1989, by the first bishop of the Diocese of Digos, Bishop Generoso Camina, PME DD. The patron of the Congregation is Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. We cannot ascertain now why the good bishop did decide to put the congregation under the care of Our Lady under this title. We could however, say that this was another congregation of sisters that unwittingly keeps alive the memory of Our Lady of Lipa, making her known and loved as she is.
I was appointed by Pope John Paul II, the Marian Pope, as the Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Digos in April 24, 2002. Then, on June 21, 2002 I was joyfully welcomed and installed in the Mary Mediatrix Cathedral. I decided unexpectedly, upon the advise of friends, that as a fitting act of faith on that solemn occasion of the beginning of my pastoral ministry in Digos, I led the faithful in the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And so, I did. That was the beginning of the special Marian Pilgrimage.
Like any newcomer to a place in June 2002, I became curious about the history of our Patron of the Cathedral in Digos City. It became a personal quest since I was soon to become its Pastor as Diocessan Bishop of the Diocese of Digos. This curiosity increased even more, when discovering no one seemed to know the real story of our Patron. The quest led me to Lipa Carmel, where it all began, to the Carmelite nuns, to the tomb of Bishop Obviar in Tayabas, where I met Miss Teresita Castillo, the visionary, and the countless other devotees quietly making Mary Mediatrix known and love as she is.
On her feastday in Digos on August 22, 2002, for the first time I told her story to the present generation of devotees and to the faithful of Digos in attendance during the Pontifical Mass. I told them how honored and privileged we have been to have given “refuge “ as it were to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. I also exhorted the faithful to remain ever grateful to Our Lady for that special visit and to express this gratitude by our remembrance and specially by our obedience to her requests as devoted sons and daughters. Our task now is to recognize her as such as to deepen our devotion to her and lead others to Jesus Christ her Son, with the aid of her maternal guidance and protection. Her messages in Lipa as in other privileged times and places where she had appeared, remain invaluable for our continuing spiritual journey on earth.
Since then, the veil of silence and obscurity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Digos has been Lifted. The story of Our Lady of Lipa can once again be told and echoed through the years to come.
Shortly afterward, we looked for the original image of Our Lady and found it in the Bodega, dirty, covered with layers of paint, disfigured, discarded. We retrieved it to have it restored in Manila. In the process, we discovered, still attached to the stand of the image the name plate of the artist who made it- Irineo Cristobal. Yes, he is the same one who made the image in Lipa. This must be one of several copies made during the period 1948-1951. The image in our custody, in fact is a very close replica of the one in Lipa Carmel. It shall now be a priceless historical souvenir, indeed, of those eventful days in 1948.
On the 53rd Patronal Feast day of the cathedral Parish on August 22, 2003, the newly restored original image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was once again enthroned in the Cathedral. She was also crowned during the Pontifical Mass to the great delight and wonderment of parishioners. On the eve of that same feastday, we had encouraged and insisted upon Teresita Castillo, who came for the fiesta, to share with us, Digos devotees, the story of Our Lady of Lipa. Humbled and reluctant though she was, she nevertheless obliged us later. We silently listened to the story, for the first time, from the visionary herself.
On September 12, 2004, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa approved the holding of the 1st National Marian Pilgrimage to Lipa which was supported by the CBCP as the National Day of Prayer and Reparation for World Peace and Sanctification of the Clergy. I participated in the 2nd National Pilgrimage on September 12, 2005, and there I experienced that indeed, despite the silence and obscurity of Our Lady of Lipa, the devotion and veneration has remained alive and enthusiastic among bishops, clergy, religious and numerous lay faithful. Then and there, I was given the privilege to tell the pilgrims, our story of Our Lady of Lipa who took “refuge” in Digos. A few years later, Archbishop Arguelles in recognition of the Lady in Lipa in Digos had accepted our invitation to honor her there by celebrating the Eucharist with us.
Fr. Melvin Castro of the Diocese of Tarlac, a long time devotee of Our Lady of Lipa initiated the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. He introduced this in Digos on her feastday August 22, 2007. In his homily at mass, he gave a beautiful tribute to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace and exhorted us to true devotion to her according to the teachings of St. Louise de Monfort. The following year, the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was formally convened in the Diocese of Digos.
On 22nd of every month since then, the Confraternity and other devotees of Mary, from near and far, come together to honor her there by joining the Aurora Procession right there at the Cathedral grounds, followed by the celebration of the Eucharist. Through this Confraternity, She will be made known even more and true devotion to Mary will be fostered among Her devotees and all the faithful of the Diocese. It is hoped that the sons and daughters of Our Lady, burdened by the yoke and challenges of our times will find in these Sacred Grounds a Marian Shrine – a place and time of solace, peace, and healing of mind, body, heart, soul. A shrine right here in the heart of the Marian City of Digos, at the intersection to Cotabato City in the west, to general Santos City in the South, to Davao City in the North. A city, created on the feast of the Nativity of Mary, September 8, 1980.
May 13, 2008
Digos City
From Silence to Acclamation
My Journey with Mary Mediatrix of All Grace
Bishop Guillermo V.Afable, D.D.
Diocese of Digos, Davao del Sur
If one was to make a pilgrimage of churches, particularly Marian Churches in the Davao Region, one will be struck by one church, in fact it is a cathedral, named Mary Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral in Digos City, capital of the Province of Davao del Sur. It stands out because it is the only one with this name. In fact, in the entire region of Mindanao, it is the one of only three churches with such a name. Oh what a rarity! One would wonder then, why and how did such a place chose that title of Our Lady and where it originally came from.
Well, the story of the Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral goes back decades ago in 1948 in the now City of Lipa, Batangas. Reportedly, sometime from August to November of that year, a young postulant named Teresita Castillo experienced a series of appearances by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Carmelite Monastery. In one of her appearances, Our Lady called herself “Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace”. As a sign of the Lady’s heavenly origins, Teresita suddenly became blind but later recovered her sights as promised. The series of apparitions were also accompanied by the amazing and inexplicable shower of rose petals experienced by the nuns themselves, including Bishop Alfredo Verzosa DD of the Diocese of Lipa, and his auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar DD of the Diocese of Lipa, as well as countless other people outside the Monastery. Witnesses attest to the fact, that these two Bishops did believe in the veracity of the so called “Miracle of Lipa”. In fact, it is reported that Bishop Verzosa referred to the Lady as “Our Lady of Lipa”.
Upon the request of Our Lady herself, a statue of her, that looks as she was seen by Teresita Castillo was made by one named Irineo Cristobal because she wanted others especially her little ones, to see her too. Later, public veneration of this statue was permitted and encouraged by ecclesiastical authorities which increased in numbers over the three year period from 1948 to 1951. Pilgrimages to Lipa from all over were undertaken. Reports of miraculous cures and conversion were recorded. The Mediatrix story naturally became a sensation, until the fateful day of April 11, 1951 when the decree of the Bishop’s Commission investigating the phenomenal events, was issued.
The commission concluded that the evidence and testimonies of the events of Lipa “excluded any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings.” A subsequent decree also put an end to the spread of the devotion, the display of the statue and all the public veneration of Our Lady in Lipa which unfortunately, even extended far beyond the confines of Lipa. For decades a silence and obscurity of Our Lady of Lipa prevailed over Lipa Carmel and spread quickly to the rest of the country. However, devotees and believers alike, keeping everything in their hearts, they persisted and continued to silently sing and pray to her and with her. One such devotee was Msgr. Clovis Thibault, PME the prelate of the newly established Prelature of Davao, which at that time encompassed the whole Province of Davao.
As intimated in Msgr. Thibault’s fiesta message on August 1951, the new titular and her statue had already been introduced to the community at least three years earlier. And on August 22, 1951, the Municipality of Digos was erected a parish but the patron of the church was formally changed from the popular San Isidro Labrador to the unknown Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, to the great dismay of the towns people. Nevertheless, as years went by, as devoted sons and daughters of Mary, they learned to embrace her as their own.
Why such a radical, unexpected change? I strongly suspect that Msgr. Clovis Thibault, PME had so decided to have this change because of his personal belief in the phenomenal events of Lipa three years earlier. Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, when asked if he had any knowledge of Msgr. Thibault’s devotion to Our Lady of Lipa, said that indeed he was. According to the Cardinal, he had a close association and friendship with Bishop Obviar of Lipa. Msgr. Thibault must have personally wanted a memorial church of that great gift of Our Lady’s visit to the Philippines. A church dedicated to Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. A church as it were, where Our Lady of Lipa “took refuge”
A replica of the image of Our Lady of Lipa was brought to Digos from Manila and placed inside the church by the first parish priest, Rev. Fr. Maurice Levielle, PME of the newly created parish. He testifies to the fact of the connection to Lipa of the Mediatrix Church in Digos. In a letter sent to me, he relates futher that, because of the negative verdict of the investigating Bishop’s Commission, they had the Mediatrix image repainted to another color to hide it’s true identity. They too, were affected by the negative verdict and had somehow veiled the story of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. It would seem, further, that for same reason, the official name adopted was not exactly the same used in Lipa. And so, through the decades and so, Our Lady of Lipa in Digos, though venerated and honored as Mediatrix since 1951, her true story was never completely and truly disclosed.
The Apostolic Daughters of Mary, a local congregation of women religious founded on August 22, 1989, by the first bishop of the Diocese of Digos, Bishop Generoso Camina, PME DD. The patron of the Congregation is Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. We cannot ascertain now why the good bishop did decide to put the congregation under the care of Our Lady under this title. We could however, say that this was another congregation of sisters that unwittingly keeps alive the memory of Our Lady of Lipa, making her known and loved as she is.
I was appointed by Pope John Paul II, the Marian Pope, as the Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Digos in April 24, 2002. Then, on June 21, 2002 I was joyfully welcomed and installed in the Mary Mediatrix Cathedral. I decided unexpectedly, upon the advise of friends, that as a fitting act of faith on that solemn occasion of the beginning of my pastoral ministry in Digos, I led the faithful in the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And so, I did. That was the beginning of the special Marian Pilgrimage.
Like any newcomer to a place in June 2002, I became curious about the history of our Patron of the Cathedral in Digos City. It became a personal quest since I was soon to become its Pastor as Diocessan Bishop of the Diocese of Digos. This curiosity increased even more, when discovering no one seemed to know the real story of our Patron. The quest led me to Lipa Carmel, where it all began, to the Carmelite nuns, to the tomb of Bishop Obviar in Tayabas, where I met Miss Teresita Castillo, the visionary, and the countless other devotees quietly making Mary Mediatrix known and love as she is.
On her feastday in Digos on August 22, 2002, for the first time I told her story to the present generation of devotees and to the faithful of Digos in attendance during the Pontifical Mass. I told them how honored and privileged we have been to have given “refuge “ as it were to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. I also exhorted the faithful to remain ever grateful to Our Lady for that special visit and to express this gratitude by our remembrance and specially by our obedience to her requests as devoted sons and daughters. Our task now is to recognize her as such as to deepen our devotion to her and lead others to Jesus Christ her Son, with the aid of her maternal guidance and protection. Her messages in Lipa as in other privileged times and places where she had appeared, remain invaluable for our continuing spiritual journey on earth.
Since then, the veil of silence and obscurity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Digos has been Lifted. The story of Our Lady of Lipa can once again be told and echoed through the years to come.
Shortly afterward, we looked for the original image of Our Lady and found it in the Bodega, dirty, covered with layers of paint, disfigured, discarded. We retrieved it to have it restored in Manila. In the process, we discovered, still attached to the stand of the image the name plate of the artist who made it- Irineo Cristobal. Yes, he is the same one who made the image in Lipa. This must be one of several copies made during the period 1948-1951. The image in our custody, in fact is a very close replica of the one in Lipa Carmel. It shall now be a priceless historical souvenir, indeed, of those eventful days in 1948.
On the 53rd Patronal Feast day of the cathedral Parish on August 22, 2003, the newly restored original image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was once again enthroned in the Cathedral. She was also crowned during the Pontifical Mass to the great delight and wonderment of parishioners. On the eve of that same feastday, we had encouraged and insisted upon Teresita Castillo, who came for the fiesta, to share with us, Digos devotees, the story of Our Lady of Lipa. Humbled and reluctant though she was, she nevertheless obliged us later. We silently listened to the story, for the first time, from the visionary herself.
On September 12, 2004, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa approved the holding of the 1st National Marian Pilgrimage to Lipa which was supported by the CBCP as the National Day of Prayer and Reparation for World Peace and Sanctification of the Clergy. I participated in the 2nd National Pilgrimage on September 12, 2005, and there I experienced that indeed, despite the silence and obscurity of Our Lady of Lipa, the devotion and veneration has remained alive and enthusiastic among bishops, clergy, religious and numerous lay faithful. Then and there, I was given the privilege to tell the pilgrims, our story of Our Lady of Lipa who took “refuge” in Digos. A few years later, Archbishop Arguelles in recognition of the Lady in Lipa in Digos had accepted our invitation to honor her there by celebrating the Eucharist with us.
Fr. Melvin Castro of the Diocese of Tarlac, a long time devotee of Our Lady of Lipa initiated the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. He introduced this in Digos on her feastday August 22, 2007. In his homily at mass, he gave a beautiful tribute to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace and exhorted us to true devotion to her according to the teachings of St. Louise de Monfort. The following year, the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was formally convened in the Diocese of Digos.
On 22nd of every month since then, the Confraternity and other devotees of Mary, from near and far, come together to honor her there by joining the Aurora Procession right there at the Cathedral grounds, followed by the celebration of the Eucharist. Through this Confraternity, She will be made known even more and true devotion to Mary will be fostered among Her devotees and all the faithful of the Diocese. It is hoped that the sons and daughters of Our Lady, burdened by the yoke and challenges of our times will find in these Sacred Grounds a Marian Shrine – a place and time of solace, peace, and healing of mind, body, heart, soul. A shrine right here in the heart of the Marian City of Digos, at the intersection to Cotabato City in the west, to general Santos City in the South, to Davao City in the North. A city, created on the feast of the Nativity of Mary, September 8, 1980.
May 13, 2008
Digos City
Individual bishops are not infallible; only the pope is.
From Silence to Acclamation
My Journey with Mary Mediatrix of All Grace
Bishop Guillermo V.Afable, D.D.
Diocese of Digos, Davao del Sur
If one was to make a pilgrimage of churches, particularly Marian Churches in the Davao Region, one will be struck by one church, in fact it is a cathedral, named Mary Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral in Digos City, capital of the Province of Davao del Sur. It stands out because it is the only one with this name. In fact, in the entire region of Mindanao, it is the one of only three churches with such a name. Oh what a rarity! One would wonder then, why and how did such a place chose that title of Our Lady and where it originally came from.
Well, the story of the Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace Cathedral goes back decades ago in 1948 in the now City of Lipa, Batangas. Reportedly, sometime from August to November of that year, a young postulant named Teresita Castillo experienced a series of appearances by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Carmelite Monastery. In one of her appearances, Our Lady called herself “Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace”. As a sign of the Lady’s heavenly origins, Teresita suddenly became blind but later recovered her sights as promised. The series of apparitions were also accompanied by the amazing and inexplicable shower of rose petals experienced by the nuns themselves, including Bishop Alfredo Verzosa DD of the Diocese of Lipa, and his auxiliary Bishop Alfredo Obviar DD of the Diocese of Lipa, as well as countless other people outside the Monastery. Witnesses attest to the fact, that these two Bishops did believe in the veracity of the so called “Miracle of Lipa”. In fact, it is reported that Bishop Verzosa referred to the Lady as “Our Lady of Lipa”.
Upon the request of Our Lady herself, a statue of her, that looks as she was seen by Teresita Castillo was made by one named Irineo Cristobal because she wanted others especially her little ones, to see her too. Later, public veneration of this statue was permitted and encouraged by ecclesiastical authorities which increased in numbers over the three year period from 1948 to 1951. Pilgrimages to Lipa from all over were undertaken. Reports of miraculous cures and conversion were recorded. The Mediatrix story naturally became a sensation, until the fateful day of April 11, 1951 when the decree of the Bishop’s Commission investigating the phenomenal events, was issued.
The commission concluded that the evidence and testimonies of the events of Lipa “excluded any supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings.” A subsequent decree also put an end to the spread of the devotion, the display of the statue and all the public veneration of Our Lady in Lipa which unfortunately, even extended far beyond the confines of Lipa. For decades a silence and obscurity of Our Lady of Lipa prevailed over Lipa Carmel and spread quickly to the rest of the country. However, devotees and believers alike, keeping everything in their hearts, they persisted and continued to silently sing and pray to her and with her. One such devotee was Msgr. Clovis Thibault, PME the prelate of the newly established Prelature of Davao, which at that time encompassed the whole Province of Davao.
As intimated in Msgr. Thibault’s fiesta message on August 1951, the new titular and her statue had already been introduced to the community at least three years earlier. And on August 22, 1951, the Municipality of Digos was erected a parish but the patron of the church was formally changed from the popular San Isidro Labrador to the unknown Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace, to the great dismay of the towns people. Nevertheless, as years went by, as devoted sons and daughters of Mary, they learned to embrace her as their own.
Why such a radical, unexpected change? I strongly suspect that Msgr. Clovis Thibault, PME had so decided to have this change because of his personal belief in the phenomenal events of Lipa three years earlier. Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, Archbishop of Cebu, when asked if he had any knowledge of Msgr. Thibault’s devotion to Our Lady of Lipa, said that indeed he was. According to the Cardinal, he had a close association and friendship with Bishop Obviar of Lipa. Msgr. Thibault must have personally wanted a memorial church of that great gift of Our Lady’s visit to the Philippines. A church dedicated to Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. A church as it were, where Our Lady of Lipa “took refuge”
A replica of the image of Our Lady of Lipa was brought to Digos from Manila and placed inside the church by the first parish priest, Rev. Fr. Maurice Levielle, PME of the newly created parish. He testifies to the fact of the connection to Lipa of the Mediatrix Church in Digos. In a letter sent to me, he relates futher that, because of the negative verdict of the investigating Bishop’s Commission, they had the Mediatrix image repainted to another color to hide it’s true identity. They too, were affected by the negative verdict and had somehow veiled the story of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. It would seem, further, that for same reason, the official name adopted was not exactly the same used in Lipa. And so, through the decades and so, Our Lady of Lipa in Digos, though venerated and honored as Mediatrix since 1951, her true story was never completely and truly disclosed.
The Apostolic Daughters of Mary, a local congregation of women religious founded on August 22, 1989, by the first bishop of the Diocese of Digos, Bishop Generoso Camina, PME DD. The patron of the Congregation is Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace. We cannot ascertain now why the good bishop did decide to put the congregation under the care of Our Lady under this title. We could however, say that this was another congregation of sisters that unwittingly keeps alive the memory of Our Lady of Lipa, making her known and loved as she is.
I was appointed by Pope John Paul II, the Marian Pope, as the Co-Adjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Digos in April 24, 2002. Then, on June 21, 2002 I was joyfully welcomed and installed in the Mary Mediatrix Cathedral. I decided unexpectedly, upon the advise of friends, that as a fitting act of faith on that solemn occasion of the beginning of my pastoral ministry in Digos, I led the faithful in the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And so, I did. That was the beginning of the special Marian Pilgrimage.
Like any newcomer to a place in June 2002, I became curious about the history of our Patron of the Cathedral in Digos City. It became a personal quest since I was soon to become its Pastor as Diocessan Bishop of the Diocese of Digos. This curiosity increased even more, when discovering no one seemed to know the real story of our Patron. The quest led me to Lipa Carmel, where it all began, to the Carmelite nuns, to the tomb of Bishop Obviar in Tayabas, where I met Miss Teresita Castillo, the visionary, and the countless other devotees quietly making Mary Mediatrix known and love as she is.
On her feastday in Digos on August 22, 2002, for the first time I told her story to the present generation of devotees and to the faithful of Digos in attendance during the Pontifical Mass. I told them how honored and privileged we have been to have given “refuge “ as it were to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. I also exhorted the faithful to remain ever grateful to Our Lady for that special visit and to express this gratitude by our remembrance and specially by our obedience to her requests as devoted sons and daughters. Our task now is to recognize her as such as to deepen our devotion to her and lead others to Jesus Christ her Son, with the aid of her maternal guidance and protection. Her messages in Lipa as in other privileged times and places where she had appeared, remain invaluable for our continuing spiritual journey on earth.
Since then, the veil of silence and obscurity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Digos has been Lifted. The story of Our Lady of Lipa can once again be told and echoed through the years to come.
Shortly afterward, we looked for the original image of Our Lady and found it in the Bodega, dirty, covered with layers of paint, disfigured, discarded. We retrieved it to have it restored in Manila. In the process, we discovered, still attached to the stand of the image the name plate of the artist who made it- Irineo Cristobal. Yes, he is the same one who made the image in Lipa. This must be one of several copies made during the period 1948-1951. The image in our custody, in fact is a very close replica of the one in Lipa Carmel. It shall now be a priceless historical souvenir, indeed, of those eventful days in 1948.
On the 53rd Patronal Feast day of the cathedral Parish on August 22, 2003, the newly restored original image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was once again enthroned in the Cathedral. She was also crowned during the Pontifical Mass to the great delight and wonderment of parishioners. On the eve of that same feastday, we had encouraged and insisted upon Teresita Castillo, who came for the fiesta, to share with us, Digos devotees, the story of Our Lady of Lipa. Humbled and reluctant though she was, she nevertheless obliged us later. We silently listened to the story, for the first time, from the visionary herself.
On September 12, 2004, Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa approved the holding of the 1st National Marian Pilgrimage to Lipa which was supported by the CBCP as the National Day of Prayer and Reparation for World Peace and Sanctification of the Clergy. I participated in the 2nd National Pilgrimage on September 12, 2005, and there I experienced that indeed, despite the silence and obscurity of Our Lady of Lipa, the devotion and veneration has remained alive and enthusiastic among bishops, clergy, religious and numerous lay faithful. Then and there, I was given the privilege to tell the pilgrims, our story of Our Lady of Lipa who took “refuge” in Digos. A few years later, Archbishop Arguelles in recognition of the Lady in Lipa in Digos had accepted our invitation to honor her there by celebrating the Eucharist with us.
Fr. Melvin Castro of the Diocese of Tarlac, a long time devotee of Our Lady of Lipa initiated the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. He introduced this in Digos on her feastday August 22, 2007. In his homily at mass, he gave a beautiful tribute to Mary Mediatrix of All Grace and exhorted us to true devotion to her according to the teachings of St. Louise de Monfort. The following year, the Confraternity of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was formally convened in the Diocese of Digos.
On 22nd of every month since then, the Confraternity and other devotees of Mary, from near and far, come together to honor her there by joining the Aurora Procession right there at the Cathedral grounds, followed by the celebration of the Eucharist. Through this Confraternity, She will be made known even more and true devotion to Mary will be fostered among Her devotees and all the faithful of the Diocese. It is hoped that the sons and daughters of Our Lady, burdened by the yoke and challenges of our times will find in these Sacred Grounds a Marian Shrine – a place and time of solace, peace, and healing of mind, body, heart, soul. A shrine right here in the heart of the Marian City of Digos, at the intersection to Cotabato City in the west, to general Santos City in the South, to Davao City in the North. A city, created on the feast of the Nativity of Mary, September 8, 1980.
May 13, 2008
Digos City
REFLECTIONS ON MARY MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACE
Mariano G. Gaviola, D.D.
REFLECTIONS ON MARY MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACEIN LIPA CARMEL MONASTERYFROM 1948 AND SUBSEQUENT YEARS
HIS EXCELLENCYMOST REV. SALVADOR Q. QUIZON, D.D.AUXILLARY, COMMITTEE ON THE REPORTED
Lipa Carmel APPARITIONS
ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
TAAL , BATANGAS
Dear Bishop Quizon,
….Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed” (Jn.20:29).
When I was installed as Archbishop of Lipa on August 15, 1981, I, a true “Doubting Thomas”, believed that the reported Marian visions and showers of roses at the monastery of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Mediatrix of All Grace in Lipa Coty, were a “hoax”.
I first heard the rumors about Our Lady Mediatrix in Lipa Carmel when I was a student priest at the UST Central Seminary in 1951-53. At the time, I adhered to the common belief that some nuns used blowers to simulate a shower of rose petals out of a desire, noble and sincere, to establish a monastery chapel.
It would not be the first time that lesser measures were resorted to, for greater purposes. That, I believed, would explain why the Mother Prioress contrived with Teresing Castillo to claim having visions and receiving messages from Our Lady. It would have been a surefire way to raise funds.
There were other rumors then that I also believed – that because of the hoax, the Prioress and Teresing Castillo were banished from the Lipa Monastery by order of the Ecclesiastical authorities. In fact, Teresing remained in Lipa Carmel for three years, but was advised by the Prioress to leave the monastery until such time that she fully recovered from a lingering ailment.
I never bothered to consult a Church Authority, nor read any official church document on the subject matter. My belief then was based entirely on hearsay. In retrospect, I wonder whether this could explain the beliefs of countless others who may also have prejudged the Lipa Carmel case.
PETITIONS TO ALLOW PUBLIC VEBERATION OF THE IMAGE OF OUR LADY
A few months after my installation as Archbishop of Lipa several individual and groups approached me, to request that the Image of Our Lady Mediatrix of all Grace be brought our for public veneration. I politely refuse to do so, explaining that I had no knowledge about the investigation and findings of the Commission of Bishops regarding the events that took place at Lipa Carmel in 1948. I asked for more time to pray over and study the case.
From the year 1984 onwards the request multiplied, and with greater intensity. But for reasons I cannot explain, and despite a keen interest to do so at the time, it was only in 1986 or 1987 that I finally launched my own investigation.
I wondered why only a few of these petitions came from the faithful in Lipa City , much less the Archdiocese. More disturbing still, it appeared to me that except for a very few, the Clergy of Lipa was cold to the idea. Inevitably the words of Our Lord came to mind: “….. No prophet is without honor except in his native place, indeed in his own house” (Mt. 13:57)
It therefore provided no small amount of relief when sometime in 1988. I received a petition letter signed by about a thousand of the faithful in Lipa, led by the Governor of Batangas, the Mayor of Lipa City, and their respective wives. Comforting too were the number of lay leaders of the Archdiocese mostly from the San Sebastian Parish in Lipa City , who were among the petitioners.
Moreover, some truly trustworthy persons volunteered to testify as personal witnesses to the shower of roses. They argued (convincingly), that the use of blowers could not have been possible, as there was no electricity at that time. More importantly, they claimed that the roses floated straight from above, perpendicularly, thereby disproving that they were blown away from the monastery. Otherwise, the petals would have formed an arc before fluttering downwards.
Let me here point out that Mother Cecilia was the Novice Mistress of the Lipa Carmel Monastery from the time of my installation in 1981 until her death in 1983, She was no self-effacing that I was never acquainted with her. I never even knew that she was the very same Prioress of Lipa Carmel when Teresing Castillo entered the monastery and reportedly experienced the visions of our Blessed Mother in 1948. I only learned this after her death in 1983, when I was in Hongkong for treatment. Nonetheless, it can be gleaned from the biographical sketch that was issued by the Lipa Carmel Monastery after Mother Cecilia’s death, that the good Mother led a holy life. Cleary, Mother Cecilia could never have perpetrated such a flagrant crime as the so-called “great hoax” of Lipa Carmel in 1948 and thereabouts.
OUR LADY MEDIATRIX OF LIPA AND HER FILE
Allow me to explain the lack of exact dates, and of full names of persons and places in this paper. I left my file on Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of Lipa Carmel in the care of Archbishop Gaudencio R. Rosales, my successor. Before the Archbishop came, I entrusted the same file to Sister Vivian de la Cruz, MCST, who was then my private secretary. I instructed her to hand it over to Archbishop Rosales as soon as he settled in I also informed the Archbishop of the existence of the file soon after he arrived.
A year or so before Archbishop Rosales assumed his post, I formed a Special Committee to study the events directly relating to Our Lady Mediatrix of Lipa Carmel that transpired even after the promulgation in 1952 of the Decree of the CBCP Episcopal Commission which declared, among others, that no supernatural intervention took place in Lipa Carmel in 1948.
I informed the Special Committee of my private file on Lipa Carmel. Several times, I urged the members to view its contents.
Obviously therefore, I am working on this paper from memory. Nonetheless, I fear no scruples in attesting to the veracity — in substance at least — of what I shall lay bare in this “Reflections”. May the light of the Spirit of Christ may be my only Guide in my selfless quest for “the truth that sets (us) free” (Jn. 8:32)
THE SEARCH FOR INFORMATION FROM CERTAIN CHURCH SOURCES
To my great surprise and disbelief, the only document of value for this purpose that we found in the archives of the Chancery office of Lipa, were copies –repeat, copies – of the CBCP Episcopal Commission Decree of 1952
If I recall rightly, the Decree categorically declared that no supernatural intervention whatsoever took place in the so-called apparitions and showers of roses in the Lipa Carmel Monastery in 1948.
In addition, the Lipa Carmel nuns were strictly prohibited from talking about the said events. They were also order to destroy or burn all materials related thereto. Furthermore, the Image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace was to be placed in seclusion, if not destroyed. Faced with this blank wall, I proceeded to the following.
1. I wrote a letter to the present Archbishop of Cebu, His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who is also my immediate predecessor in Lipa, requesting information concerning the investigation by the CBCP Episcopal Commission of the Lipa Carmel case of 1948, and its conclusions.
Cardinal Vidal gave me his reply when he visited me at the Bishop’s house in Lipa City . To my dismay, the Cardinal had not seen the records of the investigation. However, His Eminence heard much about the Lipa Carmel case from the revered Bishop Alfredo Obviar of Lucena, who was Auxiliary Bishop of Lipa in 1948, and evidently, a rich source of first hand information. Although Cardinal Vidal spoke in general terms, I gathered that the late Bp. Obviar was a believer in the Lipa Carmel story.
I further surmised that Cardinal Vidal himself believed, veiled though his allusions might have seemed, that the Lipa Carmel story was credible, if not out rightly true.
I then addressed a letter to the Most Rev. Bruno Torpigliani, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines at the time, requesting for any record from his good office of the investigation of the CBCP Episcopal Commission. In reply, Archbishop Torpigliani apologized for sending back only copies of letters that were of practically no importance. The fact was that the Nunciature had no record of the investigation and decision of the same Episcopal Commission.
Soon after, I wrote His Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin, requesting that he permit Father Pio Bagamo, then secretary Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Lipa, to look into the archives of the Archdiocese of Manila and see whether documents relating to the Lipa Carmel investigations existed. Father Pio was assisted by a religious sister, the archivist of the Manila Archdiocese. But their long and arduous search was of no avail.
The foregoing is significant considering that late Rufino Cardinal Santos was Archbishop of Manila, and concurrently the Administrator of Lipa. It was during his administration that the Lipa Carmel investigation was undertaken. Further, Archbishop Santos signed the CBCP Episcopal Decree as head of the Investigating Commission.
It would be expected therefore that records, or copies of records of the entire process of investigation would be kept in the archives of Lipa or Manila , or both.
Just be baffling is the fact that we were notable to trace any similar record at the archives of the CBCP.
At about this time, Ms. June Keithly, a TV producer, was on her way to Rome to widen her own research about Lipa Carmel. She asked for a recommendation letter to the proper authorities at the Generalate of the Carmelite Fathers in order to gain access to their records about Lipa Carmel. Afraid that the fathers would not feel comfortable with Ms. Keithly as a media personality, I recommend instead Rev. Fr. Cecil Arce, of whose prudence and capability had full confidence and who was taking up doctoral studies in Canon Law. I requested him to accompany Ms. Keithly to the Carmelite Generalate.
I was made to understand that the ranking superiors of the Carmelite fathers in Manila had initiated the Lipa Carmel investigation.
But as if to compound my perplexity, Fr. Arce and Keithly came back empty-handed except for a few papers that were of practically no relevance to our purpose.
Then like a shaft of light the good Fr. Pablo Fernandez, O.P., came to my acquaintance. A professor at the UST Central Seminary, Fr. Fernandez confided to me his great love of books on spirituality and related subjects, He was very interested in private apparitions.
According to Teresing Castillo, the good old Father expressed surprise and concern when she told him that her last confessor and spiritual director was the late Cardinal Santos who passed away in September 1973. Teresing told me that Fr. Fernandez strongly advise her to have a new spiritual director.
Fr. Fernandez revealed to Teresing that he had seen and read the records of the Lipa Carmel investigation in their seminary library, However when he returned after some years in Spain for Rome, to his amazement, the documents in the library were no longer there!
I was so impressed by Fr. Fernandez that I readily urged Teresing Castillo to have him as her spiritual director and confessor.
In 1991, I was overjoyed by a visit from Fr. Fernandez, who came all the way from Manila to Lipa, despite his age and bad heart. Teresing accompanied him. We had an animated conversation. It was obvious that he was not only interested in the Lipa Carmel story — he was also a believer. At one point he confided that he was convinced of the spirituality of Teresing Castillo.
Fr. Fernandez was called to his heavenly abode on June 1, 1993, Thanks to this man of God, we came to know that indeed, there had been a pile of records of the Lipa Carmel investigation, and its conclusions.
AN ASSUMPTION SISTER
Perhaps the most convincing healing I came to know about in connection with the rose petals from Lipa Carmel, was that of Sr. Melanie Sunga, an Assumptionist sister. On her own volition she visited my residence in Lipa City . Exuding reverence and sincerity, she narrated in detail the healing experience bestowed on her through Our Lady of Carmel.
A native of Ilocos Sur, Sr. Melania was born with right club oot. During her late childhood, her mother went on a pilgrimage to Lipa Carmel. She returned home with some water and rose petals that were given her by the nuns of Lipa Carmel. She applied the water and the rose petals on the afflicted foot of Melania. They then prayed a novena to Our Lady. Throughout the novena, they found petals of roses in different parts of their home. They then witnessed the foot of Melania turn completely normal. When Sr. Melania showed me her right foot, I could not believe that this was once a club foot from birth, I was truly normal.
Perhaps a year after her visit, Sr. Melania wrote me a deeply touching letter. She must have been assigned in the Diocese of Malaybalay at the time. She appealed for a speedy reopening of the Lipa Carmel case of 1948. She wanted to see in her lifetime the triumph of Mary Mediatrix for she was convinced that Our Lady truly appeared to Teresing Castillo.
TERESITA CASTILLO
It must have been in the year 1989 when I finally invited Teresita Castillo to the Bishop’s residence in Lipa for an interview. Our talk started at 11:00 a.m., and lasted without break — until 2:00 p.m. Teresing was completely at ease throughout the interview. Utterly open and free, she answered my questions with alacrity and spontaneity. She could not control her tears when telling me about how one priest interrogator treated her roughly and threateningly. More so, when a high ranking church dignitary called her a devil when she paid him a courtesy call. All this notwithstanding, Teresing never showed rancor nor resentment. Instead she acted with reverence and charity.
From that time on, Teresing saw me for counseling at least once a month, until I left the Archdiocese. Always, she had the same humble, reverent disposition as when I first interviewed her.
Teresing Castillo was, for me, a person without guile. She is very much a woman of prayer, and throughout her life she retained the prayer life of a Carmelite nun. With childlike conviction she stressed that all she had narrated and written about our Lady of Lipa Carmel in 1948 and in subsequent years was the truth. “Salvis de internis”, I have no reason to question the genuineness of her piety.”
Through all our conversation Teresing was invariably consistent in her answers to my questions. Not once was she evasive, nor did she engage in double talk. She spoke spontaneously and clearly.
NEW SHOWERS OF ROSES
It will be recalled that on November 12, 1948, the Lady Mediatrix told Teresing that the apparition would be her last. I do not know when exactly the shower of roses stopped, but it is likely that by 1992, with the Decree of the CBCP Episcopal Commission, the showers also ceased.
Doubtless therefore, it was a most pleasant surprise for the devotees of Our Lady when in 1991 a series of showers of roses occurred once again. The first took place on January 16, 1991 at the altar on the right nave of the Lipa Carmel chapel, where the Image of Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All Grace had been once again exposed for public veneration (since 1990). This happened in the presence of Teresing Castillo and two male companion, a realtor, and her driver. The realtor companion of Teresing, exceedingly exited, repeatedly asked forgiveness for his sins and cried like a child.
Those familiar with the chapel of Our Lady would know that such a shower could never be explained by human machination.
More showers followed on different dates, particularly on Jan. 24th and 29th,all in 1991. Some showers occurred in the residence of Teresing in Parañaque, Metro Manila. Sometimes while she was miles away from home. Another occurred on Oct. 29, 1991 at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Higinio Custodio in Balayan, Batangas, when the Custodios had as their guests, Teresing Castillo and prominent members of the Center for Peace-Asia, Teresing, Nelly Lopez and Dely Mojares were napping in one of the bedrooms. When Ms. Mojares got up to go to the restroom, she was struck by the sight of petals of roses spread out across the room. She hurriedly awoke Ms. Lopez and Teresing Castillo. They then called in the Custodio family and the other guests. This made their day, as they prayed in thanksgiving.
The happiest of them all must have been Mrs.Eddie Custodio. Two days later, it would be her birthday. What a gift! Years before I became Archbishop of Lipa, Mrs. Custodio was already the Prioress of the Third Order of Carmel in the Archdiocese. Her devotion to Our Lady Mediatrix is outstanding.
On July 6, 1992 Teresing observed her birthday through a day of prayer at a retreat house in Tagaytay City . While laying prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament, she felt drops on her head. When she stood up, she found that rose flowers – not merely petals — fell on her. Ever so thoughtful. Teresing gave each of the flowers to Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and myself when she visited Ceby the following month of August. I still have this precious gift with me.
Confronted with these facts, one thing comes to mind: Could this be a sign of our Lord Jesus approval of my decision regarding the Image of His Mother? Is this not Mother Mary’s affirmation likewise? Would to the good Lord that a better mind and more deserving person help us find light!
SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS
Among the issues or questions which I deem of considerable consequence regarding the Lipa Carmel story are the following:
1. In the written account of Teresing Castillo’s extraordinary experience at Lipa Carmel from Sept. 12 suddenly became blind. This happened when she confided to the late Bp. Obviar that while in a trance she experienced a three-hour agony on the cross. Was this not a psychosomatic disorder? At that time Teresing also had fits of vomiting and stomach pains. Because of her health, she was advised by the Prioress to leave until she was healed. Did Teresing at that time suffer from a psychological imbalance? Teresing herself revealed to me that her doctor prescribed tranquilizer drugs for her. After some time she feared addiction, and so stopped taking the drugs on her own. This is attested to in a hand-written letter addressed to me by Rev. Fr. Leo James English, CSSR.
Because of the foregoing ailment, Teresing also consulted a lady psychologist on the advise, I think, of Rev. Fr. Vicente Marasigna, SJ. Fr. Marasigan has studied in even greater depth than I, the case of Teresing. It was clear to me that Teresing is very confident of herself, and the lady psychologist, apparently, had a positive impression of her.
I have always found Teresing to be sound and sharp of mind, straightforward, completely confident and honest. I saw no psychological imbalance throughout our acquaintance.
2. I also find it hard to understand the account of Teresing’s having experienced three agonizing hours on the cross. Whether she was in ecstacy or in a trance when this occurred is not clear to me. What is more puzzling is that this agonizing experience happened hardly two months after she entered the monastery. However, the account adds that the devil tortured Teresing throughout her agony. At the same time, Teresing was comforted and strengthened by Our Lady Mediatrix.
In seeking to understand the above, I recalled the sacred scripture that says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers…. (Gen. 3:15)
3. Also puzzling was the fact that in her last message to Teresing on November 12, 1948, Our Blessed Mother revealed that the apparitions would end. How then, that beginning from January 16, 1991 up until recently, showers of roses and a scattering of rose petals have resumed in different places on different occasions?
Faced with this seeming discrepancy, I have no doubt that Our Mother Mary can explain herself in her own special way to our fullest satisfaction. It is plausible that Our Lord Jesus allowed these things to happen in order to pave the way for the reopening of the cause of His Blessed Mother Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. This, too is my humble prayer.
SR. MARY ELIZABETH, OCD
Sr.Elizabeth was the first nun of the Lipa Carmel Monastery whom I invited for an interview. Having entered the monastery as an extern nun before 1948, she was a witness to most of the happenings in Lipa Carmel. Sr. Elizabeth is also well known throughout Lipa and other diocese for her exemplary simplicity, contagious vivaciousness and childlike candor. Her tender love for the poor seems irrepressible. Because of her enticing personality, she has won quite a number of friends in Lipa Carmel.
Although I cannot recall the details of what she said during our conversation, one thing stands out — her conviction that the happenings reported in Lipa Carmel regarding Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace, Teresita Castillo, and the showers of roses are true. She also affirmed that there was no human intervention in the reported events, much less malice nor intent of deceit to induce people to contribute to the construction of a chapel. She was in tears as she recalled the innuendo and rumors that assailed the integrity of the Carmelite nuns. I find her a most credible witness.
SR. BERNADETTE, OCD
Sr. Bernadette entered Lipa Carmel five years after the 1948 episode. Among the staunchest champions of the cause of Our Lady Mediatrix of Lipa Carmel, her exceedingly great devotion to Our Lay evoked a “mother and child” relationship between them. Time and again, tears flowed silently as she prayed and communed about her. Like a child, she makes “tampo” when Our Lady does not grant her prayers. (Deep inside her, though, she is always wholeheartedly resigned to God’s will.)
When she was the librarian of their monastery, Sr. Bernadette sent me a volume of letters that they have received from foreign countries including Spain and the US . Mostly handwritten, the letters came from Lipa Carmel. Together with the letters, Sr. Bernadette sent me her own. Her letters unfolded at length. They manifested how intimately personal her devotion was, and her steadfast confidence that the cause of Our Lady in Lipa Carmel would be “vindicated” in God’s time.
Having carefully gone over all these precious letters, I would not blame Sr. Bernadette if she believed that they confirmed the Lipa Carmel incidents.
Incidentally as of this writing, I received a letter, from Sr. Bernadette dated February 27, 1995. She could not have known that I was working on this paper at the time that she wrote the letter. With touching simplicity, she described what she shared during their “Vintage Years Seminar” held at St. Scholastica’s Center of Spirituality in Tagaytay City . Present were several nuns from different Carmel monasteries in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao , including a Carmelite Father. She explained to the group how and when she came to decide to enter the monastery. The immediate cause, according to the letter, was what she heard about Mary Mediatrix of All Grace as told to her by Sr. Stephanie, OCD, of happy memory. Before then Sr. Bernadette revealed that from her childhood she was not at all interested in anything religious. In fact, she was wordly. Her having embrace the religious life was just like the experience of St. Paul in Damascus – a sudden grace of conversion and mission. Also, her religious life evolved on the two-fold message of the Blessed Virgin to Teresing, mainly to pray for priest and to spread devotion of Our Lady, carried perhaps by the tearful narration of Sr. Bernadette, all those present, including the priest, were driven to tears.
I would like to pay tribute to the spirit of obedience of Sr. Bernadette when she consented that I keep in my private file all the letters regarding Our Lady Mediatrix which she entrusted to my care, including those of her own. Her sincere remonstration notwithstanding, she finally acceded to my request that I preserve the letters, after I explained how much I prized them, adding that these could be of some help to the cause of Mary Mediatrix sooner of later.
It is my studied belief that Sr. Bernadette is an invaluable asset in favor of the cause of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace.
SR. ALPHONSE OF MARY, OCD
Having made her perpetual profession on November 21, 1933 Sr. Alphonese joined the first batch of Carmelite nuns to establish their new foundation in the Archdiocese of Lipa. This was on May 23, 1946. Five months later, on October 15 th , they moved to the new building of the present Lipa Carmel Monastery with the construction work still going on. The first mass on the new site was celebrated on the same day.
A picture of “Lady Poverty” and innocence, Sr. Alphonse struck me as a great religious nun. My acquaintance with her, which I treasure, started in 1988. I was informed of her pressing desire to see me about Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace. She sent a handwritten letter about Our Lady Mediatrix. Remarkable in its simplicity and shortness, the letter ignited in me a corresponding desire to see her in person. Not too long after, I paid her a visit. We spoke at great length about her impressions and convictions regarding the apparitions, the messages and showers of roses that took place in Lipa Carmel from September 12 to November 12, 1948. In graphic terms, she narrated her experience when she accompanied Teresing Castillo, who held on to her shoulder, from the visitor’s parlor up to her cell on the upper floor of the monastery. This was after Teresing became suddenly blind during a talk with the late Most Rev. Alfredo Obviar, then Auxiliary Bishop of Lipa. Sr. Alphonse vividly recalled the petals of roses that were strewn like a carpet along the stairway up to the cell of Teresita Castillo.
The following quotation capsulizes my short-lived acquaintance with the late Sr. Alphonse and the imperishable impression she left on me.
“When we drew our Patron Saints for 1990, Sr. Alphonse was very happy because she got Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All Grace. She followed with keen interest the development regarding Mary Mediatrix (Lipa). Two years earlier, she had written to our Archbishop, Mariano G. Gaviola, to tell him that she was already old and sickly, and that she wanted very much to testify. She wanted to live to see Our Lady’s triumph. One of her last and greatest consolations was the visit of our Archbishop early this year. For almost three hours she opened her heart to him and never tired afterwards of saying how happy she was that she was able to speak to him. On March 5, at her request, our good Archbishop entered to anoint her. In his homily at her funeral mass, he was to say that his visit with Sr. Alphonse had left a great mark on him. “Her faith was so alive, there was not even a shadow of painful resignation to the Will of God. All was gladness”. He considered this great religious of Carmel .” (Taken from the resume of the life of Sr. Alphonse as released by the Lipa Carmel Monastery after the latter’s death.)
EXPOSURE OF THE IMAGE FOR PUBLIC VENERATIONS
After declaring that there was no supernatural intervention whatsoever regarding the events at the Lipa Carmel Monastery in 1948, the Decree of the Episcopal Commission of the Philippines Hierarchy also banned the Image of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace from the public. The Image was withdrawn from the monastery chapel, and kept in complete seclusion.
It is a tribute to the nuns of Lipa Carmel that not one of then had ever approached me with a request that I allow the Image of Our Lady to be put back at their chapel again. In fact in 1983, while recuperating from a major surgery, I was visited by Mother Aimee who was then the Prioress of Lipa Carmel. She disclosed her deep anxiety as well as of her Community, when she learned that some persons had been going around to solicit support to have the Image of Our Lady brought back to the chapel for veneration. Mother Aimee then assured me that, obedient to the provisions of the Decree of the Episcopal Commission, they had nothing at all to do with the endeavor. She said they were completely resigned to the Philippine Hierarchy’s Decree.
Then came that fateful night of May 20, 1990. While in my way to the chapel for night prayers, I was informed that the very dear Sr. Alphonse was called to her eternal abode. Thereafter, I immediately instructed my private secretary, Sr. Tomasa Lagman, MCST, to inform Mother Jacinta, the Prioress, that I would say the requiem mass for Sr. Alphonse the following morning.
On the morning of May 21st, while taking my shower, I suddenly decided to have the Image of Our Lady exposed in public during the funeral mass and throughout that day, until 6:00 pm. In hindsight I myself was surprised by this decision. Why did it come to me so spontaneously? How come I did not for a moment think of consulting anyone? But the Lord God knows I was truly grateful to the Holy Spirit, Mary’s divine Spouse, for this singular inspiration. It defies my imagination to think of the jubilation which engulfed the Carmelite nuns when they heard of the decision through my secretary, which was conveyed to them just about a hour before the funeral mass.
THE FUNERAL MASS OF SR. ALPHONSE
Upon my arrival at the monastery chapel around 11:00 am. Of May 21 st , I was met by an extern nun who was jumping for joy. As I entered the chapel, I was exceedingly surprised by the number of devotees that had come despite the short notice. I learned later that they were already gathered at the chapel before the sisters received my message allowing the exposure of the Image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace to the public as a homage to Sr. Alphonse.
Soon after we marched in procession towards the main altar I saw for the first time the lovely Image of Our Lady. In a simple setting, she was placed at the right side of the presbytery. I was deeply touched and could not describe my feelings then. I was in deep thought, when the realization came that this would be the first time the Image of Our Mother was seen public after being banned for 40 years.
I felt comfort and joy to see the handful of priests who helped concelebrate the mass with me. I could not help but wonder whether the congregation in attendance was aware that Sr. Alphonse was the last golden link in the chain of events that led to my decision to allow the public to again venerate the Image of Our Mother. This was the constant prayer of Sr. Alphonse. As one of the Carmelite nuns said, “Sr. Alphonse obtained in death what she could not obtained in life.”
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL , JULY 16, 1991
The solemn novena and masses in preparation for the feast of Our Lady of Carmel always draws a large number of devotees to Lipa Carmel. But as could only be expected in 1991, the turn-out was something else. The devotion to Mary Mediatrix was inflamed by the daily influx of pilgrims throughout the year. Devotees literally jammed the chapel on July 16, 1991.
The mass started at 10:00 a.m. and I was the main celebrant and homelist. Dozens of priests concelebrated with me together with Bishop Salvador Q. Quizon, Auxillary Bishop of Lipa, and Rt. Rev. Alfredo Madlangbayan, P.A., Vicar General of Lipa.
Whether prompted by the Holy Spirit, I spontaneously felt this was the time for a solemn announcement. Toward the end of my homily I proclaimed that from that day onwards the sacred Image of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace will be exposed for daily veneration, subject to the regular schedule of when the chapel is closed to the public. I emphasized however that proper church authorities can rescind or modify the decision.
In addition, I made it clear that in connection with the public veneration of the Image of Our Lady, the following instructions and conditions were to be strictly observed:
1.First and foremost, utmost reverence and veneration be accorded to the Blessed Sacrament at the main altar. Only after a visit to the Eucharistic Lord may the devotees of Our Lady Mediatrix proceed to venerate Her Image at Her altar.
2.Pilgrims and visitors should observe reverence, proper decorum, and silence in the chapel at all times.
3.Let it be known that the chapel is an integral part of the Carmelite monastery. Consequently, the rules of the monastery, especially those concerning the cloister, the observance of silence of visiting hours, be religiously respected.
In conclusion, I explained the main reason for my decision, I simply wanted to find out, by the grace of God, what would be the spontaneous response of the faithful. Namely, whether the response would eventually develop into a form of “sensus fidelium”, a factor vital to the cause of Mary Mediatrix of All Grace in Lipa Carmel.
A SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REINVESTIAGE THE LIPA, CARMEL CASE
Lest it be overlooked, I hereby state that I was never alone in all the measures I took as earlier described. I sought the prayers of many, many devout people for guidance from the Holy Spirit. I constantly prayed for the Lord’s blessing, and sought His will on whether his Mother’s cause at Lipa Carmel be revived. I ceaselessly sought that intercession of Our Blessed Mother and of Her Holy Spouse, St. Joseph patron not only of the Universal Church, but in particular, of the Archdiocese of Lipa.
Inspired by the overwhelming response of the thousands of devotees of Mary Mediatrix confronted by the increasing number of healings, both spiritual and corporal, that came to our knowledge; urged by filial love and devotion to Our Blessed Mother, and by a prayerful yearning for the truth, I finally firmed up the conviction that the time had arrived to create a Special Committee that would study in depth whether there were enough grounds to raise the Lipa Carmel cause to higher church authorities to determine whether a re-opening of the Lipa Carmel case is warranted.
I finally created this Special Committee at one meeting of our Presbyterial Council of Lipa. It was agreed that the Committee would be composed of seven(7) members whom the Council will choose by secret ballots from among the Diocesian and religious priests of Lipa. Also, that the first seven (7) to get the highest number of votes would form the committee. More still, that I order to keep secret the members of the Special Committee, only the Bishop would count the ballots. Furthermore, that the elected members be informed by the Archbishop through a formal letter of appointment. The secrecy was important so as to prevent undue influence or pressure on the members of the Special Committee.
NATURE OF THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE
The Special Committee having been formally organized, the members were informed that their work as not to pass judgment on the findings of the CBCP Episcopal Commission, much less to question its decision of the Lipa Carmel case. They were simply told to make all the needed investigation and to study the repots about the many extraordinary incidence that occurred after the Decree of the CBCP Episcopal Commission. In short, the Special Committee was supposed to focus their investigation only on reports about Lipa Carmel that took place AFTER the promulgation of the same Decree of 1952.
However, I also authorized the Committee to gather testimonies of personal witnesses to the Lipa Carmel events in 1948 and the early years thereafter.
Far from wanting to impugn the findings of the Epicopal Commission, we simply wanted to know for ourselves what would be the testimonies of witnesses under the present circumstances compared to what they might have said under the circumstances when they were investigated by the CBCP Episcopal Commission.
The main purpose of the Special Committee was to verify cases of physical healings that were attributed to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace after the Decree of 1952. For its guidance and information the committee was invited likewise to read for themselves the file on the Lipa Carmel case at the office of the Archbishop of Lipa.
The Special Committee was then to submit their findings to the Archbishop of Lipa, together with their considered opinion as to whether or not there were enough solid grounds to request from higher Church authorities to re-investigate the Lipa Carmel case.
THE EPISCOPAL COMMISSION DECREE OF 1952
As referred to earlier in this paper, the only document we found at the archives of the Lipa Chancery of the Lipa Carmel case is a copy of the Decree of the CBCP Episcopal Commission issued in 1952. In substance, the Decree categorically mandated that all matters and materials referring to t he Lipa Carmel events in 1948 had to be destroyed. Moreover, the nuns were ordained to observe strict silence about the same reported events. The Image of the Mediatrix was to be withdrawn from the public or even destroyed.
I never questioned the decision in the Decree. I personally knew each member of the Commission and knowing their character, intelligence and moral integrity, I refused to believe the rumors being bruited about, that some of the members were under duress when they signed the document, at the instance namely, of the late Papal Nuncio to the Philippines , Most. Rev. Egidio Vagnozzi. I found it hard to believe in fact that Archbishop Vagnozzi would even think of intimidating any member of the Commission.
All this notwithstanding, the fact is that we have also received reports, letters, and affidavits attesting the contrary of my contention. Neither can I question the credibility of the authors of the said communications.
I also submit the great importance and attention be given to the postscript in the same Decree of the Episcopal Commission. If I recall rightly, the postscript states that the provisions of the Decree were to be strictly enforced and observed until such time when the Holy See comes out with its own verdict. (Underscoring supplied). Whereas, to the best of my knowledge I do not think that the Holy See has ever come out with such a verdict.
MY MASS ON THE GROUNDS OF LIPA, CARMEL ON FEB. 6, 1992
Every first Saturday of the month is special to a vast number of Filipino Catholics. In response to the appeal of the Blessed Virgin of Fatima, many go to church and receive Holy Communion on that day. They pray for the sanctification of the Clergy, as requested by the Blessed Virgin through the children; Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia. At Cova da Iria, Fatima , in Portugal She appeared every 13th of the month from May to October, except on August when she appeared on the 19th.
But the first Saturday of February 1992 was a “First” in the history of Lipa Carmel. On this glorious day, people from all the walks of life and from many parts of the country streamed to Lipa City to pay homage to Mary Mediatrix. Thousands of pilgrims came and went the whole day. But some 20,000 to 30,000 remained and gathered for the special mass to the Blessed Mother at 4:00 p.m. The huge ground of Lipa Carmel overflowed with Marian devotees.
The afternoon mass was organized by a group of lay persons. The anxious Carmel nuns assured me that their only involvement was to allow the use of their grounds. With trepidation, I consented to be the main celebrant, but excused myself from giving the homily. I recommended instead, Msgr. Alfredo Madlangbayan.
To avoid traffic I slipped into the monastery hours before the mass. I went to the chapel to pray and prepare for the mass, only to be besieged by the people who wanted to make a confession. I found myself hearing confession up until the time for mass.
Going out of the chapel to the especially prepared altar at the portico, I saw, with disbelief and complete awe, the immensity of the crowd that filled the monastery grounds. Just as impressive was their orderliness. One could feel their palpable fervor and filial devotion.
It was truly inspiring. At the same time, I was surprised by the number of priests who came to concelebrate with me – both the secular and the religious clergy belonging to different dioceses.
THE SPINNING AND DANCING SUN
Before and during the mass on this unforgettable first Saturday of February 1992, the sky was overcast as though covered by a mantle which benignly protected the faithful from the sun.
The priest-concelebrants went to their places of assignment to distribute Holy Communion. Seated behind the altar, I started to perceive a stir among the crowd. In no time, the stir mounted into clapping of hands and cries of joy. Looking at the excited crowd, my first impression was that their clappings were to welcome an important or popular personality who just arrived. Then I realized that their heads were turned upward, and shifting my eyes towards what was drawing their attention, I saw in awe the extraordinary movements of the sun.
I also saw some of the priests who were distributing Holy Communion similarly attracted by the sun and unconsciously suspending the Holy Communion. Suddenly, the sun shot through the radiant and crimson-red clouds, at times spinning vigorously, at other times as though shooting downwards and backwards in a rapid succession. The rays were of different colors. It was striking that I was able to stare straight into the sun for several minutes without suffering any glare. The sun appeared perfectly round. It seemed like the Holy Eucharist in a golden monstrance.
The uncontrollable reaction to the ecstatic and overjoyed crowd, many of whom I was told were in tears, is simply beyond description.
The vastness of the crowd, their overwhelming reaction to the heavenly phenomenon, the behavior of the sun in the firmament, and the combined impact of all this was too much for me. Despite my original resolve, I decided to speak during the occasion.
Throwing caution to the wind, I spoke after the post-communion of the mass. Briefly I explained the Teachings of the Church as enunciated by Vatican II in “Lumen Gentium” about Mary and our Christian devotion to Her. While it is true that Our Lord Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man (1Tim. 2:5-6). as Mediatrix of All Grace, Mary in no way obscures nor diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather, show its superabundance of the merits of Jesus Christ and because of His infinite mercy and love, Jesus allows Mary to participate in His unique mediatory power. According to the principle of cause and effect, the further the distance of the effect from the cause, the greater the power of the cause.
I recall having said also that if other countries had been blessed with the apparition of our Blessed Mother, e.g., in Lourdes , France , and in Fatima , Portugal , why can’t the Philippines be similarly blessed? Ours is the only Christian nation in the whole of Asia . The Philippines is Marian out and out. Our beloved nation is endearingly dedicated to the protection of Mary of the Immaculate Conception as our Patroness.
For the first time, I declared in public that personally, I was fully convinced that the happenings of Lipa Carmel in 1948 and subsequent event related to Our Blessed Mother are very much worthy of belief. I added that I am a firm believer of the veracity of the said events.
In retrospect, it is significant that similar sightings of the dancing sun had been witnessed by many people two or three years earlier and on different occasions. On the other hand, I had never seen anything of the like. Neither had I been desirous of having the same experience. The foregoing event therefore on Feb.6th appeared “loaded” with a singular message as far as I was concerned.
Considering that the Holy See accepted my resignation as Archbishop of Lipa on Dec. 30, 1991, presumptuous though it be, it as all too natural for me to interpret this memorable experience as a gift from Our Blessed Mother. “What a beautiful farewell”. I thought. (Come to think of it, was it not also possible that through the unusual behavior of the sun, our almighty and loving Father wanted to have His presence felt by the thousands of devotees to Our Blessed Mother as a reward of their devotion to Her?)
Holy Scripture abounds with passages emphasizing the presence of God through the behavior of the clouds or the sun in the firmament.
The Transfiguration of Our Lord is described as follows: “He was transfigured before their eyes… His face became as dazzling as the sun, His clothes as radiant as light” (Mat.17:2). Church tradition finds the words in the Revelation as referring to Our Blessed Mother: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet. And on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev.12:1). In fact too, 70,000 people witnessed a similar behavior of the sun during the last apparition of Our Lady to Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia in Fatima , of Oct. 13, 1917.
In this connection, it is not quite far-fetched, nor will I feel guilty of unbridled fanaticism or emotionalism, should I find it utterly possible that God, in His infinite mercy, by allowing the phenomenon of the revolving and dancing sun, placed His stamp of divine approval on the humble, unrelenting efforts of countless people to propagate devotion to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace of Lipa Carmel.
Indeed, would it be too presumptuous of me to believe that Our Lord Jesus wanted to show through this phenomenon His joy when after 40 years of seclusion, the Image of His Mother was once more brought out for public veneration since May 21, 1991?
PARANORMAL OR THE DEVIL’S INTERVENTION
In view of the foregoing I would be generous if I were to concede the possibility that the visions of Teresing Castillo, and the messages she received, the shower of roses, the healings that took place at different times and places, and all other events related to Our Lady Mediatrix were nothing but paranormal events. Paranormal means they simply cannot be explained scientifically. To my mind, paranormal things belong to the natural order. They do not relate to the sacred, much less the supernatural. But the case of Lipa is contrary because everything that we hear about Mary Mediatrix in Lipa Carmel is always related to the sacred and the supernatural.
On the other hand, it is quite far-fetched, if not a contradiction, to conclude that what happened and continues to happen at Lipa Carmel in connection with the devotion to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace, are machinations of Satan. As a matter of fact, the messages received by Teresing from Our Blessed Mother are in substance, the same as the messages of Our Lady of Lourdes and Our Lady of Fatima. It is most unseemly of Satan to be giving messages that urge the faithful to pray for the sanctity of priests and religious, to do penance, and make acts of reparation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. As our Lord Jesus reminds us: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid to waste. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last since you say it is by Beelzebul that I cast out devils…” (Lk. 11:17-20).
Obviously, Satan will be destroying his kingdom if he were the author of all the great events at the Lipa Carmel Monastery and related cases.
With regards to the dancing sun, we are told that some scientists explain the phenomenon as a natural effect caused by the interaction of the radiance of the sun and the movements of the clouds. Granting that this is true, I find it difficult to explain how it was that several of those present at the Lipa Carmel grounds when I said mass on Feb. 6, 1992, did not see any unusual movements of the sun? Among them were several seminarians of the School of Theology who attested that they had seen nothing unusual on the occasion.
It behooves us to recall further the scriptural passages wherein God proclaims His presence or omnipotence through the movements of the sun, the clouds, and other celestial bodies. (cfr. Ex. 3:2-3; 14:24; 19:18-19; Math. 27:45; 52:53; Acts 9:3-5; Rev. 10:1; etc.).
CONCLUSION:
As earlier mentioned this “Reflections” does not intend in any manner to impugn the integrity, capability and good intention of the Most Rev. members of the Episcopal Commission who came out with the Decree on Lipa Carmel in 1952. I have personally known each one of them, and I hereby vouch for their intelligence, prudence and wisdom. May they rest in peace. Placed under the same circumstances that obtained at the time of their investigation, and based on their own findings, I think I would have decided as they had done.
This humble presentation is rather focused on the happenings and findings that could be gathered throughout the period immediately following the issuance of the Decree up to the present.
Notwithstanding however my own inadequacy and the limited study and findings I present above, I doubt if I would have made the same direction under the present circumstances.
In conclusion, allow me to submit, Your Excellency, that there are sufficient reasons for your Special Committee to delve more deeply and intensively into the areas of its (Special Committee) concern. As delineated somewhere in this paper, I humbly submit likewise that there is urgency in this matter. I fervently pray that your Committee be constantly guided by the light of the Spirit through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother and the protection of St. Joseph .
May the Most Blessed Trinity and the Holy Family of Nazareth be with you always.
The Lord is Risen. Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia
MARIANO G. GAVIOLA, D.D.Archbishop Emeritus of Lipa Easter SundayApril 16, 1995
These are some letters of bishops expressing their belief in the apparitions in Lipa.
These are some letters of bishops expressing their belief in the apparitions in Lipa.
These are some letters of bishops expressing their belief in the apparitions in Lipa.
For the first time, I declared in public that personally, I was fully convinced that the happenings of Lipa Carmel in 1948 and subsequent event related to Our Blessed Mother are very much worthy of belief. I added that I am a firm believer of the veracity of the said events. – Bishop Mariano Gaviola D.D.
For the first time, I declared in public that personally, I was fully convinced that the happenings of Lipa Carmel in 1948 and subsequent event related to Our Blessed Mother are very much worthy of belief. I added that I am a firm believer of the veracity of the said events. – Bishop Mariano Gaviola D.D.
For the first time, I declared in public that personally, I was fully convinced that the happenings of Lipa Carmel in 1948 and subsequent event related to Our Blessed Mother are very much worthy of belief. I added that I am a firm believer of the veracity of the said events. – Bishop Mariano Gaviola D.D.
“They can oblige me to keep silent; but they can never compel me to say it was not true.” -Bishop Alfredo Ma. Obviar (Now Servant of God)
“They can oblige me to keep silent; but they can never compel me to say it was not true.” -Bishop Alfredo Ma. Obviar (Now Servant of God)
Makes me wonder, if indeed Msgr. Gaviola already lifted the ban in 1991, why would Msgr. Arguelles lift the ban a second time in 2009, and this time with a frenzy of activities attended by political figures with media coverage?
The humble Mary our mother does not favor sensationalism.
But makes me wonder, why would the old Episcopal Commission suppress the phenomenon by taking drastic actions on the carmelites, when approving the apparition would be a boon to Catholicism, would confirm the status of the Philippines as the only Catholic country in Asia, would draw money to finance the reconstruction after the war and would attract religious tourists to our shores, and make everyone happy?
They interviewed the protagonists of this apparition, visited the place and came up with a conclusion that nothing supernatural happened in Lipa. Now we who were not yet born at that time or were then young infants would investigate an old incident and declare from what we heard that we have no doubts that it really happened. Where is the logic?
Archbishop Gaviola did not exactly lift the ban back in 1991. He allowed the image of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace to be brought out for public veneration.
LOL, the ban was not to display the image for public veneration, so when it was allowed, the ban was lifted; otherwise, what was banned in the first place?
Archbishop Gaviola did not exactly lift the ban back in 1991. He allowed the image of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace to be brought out for public veneration.
Archbishop Gaviola did not exactly lift the ban back in 1991. He allowed the image of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace to be brought out for public veneration.
Makes me wonder, if indeed Msgr. Gaviola already lifted the ban in 1991, why would Msgr. Arguelles lift the ban a second time in 2009, and this time with a frenzy of activities attended by political figures with media coverage?
The humble Mary our mother does not favor sensationalism.
But makes me wonder, why would the old Episcopal Commission suppress the phenomenon by taking drastic actions on the carmelites, when approving the apparition would be a boon to Catholicism, would confirm the status of the Philippines as the only Catholic country in Asia, would draw money to finance the reconstruction after the war and would attract religious tourists to our shores, and make everyone happy?
They interviewed the protagonists of this apparition, visited the place and came up with a conclusion that nothing supernatural happened in Lipa. Now we who were not yet born at that time or were then young infants would investigate an old incident and declare from what we heard that we have no doubts that it really happened. Where is the logic?
Makes me wonder, if indeed Msgr. Gaviola already lifted the ban in 1991, why would Msgr. Arguelles lift the ban a second time in 2009, and this time with a frenzy of activities attended by political figures with media coverage?
The humble Mary our mother does not favor sensationalism.
But makes me wonder, why would the old Episcopal Commission suppress the phenomenon by taking drastic actions on the carmelites, when approving the apparition would be a boon to Catholicism, would confirm the status of the Philippines as the only Catholic country in Asia, would draw money to finance the reconstruction after the war and would attract religious tourists to our shores, and make everyone happy?
They interviewed the protagonists of this apparition, visited the place and came up with a conclusion that nothing supernatural happened in Lipa. Now we who were not yet born at that time or were then young infants would investigate an old incident and declare from what we heard that we have no doubts that it really happened. Where is the logic?
Makes me wonder, if indeed Msgr. Gaviola already lifted the ban in 1991, why would Msgr. Arguelles lift the ban a second time in 2009, and this time with a frenzy of activities attended by political figures with media coverage?
The humble Mary our mother does not favor sensationalism.
But makes me wonder, why would the old Episcopal Commission suppress the phenomenon by taking drastic actions on the carmelites, when approving the apparition would be a boon to Catholicism, would confirm the status of the Philippines as the only Catholic country in Asia, would draw money to finance the reconstruction after the war and would attract religious tourists to our shores, and make everyone happy?
They interviewed the protagonists of this apparition, visited the place and came up with a conclusion that nothing supernatural happened in Lipa. Now we who were not yet born at that time or were then young infants would investigate an old incident and declare from what we heard that we have no doubts that it really happened. Where is the logic?
Makes me wonder, if indeed Msgr. Gaviola already lifted the ban in 1991, why would Msgr. Arguelles lift the ban a second time in 2009, and this time with a frenzy of activities attended by political figures with media coverage?
The humble Mary our mother does not favor sensationalism.
But makes me wonder, why would the old Episcopal Commission suppress the phenomenon by taking drastic actions on the carmelites, when approving the apparition would be a boon to Catholicism, would confirm the status of the Philippines as the only Catholic country in Asia, would draw money to finance the reconstruction after the war and would attract religious tourists to our shores, and make everyone happy?
They interviewed the protagonists of this apparition, visited the place and came up with a conclusion that nothing supernatural happened in Lipa. Now we who were not yet born at that time or were then young infants would investigate an old incident and declare from what we heard that we have no doubts that it really happened. Where is the logic?
Archbishop Gaviola did not exactly lift the ban back in 1991. He allowed the image of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace to be brought out for public veneration.
I hope you read the articles I posted. You can find the answers there, why a new commision was being established.
God be with you and I pray this whole thing will not lead you and the people to idolatry by worshiping or venerating a graven image that I hypothesize as a product of the hallucination of a deeply troubled postulant.
May this apparition pass the stringent test of Vatican recognition so that you and the rest of the proponents be vindicated. What I am really afraid of is the possibility of it being declared fraudulent a second time, which is a shame on us all.
Be wary and careful. In one book that I read, the author theorizes that these apparitions are all made up by the clergy to keep the people believing and for financial reasons. And I hope this would not apply to Lipa.
Of course I remain a devotee of Mary as the Immaculate Conception, as our Lady of Perpetual Help, as Our Lady of the Pillar, Lourdes and Fatima. And I am also aware, that even if I do not believe in them, I can still be saved because the church declares that these matters are not necessary for salvation.
Please visit the site The Miracle Hunter for the guidelines on Discernment of apparitions:
http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/index.html
Please also visit the site:
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/appdisce/cdftexte.html
Please also visit the site:
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/appdisce/cdftexte.html
Please also read this one. What the archbishop is doing is the same as that in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations. Please note the last paragraphs of the article:-
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/amsterda/amsterd1.html
Please also read this one. What the archbishop is doing is the same as that in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations. Please note the last paragraphs of the article:-
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/amsterda/amsterd1.html
Please also read this one. What the archbishop is doing is the same as that in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations. Please note the last paragraphs of the article:-
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/amsterda/amsterd1.html
Please also read this one. What the archbishop is doing is the same as that in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations. Please note the last paragraphs of the article:-
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/amsterda/amsterd1.html
And the stand of the bishop on Our Lady of Garabandal honoring the previous findings of his predecessor that no supernatural thing happened in that place.
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/garaband/enbishop.pdf
And the stand of the bishop on Our Lady of Garabandal honoring the previous findings of his predecessor that no supernatural thing happened in that place.
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/garaband/enbishop.pdf
And the stand of the bishop on Our Lady of Garabandal honoring the previous findings of his predecessor that no supernatural thing happened in that place.
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/garaband/enbishop.pdf
God be with you and I pray this whole thing will not lead you and the people to idolatry by worshiping or venerating a graven image that I hypothesize as a product of the hallucination of a deeply troubled postulant.
May this apparition pass the stringent test of Vatican recognition so that you and the rest of the proponents be vindicated. What I am really afraid of is the possibility of it being declared fraudulent a second time, which is a shame on us all.
Be wary and careful. In one book that I read, the author theorizes that these apparitions are all made up by the clergy to keep the people believing and for financial reasons. And I hope this would not apply to Lipa.
Of course I remain a devotee of Mary as the Immaculate Conception, as our Lady of Perpetual Help, as Our Lady of the Pillar, Lourdes and Fatima. And I am also aware, that even if I do not believe in them, I can still be saved because the church declares that these matters are not necessary for salvation.
Please visit the site The Miracle Hunter for the guidelines on Discernment of apparitions:
http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/index.html
I hope you read the articles I posted. You can find the answers there, why a new commision was being established.
God be with you and I pray this whole thing will not lead you and the people to idolatry by worshiping or venerating a graven image that I hypothesize as a product of the hallucination of a deeply troubled postulant.
May this apparition pass the stringent test of Vatican recognition so that you and the rest of the proponents be vindicated. What I am really afraid of is the possibility of it being declared fraudulent a second time, which is a shame on us all.
Be wary and careful. In one book that I read, the author theorizes that these apparitions are all made up by the clergy to keep the people believing and for financial reasons. And I hope this would not apply to Lipa.
Of course I remain a devotee of Mary as the Immaculate Conception, as our Lady of Perpetual Help, as Our Lady of the Pillar, Lourdes and Fatima. And I am also aware, that even if I do not believe in them, I can still be saved because the church declares that these matters are not necessary for salvation.
Please visit the site The Miracle Hunter for the guidelines on Discernment of apparitions:
http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/index.html
Please also visit the site:
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/appdisce/cdftexte.html
Please also read this one. What the archbishop is doing is the same as that in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations. Please note the last paragraphs of the article:-
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/amsterda/amsterd1.html
And the stand of the bishop on Our Lady of Garabandal honoring the previous findings of his predecessor that no supernatural thing happened in that place.
http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/unapprov/garaband/enbishop.pdf
Could you please post sunday mass schedules in this church. Thank you
Could you please post sunday mass schedules in this church. Thank you
sana makagawa po kayo ng isang documentary/investigative na kagaya nung kina lucia, jacinta at francisco, sr.fautistina (played by donita rose)at uba pa. para mas lalong maintindihan ng mga tao lalo na ng kabataan ngyon ang napakaganda pangyayari sa lipa carmel. lalo na sa panahong ito na maraming gulo, sakit, at kung anu-ano pa ang nangyayari sa mundo natin. sana my patunguhan ang lahat ng ito sa tulong ni Maria at Jesus. hindi ko pa man napupuntahan ang Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace pero sa mga nabasa ko kay bro.jun ay naniniwala ako sa shower of rose petals. sayang at wala pa nung kagamitan na para mairecord ang pangyayari. balang araw tayo ay magsasaya at mapupugay sa pangyayaring himala. kelangan pa natin ng tripleng pagdadasal mga simpleng mananampalataya ng birheng Maria.
sana makagawa po kayo ng isang documentary/investigative na kagaya nung kina lucia, jacinta at francisco, sr.fautistina (played by donita rose)at uba pa. para mas lalong maintindihan ng mga tao lalo na ng kabataan ngyon ang napakaganda pangyayari sa lipa carmel. lalo na sa panahong ito na maraming gulo, sakit, at kung anu-ano pa ang nangyayari sa mundo natin. sana my patunguhan ang lahat ng ito sa tulong ni Maria at Jesus. hindi ko pa man napupuntahan ang Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace pero sa mga nabasa ko kay bro.jun ay naniniwala ako sa shower of rose petals. sayang at wala pa nung kagamitan na para mairecord ang pangyayari. balang araw tayo ay magsasaya at mapupugay sa pangyayaring himala. kelangan pa natin ng tripleng pagdadasal mga simpleng mananampalataya ng birheng Maria.
sana makagawa po kayo ng isang documentary/investigative na kagaya nung kina lucia, jacinta at francisco, sr.fautistina (played by donita rose)at uba pa. para mas lalong maintindihan ng mga tao lalo na ng kabataan ngyon ang napakaganda pangyayari sa lipa carmel. lalo na sa panahong ito na maraming gulo, sakit, at kung anu-ano pa ang nangyayari sa mundo natin. sana my patunguhan ang lahat ng ito sa tulong ni Maria at Jesus. hindi ko pa man napupuntahan ang Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace pero sa mga nabasa ko kay bro.jun ay naniniwala ako sa shower of rose petals. sayang at wala pa nung kagamitan na para mairecord ang pangyayari. balang araw tayo ay magsasaya at mapupugay sa pangyayaring himala. kelangan pa natin ng tripleng pagdadasal mga simpleng mananampalataya ng birheng Maria.
sana makagawa po kayo ng isang documentary/investigative na kagaya nung kina lucia, jacinta at francisco, sr.fautistina (played by donita rose)at uba pa. para mas lalong maintindihan ng mga tao lalo na ng kabataan ngyon ang napakaganda pangyayari sa lipa carmel. lalo na sa panahong ito na maraming gulo, sakit, at kung anu-ano pa ang nangyayari sa mundo natin. sana my patunguhan ang lahat ng ito sa tulong ni Maria at Jesus. hindi ko pa man napupuntahan ang Our Lady of Mediatrix of All Grace pero sa mga nabasa ko kay bro.jun ay naniniwala ako sa shower of rose petals. sayang at wala pa nung kagamitan na para mairecord ang pangyayari. balang araw tayo ay magsasaya at mapupugay sa pangyayaring himala. kelangan pa natin ng tripleng pagdadasal mga simpleng mananampalataya ng birheng Maria.
Please join us in prayer for Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles ( Archbishop of Lipa) who will defend the proposed 5th Marian Dogma, Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace at the Vatican today. God bless!
Good luck and God bless Arch. Arguelles on his mission. However, I am pessimistic over this. The Bible clearly states that there is only one Mediator, Our Lord Jesus Christ. To consider Mary as Mediatrix or Lady Mediator would put her in the same level as Jesus Christ, who is God and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To raise Mary to the level of deity is theologically unthinkable.
Also, the Vatican in rejecting the apparition in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations, stated that there will be no new dogma on Mary as Mediatrix or even as Co-Redeemer. To reverse this pronouncement would prove to be an arduous task.
However, we should always remain in our faith in Mother Mary. She is the human mother of Jesus Christ our Saviour and without her, humanity could not be saved from the darkness of sin. But, it is precisely because of her humanity that Jesus became the Word Incarnate, or the word made flesh who dwelt among us. To raise her up to the level beyond humanity is to destroy or corrupt this essential mystery of our salvation. Mary’s rightful place is coined in the phrase, “To Jesus through Mary”, “Ad Jesus per Mariam”.
In the end though, we shall always be guided by the Vatican. We Catholics believe that to the Pope belongs the magisterium or the teaching power on what to believe and what not to believe.
The Latin phrase should read “Ad JESUM per MARIAM”.
The Latin phrase should read “Ad JESUM per MARIAM”.
The Latin phrase should read “Ad JESUM per MARIAM”.
Good luck and God bless Arch. Arguelles on his mission. However, I am pessimistic over this. The Bible clearly states that there is only one Mediator, Our Lord Jesus Christ. To consider Mary as Mediatrix or Lady Mediator would put her in the same level as Jesus Christ, who is God and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To raise Mary to the level of deity is theologically unthinkable.
Also, the Vatican in rejecting the apparition in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations, stated that there will be no new dogma on Mary as Mediatrix or even as Co-Redeemer. To reverse this pronouncement would prove to be an arduous task.
However, we should always remain in our faith in Mother Mary. She is the human mother of Jesus Christ our Saviour and without her, humanity could not be saved from the darkness of sin. But, it is precisely because of her humanity that Jesus became the Word Incarnate, or the word made flesh who dwelt among us. To raise her up to the level beyond humanity is to destroy or corrupt this essential mystery of our salvation. Mary’s rightful place is coined in the phrase, “To Jesus through Mary”, “Ad Jesus per Mariam”.
In the end though, we shall always be guided by the Vatican. We Catholics believe that to the Pope belongs the magisterium or the teaching power on what to believe and what not to believe.
Good luck and God bless Arch. Arguelles on his mission. However, I am pessimistic over this. The Bible clearly states that there is only one Mediator, Our Lord Jesus Christ. To consider Mary as Mediatrix or Lady Mediator would put her in the same level as Jesus Christ, who is God and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To raise Mary to the level of deity is theologically unthinkable.
Also, the Vatican in rejecting the apparition in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations, stated that there will be no new dogma on Mary as Mediatrix or even as Co-Redeemer. To reverse this pronouncement would prove to be an arduous task.
However, we should always remain in our faith in Mother Mary. She is the human mother of Jesus Christ our Saviour and without her, humanity could not be saved from the darkness of sin. But, it is precisely because of her humanity that Jesus became the Word Incarnate, or the word made flesh who dwelt among us. To raise her up to the level beyond humanity is to destroy or corrupt this essential mystery of our salvation. Mary’s rightful place is coined in the phrase, “To Jesus through Mary”, “Ad Jesus per Mariam”.
In the end though, we shall always be guided by the Vatican. We Catholics believe that to the Pope belongs the magisterium or the teaching power on what to believe and what not to believe.
Hi, how did the defense of the dogma of Our of Mediatrix go? Any update?
Hi, how did the defense of the dogma of Our of Mediatrix go? Any update?
Hi. any update on the defense of the dogma of Mary as Mediatrix? More than 2 months had passed. How did the Vatican decide on the proposed dogma? Will it be announced during the inauguration of the new structure?
Hi. any update on the defense of the dogma of Mary as Mediatrix? More than 2 months had passed. How did the Vatican decide on the proposed dogma? Will it be announced during the inauguration of the new structure?
Good day. It’s close to one year and half since you posted this announcement of Arch. Arguelles’s defense of the proposed Marian dogma. What transpired during the process? Any progress? Has a verdict been handed down?
Please join us in prayer for Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles ( Archbishop of Lipa) who will defend the proposed 5th Marian Dogma, Our Lady, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace at the Vatican today. God bless!
Good luck and God bless Arch. Arguelles on his mission. However, I am pessimistic over this. The Bible clearly states that there is only one Mediator, Our Lord Jesus Christ. To consider Mary as Mediatrix or Lady Mediator would put her in the same level as Jesus Christ, who is God and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To raise Mary to the level of deity is theologically unthinkable.
Also, the Vatican in rejecting the apparition in Amsterdam with their Our Lady of All Nations, stated that there will be no new dogma on Mary as Mediatrix or even as Co-Redeemer. To reverse this pronouncement would prove to be an arduous task.
However, we should always remain in our faith in Mother Mary. She is the human mother of Jesus Christ our Saviour and without her, humanity could not be saved from the darkness of sin. But, it is precisely because of her humanity that Jesus became the Word Incarnate, or the word made flesh who dwelt among us. To raise her up to the level beyond humanity is to destroy or corrupt this essential mystery of our salvation. Mary’s rightful place is coined in the phrase, “To Jesus through Mary”, “Ad Jesus per Mariam”.
In the end though, we shall always be guided by the Vatican. We Catholics believe that to the Pope belongs the magisterium or the teaching power on what to believe and what not to believe.
The Latin phrase should read “Ad JESUM per MARIAM”.
Hi, how did the defense of the dogma of Our of Mediatrix go? Any update?
Hi. any update on the defense of the dogma of Mary as Mediatrix? More than 2 months had passed. How did the Vatican decide on the proposed dogma? Will it be announced during the inauguration of the new structure?
ano po ung Dogma?
ano po ung Dogma?
Great info, thanks for the post!
Great info, thanks for the post!
Great info, thanks for the post!
Great info, thanks for the post!
Great info, thanks for the post!
i really believe in this apparition..
after many investigations…
i found many many supports..
our Lady told “like that of “our Lady of Lourdes” because it is how people call that statue.. she is not that statue… get the point?
remember that Our Lady mary mediatrix of all grace told “there will be bloodshed in your country”
during martial law…
many people carried the statue of the said apparition in People power… many soldiers inside tanks planned to kill them.. a woman told the soldiers(Our Lady) “do not kill my children” then all the soldiers then accompanied the people in the people power.
Our lady also said that this apparition is not forcing people to believe.. she also said that this will suffer a lot..
a really believe in this…
kuya jun,, i wish you can further help me..
i was named cr. juan dela cruz
i really believe in this apparition..
after many investigations…
i found many many supports..
our Lady told “like that of “our Lady of Lourdes” because it is how people call that statue.. she is not that statue… get the point?
remember that Our Lady mary mediatrix of all grace told “there will be bloodshed in your country”
during martial law…
many people carried the statue of the said apparition in People power… many soldiers inside tanks planned to kill them.. a woman told the soldiers(Our Lady) “do not kill my children” then all the soldiers then accompanied the people in the people power.
Our lady also said that this apparition is not forcing people to believe.. she also said that this will suffer a lot..
a really believe in this…
kuya jun,, i wish you can further help me..
i was named cr. juan dela cruz
i really believe in this apparition..
after many investigations…
i found many many supports..
our Lady told “like that of “our Lady of Lourdes” because it is how people call that statue.. she is not that statue… get the point?
remember that Our Lady mary mediatrix of all grace told “there will be bloodshed in your country”
during martial law…
many people carried the statue of the said apparition in People power… many soldiers inside tanks planned to kill them.. a woman told the soldiers(Our Lady) “do not kill my children” then all the soldiers then accompanied the people in the people power.
Our lady also said that this apparition is not forcing people to believe.. she also said that this will suffer a lot..
a really believe in this…
kuya jun,, i wish you can further help me..
i was named cr. juan dela cruz
Here is an excerpt of the interview of a Carmelite priest who works as a consultant in the office in the Vatican that recommends approval of apparitions:=
Visitor: There has been some talk about a new dogma declaring Mary “coredemptrix.”
Father Castellano: In the United States, there’s a movement called that wants to propose the dogma of Mary as “co-redemptrix, mediatrix and advocate.” I have several things to say about that.
First of all, it’s not easy to be precise about what could be the content of such a new dogma, associating three titles, which in reality say different things.
Lastly, it seems hardly likely that the Pope will define a new Marian dogma now that he himself has formally asked in the encyclical [“That All May Be One”] for a way of theological research with other Christian brethren, and specifically in that which concerns the role of the Virgin Mary and her place in the Church.”
Here is an excerpt of the interview of a Carmelite priest who works as a consultant in the office in the Vatican that recommends approval of apparitions:=
Visitor: There has been some talk about a new dogma declaring Mary “coredemptrix.”
Father Castellano: In the United States, there’s a movement called that wants to propose the dogma of Mary as “co-redemptrix, mediatrix and advocate.” I have several things to say about that.
First of all, it’s not easy to be precise about what could be the content of such a new dogma, associating three titles, which in reality say different things.
Lastly, it seems hardly likely that the Pope will define a new Marian dogma now that he himself has formally asked in the encyclical [“That All May Be One”] for a way of theological research with other Christian brethren, and specifically in that which concerns the role of the Virgin Mary and her place in the Church.”
Here is an excerpt of the interview of a Carmelite priest who works as a consultant in the office in the Vatican that recommends approval of apparitions:=
Visitor: There has been some talk about a new dogma declaring Mary “coredemptrix.”
Father Castellano: In the United States, there’s a movement called that wants to propose the dogma of Mary as “co-redemptrix, mediatrix and advocate.” I have several things to say about that.
First of all, it’s not easy to be precise about what could be the content of such a new dogma, associating three titles, which in reality say different things.
Lastly, it seems hardly likely that the Pope will define a new Marian dogma now that he himself has formally asked in the encyclical [“That All May Be One”] for a way of theological research with other Christian brethren, and specifically in that which concerns the role of the Virgin Mary and her place in the Church.”
Here is an excerpt of the interview of a Carmelite priest who works as a consultant in the office in the Vatican that recommends approval of apparitions:=
Visitor: There has been some talk about a new dogma declaring Mary “coredemptrix.”
Father Castellano: In the United States, there’s a movement called that wants to propose the dogma of Mary as “co-redemptrix, mediatrix and advocate.” I have several things to say about that.
First of all, it’s not easy to be precise about what could be the content of such a new dogma, associating three titles, which in reality say different things.
Lastly, it seems hardly likely that the Pope will define a new Marian dogma now that he himself has formally asked in the encyclical [“That All May Be One”] for a way of theological research with other Christian brethren, and specifically in that which concerns the role of the Virgin Mary and her place in the Church.”
Here is an excerpt of the interview of a Carmelite priest who works as a consultant in the office in the Vatican that recommends approval of apparitions:=
Visitor: There has been some talk about a new dogma declaring Mary “coredemptrix.”
Father Castellano: In the United States, there’s a movement called that wants to propose the dogma of Mary as “co-redemptrix, mediatrix and advocate.” I have several things to say about that.
First of all, it’s not easy to be precise about what could be the content of such a new dogma, associating three titles, which in reality say different things.
Lastly, it seems hardly likely that the Pope will define a new Marian dogma now that he himself has formally asked in the encyclical [“That All May Be One”] for a way of theological research with other Christian brethren, and specifically in that which concerns the role of the Virgin Mary and her place in the Church.”
A very good news!
Blessed be Our Lord Jesus Christ!
The Church has decided to open up the apparition site of Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All Grace at the Carmel in Lipa City, Batangas.
This is the joint decision of the His excellency the Archbishop of Lipa, Ramon Arguelles and the Reverend Mother Teresa, Prioress of the Community of Discalced Carmelites in Lipa.
In view of the increasing interest and devotion to Our Lady under the title of Mary Mediatrix, A view deck is currently being constructed at the location which will enable the faithful to view the most sacred grounds of the apparitions of 1948.
The target completion date is as of the moment set at May 31. It will then be opened to the public soon after.
May this development bring the faithful more closely to Our Lord Jesus through his mother who unceasingly calls us to repentance and renewal of faith.
God Bless You All
A very good news!
Blessed be Our Lord Jesus Christ!
The Church has decided to open up the apparition site of Our Lady Mary Mediatrix of All Grace at the Carmel in Lipa City, Batangas.
This is the joint decision of the His excellency the Archbishop of Lipa, Ramon Arguelles and the Reverend Mother Teresa, Prioress of the Community of Discalced Carmelites in Lipa.
In view of the increasing interest and devotion to Our Lady under the title of Mary Mediatrix, A view deck is currently being constructed at the location which will enable the faithful to view the most sacred grounds of the apparitions of 1948.
The target completion date is as of the moment set at May 31. It will then be opened to the public soon after.
May this development bring the faithful more closely to Our Lord Jesus through his mother who unceasingly calls us to repentance and renewal of faith.
God Bless You All
Please pray for girlie who has a colon cancer.I started asking the help of Our Lady Mediatrix when she got sick..please pray that at least she has the strenght to bear it…in pain..in sorrow not to be dismayed coz our lady will hold her hand all the time…thanks for all your prayers
Please pray for girlie who has a colon cancer.I started asking the help of Our Lady Mediatrix when she got sick..please pray that at least she has the strenght to bear it…in pain..in sorrow not to be dismayed coz our lady will hold her hand all the time…thanks for all your prayers
Please pray for girlie who has a colon cancer.I started asking the help of Our Lady Mediatrix when she got sick..please pray that at least she has the strenght to bear it…in pain..in sorrow not to be dismayed coz our lady will hold her hand all the time…thanks for all your prayers
GREETINGS FROM ISRAEL, ASK KO LANG EXACT ADDRESS NG MT. CARMEL MONASTERY SA LIPA AT CONTACT PERSON,PLEASE THANKS!
GREETINGS FROM ISRAEL, ASK KO LANG EXACT ADDRESS NG MT. CARMEL MONASTERY SA LIPA AT CONTACT PERSON,PLEASE THANKS!
to everyone who could read this please pray for me because ill be undergoing colonoscopy procedure on the 31st of august 2010. i need your prayers wishing that the results of this procedure would come out fine and no major problem would exist. i need you now as my prayer warriors so please do pray for me. thank you to all of you.
to everyone who could read this please pray for me because ill be undergoing colonoscopy procedure on the 31st of august 2010. i need your prayers wishing that the results of this procedure would come out fine and no major problem would exist. i need you now as my prayer warriors so please do pray for me. thank you to all of you.
to everyone who could read this please pray for me because ill be undergoing colonoscopy procedure on the 31st of august 2010. i need your prayers wishing that the results of this procedure would come out fine and no major problem would exist. i need you now as my prayer warriors so please do pray for me. thank you to all of you.
It is sweet that you blogged about this. I found you on yahoo and I had been searching for info about this. Nice blog, thank you for the info.
It is sweet that you blogged about this. I found you on yahoo and I had been searching for info about this. Nice blog, thank you for the info.
It is sweet that you blogged about this. I found you on yahoo and I had been searching for info about this. Nice blog, thank you for the info.
pray for my mother Aurea and Family for Goodhealth,Faith,and me the Holy Sprit to guide me,and help me to be always a true follower of Jesus and forgive me to all my sin,pray my tiya and tiyo Sotero and Lima Olfato and family and the Hidalgo family. God Bless You All. NO COMMENT TO YOU ALL GOD BLESS.
pray for my mother Aurea and Family for Goodhealth,Faith,and me the Holy Sprit to guide me,and help me to be always a true follower of Jesus and forgive me to all my sin,pray my tiya and tiyo Sotero and Lima Olfato and family and the Hidalgo family. God Bless You All. NO COMMENT TO YOU ALL GOD BLESS.
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF THE WORLD,AND STS.PETER AND PAUL CHURCH AND FR.SOL PARANAS AND FR.WILLIAM IN CANADA.
PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF THE WORLD,AND STS.PETER AND PAUL CHURCH AND FR.SOL PARANAS AND FR.WILLIAM IN CANADA.
ask ko lang the contact number of our lady of mt. carmel ..please…thank u
Daily Mass including weekends
6:00AM
Daily Mass Schedule
6:00 AM with the Carmelite Cloistered Sisters
Saturday and Sundays
6:00 AM with the Carmelite Cloistered Sisters
7:30? 8:00AM
11:00AM
4:00PM (Anticipated on Saturdays)
*If you missed the said mass there is an option, 9AM every saturday there is a mass 2nd floor Marian Center for Peace (2nd floor, across the Lipa Carmel Monestary. If your are lucky you can meet there the vissionary of the alleged apparition of Our Lady as Mediatrix of All Grace. In the afternoon, however there is 5:30 anticipated Mass at the Redemptorist Shrine near Paulines Store(Daughter of St Paul) at K. Lina St. Lipa City.
* Carmelite Monestary Chapel and grounds is open until 6PM only.
May we continously love JEsus through Mary. God bless us all!
Any changes to this schedule, JEFFREY? It has been almost a year since you posted this. I wonder if there are any amendments whatsoever…
Thank you very much. Your contribution to this topic has been most helpful. God bless!
I, myself, has a very personal experience with the Lady of Mt. Carmel. I asked, and still does, for intervention and assistance in regards to some personal requests. She grants my wishes, and am a devotee. I like most the sermon of Fr. Maralit.
sana po meron ng novena na tagalog para magamit po nmin sa pag novena lalu na ngayong malapit na ang fiesta nmin cya po ang napili nming patron dito sa aming lugar sa phase 7 carissa homes tanza cavite
we’ve been to lipa city last sunday but we fail to find this church. pls anyone who can give the exact address of mt carmel church and landmark. it’ll be a big help. thanks a lot
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The Legion of Mary at the Hesus Nazareno Quasi-Parish is planning to have a PILGRIMAGE on 08 September 2012 at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church >HOW CAN WE HAVE THIS DONE? WHOM WE ARE GOING TO WRITE?At least six (6) buses will be going to visit Mt. Carmel. I will appreciate it very much if you can advise me through my email address kafering@yahoo.com or via text / call at 0927-6140729 / 0929-3520655 until Wednesday, 08 August 2012. Our Parish was supervised by SVD PRIEST and under the Imus Diocese
Please include the complete address of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, the contact number(s) and contact person. Thank you for the assistance.
Bro. Fering Lopez
tanong ko lang po sana kung anong oras po ang misa, kasi po dito pa po kami nakatira sa cavite kung pupunta po kami dyan sana maka atttend po kami ng mass…