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Visions of Mary

Statement

Mary is held by Christians to be the mother of Jesus. She is especially revered by Roman Catholics. Visions of Mary occur wherever Roman Catholicism is widespread. They have occurred since medieval times in Europe. No evidence other than the visionaries' reports has ever been found to support the claim that Mary appeared and spoke to her followers. There are no photographs, no audio or videotapes.

The Roman Catholic church has actively and consistently refused to recognize the authenticity of most visions of Mary. It has recognized a small number of healings as "miraculous," and rejected the vast majority of claims as unfounded. The church has also rejected claims of rosaries turning to gold and other similar claims. The official rejection of visions of Mary has done little to quell the phenomenon, which appears to be a religious folk custom among Roman Catholics built on the notion that Mary is both a sympathetic and powerful figure, responsive to human suffering and able to influence God.

The need of devout Roman Catholic lay people for a strong and sympathetic source of help in time of trouble appears to drive the phenomenon. These events typically share the following common elements:

The visionaries are women or young girls, rarely a young boy.
The event occurs at an outdoor site, often marked by a tree, cave, or other natural landmark.
The event occurs in rural areas in times of economic and social distress.
The person who claims to have seen Mary does not just return from a walk one day and say that she has seen Mary. Careful evaluation of contemporary sources suggest that the visionary reports only having seen "a figure" or "a lady." The idea that the object seen is Mary is an interpretation added to the story by friends and relatives.
The visionary comes to believe that Mary will appear to her at the site of the original vision and will have "messages" for her.
The visionary, accompanied by friends, relatives and other members of the Roman Catholic community in which the vision occurs, visits the site and reports the "messages" to those around her. Only the visionary sees Mary or hears her messages.
The messages typically urge the hearers to pray more because there is much evil in the world. Often specific commands about what prayers are to be said and when are given.
In a few cases the site becomes a permanent shrine, e. g. Lourdes, where devout Roman Catholics come to pray for release from sickness. Often claims are made that sickness has been healed at these sites.
The supporters of the visionary often appeal to local Roman Catholic clergy to recognize the legitimacy of the visions and messages. Roman Catholic clergy are generally reluctant to do so because such recognition undermines the authority of the church. On the other hand, they are reluctant to disparage the obvious devotion of the faithful. Thus visions create difficult problems for the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
Recent visions in the United States have typically been accompanied by an assortment of claims of miracles other than healing, for example, silver rosaries which miraculously change to gold, and Polaroid pictures of the sun, which are claimed to show "the doorway to Heaven."

There is usually little reason to doubt the sincerity of persons reporting a vision of Mary, but without more substantial evidence, all such appearances are best treated as folk religion or psychological phenomena rather than physical realities.

Sources

Sandra Zimdars-Swartz. Encountering Mary: Visions of Mary from La Salette to Medjugorje (New York: Avon, 1991).
Marina Warner. Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary (New York: Knopf, 1976).
Ann Taves. The Household of Faith: Roman Catholic Devotions in Mid-Nineteenth Century America (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986.