This was an interesting episode, I did read the book but I forget but one of the reviewers says that one of the three seers, all 8 year old girls, went on to recant that Our Lady appeared to them at Marpingen, Germany. The initially reported apparitions started in 1876. Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Bismarckian Germany: Blackbourn, David: 9780198217831: Amazon.com: Books The visionaries all went into convents, and did not live long. The main one made a written retraction--which was not made public at the time. Our library had this book, perhaps they still do. I hate seeing an out-of-print book, then, selling for a much higher price. Never recognized, it created a huge stir in its time. One nickname for this is "The Lourdes of Germany". Q: What can you tell me about apparitions in Marpingen, Germany? A: We receive regular information on Marpingen (Saarland, Germany) where Mary purportedly appeared for the first time in 1876. The apparitions lasted from 7/3 - 9/3/1876. Mary appeared as the Immaculata asking the three girl-seers for prayer and a holy life. She pointed the visionaries to a wellspring whose water was said to have healing qualities. Mary, before leaving the children, promised to return. Ecclesiastical authorities of the time explicitly rejected these apparitions. In 1983 (July 16) Mary appeared to a farmer and dictated a message which deplores the negative attitude of people regarding the first apparition in 1876. She announces war and catastrophes and asks the Pope to solemnly declare the final Marian dogma of Mary co-redemptrix, mediatrix and advocate. The second apparition is not officially recognized by the Church. Marpingen Apparitions : University of Dayton, Ohio (udayton.edu) A paranormal source covers this, no endorsement on their views, they do mention the book: The Marian apparitions at Marpingen, Germany: #1. The visionaries, the events of 1876, and their aftermath | A Fortean in the Archives (wordpress.com) The Marian apparitions at Marpingen, Germany. #2: In which the BVM joins the childrens’ games, & rolls with them down a hillside | A Fortean in the Archives (wordpress.com) The whole experience had been, the girl concluded, “one big lie”, and the adults of the village had made a “great mistake” – their error being “to believe us immediately instead of calming us down.” [p.110] Or, to put it more charitably (as Blackbourn does), “the 8-year-olds had stirred up something they only faintly understood, and gone too far to turn back.” What prevented them from recanting in time for the events at Marpingen to fade rapidly into history was thus the favourable, even hysterical, response that news of the visions roused in their fellow villagers. [p.321] Marpingen itself, in short, was in large part responsible for the visions at Marpingen. All the same, a good topic to know more about. That image is very lovely. Comments welcomed. I am just posting both sides, it has not been recognized, it probably won't but from my understanding, it has not been condemned either. A Grotto Shrine: Br.Thomas-Apostolat - Marpingen (br-thomas-apostolat.de) So, I'm not dismissing it either. I read a book on it some years ago, it's an interesting story. And it looks like another Shrine: What I got from the book, was it was a big fervor about the event, it was a big deal whatever the truth.
Present day: Galerie - Erscheinungen Marpingen Looks like the official website: Start - Erscheinungen Marpingen (9) In Marpingen erschien am 17.Mai 1999 die Muttergottes - YouTube I don't know German, one of the stories talked about something occurring in 1999 as well. I skipped to the last few minutes of this video, they are in "ecstasy", make of it what one wants. I think they probably are seeing something, just my opinion. I was at a church where there was someone claiming to have received locutions, people, including me, go crazy to see something like this. Lots of people. Of course, these were her notes, nothing live.
