Maria Divine Mercy

My goodness, do we really think that God will leave us without direction for our times? I myself have had an apparition and locutions. How can I think God only talks to ME? If He or Mary has something to say, I'm wanting to hear it! Then, yes, I must use obedience to the Church and the Holy Spirit to help me to "take the good and throw out the rest" We can't hide under a mountain on the day of the Lord, so why would we hide from His prophets before the storm, especially when we all know how close the Day of the Lord really is! Most likely in our own lifetimes!

 

Yes, you may need to know darkness to realize the wonders of light. Ugliness to recognize beauty. But I do not seek out darkness or ugliness.

There are 700+ apparitions and private revelations on record that are unapproved, condemned, pending decision or are on-going for the local bishop to make any statement. The only ones I have read among earlier visionaries that have remained unapproved are from Anne Catherine Emmerich, and the forged papal prophecies of St. Malachy, while the recent ones among the 700+ are those from Maria Valtorta, the late Dr. Mary Jane Even, some snippets from Vassula Ryden, and the entire bullshit of this infernal Maria Divine Mercy, only because I am with a group in FB lambasting this scamming MDM and giving MDMers their worst nightmares.

So yes, I have had a fair amount of reading of unapproved seers, but only out of curiosity or wanting to be amused. Though some, like those from Valtorta can be quite interesting.

Until the Church gives its declaration of constat de supernaturalitate, I consider ALL revelations and apparitions suspect and not worth wasting my time. And even if approved, they do not have a place in my obligations to the faith, certainly not on the level of the sacraments or the mass. I may pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet of St. Faustina, but I do not sin when I don't. Do they provide graces? Sure, but no more than the graces you get from saying your Rosary. No amount of believing in approved private revelations can ever substitute for the graces obtained in going to Mass, going to Confession or taking Holy Communion. These are more than enough to obtain for you the salvifying graces you need. No need for private revelations.

I do not seek out mystics. St John of the Cross who was himself a mystic was quite severe on people seeking these, as if they needed some spiritual proof of their faith. Faith is about believing in what you don't see. But you mock your faith when you seek out mystics to prove or comfort you that your faith is authentic. And if you seek out mystics to allay your doubts about your faith, then I am sorry to say but you never had the faith to begin with. The bible and the church say not to ignore private revelations. True. But not ignoring them does not mean you have to believe in any of them. Once approved, they can be a HELP to further strengthen your faith. But if the liveliness of your faith rests on a private revelation, there was nothing to strengthen in the first place.

 

Alex, the apparitions of Blessed Catherine Emmerich are approved.

http://faithofthefathersapparitions...04/prophecies-of-anne-catherine-emmerich.html

I must say for someone who wants to have nothing to do with unapproved apparitions you seem to know loads about them.

 

bump

 

As Catholics, we are to live our life each day as if it were our last. Preparing for the Second Coming is all about fidelity to your obligations to the Catholic Faith, not to any private revelation that only has a 3% chance of being true. Why even bother taking out the good and throwing the rest, when you have all the good right before your eyes in the Church that God has given you. What directions are not already given by the Church that you would have to seek out mystics?

 

Reading those unapproved apparitions doesn't mean I embrace them. Sorry about Emmerich if approved, as if it makes any difference to me. But her writings are also interesting reads.

 

Folks I am thinking of winding this one up. There is no good knocking against a door that is clearly locked. I will give it till tomorrow morning then I am locking this thread.

Everything that needs to be said has been pretty well said. So till tomorrow morning. Manana.

 

You have lost me, Alex. It makes no difference to you if an apparition is approved or not?

Or it makes no difference if this particular apparition is approved or not.?

 

Great idea. I feel it is like groundhog day on this thread.

Circular arguments are so annoying!

 

AMEN to that !

 

It makes no difference since the writings of Emmerich was one of the first visionaries that enthralled me and remains so. I was in fact glad that Mel Gibson based his Passion movie on it, plus that of Mary of Agreda. But it does not form part of my faith as details about Christ's life are not necessary in my faith. The Gospels are enough. And I am not really sure the site you posted is correct. The beatification of Emmerich set aside her works which the Holy See at that time didn't consider worthy due to some translation issues. But that doesn't matter to me.

 

As I understand it, that is true. They were set aside. She was never judged on her writings because of a nefarious priest who insisted she burn them, or rewrote certain things himself etc. Quite a sad scandal. I will not get into Maria Valtorta, but you can search the thread on the Forum. I have given all the facts regarding the investigation and the approval. Here are several sites if you have the inclination to read about it. Unfortunately, the Valtorta Publishing site for the U.S. starts out good, and has a lot of excerpts from the book, but he gets into John Leary stuff and it goes downhill from there...so I've chosen others.



"A religion without mystics is a philosophy." ---His Holiness Pope Francis.

http://maria-valtorta.net/

http://valtorta.org/the_poem__freeonlinereadingoffer.asp

http://www.sacredheartofjesus.ca/sitemap.htm

 

Rude, you say? If I am, then the Catholic catechism is also rude when it said:
67 Throughout the ages, there have been so-called "private" revelations, some of which have been recognized by the authority of the Church. They do not belong, however, to the deposit of faith. It is not their role to improve or complete Christ's definitive Revelation, but to help live more fully by it in a certain period of history.

I also read the lives of saints and their diaries like that of St. Faustina and St. Margaret Mary which included messages from Christ. But my faith does rest on them, the promises of the Sacred Heart or the Divine Chaplet are just fine but you do not sin if you disregard them. Are there graces you get from them? Sure, but no more than the graces you get from praying. If you think you need them to enliven your faith, my goodness, how shallow your faith must be.

 

Oh boy, Alex - you are like the local bore in the bar that no one wants to sit beside.

 

Thank you. Valtorta's Poem of the Man God also makes for interesting read. Like that of Emmerich and de Agreda. They are fodder to those seeking juicy details about the lives of the Christ and the Virgin that God in His infinite wisdom, left out in the Gospels. Mystics do liven up the Catholic religion from time to time. But whether approved or not, they do not belong to the deposit of faith.

 

Thank you. It can be quite annoying sitting beside someone calling himself or herself a Catholic who does not know basic Catechism.

 

You are hilarious. You are in danger of boring me to death!

 

Thanks for the complement