Marian apparitions are a form of divine intervention

By Msgr. John Wynand Katende

Posted on:  Thursday, 12th February 2026

“My soul is longing for your peace, near to you my God”- Psalm 84:1-7

The Catholic Church has remained steadfast to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ to evangelize all nations, owing to a number of factors. Major ones are adherence to Sacred Scripture, Sacramental life, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church (Magisterium). The culture of devotions to Mary and other saints, has also been very significant in fostering a vibrant Christian faith and spirituality.

Devotions are known to have been the life-line of God’s people since time immemorial. They are, primarily, for the sake of the beloved, God, not of ourselves. They help to feed Christian faith like rivers feed the lake, and enrich liturgy, leading to a holy life. Simply put, devotions act as essential spiritual nutrition, functioning much like food supplements to strengthen, sustain, and grow a believer's faith. Just as physical bodies require proper nutrients to avoid weakness and disease, the soul needs daily spiritual nourishment through scripture and prayer to stay strong, grow in wisdom, and avoid spiritual fatigue. 

The Bible is at the center of what God has revealed to the Church. The Church recommends that popular devotions, prayers, and novenas to Jesus, Mary and the saints should all be filled with biblical themes, imagery, and language. John Paul II insisted that devotions are not a substitute for the reading of the Bible.

Christians believe in the communion of saints. They are recognized to have lasting links with humanity, which can provide an abundance of good for the faithful. The love and honor that Catholics express for the saints is called veneration or reverential respect, not adoration. Adoration belongs only to God. Veneration leads Christians to the worship of God, who created the men and women who cooperated with God’s grace and lived as Saints.

Jesus Christ alone is the mediator between God and the human race. He is always to be adored as the living God. Since Mary is of all creatures the one most conformed to Jesus Christ, devotion to her is believed to conform a soul to Jesus. “The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.” (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 971).

According to Catholic belief, Mary appears to people as a form of divine intervention to deliver messages calling for prayer, repentance, conversion, and to express her motherly care for the Church. At the moment of His death on the cross, Jesus entrusted His Church into the maternal care of Mary, His Mother (John 19:25-29). Her first apparition was to Apostle James, around 40 AD, reinforcing his evangelizing mission to Spain. Though Catholics are not obliged to believe them for salvation, apparitions aim to bring people closer to God, reinforce faith during challenging times, and often predict or warn of future events. 

In 1858, Mary appeared 18 times to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, identifying herself as the "Immaculate Conception". The apparition was preceded with proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854. It states that Mary was preserved from the stain of sin from the first moment of her conception in her mother's womb, a grace stemming from her future role as Mother of God. In Christianity, a dogma is a belief communicated by divine revelation and defined by the Church. Dogmas are considered infallible and necessary for faith and for salvation.  

Mary’s main message to Bernadette focused on prayer, penance, and conversion for sinners. Miracles associated with Marian apparitions serve as divine validation, confirming the authenticity of the apparition's message, drawing attention to urgent spiritual calls for conversion, and demonstrating Mary's ongoing intercession. 

During the apparitions to Bernadette, Mary instructed her to dig in the dirt and drink from the water that emerged, which is now a symbol of purification and healing. Of the 7,000 unexplained, spontaneous cures that have been documented since 1858, 74 have met the strict medical and theological criteria for official recognition. 2nd February marks the annual memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The message of Lourdes goes beyond physical healing. It brings about in the faithful a healing of the heart, where Jesus most wants to touch us all. Mary has always recommended daily devotion of reciting the Rosary. It is a powerful, meditative, and scriptural prayer on the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It helps to deepen one's relationship with Him, while fostering peace, spiritual protection, and holiness.