May 2024
Review Article
May is a good month in which to apprise readers of Our Lady's 19th century apparitions in northeastern Poland. Largely unknown, they occurred regularly over a period of nearly 12 weeks and remain to this day the only approved apparitions in the long history of that Marian nation. This summary appeared lately in the newsletter of Tyburn convent, London, where the Sisters of the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre explained:
"We recently had the privilege of having Rev. Father Krzysztof Flis (OFMConv), staying with us and he gave this homily which we would like to share with you as many of us had not heard about these approved apparitions of Our Lady before Father informed us."
(Our slight editing and clarifications.)
Gietrzwałd
Today is the anniversary of the death of St. Edith Stein and soon it will be the anniversary of the death of St. Maximilian [Kolbe]. ... However, today I don't want to talk about these all-encompassing figures. I want to talk about Our Lady and Her apparitions in Gietrzwałd [135 miles north of Warsaw; pron. getsh'vowt]. These are revelations approved by the Holy See.
Our Lady appeared to two girls: 13-year-old Justyna Szafryńska and 12-year-old Barbara Samulowska. The apparitions lasted more or less, from the end of June to mid-September 1877. Our Lady appeared as the Queen seated on a throne. The Virgin appeared more than 160 times and gave an important message to the world. There were times that she did not speak, but only appeared.
Of the words she spoke, let us recall some, in my opinion, the most important.
June 30th — At the instruction of the parish priest, Szafryńska asked the Blessed Virgin: "What do you demand, Mother of God?" and received the answer: "I wish that you pray the rosary every day." This request was Our Lady's first in Gietrzwałd.
July 1st — Szafryńska asked of her own initiative: "Who are you?" and heard in reply: "I am the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculately Conceived." On that day Samulowska did not have a vision, and she suffered greatly and went home crying. But at night the Blessed Virgin appeared to her and Barbara asked her: "Who are you?" and the answer was: "Mary Immaculate Conception."
So the Mother of God presents herself as Mary Immaculately Conceived and as Mary Immaculate Conception. Unfortunately, we do not have time to consider the differences between these names and their meanings, but they say a lot about who the Mother of God is.
July 3rd — the girls asked what the sick should do to be healed? Our Lady answered: "They should pray the rosary.” This is what all the sick should do.
August 1st — Samulowska, on the other hand, asked the question, "Will the orphaned [priestless] parishes receive priests soon?" and heard in response: "If people pray fervently, then the Church will not be persecuted, and orphaned parishes will receive priests." — Prayer should be our answer to the lack of vocations and persecution of the Church.
August 12th — the parish priest instructed the children to pray for the conversion of drunkards during their visions at which the Mother of God sighed deeply and said loudly: "They will
be punished."
August 13th — On this day, a man and his wife asked their children to intercede for them, praying for their health. In response, they heard: "They will be healthy if they pray and don't drink vodka."
August 14th — One of the visionaries also asked if a certain Lutheran would convert, to which Mary replied: "He should come here and learn to pray the rosary."
August 19th — The parish priest instructed the children to pray during the apparition for the conversion of the impure girls. The Immaculate Virgin told them: "They will be punished."
August 20th - Szafryńska asked if, due to the school year having begun, they should come to the rosary in the morning before Mass? To this Our Lady said: "Listen to Mass first, and then say the rosary, because the Mass is more important than the rosary."
September 3rd — Szafryńska asked what to do to convert a certain Lutheran woman and was told: “Someone must offer the Mass."
September 16th — Mother Mary spoke her last words to the children: "Pray the rosary fervently."
It should be emphasised that, as in Lourdes and Fatima at the time of the apparitions, the visionaries prayed the rosary, and everywhere Our Lady encouraged the children to pray the rosary and this made the receipt of graces dependent on praying the rosary. She may have emphasised most urgently the need to pray the rosary at Gietrzwałd.
What is very interesting is that Our Lady appeared 18 times at Lourdes, 6 times at Fatima, and more than 160 times at Gietrzwałd, almost daily from June 27 to September 16, and also 3 times a day from July 24.
This disproportionate number of apparitions in Gietrzwałd is puzzling, even disturbing, and difficult to explain. Why were there apparitions 3 times a day from July 24? July 24 — the vacation for school children began. Free from school, children could come to church at any time. Previously, the entire rosary, or 15 mysteries, had been recited each day in the evening, which was too cumbersome. So the idea was conceived to divide the rosary prayer into 3 parts and recite the first joyful part in the morning, the second sorrowful part at noon and the third part in the evening.
And from that day on, Our Lady came 3 times a day — when the rosary was recited. This reminds us of the truth that the Immaculate One comes whenever we pray. If we pray once a day, she will come once a day, if three, she will come three, and if we pray all the time, she is continually coming to us.
The effects of the apparitions were very numerous. Very telling in this regard is the testimony of the parish priest: "The fruits of the apparitions are extraordinary. In the whole of Polish Warmia, the rosary is recited together in almost every home."
The most important fruits of the revelations were expressed by Fr. Weichsel in the words: "Among all the Polish people, joyful progress is being made, especially by the zeal for prayer and the Brotherhood of Embrace."
The repeated exhortations to pray the rosary and to abstain had proved very effective in Warmia and beyond. "Everyone here renounces vodka and pledges to always pray the rosary," the Gietrzwałd pastor wrote. "Millions pray the rosary, by which they are confirmed in the Catholic faith, and a huge number of drunkards have been snatched from temporal and eternal perdition. In this I see the best proof of the authenticity of the apparitions.” To this briefly should be added the purity of life that could be observed in the young people of Warmia, the numerous male and female religious vocations, the various conversions, and the frequent reception of the revival of religious life in the Diocese of Warmia and beyond.
What is very important is that Our Lady at Gietrzwałd speaks of punishment for sins. Talking about punishment is very unpopular today, but it is talking about the consequences of sin. The greatest punishment that a person can receive is the punishment that a person inflicts on himself — it is a life of grave sin and death in such a state. Mother of God spoke about the punishment for the sins of drunkenness AND impurity. And what to say about the sins that are more common today, such as abortion, or the sin of sodomy. What will be the consequences of these sins? At Fatima, Mother of God said that a second new war will come if people do not convert. The Second World War was a consequence of sins.
We must always remember that God gives us a chance to convert and change our lives. Our Lady at Gietrzwałd gives us three conditions that we must fulfil: daily rosary, purification of morals and sobriety.