A crucial issue is emerging in the church in our time:  the place and role of the Blessed Virgin Mary! Although often hidden, the battle rages on–this great battle, announced 2,000 years ago, in which the destiny of humanity is at stake! What is the central role of the humble Virgin of Nazareth in this apocalyptic battle?

A hidden jewel

The Gospels speak very briefly of the Virgin Mary, no doubt to focus on her divine Son, Jesus, the Savior.

Mary, like a precious jewel, was initially hidden. The Gospels only reveal a few dazzling glimpses of her: at the crib in Bethlehem, at the wedding feast of Cana and ate the foot of the Cross at calvary. But her role, so discreet at Jesus’ side, became very important in the midst of the Apostles at Pentecost and onwards. She was the one who supported, guided and encouraged the nascent Church. Although her Son could have taken her to Heaven with him at the Ascension, he didn’t; he left her to pursue her great mission. From then on, Mary’s major role was to be revealed to the world.

The gradual unveiling

From the earliest centuries, the Virgin Mary was recognized by the Church as the Mother of God (dogma of the Council of Ephesus in 431). Imagine… she’s the Mother of the Second Person of the Trinity! That reveals so much about Mary’s incredible greatness…

• And she’s not just great: Mary is also perfectly pure and chaste! This was affirmed shortly afterwards, in 553, by the Council of Constantinople in the dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity: her body and soul have absolute and perpetual integrity!
  After these first revelations in the early days of the Church, many centuries HAVE passed until our modern times. And now, suddenly, two extraordinary new truths have been revealed to us:
• Mary is the Immaculate Conception! (dogma of 1854). She is the only human being perfectly preserved from sin! Like Adam and Eve before their fall..but Mary never gave in to temptation. She is the only one of all mankind to correspond entirely to God’s desire and Will.
• And here’s the consequence of so much perfection: Mary never died! Only she, among the Apostles and all the Saints, unique with her Son Jesus, was raised to Heaven, body and soul. The dogma of the Assumption of Mary (1950) gives us a marvellous hope: that we too will be resurrected, body and soul.

Mary’s omipresence

Since we entered the so-called “modern” era, the Virgin Mary has revealed herself to the world in an extraordinary, direct, supernatural way. She has come, in person, to visit us!  She had done so at times in the past… But over the last few centuries, so many apparitions!

In Guadalupe, Mexico (1531);  the Laus, France (1664);  rue du Bac in Paris (1830), La Salette, France (1846);  Lourdes (1858); Pontmain (1871); Champion, USA (1859); Fatima, Portugal (1917); Banneux, Belgium (1933); Ile Bouchard, France (1947); Akita, Japan (1973); Betania, Venezuela (1976); Kibého, Rwanda (1981)– all recognized by the Church. And many, many more..

It seems that the Virgin Mary has become omnipresent in our world! Why?

The Hour of the Blessed Mother has come

The answer is given to us in the latest apparition recognized by the Church: in San Nicolas, Argentina, the Virgin Mary appeared from 1983 to 1990, and this is what she tells us in her messages, so important for our time:
« The hour of the Blessed Mother has come. I have come from Heaven to guide you to Christ. ».
So we’ve entered Mary’s hour; that’s why she’s so present! This is HER hour, the moment when she has the leading role… An irreplaceable role for Humanity:

• First and foremost as Mother. For Mary is the Mother of all mankind, as so many saints, such as Saint Alphonsus de Liguori and the Second Vatican Council have said. Mary takes extreme care of each and every one of us, seeking in a thousand ways to avoid catastrophes and calamities. And as the “new Eve,” the “Mother of the Living,” Mary is the one who begets us to True Life, Life in her Son, Christ!
• And this Mother has extraordinary power: for she is Queen of Heaven and Earth! Acknowledged from the earliest centuries as the Mother of the great King, and thus having Royalty herself, Mary has been regaled as Queen by the Church since ancient times, in the Salve Regina / Hail Holy Queen, the Regina Caeli / Queen of Heaven.

So our Blessed Mother, full of tenderness for every human being, exercises the power of her Kingship in our time, more than ever!

Jesus, in the apparition of San Nicolas, tells us:

” Souls will come to me through her Immaculate Heart. My Mother must be accepted. The world must discover the richness she brings to Christians. I have chosen my Mother’s Heart so that what I ask may be completed.”

Unfortunately, Jesus’ announcement was not without its trials. In the Hour of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God and of men finds herself at the center of a great and terrible battle…

The Rosary confirms it

If we look at the mysteries of the Rosary, we see that they are all centered on Jesus, the Redeemer. Mary is very present, of course, but in the last three mysteries, she has a particularly important place since Jesus is no longer on earth: at Pentecost, she is in the midst of the apostles to receive the Holy Spirit, then there’s the mystery of her Assumption and finally her Coronation in Heaven. The Mother of Christ has an important role to play after Jesus’ ascension into Heaven! In the final part of God’s history with mankind, she plays a very special role. Her Son grants her this honor!

The Woman of the Apocalypse

In the very last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse, the Virgin Mary appears as a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars on her head.
This powerful image of the Virgin Mary has been miraculously imprinted for almost 500 years on the cape of the Indian, Saint Juan Diego, at the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

So it appears that the Virgin Mary has been preparing the revelation of her power for five centuries, as modern science is now shedding light on the incredible miracles that are contained in the image of the “Woman clothed with the Sun.”

The Origin and End of the Great Battle

As the Book of Revelation tells us, the Virgin Mary is the one who confronts the dragon of evil in these last days. Here’s an illuminating excerpt taken from the revelations to Marie de Jésus d’Agréda to help us to understand the origin of this great battle which is so decisive for us:

In the early days of Creation, “the rebellion of Lucifer, the most beautiful angel, broke out when God announced to the angels the hypostatic union of the Word with human nature and the obligation for them to adore the God-Man, Christ. Lucifer was outraged. Proud and jealous, he wanted such an honorable union for himself and blasphemously refused to adore a “humanized” God, on the pretext that the angelic nature is superior to human nature.

God then ordered the angels to recognize as their Queen the woman in whom the Incarnation of the Word was to take place, and who, because of this privilege, was to surpass in virtues and glory all other creatures. He showed her to them in an illustrative way, as described by Saint John: clothed with the sun, the moon beneath her feet and crowned with 12 stars, giving birth to a divine child.
Then Lucifer and his followers rose up against this woman and her supremacy:

 

“The command to bow before her is unjust and unjust to my greatness,” said the leader of these rebels. “I will overthrow your designs and deprive this woman of the honor you intend for her!”
– “Well,” replied God, “this woman you don’t want to honor will defeat you and crush your head.

 

Excerpt from “The Mystical City of God”, 1602, a text esteemed and admired by 7 popes and a multitude of cardinals, bishops and theologians.

 With or without the Virgin Mary?

So the enemy of God and man directs his hatred mainly against the Virgin Mary, of whom he is so jealous. This is why he persuades those who follow him not to honor the Mother of Christ, to despise or offend her. The Church itself is deeply divided on the subject of Mary. Some refuse to acknowledge her apparitions, to listen to her messages, or simply never speak of her…

Yet here are some powerful words from Jesus, given to Saint Nicholas of Argentina:

 “In the past, the world was saved by Noah’s ark. Today, the ark is my Mother. Whoever refuses my Mother refuses me” (December 1989).

If this generation won’t listen to my Mother, it will perish. I ask everyone to listen to her (1986).

And in Akita, Japan in 1973, the Virgin Mary said:

“I alone can still save you from the calamities that are approaching”.

Fighting over the Fifth Marian dogma

A striking example of this struggle concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary is the fifth Marian dogma proposed by numerous bishops and cardinals around the world: “Mary Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate.”
Requested by the Virgin Mary during her apparition in Amsterdam in 1945 (an apparition recognized by the local bishop but then questioned by the hierarchy), this latest Marian dogma is at the heart of a violent, but hidden, battle…

The bishops and cardinals calling for its proclamation assure us that, by granting this great honor to the Mother of God, this dogma will enable her to unleash all her power of intercession for Humanity!

Our Mother needs us now!

In these times of great apostasy and confusion, when the enemy of God and man is leading all peoples to disregard the Ten Commandments given by God, the Virgin Mary is the one who “crushes the head of the serpent”.
Yes, we know in advance, the Mother of Christ will win the battle. At Fatima, she affirmed it with perfect assurance: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph”.

But for the full growth and influence of the Virgin Mary to unfold, there is one absolute condition: we must help her!  Like God Himself, His Mother cannot impose anything on human beings. To protect us and guide us to her Son, to lead us to true Peace and happiness, she needs our Yes and our collaboration!