Three Children, Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico, 1953
Status:
Supernatural Evidence Not established and Not excluded (Non constat de
supernaturalitate)
Episcopal Remarks: “the
investigation considered the apparitions lacked worthy foundation for
credibility” (Theological Commission, Bishop of Ponce, S.E. Mons. James
McManus, 1953 as quoted in Letter from Cardinal Torcisio Bertone, Secretary of
the Congregation For the Doctrine of the Faith to President of the Puerto Rican
Episcopal Conference, S.E.R. Monsignor Ulises Casiano Vargas, as quoted in The
Visitor of Puerto Rico, September 23, 2000), “The evidence provided does
not satisfy the criteria established by the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith for the appearances of the Virgin” (Theolgical Commission Decree,
Msgr Ulises Casiano Bishop of Mayaguez, April 3, 1989 as quoted in Letter from
Cardinal Torcisio Bertone, Secretary of the Congregation For the Doctrine of
the Faith to President of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference, S.E.R.
Monsignor Ulises Casiano Vargas, as quoted in The Visitor of Puerto
Rico, September 23, 2000 ), “Appearances tend to conflict and do not throw
sufficient light to establish themselves as supernatural” (ibid) (See documentation here)
Corroboration by
Other Seers:
Biographical Information: On
Thursday, April 23rd, 1953, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, appeared at a spring
at Barrio Rincón, Sabana Grande, a small town southwest of the island of Puerto
Rico in the Caribbean. She appeared
during thirty three consecutive days and on the third day identified herself to
three country children as The Lady of the Rosary. The children, Juan Angel Collado and sisters Ramonita e Isidra
Belén, were seven, eight and nine years respectively. They attended a one-classroom rural school, Lola Rodríguez de
Tío, where young teacher Josefa Ríos taught first, second and third
grades. The students’ lunchroom was set
up in a small hut outside the school. Everyday at 11:00 am the lady in charge
of the lunchroom would send two small boys to fetch water from a waterhole
nearby. On the morning of April 23, 1953, young Juan Angel went to get water
along with an older peer. While fetching water from the spring with a small tin
can and pouring it into a larger one, the oldest boy was dazzled as the water
turned into a beautiful rainbow. Frightened, the boy called Juan and left
running, spilling the water full of colors over the ground…Juan meanwhile felt
the world had come to a standstill. When Juan turned and looked above the hill
from the well he saw a most beautiful lady.
She was standing on a small cloud. She appeared to be 18-30 years old
and was wearing a long white gown., while Her head was covered by a blue veil
that nearly touched the cloud on which She stood. Floating a few inches above
Her head were seven stars. She looked directly into Juan’s eyes and smiled.
When he realized his friend was gone, he too ran back to school. He told
several friends of the events, who scoffed at him. He did not then tell the
teacher. The Next day, April 24, 1953
the two Belen sisters accompanied him to the well to fetch water. Our Beautiful
lady appeared again; this time to all three children. Immediately Isidra fell
to her knees and began praying. Our Lady did not speak to the children. When
they returned to the schoolhouse the girls told the teacher. The teacher did
not believe them and told them not to tell anyone about it and to forget it.
However word quickly spready throughout the Sabana Grande. April 25, 1953 was a
Saturday and there was no school. The three children, however, had an urge to
go to the well at 11.00AM. When they arrived many people were already there.
Our Lady appeared for the third time. This time Our Lady smiled at the
children, stepped down from the cloud and began walking towards them. When the
children backed off, Our Lady said: “Be not afraid, I am the Virgin of the
rosary. She went back to the cloud and dissappeared. Our Lady appeared again on April 26, 1953. This time Ramonita
blurted out “People want to know who you are and what you want” The beautiful
lady answered “I am the Virgin of the Rosary and what I want is for everyone to
pray the rosary to obtain peace in the world and for the conversion of sinners”
On April 27, 1953 Our Lay appeared again and told the children She would be
taking over the classroom from that date until her last appearance May 25, 1953
and that She would teach the children lessons they needed to learn. Thereafter every day Our Lady would appear
to the three children at the well at 11.00AM, then lead them to the schoolhouse.
Our Lady would then sit in the teacher’s chair and ring the little bell to
bring them to attention. BY this time many people gathered outside the
schoolroom. Some witnessed the little bell rising above the desk and ringing.
It is reported that the birds eagerly listened to Our Lady teach. The teacher,
Josefa Rios remembers the children would announce Our Lady’s presence, at which
time she would give up her chair to Our Lady.
It is reported that Our Lady showed the children heaven and walked them
through purgatory, but She declined to show the children hell because “You are
too small to show you what hell is like” A large policeman named Dario Garcia
was assigned to protect and help the children through the crowd. Once he fell
and split his finger. In the presence of the children Our Lady miraculously
healed his finger…Other remarkable phenomena included photograph negatives
containing pictures of the apparition, rainbow coloured rainfall, schoolbell
and flowers suspended in the air…Our Lady requested a small chapel be built.
Later on May 25, 1953 the day of the great miracle, the teacher Josefa Rios,
saw a vision of the chapel to be built in great detail in the sky. The chapel
shown to her had seven sides. It was completed in 1967 just as she had seen it.
Our Lady appeared 33 times and told the children this was to symbolize the 33
years Jesus lived on earth. She told the children that the number seven
signifies plenitude. The Blessed Virgin gave the children a total of seven
messages to be divulged to the world at a later date as ordered by God. Four of
these messages have already been revealed. Juan Angel has been chosen by the
Virgin Mary to release the other three messages at a later date. 1
References
1.
Peter Heintz A Guide to Apparitions of Our Blessed Virgin Mary (Gabriel
Press, Sacramento, California 1995) p. 185 -188
The
Messages
Our
Lady, First Message, Puerto Rico, 1953: “ Go out into the whole world and when you are most deeply
submerged in darkness and after having denied My name you will receive a messenger
who will remind you of the TRUE WAY.
Satan will knock at the doors of your house and you will drive him away
in anger. This is the sign that the time has come to make known the following
promise: “I promise to make available the graces necessary for salvation,
before the Hour of Death, to all those who, in times of confusion and in
defining the way to My most Beloved Son, promulgated My name as Mother of the
True Way to the Father”
Our
Lady, Second Message, Puerto Rico,
1953: “The hour will come when the spiritual and
moral deterioration of the shepherds of my Son’s flock will be a matter of
public knowledge. The indifference of God’s children will prevent them from
seeing the great danger which lies in wait. The pain in My Heart will be all the
more piercing, since it will be the sign that the time has come for making
known the following message “Difficult and confused those times will be.
Spiritual growth will become very, very difficult for the sons and daughters of
God. There will come further times when such growth will seem almost
impossible. So be alert My new children because your indifference and confusion
will prevail along the way and throughout the world. Strange ideas and new
philosophies will enshroud the true way in greater darkness. The teachings of
My most Beloved Son, the order
established by the Father and truth itself, will be set aside in favour
of these new and strange beliefs. The selfishness of God’s children will give
rise to conflicts and divisions which will intensify My pain. You must realize
that the shepherds of the flock are men as well. Pardon their faults and assist
them, for they represent My Son. Remain
steadfast in the true way to the Father; in the Church of My Son; for times of
great testing are drawing near. Suffering will be necessary. Prayer and
Sacrifice will be almost mandatory, almost definite. Take refuge under My
mantle and live in My virtues. Plentiude is what I desire. For it is this that
My Son has entrusted to Me. Seven will be the young shoots and seven the
swords. Seven will be the generations.
After that they will become innumerable. Two ways will open up before these
generations; casting down or building up; defeat or victory. Plenitude and My
promise: This is the restoration of the way”
Our
Lady, Third Message, Puerto
Rico, 1953: “In those days the Holy
Father, the true and chosen son of the Father for our times will have visited
this land (Pope JPII visited Puerto Rico in 1984). These will be times of
depression and persecution for all proclaim My name as Mother of the True Way
to the Father. In these momenets of tribulation there will be a great surge of
hope. Millions of My Sons will unite themselves in a great demonstration of
true love. They will unite their hearts with Mine asking supplication from My
beloved Son. This is the sign that it is time to make known the following
message: “Humanity has submerged itself in a very deep and profound
indifference; it lacks faith, hope and love. The ego, selfishness, materialism
and blasphemous murmurs have corrupted the hearts of many. My dear children, be
careful of the ego. The demon has penetrated the very souls of many men on
their true way. My dear Children this is the hour when all men must unite
themselves in one continuous prayer supplicating mercy from My Son. It is
necessary that the Holy Father call all priests, religious, bishops, chosen
ones, and together with alol the children of the Church, pray the holy rosary
for the conversion of all men.My new children please ask the Father for the
transformation of all humanity. Above all for those who are isolated and far
away from God, especially the leaders of the Church. It is time that everyone
be converted by the true voice of my Son who is the Way. Through their voices
an example will be shown and they will proclaim the love of My Son. The Church
must always be open to all men on earth., because My Son died for all the
sinners of this earth. At eleven o’clock in the morning, I visited you for the
first time. I made you aware that the hour and time is very near. A very great
danger is threatening humanity. My new children, be alert. Plenitude is what I
desire. I will promise you My maternal protection. I will cover you with my
mantle and I will facilitate to all mankind the necessary graces to all those
who in difficult moments have said and prayed at least five decades of the
rosary. I will always protect you under My mantle and you shall live in My
virtues. Plenitude is what I desire because MY Son has charged Me with this
virtue. Plenitude and My promise and the reestablishment of the True Way.
Our
Lady, Fourth Message, Puerto Rico, 1953: “Those will be difficult times of great social and moral
deterioration, but above all of spiritual deterioration. Men’s selfishness will
reign. Those consecrated to My Beloved Son Jesus, through My call to promulgate
a new breed of true Christians, will be persecuted. Some new children
consecrated to My small reign, will thrust My Heart with the sword Sword of
Treason and the deterioration of their promise to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Nevertheless the message of restitution will be accepted and promulgated beyond
the sea where I have set my right foot.
In the moments of greater tribulation and persecution I will send the
angel that will show you the way, again. This is the sign that the time has
come to make the following message known: “Thousands of souls are lost daily,
dragged by sin and infidelity away from my most Beloved Son. The social, moral
and spiritual deterioration darkens humanity that populates the earth. The
prophesied times in which parents and children destroy themselves have arrived.
Humanity is plunged in a great crisis of faith hardly noticed. Most men do not
keep their Christian commitments. Driven by selfishness and pride they have
fallen in the deceit of appearances and superficiality of human demands. Some
priests, ministers of My Son as shepherds of the flock are irreverent in the
celebration of the Holy sacraments; they become allies of the enemy by the
infidelity to their consecrated life, their attachment to money, the search for
recognition and their unrestraint to pleasures. They are responsible for the
loss of the faith, they motivate falling away and engender antagonism and
violence. It they do not repent and start a life of penance, they will lose
their souls forever. I remind you, My children, that they have the task to
represent My Son on earth and as Christians you should love and help them.
Offer your prayers and sacrifice for their conversion. I assure you that My
Son’s love and mercy are great for those who make restitution. The elixir of My
Son’s merciful love protects and revives those who are faithful, who keep their
commitment. It is the hour in which you have, because you have not responded to
My warnings, the prophecies will start to come true. My children, protect
yourselves under My mantle and live in My virtues. I warn you that one day the
vault of heaven will be totally orange and dark, there will be an intense cold
and a great tribukation and desperation will fall over mankind. It will be as
if hell had settled upon earth. Parents, children and all human beings will
fight among themselves and will want to kill each other. They will hut each
other until death…All that I have warned can be avoided and the crisis of faith
could come to an end if the chosen ones become converted and start living a
life of intense prayer, dedicating themselves to penance, subjecting themselves
to fasting and abstinence, practicing mortification of the senses, and paying
special attention to the participation of the Sacraments. These will be
received with great devotion and fervour, each one according to their condition
and directions, living in My virtue and observing the teachings of My Most
Beloved Son Jesus’ Church…One last word of advice, My children, the devil will
try to destroy My work and My manifestation to the world. There will be such a
relaxation for the divine that vain and superficial messages will be spoken of
everywhere. Many will the alleged apparitions be. Some will be genuine and
others will be the work of the evil one that with sagacity and disguise of
light, will involve many. Some of these apparitions that will not be My
manifestations, will be supported by shepherds and hierarchs of the Church and
repressed., but this should not be the cause of frustrations and loss of faith;
so much the better. Then, stay firm in the priests, make an effort to live in
harmony and common union with the shepherds. This will be a sign that you are
with Me, you are in Me and belong to My Son Jesus, the Christ. I will give you a sign: there where I will
be, I will ask for a prayer, I will ask for penance, with special attention to
fasting, and I will ask for much sacrifice. Above all, I will ask a special
love for My large Star, My Son, the Eucharist.
I am the Major Angel, envoy of these times, the Virgin of Light, the
Virgin Mary, the Spouse of God.”
(There
are three more messages yet to be revealed at later date by Juan Angel Collado,
when certain events occur and as ordained by God)
Our
Lady, Puerto Rico, 1953: It
is reported that Our Lady taught the children the importance of the Holy
Eucharist and the rosary. She emphasized the value of prayer and sacrifice. She
told them about the sacraments. In order for the children to better understand,
Our Lady made the lessons very simple. She used the number seven in teaching
them. She always surrounded herself with seven different items and explained
these to the children in this manner:
(i) The Seven stars: Besides representing the seven Sacraments they also
represent the seven virtues which She is asking us to live by -Humility, Generosity, Chastity, Patience,
Temperance, Charity and Diligence. (ii) Her blue mantle: She told the children
that She will always protect us with Her blue mantle if we pray daily and
listen to Her Son, (iii) her white gown: A symbol of our own priesthood and
purity. She invites us to spend more time for God and with God. We are the new
apostles of these latter days (iv) The Brooch:
the brooch at Her neck symbolizes Her reign as Queen of all Her new
apostles. She will help us to bring many other souls into the service of God.
(v) The Holy Rosary –The rosary in Her hands was always there to remind us to
pray the rosary with fervor and from the heart on a daily basis for the rest of
our lives. She asked that seven rosaries be prayed at the sanctuary of Sabana
Grande when anyone visits there. This is to be done for two intentions: for the
conversion of sinners and to bring peace to the world (vi) Her strap or belt:
This symbolizes the true obedience to our Church. We must always remain firm,
obedient and strong to the true Church founded by Her Son Jesus Christ. Even if
we falter or sin or fail along the way, we must always remain faithful to Our
Church (vii) Her sandal: This symbolizes our own pilgrimage and our walk with
God. This will always lead us to sanctity. She is inviting us to take the first
step towards our spiritual growth. Our Lady requested that everyone who came to
the well should pray seven rosaries before leaving the area.
Our
Lady May 25, 1953: Our Lady
perfomed the Miracle of the Sun (This was repeated on April 23, 1991). In
addition She performed the miracle of the rainbow coloured rain
Our
Lady, April, 1953: Our Lady
asked that a small chapel be built at the apparition site by the “pocito” the
little well. A temporary chapel was built almost immediately. On May 25, 1953
the day of the great miracle, the teacher Josefa Rios, saw a vision of the
chapel to be built in great detail in the sky. The chapel shown to her had
seven sides. It was completed in 1967 just as she had seen it
Signs
Given, May 19, 1953: Mrs
Nora Freyre a well known artist-painter from Mayaquez was totally paralyzed and
had been confined to a whell chair for eight years. On May 19, 1953 she was
helped to the well by a policeman. She took a glass water and drank. Her whole
body felt cold then she felt warm. She embraced a crucifix which her brother
had put on her chest. Some of the water had spilled onto her legs. Suddenly in
one instant she stood up began walking then running up the hill. After she came
down the hill unassisted, she then walked all they way to Sabana Grande and
back. Thousands of people witnessed this miraculous healing and shouted praises
to God. Mrs Freyre lived a normal and healthy life for over 33 years after her
healing. She never used a wheel chair again until the day she died of natural
causes on June 13, 1986.
Signs
Given, May 25, 1953: Mrs
Georgina Politis was a paraplegic and also confined to a wheel chair. Her whole
body was supported by many wires and mechanical straps. During the early days
she used to come by the school and look through the windows during the
apparitions. On May 25, 1953 the day of the miracle, about noon, she stood up
and dropped all her mechanical wires and supports. She was instantly and
completely healed. She later moved to Miami, Florida.
Signs
Given, undated, 1953: On
another occasion, a newspaperman from San German camr to see Juan Angel and told
him bluntly “If you say you can see the Virgin Mary why doesn’t She allow me to
photograph Her, so I can believe and my readers can aloso believe? Juan Angel
lowered his head, listened to the Virgin Mary talking to him and said “The
Virgin Mary says She will appear in a movie soon” No one knew what that meant.
A few days later the three visionaries and a group of followers were invited to
the house of Dr Lassise to see a home movie of the visionaries and the crowds
during one of the apparitions at the well; the visionaries saw themselves at
the well in the movie. As the camera panned the crowds and the sky, there in
the clouds to their amazement was the Virgin Mary in the movie (see left). Her
words again were true.
Signs
Given, undated, 1953: One
incident reported concerning a priest who apparently had doubts. It seems that
one day, a priest disguised himself as a layman in ordinary clothes. He asked
one of the visionaries to ask Our Lady to him. He claimed to have lost his own
mother in the crowds for three days and couldn’t find her. If She was really
the virgin Mary, She should know exactly where his mother could be found. The
Virgin Mary told the visionary to tell this “priest” that his mother had died
years ago and was in heaven with Her.
References
1. Messages taken
from Peter Heintz A Guide to Apparitions of Our Blessed Virgin Mary
(Gabriel Press, Sacramento, California 1995) p. 188-192)