THE Blessed Mother appeared in Kibeho, Rwanda, to several students and gave warnings which concerns not only Rwanda but the whole world.
This apparition of our Lady was approved by the Church on June 29, 2001. It was Bishop Augustin Misago Gikongoro who approved of the apparitions after the commission that was formed declared that it was, indeed, an apparition of the Mother of God. The official declaration was released in Zenit News service on July 2, 2001, from Vatican City.
It was on August 19, 1982, at Kibeho, near a Catholic girl’s school, in the mountainous farm terrain of Africa, that the Blessed Mother appeared to the visibly upset and weeping seers one by one. She showed visions of terrible events in the future—including terrifying images of people killing each other, bodies lying abandoned with no one to bury them, trees on fire, an open abyss, a monster, “river of blood” and decapitated heads.
This vision was realized 10 years after the one given by our Our Lady to the seers, especially to Alphonsine Mumureke.
In 1994 the ruling Hutus began a savage campaign to eradicate Rwandan Tutsis. Millions of people were killed within one year. The Hutus massacred tribes of people, including children and babies. During the carnage, a missionary was quoted by Time magazine as saying, “there are no devils left in hell. They are all in Rwanda.”
Our Lady warned the seers that not only in Rwanda, but the whole world is headed to its ruin because of the sins of men. Men continue to offend the Lord. It is men themselves who are bringing evils and disasters because of their disregard to the laws and commandments of God.
Devotion to the rosary of the Seven Sorrows
One of the highlight of the our Lady’s message in Kibeho, Rwanda, is the importance of thinking about the sorrows of our Lady and of the sufferings of the Savior.
By devotion to the sorrows of Mary one can have the gift of repentance. Devotion to the rosary of the sorrows of the Blessed Mother is not meant to replace the original rosary but rather to make us deepen our reflection and meditation on the sufferings of our Lord and our Lady. It was to Marie Claire Mukangango, one of the seers, who this message was given. She was tasked to spread this devotion to the whole world.
On May 31, 1982, the Blessed Virgin Mary reminded her of the authentic message, in these words: “What I ask of you, is to ask for forgiveness. If you recite this rosary by meditating, you’ll find in you the strength to return to God. These days’ people no longer know how to ask for forgiveness. They continue to crucify the Son of God.”
The devotion to the seven sorrows is also to promote union with the sufferings of Christ through the union with the special sufferings that Our Lady endured because she was the Mother of Jesus.
By uniting ourselves with both the Passion of Christ and His Holy Mother, we enter into Jesus’ heart and honor Him greatly. The Seven Dolors or Sorrows are taken from Sacred Scripture.
In Kibeho, sadly, the seer Marie to whom the message of the importance of the Seven Sorrows devotions was given, was also killed during the genocide.
Our Lady told Marie that the world is being in revolt against God. Our Lady said: “The world is rebellious against God, it commits too many sins, it has neither love nor peace. If you do not repent and do not convert your hearts, you will fall into the abyss…. When I tell you this, I am not addressing strictly to you, child, but I am making this appeal to the world. Today, man empties things of their true value. Those who are continually committing sins are doing so without any acceptance that what they are doing is wrong….”
Our Lady went on: “Do not forget that God is more powerful than all the evil in the world…. The world is on the edge of catastrophe. Cleanse your hearts through prayer. The only way is through God. If you do not take refuge in God, where will you hide when the fire has spread everywhere?”
Prayers of the Seven Sorrows of Mary:
Begin by Act of Contrition and for each sorrow pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys)
First: Old man Simeon announced to Mary, a sword will pierce your soul (cf. Luke 2: 25-28)
Second: The flight of Holy family to Egypt (cf. Matthew 2: 13-15)
Third: The lost of the child Jesus in Jerusalem (cf. Luke 2: 43-50)
Fourth: Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross (cf. Lk. 23: 26-31)
Fifth: Mary at the foot of the cross (cf. John 19: 25-27)
Sixth: Mary receives the dead body of her son (cf. John 19: 38-40)
Seventh: The burial of Jesus (cf. Matthew 27: 55-61)
Concluding prayer: “Queen of Martyrs, your soul was greatly troubled in the ocean of suffering. We beg you by the merits of the tears you shed in these terrible sorrowful mysteries, to obtain for us and all sinners of the world, the grace of complete sincerity and repentance. Amen.”
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons