WHY OUR LADY

20TH CENTURY - 1973 - OUR LADY OF AKITA

 

AKITA, JAPAN

VISIONARY: Sister Agnes Sasagawa (43)

NUMBER OF APPARITIONS: 3

FIRST APPARITION: July 6, 1973

LAST APPARITION:  October 13, 1973

​APPROVED: April 22, 1984

 

 ”As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves,

the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity.

It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one never seen before.”

“The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son.

Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary.”

 

 SUMMARY

​

  Our Lady performed her fifth of eleven approved supernatural manifestations in the 20th century by appearing at Akita, Japan, in the diocese of Niigata, where she relayed a message of repentance and prayer (similar to Fatima) to a Japanese religious sister named Sr. Agnes Sasagawa.

 

  Why this city, diocese, and continent, at this time? In all of Japan, there are only 400,000 Catholics. The small convent of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist where Our Lady appeared is part of the small chapel that was built with material taken from an old poultry house. For about four to five months a year, those who inhabit the convent, besides the lack of comfort, are buried under snow. They lead a life of prayer and live a strict vow of poverty, having abandoned all their earthly goods in order to consecrate themselves totally to God. The lifestyle of the women has been the object of criticism and calumny in Japan where industry, output, and accomplishment are the norm. They have been reproached for the amount of time they spend on their knees in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa was a member of the Handmaids of the Eucharist.

 

  On June 12, 1973, Sister Agnes Sasagawa began receiving heavenly visions in a convent located in Akita, Japan. At first she saw angelic beings worshiping the Eucharist, but then on July 6, 1973, Sister Agnes saw a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary speak to her, relaying a powerful message similar to what the three shepherd children received in Fatima, Portugal. The statue soon after began to bleed and tears started to flow down her cheeks. Around 2,000 people witnessed the tears coming from the statue and the liquid was gathered and sent to a laboratory for testing. A professor from the Akita University Department of Biochemistry studied the liquid, as well as a non-Christian forensic specialist, Dr. Kaoru Sagisaka. The blood was confirmed to be of human origin, as were the tears.

 

  The statue wept human tears on 101 separate occasions, beginning January 4, 1975 and ending on September 15, 1981. On September 28, 1981, the invisible angel opened a visible Bible to Genesis 3:15, invited Sr. Agnes to read the passage, and then explained in sort of a preamble how the passage had relationship with the tears of Mary: “There is a meaning to the figure one hundred and one. This signifies that sin came into the world by a woman and it is also by a woman that salvation came to the world. The ‘zero’ between the two signifies the Eternal God who is from all eternity until eternity. The first one represents Eve and the last one the Virgin Mary.”

 

  After a lengthy investigation, the local bishop, John Shoojiroo Ito of Niigata, approved the apparition to be of supernatural origin and “worthy of belief.” When asked by a journalist what was the message of Our Lady of Akita, Bishop John Ito answered: “It is the message of Fatima”.

 

  Father Tatsuya Shimura, author of the first book on the events of Akita said: “The revelations of the Virgin at Akita are exactly the same as those of Fatima, the seriousness of which is admitted by all. They are an urgent warning to mankind in danger of destruction and must not be taken lightly.”

 

  Jesus said, “Fear not those who can kill the body but those who can kill the soul.” And souls are being killed throughout the world today in an age so Godless that even forgiveness may vanish.

 

  Jesus did say to us that we must always forgive, but He also said “Sins against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven.” (Matthew XII, 31-32)

 

  St. Thomas explains that a sin against the Holy Spirit ”...is unforgivable by its very nature, insofar as it excludes the elements through which the forgiveness of the sin takes place” (Summa. IIa-IIae, q. 14, a.3)

 

  In his encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Pope John Paul II says that sins against the Holy Spirit consist “in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit” (St. Paul edition, p.87). And the Pope adds: “If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this non-forgiveness is linked, as to its cause, to non-repentance, in other words to the radical refusal to be converted.” The encyclical explains that specific sins against the Holy Spirit are sins “committed by the person who claims to have a right to persist in evil, in any sin at all, and who thus rejects Redemption.”

 

  Today men are claiming the right to sin: to abortion; to choose artificial means of preventing conception of human life; to deny God’s teaching to children...and we can go on adding to the list of blasphemies against the Holy Spirit, which people continue to do with repentance.

 

  To us, fire over the earth seems an utmost horror. But to God, sins across the earth against the Holy Spirit are a far greater horror, and His Mercy as well as His Justice require a “correction” for the generations still to come. Yet, if God’s Mercy and Justice would require this correction which God has already prepared (according to the message of Akita), then why does Our Lady seek to save us from it?

 

  At Akita (similar to Fatima, Amsterdam, and Garabandal), Our Lady warns the world of a life divorced from God and what harm that can do even in the Church. She warns: “The Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind”. In fact, at Akita, emphasized “The Chastisement is Ready!” But Our Lady also said that so far she has held back the chastisement.

 

  If it is a matter of grave concern that Our Lady predicts fire over the earth a chastisement “worse than the deluge,” is it not a matter of equal concern that Her conditions to mitigate (or perhaps even avoid) this greatest of all chastisements are unknown even by devout souls who would be most likely to respond?

 

  For example, the Akita supernatural events, perhaps the greatest miracles in our lifetime, are often unknown, even in Japan. The policy of keeping the miracles and messages of Akita private in violation of the Blessed Virgin’s instructions has proven to only serve the devil. We have a directive from Heaven to educate people about Fatima and Akita warnings. Complying with this directive would result in filled churches, people regularly going to confession, millions of saved souls, and a supernatural solution for world peace.

 

  We were given a preview of the supernatural fire from heaven when the sun fell from the sky and almost touched the earth in Fatima. However, when we amend our lives, we should look to the future with hope. The message of Fatima, while as serious as the warnings by Johah at Ninevah, is ultimately God’s promise of triumph over evil.

​

BEFORE THE APPARITIONS

 

The Atomic Bomb(s)

 

  On December 7, 1945, Japanese forces launched a devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

 

  August 6, 1945 was the liturgical Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ. On that date, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world’s first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, a city of 200,000 souls. More than 100,000 people were killed instantly and thousands more died months later from the effects of radiation exposure.  The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city. People in Hiroshima within a half-mile of the explosion were seared to bundles of smoking black char in a fraction of a second as their internal organs boiled away. In the testimony of the survivors, they described ghastly scenes of people whose skin hung from them “like a kimono,” and many plunged themselves into the rivers, shrieking in pain.

 

  The bomb exploded half a mile from the Jesuit Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, the church building and eight Jesuit priests stationed there survived. It was one of the few buildings that survived the bomb blast, and they were still alive and well over 30 years later. It was considered inexplicable that, of the hundreds of thousands of people within a radius of one mile of the explosion, they were the only survivors and that none of them was affected by the radiation. Moreover, the parish house, which was only eight houses from the centre of the explosion, remained standing when all the surrounding buildings were completely demolished.

 

  Father Hubert Schiffer, a Jesuit priest, was one of the Jesuit survivors. He and three other fellow Jesuits, Frs. Lasalle, Kleinsore, and Cleslik were in the rectory of the church.

 

  On the morning of August 6, 1945, Father Shiffer had just finished Mass, went into the rectory and sat down at the breakfast table. He had just sliced a grapefruit and put his spoon into the grapefruit when there was a bright flash of light. His first thought was that it was an explosion in the harbor (this was a major port where the Japanese refueled their submarines.)

 

  Then, in the words of Father Schiffer: “Suddenly, a terrific explosion filled the air with one bursting thunderstroke. An invisible force lifted me from the chair, hurled me through the air, shook me, battered me, whirled me ’round and ’round like a leaf in a gust of autumn wind.” The next thing he remembered, he opened his eyes and he was lying on the ground. He looked around and there was nothing in any direction: the railroad station and buildings in all directions were leveled to the ground.

 

  The only harm to him was that he could feel a few pieces of glass in the back of his neck. As far as he could tell, there was nothing else physically wrong with him. Hundreds of thousands were killed or maimed by the explosion. After the conquest of the Americans, their army doctors and scientists explained to him that his body would begin to deteriorate because of the radiation. Many of the Japanese people had blisters and sores from the radiation. To the doctors’ amazement, Father Schiffer and the other priests had no radiation or ill-effects from the bomb. When asked to account for this incredible situation, in which he and his companions were spared, he said: “We believe that we survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed the Rosary daily in that home.”  He feels that they received a protective shield from the Blessed Mother, which protected them from all radiation and ill-effects. (This coincides with the bombing of Nagasaki, where St. Maximilian Kolbe had established a Franciscan Friary which was also unharmed because of special protection from the Blessed Mother, as the brothers, too, prayed the daily Rosary and also had no effects from the bomb).

​

Father Hubert Schiffer died on March 27, 1982, 37 years after that fateful day. He gave his account of the Hiroshima bombing at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976. At the time, all eight members of the Jesuit community from Hiroshima were still alive.

 

  On 9 August 1945, the US dropped the second atomic bomb ever deployed in conflict, hitting the Japanese industrial city of Nagasaki. Six days later, Japan announced its surrender. At least 74,000 people died in the Nagasaki blast or from subsequent injuries.

 

Evangelization of Japan

​

  The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb fell on a neighborhood of Catholic descendants of the Second Evangelization of Japan. The response of this devastated Catholic community was so compassionate, forgiving and loving to all, that the mind-set of Japanese turned toward respect and even openness toward Catholic teaching. An opening was there for a renewed Evangelization of Japan.

 

  The First Evangelization was begun by Saint Francis Xavier on August 15, 1549 (30 years after Cortez brought Christianity to Mexico). These first Christians survived centuries of terrible persecutions as "hidden Christians" of feudal Japan, sustained by their devotion to "Santa Maria," our Blessed Mother Mary, to whom Japan had been consecrated (May 1, 1844) at the start of the Second Evangelization. Our Lord was not slow to responding to this new opportunity. The miraculous sparing of the Cathedral of St. Mary at the very epicenter of the bomb blast was a visible sign of Heaven's initial response.

 

  Bishop Ito, appointed Bishop in 1962 of Niigata Diocese, was alert to the circumstances favoring a Third Evangelization, and sought how to go about it. In 1962, Cardinal Agagianian, head of the Vatican Congregation of Evangelization, counseled Bishop Ito to start by establishing a group of pious Catholic women to assist with the evangelization of his diocese, where the number of priests was very limited.

 

  At that same time, three nuns asked Bishop Ito to approve their founding of a Pious Union. Bishop Ito counseled them to initiate a secular prayer community, with a work focus on preparing converts for baptism, and a prayer focus on daily adoration of Jesus in the exposed Holy Eucharist. After much prayer and consultation, they began informally as the Secular Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist, and in 1963 they began to discern their rules and activities as a religious community under the triple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

 

  Bishop Ito had a sculpture of wood made for the Mother House Chapel, of Our Lady of Akita, based on a small photo of Our Lady of All Nations statue at Amsterdam.

 

​  It was at this Mother House, located on a hillside at Yuzawadai outside of Akita, that the Apparitions of Our Lady of Akita were to take place. Bishop Ito played a key role at every juncture of the Apparition episode, through to its canonical and ecclesiastical approvals.

 

Sister Agnes

​

  The premature birth of Agnes, the visionary of the Apparitions, in May, 1931, left her with a weak constitution, susceptible to all the illnesses afflicting her classmates. The warm, embracing love of her Buddhist family formed her loving, kindly, cheerful personality, and her zest for life and quick intelligence made her an excellent scholar at school.

 

  In May, 1950, at the age of nineteen, Agnes was paralyzed from a botched injection in her spine during an appendectomy operation. For nine years she was transferred from hospital to hospital, undergoing eleven operations and endless treatments and rehabs, always in unremitting excruciating pain. She was moved in 1957 to the Myoko Clinic, where the paralysis gradually abated, over the next two years. She was befriended by the Catholic nurse in charge of her care, who satisfied Agnes's hunger to know all about Jesus, the suffering Savior of the Christians. She felt she wanted to give her suffering to Jesus, so He could make good use of it. The nurse later said about Agnes, "I knew her pain and character. If I had been placed in her position of having to suffer so terribly, I would have committed suicide, unable to endure such extreme pain. Her noble spirit enabled her to endure the Pain."

  Agnes asked to be baptized so she could serve Jesus. Priests came to Agnes to teach her Catechism, and she was baptized in April 1960, upon her release from the Clinic. While regaining her strength at home, she sought a convent to accept her as a novice. Finally a convent of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Nagasaki accepted her, despite her long history of illness, on February 28, 1962.

​

  However, her paralysis returned four months later and she was sent to the Myoko Clinic again. Sr. Agnes later said: "On the evening of the second day (of the four day coma, about June 30, 1962), when a priest gave me the Sacrament of the Sick, I very dearly recited the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Gloria, and the Apostles Creed in Latin, without knowing l did it... If there were not witnesses there, I would not have believed it... My mother recounts that all the time I was praying, my face seemed in a light and my hands were crossed on my breast. As for me, I remember I that l saw a beautiful person in a place which seemed like a pleasant field. This person with a movement of a hand, invited me to approach her. But I was hindered from doing it by people as thin as living skeletons who gripped me.  Looking beyond, I saw a crowd of persons who were fighting each other to reach a level of pure water, but... they fell into a river of dirty water. Filled with compassion...l prayed for them. I said especially the mysteries of the Rosary. Then suddenly I saw on the right side of my bed a gracious person... who began to pray the Rosary with me. After the first decade she added a prayer: ‘Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who are most in need of your mercy.’ (The Fatima Rosary Prayer after each decade) ...surprised, I repeated it after her... She counseled me to add this after each decade... and I never fail to add them after every decade... Later a priest told me this was a Fatima Prayer, not as yet translated into Japanese."

​

  On January 24, 1964 she fell in the clinic and was unconscious for ten days. The convent sent her a bottle of Lourdes healing water. The moment the water was placed in her mouth she regained consciousness and her paralysis ended. This cure took place February 2, 1964. In 1965 she left the clinic and returned home to recuperate.

​

  Agnes was about to return to the convent in April when the French pastor of a new missionary church near the clinic requested that she come to take care of the church, as the sole resident, and act as catechist for the converts. With the permission of the Mother Superior, she accepted the offer and went there April 28, 1965. Her mother visited her often, staying with her at the church, and listening to the lessons taught by Agnes to the converts. Agnes was surprised when her mother said she wanted to be baptized also, and was baptized during 1965. Later her father and elder sister were baptized as well.

 

  Some time in 1969, Agnes heard of and inquired about the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist. Bishop Ito wrote offering her entrance to the Order, and arranged the transfer of Agnes from the IHM order, with permission to remain at the mission church. The transfer was made on August 15, 1969, Feast day of Mary's Assumption. Heaven had now set the stage for the Akita Apparition.

​

  In January, 1973, Sr. Agnes noticed a reduction of hearing in both ears, and on Friday, March 16, 1973, a sudden end of hearing took place. Her ear doctor diagnosed her condition as incurable deafness. He prescribed a rest cure and lip-reading training at the hospital.

 

  During her 44-day stay at the hospital hundreds of converts she had trained and friends she had made visited her. Knowing she couldn't return to work at the mission church, she hoped she could take up a life of prayer at the Mother house. A letter from the Mother Superior proposed she now dwell as a novice there. After a brief visit at home, she arrived at the convent with her mother on May 12, 1973.

 

  The extraordinary events at Akita began on June 12, 1973, when Sr. Agnes saw brilliant mysterious rays emanate suddenly from the tabernacle. Left alone at the convent that day, Sr. Agnes approached the tabernacle to open the door for a time of Adoration. Suddenly a burst of brilliant light came from the tabernacle. Sister Agnes immediately prostrated herself face to the floor and remained an hour this way, held immobile (in ecstasy) by an overwhelming power. When released from this power, she left the chapel to consider what happened. She returned to the chapel to pray near the tabernacle, and nothing happened. She later went to bed telling no one about it. The next morning she approached the tabernacle, and the experience was repeated. Now she was sure - Jesus, present in the Eucharist, had manifested Himself to her!

​

  Two days later, on Thursday, June 14, 1973, a third manifestation of the light occurred, while she was praying with her sisters. This time the tabernacle was covered with flames, and a red flame covered the rays of light, with the extremities of the flame covered with gold. Agnes could only repeatedly adore and give thanks to the Lord. At breakfast she asked the Sisters if they had seen a light at the Tabernacle. The Sister Superior said only Agnes had seen it, so don't speak of it. Agnes nodded agreement.

​

  Two weeks later, on June 24, 1973, the Feast of Corpus Christi, Bishop Ito came to celebrate the Corpus Christi Mass with the sisters. This was the first Mass for them in three weeks, since their resident priest-chaplain-confessor-spiritual director had been relocated. The sisters wondered if he had a new chaplain for them, but he indicated patience was required. He stayed for a week long retreat with them, to speak with each, and offer daily Mass. As founder of the community, he told them, "This community, consecrated to the Blessed Sacrament, should practice in a special way, devotion to the Heart of Christ present in the Eucharist." The Consecration by Bishop Ito had been answered by Jesus in the experience given to Sister Agnes at the tabernacle where the Eucharist is reserved in its

traditional place of honor at the altar.

​

  On Thursday, June 28, 1973, the Eve of the Feast of The Sacred Heart, Sister Agnes was one of the four sisters who after the Mass offered the morning Hour of Adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist before the opened tabernacle. Sr. Agnes later said: "During these days of retreat, I felt myself burning with love for the Lord, filled with the desire to consecrate myself entirely to Him."

 

  The Feast of the Sacred Heart was a special one for this community. At the start of the silent meditation of the Adoration Hour: "Suddenly, the blinding light shone from the Blessed Sacrament. As previously, something like fog or smoke began to gather around the altar and the rays of light. Then there appeared a multitude of beings similar to Angels who surrounded the altar in adoration before the Host...(it was) so brilliant that I could not look at it directly. Closing my eyes, I instinctively prostrated myself...l remained in the same position (in ecstasy) without noticing that the others had left." Later the superioress came and tapped on her shoulder, to ask that she watch the house during their absence.

​

  At 3 o'clock Sr. Agnes brought the Bishop his afternoon tea. She took the opportunity to tell the Bishop about her experiences of the light from the tabernacle. His attitude encouraged her to tell all her thoughts frankly to him. When she finished, she felt a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  Bishop Ito then counseled her, "You know that the Virgin also appeared to the shepherds at Fatima...in your case, we do not know exactly what this may be. So keep silent and continue your life without changing anything. Meditate and pray, before the Blessed Sacrament."

  On Friday, June 29, 1973, while offering the Mass on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Bishop Ito preached on devotion to the Eucharist. In the Adoration Hour following the Mass, at the moment the Rosary began, Sr. Agnes saw on her right side the same person who appeared by her bed when in a coma in July,1962, joining in the Rosary and then disappearing when the Rosary was completed.

​

  During the time of silent prayer, the blinding light burst from the opened tabernacle, in which a multitude of Angels, turned toward the Blessed Sacrament, proclaimed in pure and clear voices "Holy, Holy, Holy." When they finished a voice on Agnes’ right side prayed the Eucharistic Prayer of the Community composed by by Bishop Ito. “Her voice resounded in my ears like a true echo of Heaven. With all my heart I prayed (the prayer) with her, when suddenly appeared a sort of symbol on the back of the Bishop who seemed to be kneeling in front of me. Also, I had a fleeting vision of seven or eight members of our Institute on both sides of the Bishop, holding the red cord of his tunic. These visions disappeared when the prayer was over. I do not remember how long I remained still kneeling (until) the superioress came to tap me on the shoulder. Coming back to myself, I finished the Adoration singing the Ave of Lourdes with her.

 

  I went to the Bishop to tell him of this event. When I asked him if he had a symbol on his habit, he answered he did not. When I spoke of the Chalice and the Host over an "M" he was ) surprised and said ‘That is my Episcopal insignia!’ When I told him of the seven or eight members of the Institute holding the red cord of his tunic, he seemed thoughtful."

​

  The superioress said later she asked Sr. Agnes why she had said the Rosary at the Adoration so slowly, Agnes said, "that she was following the tempo of the Angel."

 

  That night, while praying in the Chapel, Sr. Agnes felt something had pierced the palm of her left hand. This concerned her, because she had never experienced such a pain. She told no one. This was eleven years after the vision of Our Lady on the second day of her four-day coma in June 1962.

 

  The following morning, Saturday, June 30, (now the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) this pain was prolonged during the Mass, and redoubled in intensity during the Adoration Hour. When she left the Chapel, she furtively (so no one could see) spread her fingers, which had been closed tight.  She saw two red scratches crossed as in a cross. The red marks were two centimeters wide and three centimeters long and looked as if they were engraved in the skin. They had a rose color, not repulsive at all, even beautiful. She gently closed her hand into a fist again, and went about her day.

​

  The morning Mass completed the week-long retreat, and Bishop Ito prepared to leave. He called Sister Agnes to his room and told her she could now prepare to take her vows. Delighted in this news by reading his lips, she asked for confirmation in writing which he graciously wrote on a piece of paper. Agnes said later, "My emotion was such that I could hardly find the words to thank him."

​

  That evening the superioress questioned Agnes about her clenched fist. Sister Agnes timidly opened her hand. The superioress exclaimed, "What in the world could that mean?" Agnes offered, "It is truly because of my sins!" Then the superioress chided her why she did not tell the Bishop. Sr. Agnes could only say, "I was afraid," not being able to express her feeling that this new experience was not to be talked about as yet, as she later put it.

​

  On Thursday, July 5, during morning Adoration the Angel returned to accompany Sister Agnes in saying the Rosary. With the Angel present, the praises offered to Jesus became more fervent and heart-felt. In the evening six o'clock communal prayer, her left hand was suddenly pierced with a sharp pain. She barely managed to keep from crying out - the prayer was more important; she managed to continue the prayer with the others. When she left the Chapel, she painfully opened her clenched fist, and found an open hole was at the crossing of the arms of the small cross, from which blood was slowly emerging. In order not to draw attention to herself, she went to the evening meal and ate a bit, without a desire to eat. She quickly returned to her room. To take her mind off the pain, she began her crocheting task. Each movement of the needle was an added prayer, to keep her focused on Jesus, not on the pain.

 

  In the evening she jumped, startled when a tap on her shoulder was made by the superioress. The superioress later explained: "We were to spend the night in one of our convents, but I was preoccupied by the condition of Sr. Agnes, so I returned to our convent. I found her seated on her bed crocheting. At my request she opened her left hand with great difficulty and said with tears in her eyes, ‘It hurts me so, that I took out my work.’ She seemed in agony, “’If I have come to this, it is perhaps that my sins are so grave?’ As for myself, I felt this must have been sent to her by the Lord. ‘It seems to hurt you very much, but try to bear it by thinking of the sufferings of the Lord.’ Excuse us for causing you to bear the consequences of the sins of us all.” The superioress, with the help of another sister, bandaged the wound with gauze, and retired.

 

  “It was now 9 p.m. when the two sisters left the room. I stretched out to sleep, but the pain was such I was incapable of closing my eyes.” Sister Agnes tried everything to rest or sleep, and changed the bandage every so often. Then a thought took form softly in her heart, “What is the matter with you that you are so troubled?” She meditated on all the changes in her life, how graces were given, then taken away - by God! How she did some good - but only by cooperation with His grace and gifts! How much suffering she could stand - because He shared it with her - when she let Him! How she matured in spirituality not by doing the work He gave her to do - but by contemplating Him and His suffering for our salvation! This meditation so engrossed her, that the hours slipped by, and the pain acted only as counter-point to her inspired thoughts.

 

  Toward 3 a.m. the next morning, Saturday, July 6, Sister Agnes related later, “I had just changed the bandage again and was praying. Then I heard...a voice saying”:

 

  “Do not fear. Pray with fervor not only because of your sins, but in reparation for those of all men.

 

  “The world today wounds the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, by its ingratitude and injuries.

 

  “The wounds of Mary are much deeper and more sorrowful than yours.

 

  “Let us go together in the Chapel.”

​

  Agnes dressed quickly and found a huge Angel in the corridor waiting for her, and Agnes noticed she looked similar to her sister who had died six years ago, and called out her sister’s name. The angel shook her head and said: “I am the one who is with you and watches over you.” The Guardian Angel led Agnes to the Chapel, then disappeared again.

 

THE APPARITIONS

 

  On July 6, 1973, Our Lady spoke to Sister Agnes from the statue for the first time. Also on this day other nuns first noticed a wound cross-shaped on the inside of the right hand of the statue of Our Lady. This wound bled human blood on four separate occasions, then on September 23, 1973, it completely disappeared. On that day, when the wound disappeared, the statue began to “sweat” human perspiration.

 

Our Lady’s First Message - July 6, 1973 - Prayer in Reparation; Prayer for the Pope and Clergy

 

  "My daughter, my novice, you have obeyed me well in abandoning all to follow me.

 

  Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Be patient. It is the last trial.

 

  Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins of men.

 

  Each person in this community is my irreplaceable daughter. Do you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist?

 

  Then, let us pray it together."

 

  “As this beautiful voice began the prayer, the Angel reappeared at my side and joined in...I had just said ‘Jesus present in the Eucharist’ when the voice interrupted me, adding: “truly present”...and added: “from now on, you will add TRULY.” Our three voices prayed:

 

  "Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Truly present in Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom."

 

  "Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls."

 

  "Most holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen."

 

  When the prayer was finished, the Heavenly Voice said:

 

  "Pray very much for the Pope, Bishops, and Priests. Since your Baptism you have always prayed faithfully for them. Continue to pray very much...very much. Tell your superior all that passed today and obey him in everything that he will tell you. He has asked that you pray with fervor."

 

  The Angel began a familiar prayer, which Sister Agnes recited. Then Sister Agnes raised her head from the floor. The statue had returned to its normal aspect, and the Angel was not visible. When she got up, she found a sister was praying at the altar. It was 5:10 a.m., hour for Lauds prayer. Sister Agnes thought she saw a red mark in the right hand of the statue, but said nothing as the sisters came in for Lauds hour.

 

  Later someone asked Sister Agnes the difference between the beautiful voices of Mary and the Angel. Sister Agnes reflected a moment and said: “The voice of the Angel resembles a song, and that of Mary a prayer.”

 

  On August 3, 1973, Our Lady spoke from the statue to Sister Agnes the second time and gave warnings of a terrible chastisement by fire which is to befall humankind to show God’s anger caused by the gravity and multitude os sins committed by mankind. Our Lady pleads for prayer, penance and sacrifice to soften God’s anger and in reparation for the sins of mankind.

 

Our Lady’s Second Message - August 3, 1973 (First Friday) - Prayer, Penance, Sacrifice, Warning of Chastisement

 

  "My daughter, my novice, do you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to you."

 

  "It is very important...You will convey it to your superior."

 

  "Many men in this world afflict the Lord.

 

  “I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father.

 

  “Further, I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates.

 

  "In order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind.

 

  “With my Son I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Heavenly Father.

 

  “I have prevented the coming of Chastisement by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him, forming a cohort of victim souls overflowing with love.

 

  “Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father's anger. I desire this also from your community...that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men.

 

  “Recite the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its meaning; put it into practice; offer (all) in reparation (whatever God may send) for sins. Let each one endeavor, according to capacity and position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord."

 

  "Even in a secular institute prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching to much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master."

 

  "Is what you think in your heart true? Are you truly decided to become the rejected stone?

 

  “My novice, you who wish to belong without reserve to the Lord, to become the spouse worthy of the Spouse, make your vows knowing that you must be fastened to the Cross with three nails. These three nails are poverty, chastity, and obedience. Of the three, obedience is the foundation.

 

  “In total abandon, let yourself be led by your superior. He will know how to understand you and to direct you."

 

  On October 13, 1973, on the 56th Anniversary of the Great Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Our Lady said: “If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.” Our Lady was pleading for prayer, repentance and sacrifice to soften God’s anger and in reparation for the sins of mankind.

 

Our Lady’s Third Message - October 13, 1973 - Pray the Rosary; Warning of Chastisements

 

  "My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior."

 

  After a short silence: "As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity.

 

  “It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never seen before.

 

  “Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead.

 

  “The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and priests.  The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...Churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them. With courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation."

 

  "It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community." And She smiled and then said: "You have still something to ask? Today is the last time that I will speak to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you (Father Yaduda) and your superior."

 

  "Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in me will be saved."

 

  This final message of Mother Mary at Akita seems to repeat the final messages at both Fatima and Garabandal, but with more explicit detail of the causes and the severity of the punishment by God of an unbelieving, unrepentant humanity, if the last warnings of Our Lady are not heeded during the remaining years of these Latter Days. Our Lady weeps for those who will be lost.

 

Signs and Extraordinary Events

 

  Each of these signs and extraordinary events occurred following the first message from Our Lady on July 6, 1973, and prior to the third and last message on October 13, 1973.

 

Wound in the Statue’s Hand

 

  July 7, 1973 - When the community returned from morning Mass at a nearby convent, Sister Agnes and three other sisters witnessed the statue showing a mark of a wound in its right hand, identical to the wound Sister Agnes had on her left hand. The statue’s wound also had a slight sign of blood on it.

 

  During the day, the wound changed gradually, progressing from a thin line on the surface, to a wider line etched into the wood, and later the area around the wound took on the look of human skin, with the wound now appearing as two open slits in the skin in the shape of a cross, with blood beginning to flow out of the wound.

 

  The Bishop was informed of the event the next day, and he required silence by every sister, and asked all to treat Sister Agnes in a perfectly normal manner, while she was to go about her normal tasks. The wound on the hand of the statue dried its blood the night of the first bleeding. The sisters showed a new fervor in prayer, due to their deepened awareness of her (Our Lady) suffering for the sins of her children.

 

  July 12, 1973 - Thursday - The wound in the statue’s hand bled a second time with a thin surface of blood flowing down on a finger to its tip, where it stopped. Sister Agnes felt a resurgence of pain and blood flow in her wound in the evening.

 

  July 19-20, 1973 - Thursday-Friday - The same events of the previous Thursday and Friday were repeated, except on Friday the pain was more violent, and she could not sew nor do kitchen work due to her wet hand.

 

  July 24, 1973 - Tuesday - Bishop Ito came for a visit. He heard the accounts of the events by the novice Superior, examined first Agnes’ wound, then the wound on the statue. Both wounds were dry, as they always were except for Thursday through Friday. He heard a full report by Sister Agnes who made detailed notes of every incident in order to help her memory.

 

  July 26, 1973 - Thursday - Bishop Ito knelt before the statue with a sister on each side, at 3 p.m., reciting the Rosary, on the Feast Day of St. Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary. The wound on the hand of the statue began a large collection of blood with a somber color. Sister Agnes cried out, “Such a quantity of blood! What does it mean?” While saying the Rosary, her left hand jerked with onset of  pain which surprised her since this usually happens at 9 p.m. on Thursdays.

 

  During 5 p.m. Mass, a fierce pain at the wound center overwhelmed her, and the effort to suppress a loud dry made her sweat heavily. She prayed repeatedly, “Holy Mary, come to my help.” The Bishop observed the widened, deeper hole and advised her to go to the hospital if it gets worse.

 

  July 27, 1973 - Friday (Feast of St. Pantaleon) - At morning Mass, the pain in Sister Agnes’ wound reached its zenith. She wondered if the hole had pierced through! After the Mass she went to the Bishop to show him the wound. Then it was realized that not once has a drop of blood soiled the floor of the chapel, from either of the two wounds! It seems something congealed the blood at the very edge of the hand, where it stayed until taken up in a gauze by a sister.

 

  At 2:30 p.m., Sister Agnes experienced a terrific pain, and fled to the Chapel for solace, where she prostrated herself. Immediately she heard the voice of the Guardian Angel sound in her:

 

  “Your suffering will end today. Carefully engrave in your heart the thought of the Blood of Mary. The blood shed by Mary has a profound meaning!

 

  “This precious blood was shed to ask for your conversion, to ask for Peace, in Reparation for the ingratitude and the outrages toward the Lord.

 

  “As with devotion to the Sacred Heart, apply yourself to devotion to the Most Precious Blood. Pray in reparation for all men.

 

  “Say to your superior that the (your) blood shed today is for the last time. Your pain also ends today. Tell them what happened today. He will understand all immediately. And you, observe his directions.”

 

NOTE: A mystery of Blessed Mother Mary’s Co-Redemption and Co-Reparation is indicated here by the Angel, as is foretold by St. Luke in Col. 1:24. That Mother Mary today suffers blood shed in the crucifix-like wound in her right hand, when her priest-sons place a Communion Host in the hand of a communicant, to repair for this recent practice, illustrates her ongoing mission of offering reparation for our sins. That Sister Agnes bleeds in her left hand, which received the Eucharist from the priest, indicates she was sharing the pain and blood-letting of Our Lady, for reparation of this outrage.

 

  The angel smiled and disappeared. Immediately, the pain vanished. The blood and her wound also vanished. No sign of the wound was visible. Quickly, Sister Agnes looked at the statue and the wound was still there and was bleeding again. Sister Agnes thought of the unbearable pain she felt from her wound-hole which was not much wider that a nail, versus how much more pain did Our Lord feel when His crucifixion spikes made a hole as large as a finger, and how much pain Mary is still experiencing for the sins of her children.

 

Vision of the Angels

 

  August 2, 1973 (Feast of the Guardian Angels) - During the morning Mass by Bishop Ito, at the time of the Consecration, the dazzling light shone forth from the tabernacle. At the same time the outline appeared of the Angels arranged in a semi-circle around the altar, kneeling with their backs to us. There were eight Angels, enveloped in white light and garment. They were adoring the Blessed Sacrament in the opened tabernacle.

 

  “At the moment of communion my Guardian Angel...(accompanied me) to the altar. I then clearly saw the Guardian Angels of each sister...close to their left shoulders, of a height smaller than each. Like my Guardian Angel, they gave the impression of guiding and watching over them with sweetness and affection. This scene in itself opened my eyes to the profound meaning of the Guardian Angel...After dinner I gave the complete account of this vision to the Bishop. There were eight angels there.., while we were seven. With the Bishop, it made eight.” Agnes felt the vision of the Angels was meant to show the example of adoration, and to reveal their readiness to lead us to the Lord.

 

Burning Odor

 

  August 3, 1973 - Following the second message of Our Lady received earlier in the day, Sister Agnes was awakened by the Angel crying loudly “Get Up! Get Up!” A strange burning odor came from the corridor. Following the smell, she came to the kitchen and found a red-hot metal kettle on the stove. She turned off the gas and threw a pan of water on the kettle. A little longer, and the kitchen could have caught fire. This was the first instance of her Angel taking care of the community, and was followed by others, over the years.

 

Light, Perspiration and Perfume from the Statue

 

  September 29, 1973 (Feast of St. Michael) - After the community returned from attending Mass at a parish church for the Feast of Saint Michael, Sister Agnes and a companion prayed a Rosary in the Chapel. Beginning the fifth decade, they saw a dazzling light emanated from the hands and garment of Our Lady of Akita. Finishing the Rosary, they approached the statue and found that the wound, which had remained since the last blood flow on July 27, had disappeared. They agreed to say nothing until they notified the Bishop.

 

  That evening, at community prayers, they statue burst with light, and began streaming, as though with perspiration - seen by everyone. Sister Agnes saw the angel by her, who said: “Mary is even sadder than when she shed blood. Dry the perspiration!”

 

  The sisters brought a sack of cotton cloths and with great care and devotion sponged the perspiration again and again, for the perspiration kept coming, especially from the forehead and neck. All the pieces of cotton became soaked, and they had to wring them hard to reuse them.

 

  The community took time for a quick supper and returned to the drying task. Suddenly, one sister said her cotton had a wonderful fragrance. The others found theirs did also. They wondered if this sweet fragrance was from Paradise. The following morning when they entered the Chapel, they were enveloped in the delicious fragrance. Their grief of the previous day gave way to comforting peace and joy, which shone in all the faces of the sisters. Our Lady had now brought the entire community into the shared suffering and sadness she first had shared with Sister Agnes. The sweet fragrance persisted in the Chapel.

 

Sweet Fragrance

 

  October 7, 1973 - The entire community seemed in the maternal embrace of Mary and lifted up in a spontaneous transport of love to the Lord. Sister Agnes was so happy and hoped that the fragrance would continue for the whole month of the Rosary. Immediately, the Angel appeared at her right, lightly shaking her head, and said:

 

  “Only until the 15th. After which you will no longer be able to experience this fragrance on earth. You also amass merits, as so many delicate perfumes. In bending all your efforts to thus, under the protection of Mary, you will succeed.” She then disappeared.

 

  The fragrance continued till the 15th. It was especially strong and sweet on the 3rd, the Feast of St. Terese of Lisieux, and the 15th, the last day, as the Angel foretold.

 

AFTER THE APPARITIONS (MESSAGES)

 

Signs and Extraordinary Events

 

  Each of these signs and extraordinary events occurred following the third and last Message from Our Lady:

 

Perfume

 

  October 15, 1973 (Feast of St. Theresa of Avila) - This day was made memorable for the Community by the exuberant increase in the wonderful fragrance that they had been experiencing since September 29. The delightful perfume penetrated everything, until it ended this day, as promised.

 

Stench

 

  October 16, 1973 - The next day was equally memorable from the horrible stench that filled the Chapel. It was so indescribable; it seemed to come from another world. The Sisters could not find the source of the stench. They were forced to pray “Lauds” while suppressing disgust.

 

Worm

 

  October 16, 1973 - When their Rosary was over and a sister got up to put out the candles, she was startled to see a repulsive small worm on her neighbor’s lap. When she looked on her lap she saw a grain of something like rice. And so it went with all the sisters as they would see a horrid worm on their neighbor’s lap, but only an innocent grain on theirs. They soon agreed that the seventeen days of the beautiful fragrance of Mary, who was free from sin, was contrasted with, when the fragrance ended, the bad odor of us, born in sin. Are we not miserable worms, when the Grace of God is taken away? The worms appeared only once, but the foul odor laster three days!

 

Angel’s Message for the Bishop

 

  November 4, 1973 - Bishop Ito came for his usual visit. Sister Agnes told him all that happened beginning with October 13, using her diary notes. The following morning the Angel appeared after Communion to say:

 

  “Your superior is getting ready to request from Rome the official recognition of your Institute which he had desired for a long time. Announce that there will be many obstacles, but it will please the Holy Father to grant it, because Mary had encouraged him to love poverty and to accomplish acts of reparation.”

 

Dream of the Snow Burden on the Roof

 

  January 30, 1974 - The heaviest snowfall on record took place on this night. Sister Agnes awoke three times from a dream of the roof collapsing under the weight of the snow, which she was trying to hold up with her arms, exhausting all her strength. In her dream her Angel came to help her when her arms were about to fail, and helped hold the roof up each time. She awoke panting for breath, her arms sore covered with perspiration, assuming it was only a dream.

 

  In the morning she voiced her concern about the roof to a sister who went outside to look at it. She found the roof had sagged a great deal, except over where Sister Agnes slept. She phoned for help and two men came to unburden the roof. A catastrophe had been averted! Sister Agnes was thoroughly exhausted, had difficulty breathing, her arms and legs were sore and stiff, so she was excused from tasks that afternoon. When the roof was repaired later, the carpenter found 42 beams were broken, but over Sister Agnes’ room none were broken.

 

A Garden Consecrated to Mary

 

  April, 1974 - In late April, Father Yasuda sensed that “A Garden of Mary” would be a precious help for the community. He had initiated one in his previous church. He proposed this project to the community, who were delighted, and obtained the approval of the Bishop.

 

  May 1, 1974 - On the Feast Day of St. Joseph, Father Yasuda began the Mass by honoring St. Joseph and said we ask his very special intercession for the realization of the Garden of Mary, and celebrated the Mass for this intention. After morning Adoration, Sister Agnes told Father Yasuda that the Angel had brought her a message:

 

  “The intention which you offer in unity with the one who directs you is good, and pleasing to the Lord and His Holy Mother. The more you offer this good intention, the more difficult and numerous will be the obstacles. But today, you have asked for the protection of St. Joseph, in a same union of prayer. This prayer is very pleasing to Jesus and Mary: It will be heard. Saint Joseph will protect your work. To overcome the obstacles, pray; with confidence, in interior unity.”

 

  The Angel added, “It is rather a shame that there is no exterior sign here in honor of St. Joseph. Ask him who directs you to do this when you can, even if it is not right away.”

 

  After this was made known, a statue of St. Joseph was placed in the Chapel. Plans for the garden began to grow and elaborate from the initial concept of the priest, “of Mary standing tall in the middle of Japan.”

 

  May 30, 1974 - The community and the priest were in the Chapel, on the eve of the Feast of the Visitation and the inauguration of “The Garden of Mary” when suddenly they saw the statue of Our Lady changing. The face’s color took on a ruddy hue, similar to a woman blushing with joy. They the hands and feet took on this color. Father Yasuda led the community in continuing silent prayer, while watching the changeover of color slowly manifest.  They felt the wood statue was coming to life, bathed in joy.  This color was to remain for many years to come.  The community felt that Our Lady was blushing with joy at the start of the garden.