WHY OUR LADY
SIGN
The word sign can be used either as a noun or as a verb. Truly, is there any word that is used on a
daily basis more routinely or commonly than the word sign?
Here are just a few examples of the use of the word sign: sign in, sign out, sign off, sign up, stop sign, yield sign, speed limit sign, neon sign, bad sign, good sign, sign of the times, sign of the cross, sign
language, sign (speak/translate), enter sign, exit sign, deer sign, no sign, no sign of life, sign from God, etc. etc. etc. So, for sure, the word sign is a very common and important word in our vocabulary.
Our Lady has been appearing on earth for hundreds of years, in possibly hundreds of apparitions, even though the number of “approved” apparitions is relatively small. However, each of her apparitions is important because she is our mother, our Blessed Mother, and the Mother of God. Each apparition is a sign, and the word sign appears frequently throughout her apparitions.
Here are two examples of Our Lady’s use of the word sign in her apparitions at Medjugorje:
March 18, 2015 - Apparition to Mirjana: “Dear children! With a full heart I am asking you, I am
imploring you children: cleanse your hearts of sin and lift them up to God and to eternal life. I am
imploring you: be vigilant and open for truth. Do not permit for all that is of this earth to distance you from the true cognition of the contentment in the communion with my Son. I am leading you on the way of true wisdom, because only with true wisdom can you come to know true peace and the true good. Do not waste time asking for signs of the Heavenly Father, because He has already given you the greatest sign, which is my Son. Therefore, my children, pray so that the Holy Spirit can lead you into truth, can help you to come to know it, and through that knowledge of the truth that you may be one with the Heavenly Father and with my Son. That is the cognition which gives happiness on earth and opens the door of eternal life and infinite love. Thank you. ”
October 2, 2018 - Apparition to Mirjana: “Dear children, I am calling you to be courageous and to not grow weary, because even the smallest good - the smallest sign of love - conquers evil which is all the more visible. My children, listen to me so that good may overcome, so that you may come to know the love of my Son. This is the greatest happiness - the hands of my Son that embrace, of Him who loves the soul, of Him who has given Himself for you and is always giving Himself anew in the Eucharist, of Him who has the words of eternal life. To come to know His love, to follow in His footsteps, means to have a wealth of spirituality. This is the wealth which gives good feelings and sees love and goodness everywhere.
Time and time again Our Lady is asked for a sign to prove that she is who she said she is. For example, before her apparitions at Mexico City as Our Lady of Guadalupe, the local Bishop asked for a sign that his earnest prayers for help were favorably received, and the next day his prayers were answered. On December 8, 1531, Bishop Zumarraga did what a man of faith does when facing a desperate situation: he fell to his knees and poured out prayer after prayer to the Mother of God asking her to intervene, to avert the uprising and to quell the exploitation of the natives that was frustrating his responsibility to protect them. He secretly asked Our Lady to send him some fresh-cut Castilian Roses, of the colors he had grown in Spain, as a sign his prayer was favorably received. And, within a few days, Juan Diego arrived with the sign, his tilma with Our Lady’s miraculous image on it, and filled with Castilian Roses, which immediately convinced the bishop that Juan Diego was truthful in what he had been telling him.
Each of Our Lady’s apparitions is a sign, too often overlooked. But, a sign of what? The answer to this question is given very succinctly in many of Our Lady’s messages at Medjugorje, including these two messages:
December 25, 2015 - Apparition to Jakov: “Dear children! All these years that God permits me to be with you are a sign of the immeasurable love which God has for each one of you and a sign of how much God loves you. Little children, how many graces the Most High has given to you and how many graces he desires to give to you. But, little children, your hearts are closed and live in fear, and do not permit Jesus to have His love and His peace overcome your hearts and to begin to reign in your lives. To live without God means to live in darkness and never to come to know the Father’s love and His care for each of you. Therefore, little children, today in a special way pray to Jesus that as of today your life may experience a new birth in God and become a light which will radiate from within you, and thus that you may become witnesses of God's presence in the world to every person who lives in darkness. Little children, I love you and daily intercede before the Most High for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
May 2, 2019 - Apparition to Mirjana: “Dear children, with a motherly love I am calling you to respond to the great love of my Son, with pure and open hearts, with complete trust. I know the greatness of His love. I carried Him within me, the Host in the heart, the light and the love of the world. My children, also my addressing you is a sign of the love and tenderness of the Heavenly Father - a big smile filled with the love of my Son, a call to eternal life. Out of love, the Blood of my Son was shed for you. That Precious Blood is for your salvation, for eternal life. The Heavenly Father created man for eternal happiness. It is not possible for you who know the love of my Son and who follow Him to die. Life triumphed; my Son is alive. Therefore, my children, apostles of my love, may prayer show you the way and the means of spreading the love of my Son - prayer in the most exalted form. My children, also when you strive to live the words of my Son, you are praying. When you love the people whom you meet, you are spreading the love of my Son. It is love that opens the doors of Paradise. My children, from the beginning, I prayed for the Church. Therefore, I am also calling you, apostles of my love, to pray for the Church and her servants - for those whom my Son called. Thank you.”
Signs meant to guide us, or inform us, or even comfort us are everywhere we look, including
directional signs, evidential signs, and prophetical signs.
Directional signs
“Directional” signs enable us to get to a particular destination. The Holy Bible is a great directional sign given to us by God who is its author to lead us to eternal life with Him in Heaven. The divinely revealed realities, which are contained and presented in the text of Sacred Scripture, have been written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s plan of salvation for mankind, always relevant to people of every nation and culture. Our Lady strongly encourages us to read the Bible at least 15 minutes/day. And, Our Lady has also given us many different “directional” signs in her apparitions.
Most people may not look at prayer as a directional sign even though prayer is one of the keys to heaven. For example, here are three such directional signs given to lead us to Heaven:
Prayer
1. Our Lady has promised: “For those who are faithful to recite the Rosary prayer shall have, during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plentitude of His graces. At the moment of death, they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.”
2. Our Lady has promised “to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the First Saturday of five successive months, go to confession and receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary prayer and keep Me company for a quarter of an hour while
meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to Me.”
3. Our Lady has promised “To any soul who faithfully prays the Three Hail Marys I will appear at
the hour of death in a splendor of beauty so extraordinary that it will fill the soul with Heavenly
consolation.”
At Medjugorje on June 2, 2019, Our Lady said ...My children, apostles of my love, I am teaching you that my Son is not only asking for continuous prayers, but also for works and feelings - that you believe, that you pray, that with your personal prayers you grow in faith, that you grow in love. To love each other is what He asks for - that is the way to eternal life...
Conversion
At Medjugorje on August 25, 2009, Our Lady said: “Dear children! Today I call you anew to conversion. Little children, you are not holy enough and you do not radiate holiness to others, therefore, pray, pray, pray and work on your personal conversion, so that you may be a sign of God’s love to others. I am with you and leading you towards eternity, for which every heart must yearn. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Mass
At Medjugorje on April 25, 1988, Our Lady said: “Dear children! God wants to make you holy. Therefore, through me He is inviting you to surrender. Let holy mass be your life. Understand that the church is God’s palace, the place in which I gather you and want to show you the way to God. Come and pray.
And there are many, many more such directional signs given to us by Our Lady at her apparitions. We encourage all to study read and study about Our Lady’s apparitions, and to find and follow the
many directional signs that she has given us.
Evidential signs
“Evidential” signs provide us with evidence of something that has happened already. Let’s look at some of the evidential signs of Our Lady’s apparitions that have been left for us:
· The miraculous image left on Juan Diego’s tilma by Our Lady of Guadalupe.
· The healing springs left for us by Our Lady of La Salette, and Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady of Gietrzwald, and Our Lady of Castelpetroso, and Our Lady of Banneux, and Our Lady of
Medjugorje, and Our Lady of Itapiranga.
· The incorrupt bodies found following apparitions by Our Lady of Quito, and Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady of Fatima.
· Significant conversions resulting from apparitions by Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Our Lady of Lourdes, and Our Lady of Gietrzwald, and Our Lady of Castelpetroso, and Our Lady of Beauraing, and Our Lady of Banneux.
· The beautiful shrines, churches, and chapels built following Our Lady’s apparitions.
Prophetical signs
“Prophetical” signs reflect something that is yet to happen. Our Lady has prophesied to us that certain events would be happening in the near future at the following three apparition sites, and that a permanent sign would be left at each.
1. A highlight of the apparitions at Garabandal (1961-1965) was the four supernatural events
foreshadowed for the world. One of these events was a permanent sign...something that has never
been seen before upon the earth that will remain forever in the ‘Pines’ of Garabandal. It will be of
supernatural origin and something that people can see but not touch. Conchita has written: “A sign of the Miracle (un senal del milagro) which will be possible to film or televise, will remain forever (para siempre) at the Pines.”
2. At Medjugorje (1981-present), 10 secrets have been given to be released at a future date (perhaps one day very soon). All six visionaries have described the third secret as a permanent, indestructible, and beautiful sign to be left on Apparition Hill at the site of Our Lady’s first apparition. Before this visible sign is given to mankind, there will be three warnings to the world. The warnings will be in the form of events on earth. Mirjana will be a witness to them and her witness will be a continuation of the apparitions and a stimulus for the conversion of the world.
3. At Itapiranga (1994-Present), Our Lady told Edson that she will leave a sign visible to all on the Mount of the Cross next to the chapel in Itapiranga. Her exact words were: “Beloved son, I wish to tell you this afternoon and to tell all my children the importance to live the messages. For those who do not believe, I wish to tell them that one day, where the Cross is, I will give a visible sign, and all will believe in my maternal presence here at Itapiranga, but it will be too late for those who have not converted. The conversion has to be now! In all the places where I have already appeared and continue to appear, I always confirm my apparitions so that there will be no doubts, and here in Itapiranga, my Heavenly manifestations will be confirmed. This will happen when my apparitions here in Itapiranga will end. All will see the sign given in the Cross; they will repent of not having listened to me, for having laughed at my messages, at at my messengers, but it will be too late because they have dissipated my graces. They have lost the occasion to be saved. Pray, pray, pray!
Edson explained: “When the sign comes to the world and is left on the Cross, the time of conversion will end and all humanity must suffer great calamities and punishments that will devastate it as has
never happened from the creation of the world.” Let us open our hearts to God and let us make a
sincere decision to convert.
The Cross - A Sign of Victory and Hope
March 18, 2018 - Apparition to Marija: “Dear children! I am calling you to be with me in prayer in this time of grace when darkness is fighting against the light. Pray, little children, confess and begin a new life in grace. Decide for God and He will lead you towards holiness; and the cross will be a sign of victory and hope for you. Be proud that you are baptized and grateful in your heart that you are a part of God’s plan. Thank you for having responded to my call.”