Apparition of the Virgin Mary

A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The figure is often named after the town where it is reported, or on the sobriquet given to Mary on the occasion of the apparition.

Marian apparitions sometimes are reported to recur at the same site over an extended period of time. In the majority of Marian apparitions only one person or a few people report having witnessed the apparition. Exceptions to this include Zeitoun, Fátima, and Assiut where thousands claimed to have seen her over a period of time.

Some Marian apparitions and their respective global icons have received a Canonical coronation from the Pope, most notably Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Fátima, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Our Lady of Manaoag, Our Lady of the Pillar, Our Lady of Walsingham, and many others.

The term "appearance" has been used in different apparitions within a wide range of contexts and experiences. And its use has been different with respect to Marian apparitions and visions of Jesus Christ.

In some apparitions such as Our Lady of Lourdes an actual vision is reported, resembling that of a person being present. In some of these reports the viewers do not initially report that they saw the Virgin Mary, but that they saw "a Lady" and had conversation with her. In these cases the viewers report experiences that resemble the visual and verbal interaction with a person present at the site. In most cases, there are no clear indications as to the auditory nature of the experience, i.e. whether the viewers heard the voices via airwaves or an "interior" or subjective sense of communication. The 1973 messages of Our Lady of Akita were to Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa who went deaf before 1973 and remained deaf until 1982 when she was cured during Sunday Mass as foretold in her messages.

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