On May 12, 2019, Pope Francis authorized pilgrimages to Medjugorje considering the “considerable flow of people who go to Medjugorje and the abundant fruits of grace that have sprung from it.” These pilgrimages can now be officially organized by dioceses and parishes even though the authentication of these visions has …

In American Baby Names the meaning of the name Guadalupe is: Wolf valley. Biblical Mary is Mexico’s Lady of Guadalupe.

Ivanković lives in a mansion in Krehin Gradac near Medjugorje. On March 18, 2020 Mirjana Dragićević announced that the Blessed Mother would no longer appear to her at that time, the second of each month.

Van Hoof said the Virgin Mary first appeared to her on Nov. 12, 1949. Her last claim of a public apparition — Oct. 7, 1950 — drew 30,000 people.

A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances over a period of time. However, such miraculous events are not considered the purpose of Marian apparitions, but exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message.

Marian apparitions are generally associated with Catholicism, which has great devotion for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Apparitions often are the object of ridicule. Some may be fraudulent. Most do not get an official church approval, neither from the local bishop or from the Vatican.

While many of the pictures that we see today of Mary holding baby Jesus depict her as a young woman who was probably in her early 20’s, a majority of scholars and historians believe she was most likely between the ages of 12-16 years old when she had Jesus.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.

Mary Magdalene

The other gospels give various indications about the number and identity of women visiting the tomb: John 20:1 mentions only Mary Magdalene, but has her use the plural, saying: “We do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2). Matthew 28:1 says that Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” went to see the tomb.

In medieval Western Christian tradition, Mary of Bethany was identified as Mary Magdalene perhaps in large part because of a homily given by Pope Gregory the Great in which he taught about several women in the New Testament as though they were the same person. Eastern Christianity never adopted this identification.

Subsequently, the legend of Mary Magdalene, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, as a beautiful, vain, and lustful young woman saved from a life of sin by her devotion to Jesus became dominant in western (Catholic) Christianity, although the eastern (Orthodox) church continued to regard Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany …