On December 8, 2010, the first Marian shrine in the United States was approved by the Roman Catholic Church at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion Michigan. David Ricken, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, announced his official approval of the Marian apparitions stating:
“It remains to me now, the Twelfth Bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay and the lowliest of the servants of Mary, to declare with moral certainty and in accord with the norm of the Church: That the events, apparitions and locutions given to Adele Brise in October of 1859 do exhibit the substance of supernatural character, and I do hereby approve these apparitions as worthy of belief (although not obligatory) by the Christian faithful.” [emphasis mine.]
The approved site in Champion joins with others such as–Lourdes, France; Guadalupe, Mexico; and the most famous–Fatima, Portugal.
Since the announcement in December, attendance in Champion has been booming. It is estimated that 500-800 people a day have visited the site since that time.
This Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin was featured in an ABC Nightline program July 13, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. called “Miraculous Mysteries.”
In an interview, Nightline’s co-anchor, Bill Weir asked Bishop Ricken what criteria was used to determine whether an apparition site is legitimate or not, and asked if it could possibly be demonic interference?” In answer, Bishop Ricken first referred to 2 Corinthians 11:14, which indicates that Satan can appear as an angel of light, and then stated “I suppose he (Satan) could even fraudulently imitate the blessed mother.”
According to the same program, another Marian site is currently being considered for approval, a very famous site in Medjugorje, Bosnia. In the early 80′s, six children–Ivan, Marija, Ivanka, Jakov, Vicka, and Mirjana began having daily visits by the Marian Apparition. They were each promised ten secrets regarding the future of the world. The daily visits are still continuing for Ivan, Marija, and Vicka. However, the daily visits ceased for Mirjana, Ivanka, and Jakov once they received the ten secrets.
Because of the fighting between the local Franciscans and the Vatican’s bishop regarding the legitimacy of the apparition and her messages, and also due to the fact that the visionaries claim that the apparition disagrees with the bishop, the Vatican stepped in last year and Pope Benedict XVI sent a commission out to look into Medjugorje.
Dr. Mark Miravalle, a leading Mariologist and one who has investigated other apparition sites for the Church, believes it will pass the Vatican’s test. He stated:
“After 25 or 30 years … the church can have a pretty good idea about whether this is of God, or whether it’s of Satan. The message is very sound. The spiritual fruits are undeniable”
But are the messages from the Marian Apparitions sound? And as Bishop Ricken indicated above, could any or all of the Marian apparitions be demons or Satan himself pretending to be Mary, the mother of Jesus?
Interestingly enough, it is the Marian Apparitions themselves who have provided the answer to these questions…
In many of the messages given by the Marian Apparitions in numerous locations both approved and unapproved, she calls herself the “Queen of Heaven.”
The Queen of Heaven is mentioned several times in the Bible and God makes it very clear that the Queen of Heaven does not have his approval.
Jeremiah 7:18 “The children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me (the LORD) to anger.” (Also see Jeremiah 44:17-19, 25)
Who is the Queen of Heaven?
The Queen of Heaven is just one of many names given the “Goddess of Nature” who has been worshiped from the earliest days to the present, primarily by women.
She is called:
Beltis or Mylitta–by the Babylonians
Ishtar–by the Assyrians
Astarte–by the Phoenicians
Tanata–by the Persians
Isis–by the Egyptians
Shing Moo or Holy Mother–by the Chinese
Aphrodite–by the Greeks
Artemis or Diana–by the Ephesians
Venus–by the Romans
Queen of Heaven– in the book of Jeremiah
It is no coincidence that these Marian Apparitions each call themselves the Queen of Heaven. If the apparitions are truly of Mary the mother of Jesus, and if they have the abilities that are ascribed to the Marian Apparitions, she would certainly not choose a pagan title for herself. So it is apparent that a demonic entity (or entities) is indeed impersonating Mary as Bishop Ricken himself indicated was a possibility–-not just certain ones as he assumes–-but ALL of them.