Our Lady of Kibeho, Rwanda

This is an apparition site that I just learned about and wanted to share it on my blog. I am reading Our Lady of Kibeho: Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa by Immaculee Ilibagiza. If you haven't read her other New York Times best-selling books, "Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst of the Rwandan Holocaust" and "Led By Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide", I highly suggest that you go out and get them at your local library or bookstore today. I want others to know about Mary's message to the world from Rwanda. This is the only approved apparition site in Africa, to date.

"The Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to the [visionaries] with the name "Nyina wa Jambo" ("Mother of the Word") synonymous with "Umubyeyl W'iamna" ("Mother of God")." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Kibeho
The dedication of the Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho in 2003. The Church-approved apparitions is turning Kibeho into the "Lourdes of Africa."
http://www.marian.org/amh/story.php?NID=3155

Some of Mary's messages to the world from Africa (before the massacres in Rwanda):

On November 28, 1981, Mary appeared in the corridor of the school that Alphonsine attended. When asked who she was, Mary replied, "I am Mother of the Word. I have heard your prayers. I would like you and your companions to have more faith. Some do not believe enough."

"Although I am the Mother of God, I am simple and humble. I always place myself where you are. I love you as you are. I never reproach my little ones. When a child is without reproach in front of her mother, she will tell her everything that is in her heart. I am grateful when a child of mine is joyful with me. That joy is a most beautiful sign of trust and love. Few understand the mysteries of God's love. Let me as your Mother embrace all my children with love so that you can confide your deepest longings to me. Know that i give all your longings to my Son Jesus, your brother."

"You are distracted by the goods of this world. I have seen many of my children getting lost and I have come to show them the true way."

"Nothing is more beautiful than a heart which offers its suffering to God. Pray, pray, pray. Follow the Gospel of my Son. Do Not forget that God is more powerful than all the evil in the world. Share. Do not kill. Do not persecute. Respect the rights of man because if you act contrary to those rights, you will not succeed and it will come back against you."

Messages Given to Marie-Claire:
"We must meditate on the passion of Jesus and on the deep sorrow of His Mother. We must recite the Rosary and the beads of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady to obtain the grace of repentence."


(Statue of Our Lady of Sorrows in the hermitage church of Warfhuizen, Holland, dressed for October. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Sorrows)
[Prophetically the Church in Kibeho was dedicated to "Our Lady of Sorrows" in 1992, just 2 years before the 'ethnic cleansing' began.]

"The world has turned against God. We must repent and ask for pardon."

Messages Given to Anathalie:
"Wake up, stand up, wash yourselves and look up attentively. We must dedicate ourselves to prayer, we must develop in us the virtues of charity, availability, and humility."

"Return to God, the Source of Living Water."

The visionaries:
Alphonsine Mumureka, who was sixteen years old when the apparitions began, had apparitions of the Blessed Mother from November 28, 1981 to November 28, 1988.

Anthalie Mukamazimpaka, who was seventeen years old when the apparitions began, had apparitions of the Lord Jesus and the Blessed Mother from January 12, 1982 to December 3, 1983.

Marie-Clare Mukangango, who was twenty-one years old when the apparitions began, had fifteen apparitions of the Blessed Mother from March 2, 1982 to December 15, 1982. She died in the summer of 1994 during the ethnic violence occurring in Rwanda.

NOTE: There are four additional individuals who reported having apparitions of Mary at Kibeho, however, at present [their] apparitions and messages have not been approved.

Information from: http://apparitions.pray-with-the-heart.org/Lady_of_Kibeho.html


"The recognition or negation of the authenticity of an apparition does not guarantee infallibility; it is based on proofs of probability more than on apodictic arguments". In the sphere of the apparitions there is then no absolute certainty for the witnesses, except perhaps for the visionary. The definitive judgement about the Apparitions of Kibeho should be interpreted in this spirit. The recognition of these apparitions should not be considered a requirement of faith. Therefore each Christian is free to believe or not.

"A recognized apparition, that strengthens the life of faith and prayer, is certainly a powerful help for Shepherds of souls, but the message linked to this apparition is not a new revelation; it is rather a way of recalling the ordinary teaching of the Church, which has been forgotten".

[From Rev. Ignace Mboneyabo's (Chancellor of the Diocese of Gikongoro) Declaration letter of 29 June 2001] http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/OLKIBEHO.HTM