At the time of the civil war and genocide of 1994, she remained at Kibeho, at the scene of two terrible massacres. It was of a woman calling herself "Mother of the Word". After the creation of the Diocese of Gikongoro in 1992, everything connected with the apparitions of Kibeho was transferred to the new diocese led by Mons. After graduation, Marie-Claire spent years spreading devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. After her graduation from theology with a specialization in catechesis in June 2003, she entered the monastery Sainte Claire in Abidjan (Poor Clares). "Without the effort to love God, one becomes mediocre," pope tells new cardinals, Mongolians fear for their cultural heritage, Pope Francis, Cardinal Becciu and the importance of transparency, Charities in the United States brave pandemic to provide Thanksgiving meals to poor. Katoris background as a journalist and an actor bring a rare sensibility to her plays, which combine a reporters eye for a good story and historical detail together with an understanding of how to craft characters that only an actor can experience. Survivors of the tragedy describe burning churches, streets clotted with corpses, starving livestock, mass graves, lost orphans and famine and disease everywhere the very things described by the three girls when recounting their terrible visions. She justifies this by referring to personal messages from the Blessed Virgin, whom she calls "Umubyeyi", mother. Marie Claire and Elie formed a happy couple. At the time of the apparitions she attended Grade 4 of the elementary level at Kibeho College. When Alphonsine's story was mocked by other students, she asked Mary to appear to others, so that they might believe. Following her studies, Marie Claire Mukangango became a teacher. Though Anathalie couldnt see anyone, she was confident that it was the Blessed Mother who was speaking to her: My child, you must pray, for the world is in a horrible way; people have turned from God and the love of my Son, Jesus.6 Our Lady then asked Anathalie if she would help save souls, adding that she would suffer much if she accepted the mission. As they began their attack, Alphonsine suddenly fell to the ground and stared at the ceiling in the same way she had done on the previous day. Her mother, Immaculate Mukarasana, died some a few years after the genocide of 1994. The exact date and circumstances of their death are not (yet) elicited. This email address is being protected from spambots. She recounted to her eager listeners her experience of a dark place of despair and another place full of laughter and joyous voices ringing praises to God. \rDans la suite elle fut admise lInstitut Suprieur de catchse dAbidjan affili lUniversit Catholique dAfrique de lOuest. Colleagues, neighbours, friends and even family members slaughtered one another. The two commissions completed their investigation twenty years after their creation. Then, on March 1, 1982, Marie-Claire fainted while walking in the gardens. Their message is in conformity with the Sacred Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church. Alphonsine Mumureke, happy to see the Mother of the Saviour Alphonsine Mumreke, the first seer of Kibeho, is 17 years old, and is in her first year at the secondary school of Kibeho. Pray my Seven Sorrows rosary to find repentance, she said, charging Marie-Claire with the distinctive mission of propagating this chaplet.9. After Marie Claire, the third visionary in the chronology of the apparitions of Kibeho, there were several other girls and one boy, all of them of different age and various levels of education. 341 Butare / RwandaCentral AfricaThis email address is being protected from spambots. Public are those apparitions that take place in the presence of various testimonies, which does not necessarily mean a crowd. Average annual rainfall is about 40 inches (100 cm); the country is also blessed with an abundant water supply from a number of rivers and lakes. Our Lady exhorted them to pray always and to teach others to pray with greater zeal and purity of heart. When His Excellency was still an abbot, he was providentially selected as a spiritual guide in the early stages of the apparitions. But it was the Virgin Mary's alleged appearance to a third student, Marie Claire Mukangango, that convinced a lot more people that something extraordinary was indeed happening. It was not long before most of the girls believed in the apparitions, but the school authorities wondered if the devil was the instigator of all these mysterious events. She asked the seers to promote and pray the Chaplet of Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. The two commissions worked according to the "Norms for Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations", published by the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith on February 24th, 1978 in Rome. Marie-Claires confrontations and outright hecklings intensified; she had the effrontery to test Alphonsine during the apparitionspulling her hair, twisting her fingers, pinching her, screaming in her ears, shining a flashlight in her eyesbut the seer never flinched. Calming down a little, she went into the dining hall to serve. When she awoke from her stupor, she saw her classmates staring at her; when they all excitedly questioned her, she started to cry because she realized that Our Lady had departed. And everywhere there was blood, flies.13. Increasingly distressed by the unrelenting attacks, Alphonsine begged Our Lady to appear to other girls in order that they would believe her. The Bishop of Gikongoro wrote a letter of recommendation to Cardinal Agr and, following the advice of Father Basile, Alphonsine left the Business School to join the Catechetical School, affiliated to the Catholic University of West African in Abidjan. It would be imprudent to somehow "canonize"the visionaries of Kibeho while still alive. She successfully completed her secondary school education in July 1983 at Kibeho College with a diploma (level A3) which qualified her for primary school teaching. I am concerned with and turning to the whole world. Discrimination and struggles between these two classes persisted through the 1990s, as the Tutsis were being excluded from public service and military jobs. The personal transformation of the seers (who passed all the criteria established by the Church), as well as many documents and investigations, were carefully examined. OUR LADY OF KIBEHO IN RWANDA THE BVM APPEARED TO THREE GIRLS, ALPHONSINE , NATHALIE AND MARY CLAIRE, WHO WERE ENROLLED IN KIBEHO HIGH SCHOOL FROM 1981 THROUGH 1989. At 1630 hrs the RPA fired warning shots and nine more IDPs were killed in the resulting stampede. Editions of the Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho, The Shrine, Our Lady of Kibeho: her actual life and perspectives for the future, Declaration of the Bishop of Gikongoro bearing the final judgement on the events of the "Apparitions of Kibeho". The longest series of visions were attributed to Alphonsine Mumureke, who had received the initial vision shortly after her admittance into Kibeho High School in October 1981 after her primary education, and the last on November 28, 1989.. In this Declaration, the Bishop of Gikongoro specifies without meandering: 1 . The executions spread like wildfire throughout the country. Aprs y avoir obtenu un baccalaurat en thologie, en juin 2003, elle est entre dans un monastre des Clarisses dAbidjan. Mary identified herself to Alphonsine as "the Mother of the Word.". The mentioned commissions produced numerous reports which were submitted to the Bishop of the Diocese of Butare to which Kibeho still belonged at that time. Others asked her for proof to support her story. Our Lady promised special graces to those who meditate on her sorrows. Only the three initial testimonies merit being considered authentic; they were given by Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, and by Marie Claire Mukangango. Alphonsine Mumureke was born on March 21st, 1965 in Cyizihira, in the parish of Zaza, Diocese of Kibungo as the daughter of Thadde Gakwaya and Mary Immaculate Mukarasana. When asked about her future plans at the time of the apparitions, Alphonsine used to express her wish to join the religious congregation of the Benebikira Sisters. However, the superiors of this congregation hesitated to accept her since the question of the authenticity of the apparitions had not yet been clarified by the church authorities. The dissension between the Hutus and the Tutsis was essentially a class struggle, and not a tribal conflict,1 as is often believed. As visionary, Marie Claire is especially known for the message concerning the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary which goes hand in hand with an urgent call to repentance: Repent, repent, repent! The Virgin appeared to them with the name "Nyina wa Jambo", that is "Mother of the Word", which is synonymous to "Umubyeyl W'iamna" that is, "Mother of God", as she herself explained. Our Lady of Kibeho review startling story of a heavenly 'visitation', Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. by Sr. M. Faustina Olson, F.H.I. The unmistakable spiritual renewal was also manifested in a deepening of Marian devotion, numerous conversions and an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life. In 1981, at a high school in Kibeho, Rwanda, a teenager named Alphonsine Mumureke had a vision of the Virgin Mary. She went into the hall where she was being drawn; her skin tingled, and her hand trembled.2 A soft, sweet voice called out: My daughter. Again the voice was heard: My daughter., Then, to Alphonsines amazement, the most lovely woman she had ever beheld emerged from the cloud, floating between the floor and ceiling in a pool of shimmering light. When asked about her future plans at the time of the apparitions, Alphonsine used to express her wish to join the religious congregation of the Benebikira Sisters. She told Anathalie on May 15, 1982, A child of Mary does not reject suffering. Like the children of Fatima, the Kibeho seers were asked to accept suffering and mortifications for the salvation of souls. Thousands of citizens were brutally killed in the parish church and, a year later, on the esplanade where the apparitions had taken place. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . The young professed was given the name of Alphonsine of the Glorious Cross ". The exact date and circumstances of their death are not (yet) elicited. From there, she continued her escape up to Bukavu in former Zaire together with many other refugees, including priests and religious of all ethnic groups. 2Our Lady of Kibeho, Immaculee Ilibagiza with Steve Erwin, 2009, 4th ed, Hay House, Inc., p. 35. Heaven had directed her to tell the officials to pray, to forgive, and to stop persecuting the Tutsis and sending them into exile. At the time of the apparitions she attended Grade 4 of the elementary level at Kibeho College. When she told them that she had seen the Blessed Virgin, they started to laugh at her and mock her as they all crowded around her. Alphonsine Mumureke is said to have taken, on March 20, 1982, a "mystical journey" of several hours with the Virgin in another "world" throughout "places" that she describes in symbolic language that makes one think of realities such as Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, but with a vocabulary very different from the one of the Catechism. var addy06979af1fb68ed1cff9c75452df96a61 = 'sanctuaire.kibeho' + '@'; The White Fathers, an international Missionary Society of priests and brothers, arrived in the late 1800s amid all this tension. My advice therefore is: Guarantee these visionaries peace and encourage them to lead a fairly disciplined life.. Augustin Misago, a former member of the theological commission himself. She is one of three Vatican-approved seers of the Our Lady of Kibeho apparitions of the 1980s, which occurred in her late teen years. You should enable them to normally operate within their surroundings and go about their usual activities. Some claimed to have seen Virgin Mary, others wanted to have seen Jesus; still others said they saw the Virgin Mary on one day and Jesus on another day. Her hands were clasped in front of her in a gesture of prayer, her slender fingers pointing toward heaven.3 The barefoot Lady was so beautiful and had such a perfect complexion that Alphonsine couldnt determine the color of her skin. Their message is in conformity with the Sacred Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church. Anathalie Mukamazimpaka's visions began in January 1982 and ended on 3 December 1983. . In its discernment, the Church installed two commissions in 1982, one medical and one theological, which should investigate the events of Kibeho using scientifically valid methods. Mumureke, now a nun in Italy, told Immaculee: "Remember the first message of Our Lady. It was from there that she was urgently transferred to Nairobi for medical care. The visionaries said to have seen her sometimes with joined hands, sometimes with outstretched arms. At the conclusion of the vision, the seer sang a song to Jesus, pleading for His mercy. Some supposed that she was mentally ill; others, that she was just trying to attract attention; yet others said that she had been possessed by demons in her jungle home before her arrival at the school. The phenomena of the spiritual journeys of Anathalie and Alphonsine remained inexplicable from a human standpoint. When she awoke, she once again found herself on the floor of the school chapel. Cest l quelle a vcu la tragdie du gnocide survenu en 1994. 3 . For several months, she was hosted at the monastery of the Trappistines of the Abbey of Our Lady of Clarity located not far from Bukavu city. For several months, she was hosted at the monastery of the Trappistines of the Abbey of Our Lady of Clarity located not far from Bukavu city. There, they were caught off guard by the genocide of 1994. Script error: No such module "Draft topics". She told the girl that she wanted to be loved by people everywhere so that she could bring lost souls to her Son Jesus. They are the ones who made Kibeho known as a place of apparitions and pilgrimage causing crowds of people to flock there. She was baptised on July 27th, 1977 at the age of 12 years. Many a time, the visionary was confronted with all kinds of questions, some of which were very personal or even offending. Even though this apparition was shorter, it took her longer to regain full consciousness. The two commissions continued their task as usual and were reinforced with some new members. Many sins are being committed. The Service Centre was led by a priest. It is often she herself who welcomes individual pilgrims and assists them in anything they need or refers them to the chaplain if necessary. Yes, the Virgin Mary appeared at Kibeho on November 28th, 1981 and in the months that followed. By that time, news of the apparitions had already spread far and wide. Whenever God called someone for a special mission in the history of salvation, He chose him / her right there, in their actual personal circumstances, and used him / her as he / she is, with his / her personality and character traits, all his / her qualities and personal shortcomings, capabilities and limitations. The message Nathalie received was special due to it's content on expiatory suffering and incessant prayer for a world which hastens to its ruin and is at risk of falling into the abyss. It is the most famine-prone region of one of the worlds poorest countries, but so beautiful that locals say: God comes on holiday here.. The first time that the Virgin Mary appeared to Nathalie was on January 12th, 1982, the last time on December 3rd, 1983. At the time of the apparitions she attended Grade 4 of the elementary level at Kibeho College. Given the large number of the supposed visionaries, who had never had apparitions in a group and thus had to be investigated one by one, the commissions had to create methods of more efficiency in order to get on with their work. He looked after her until his death in December 1998. The seers all wept and begged the people to listen to Our Ladys plea: they had to love and forgive one another, turn in prayer to God, who is more powerful than all evil. In spite of this, she maintained that Alphonsine and Anathalie were the source of the trouble. Her father, Thadde Gakwaya was assassinated in September 1984. The first apparition of Alphonsine took place on November 28th, 1981, her last exactly eight years later, on November 28th, 1989. Aerial views of the picturesque country present spectacular lush landscapes, rich green vegetation, remarkable terraced crops on the hillsides, amazing volcanic mountains, and a number of shimmering lakes that reflect breathtaking sunsets. | Jan 16, 2017 | 2014, Marian Shrines | 0 comments. Public are those apparitions that take place in the presence of various testimonies, which does not necessarily mean a crowd. The longest series of visions were attributed to Alphonsine Mumureke, who had received the initial vision shortly after her admittance into Kibeho High School in October 1981 after her primary education, and the last on November 28, 1989. The two commissions worked according to the "Norms for Judging Alleged Apparitions and Revelations", published by the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith on February 24th, 1978 in Rome. It would be unfortunate to misuse them as a kind of good luck charm" (abapfumu). Under the guiding hand of Our Lady, her feisty, rude behavior ceased. In early July 1994, Nathalie was forced to leave Kibeho at the request of the Bishop, in order to get into greater safety. Alphonsine Mumureke was born on March 21st, 1965 in Cyizihira, in the parish of Zaza, Diocese of Kibungo as the daughter of Thadde Gakwaya and Mary Immaculate Mukarasana. Her single mother was very poor and was not able to provide further education for her after grade school and had always planned that Alphonsine would help her in the fields thereafter. During his visit to Rwanda in 1990, Pope John Paul II begged his listeners to heed the Virgins pleas and pray fervently for peace among political and ethnic factions: On this feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, which marks the dawn of salvation to the world, I ask the Mother of all of us to watch over her children in Rwanda and particularly you, the leaders of the country, to place your talents at the service of all your compatriots.11, Our Lady had pleaded, but the Rwandans did not listen. 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