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(Our Lady of Tears) In the following approved apparitions of the Blessed Mother, Our Lady actually appeared through an animated statue of Mary. Her voice is first heard ‘coming from the statue’. This is key when reading the following account. A young Japanese woman, Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa was born prematurely, and thus, struggled with a weak constitution most of her childhood. She was raised in a Buddhist family. At age 19, she suffered her first great trial in life: she was struck by a paralysis of the central nervous system, as a result of a mistake that had been made during an appendectomy. For 16 years she was physically immobile. During this time, she was transferred from hospital to hospital undergoing one operation after another.
Then, in a Myoko, Japan clinic, she became friends with a nurse who was a
fervent Catholic. Under the care of this nurse, Agnes’ health improved
and it was here that she took her first steps in the Christian faith.
Her love of God grew so much that Agnes desired to enter a religious
community. Sometime after her conversion, Agnes’ Guardian Angel appeared
to her and taught her the “Fatima” decade prayer which she had not known
before, and which the Angel told her to insert into the rosaries she prayed.
This is exactly what Our Lady had instructed the children of Fatima to do in
1917. Her condition became so critical, she spent ten days in a coma. The Sisters of Junshin prayed for her recovery and sent some Lourdes water for her to drink. Immediately upon sipping the holy water, Sr. Agnes regained consciousness. Her paralyzed limbs, also, regained mobility! As she quickly recovered, she only wished to return to the sisters in Nagasaki. However, the pastor of Takada asked and persuaded her to care for a newly constructed church in Myoko. Later, she heard about the Institute of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist - where she could live a consecrated life and remain in society. Upon the invitation of Bishop Ito, founder of the institute, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa joined the Handmaids of the Eucharist. She retained the care of the church in Myoko and taught catechism, as well. Who would have thought that after 16 years of affliction and repeated hospitalizations, that Sr. Agnes would soon face a new and completely different physical condition? Toward the end of January 1973, Sr. Agnes began to notice a loss of hearing in both ears! On Friday, March 16, she realized she was deaf. Her pastor took her to a hospital where she was diagnosed as having an evolving and incurable deafness. She was hospitalized for fatigue, but subsequently enrolled in a lip reading course to regain social contact. During her stay in the hospital she thought very much about what she would do as a deaf person. She could no longer teach catechism, nor did she wish to return to live with her family. She had consecrated herself to God and above all desired to live only in His service. If permitted, she wished to offer herself in a life of prayer and penance in the Motherhouse of the Handmaids of the Eucharist. By May 12, 1973, all doors had opened for her to begin her new life . . . a life in total silence, total prayer and dedication. She arrived at the convent on the hillside of Yuzawadai, better known as Akita. Akita lies in the northern part of Japan, about 350 miles from Tokyo. The sisters of the Handmaids of the Eucharist profess vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and live in great poverty. In the early 1960’s, the sisters commissioned a renowned Buddhist sculptor to make a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary designed from the Image of the Lady of All Nations given by Our Lady in her apparitions to Ida Peerdeman of Amsterdam Holland (1945). The sculptor, M. Saburo Wakasa, made the statue in 1963, but gave Our Lady a Japanese face. The first extraordinary event of Akita occurred on June 12, 1973, not long after Sr. Agnes’ arrival at the convent. Sr. Agnes was left to watch the house, while other members of the community went to a meeting of catechists in another city. She was given the permission of the superior to open the door of the tabernacle for a time of adoration. When she did so, on this day, a brilliant light suddenly appeared as though it was coming for a time of adoration. Seized with emotion, Sr. Agnes fell to the floor and remained in prayer for perhaps an hour. The same thing happened on each of the 2 days that followed, once in the presence of others; but no one else saw the brilliant light emanating from the tabernacle. In following months, other supernatural occurrences took place. Sr. Agnes recorded all of these events in her journal, as requested by Bishop Ito.
Two years later, on January 4, 1975, the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Akita began to weep again. For the next six years and eight months it wept at intervals, and it wept on a total of 101 occasions. Once the statue wept before a Japanese TV crew who were reporting on the events occurring in Akita. The three messages of Our Lady given to Sr. Agnes were recorded in detail and later – after the bishop officially approved the supernatural events in Akita – they were published worldwide. During the first message, Our Lady told Sr. Agnes her deafness would be healed. In May and then in September, her Guardian Angel appeared to tell her that a complete healing would indeed come, during the month of October. However, the deafness would later return because God still desired this offering. Her Angel predicted that healing would occur so that, “the hearts of those who doubt will melt and they will believe.” This message was confidentially conveyed to her superiors and to Bishop Ito. The miraculous healing happened, as foretold, during the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel on the evening of Sunday, October 13. This date is the anniversary of the great miracle at Fatima in 1917. Hearing in both ears of St. Agnes was fully restored. She could hear the “Ave Maria” being sung, every prayer, and the blessing of the priest. The following was Our Lady’s third and final message given to Sr. Agnes on October 13:
"As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father
will inflict a terrible chastisement on all humanity. It will be a punishment
greater than the deluge, such as one has never seen before. Fire will fall
from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as
the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find
themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms that will
remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by my Son. Each day
recite the prayers of the Rosary, with the rosary, Pray for the Pope, the
bishops and the priests. After the last appearance by Mary at Akita on October 13, 1973, the Guardian Angel of Agnes continued to speak to her for the next nine years. Sr. Agnes remained deaf for several more years. It is important to note that her final cure took place after Bishop Ito had sent to the Holy See in Rome a dossier concerning all the events which had taken place up to that time. The statue of Mary continued to weep - a total of 101 times; and in addition to tears, her right hand oozed a reddish-brown fluid on a number of occasions. The blood tested to be of human origin, blood type AB. Because the statue was carved from one solid piece of wood, nothing could have caused, nor was anything placed within the statue, to produce the tears or blood. Akita is the apparition of Our Lady of Tears. Our Mother is shedding tears because of sin and asking her children to repent and to pray, especially to pray the Rosary. The apparitions further emphasize the reality of her appearances and urgency of her plea for the conversion of all humanity. She was also making herself known to a much wider audience beyond Akita, through television. Her words tell us that a horrific Chastisement beyond anything we can imagine is looming at the horizon, if the world does not change soon. April 22, 1984 – After eight years of investigations, after consultation with the Holy See, the Bishop of the diocese approved the messages of Our Lady of Akita. According to the testimony of more than 500 Christians (and non-Christians including the Buddhist mayor the town) the statue of Our Lady has shed blood, sweat, and tears. Sr. Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa has received the stigmata and has received messages from Our Lady. The Most Rev. John Shojiro Ito, Bishop of Niigata, Japan declares the events of Akita to be of supernatural origin, and authorizes throughout the entire diocese the veneration of the Holy Mother of Akita. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced in any manner without the expressed written permission of the author. For more information, contact: info@marysource.com |
Holy Mother of Akita
After living for a time in better health, and overcoming the fears
of her family, Agnes joined the Sisters of Junshin in Nagasaki. Four
months later, however, she had a sudden relapse of health and needed to be
taken back to the clinic in Myoko.
Many people have been
present during the manifestations of tears, blood and even the private
apparitions of Sr. Agnes. These gave testimony and witness to the
credible and incredible events. Scientific testing at the University of Akita
proved that the blood, tears, and sweat were human in nature.