Covid Mary
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On 27 March, as Pope Francis was giving a blessing to the world, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in the skies above the Vatican. An image of what has been claimed as a miraculous portent was captured on a mobile phone and shared on YouTube; and, indeed, there she is, glowing above the roofs of the Holy City in an otherwise gloomy and overcast sky. Although sceptics might irreverently suggest that what can be seen is simply an odd back-lit rain cloud formation, there is certainly a resemblance to classic images of the Mother of Jesus. For believers, however, the BVM’s appearance was interpreted as her bringing comfort to a world suffering from the Covid-19 virus; many parts of Italy were badly affected at the time.
Significantly, or coincidentally, at the very moment the apparition became visible, Pope Francis was speaking about the lessons of the pandemic in a meditation for the faithful. Although addressing a largely deserted St Peter’s Square, his message was transmitted live around the world. The pandemic is not God’s judgment on humanity, he said, but God’s call to people to “choose what matters… a time to separate what is necessary from what is not. It is a time to get our lives back on track.” He then raised a monstrance containing a consecrated host and gave the benediction urbi et orbi –tothe city and the world – which he normally does only at Christmas and Easter.
If sightings are to be believed, the BVM has been especially busy of late, being seen across the world as the virus spreads. Dozens of mobile phone photos have been
cited as evidence. A particularly striking image comes from San Carlos, Argentina. It shows an unusual array of lights which bears a resemblance to the BVM. Local people have seen the image as a sign that Mary is looking after them during the pandemic. According to Catholic Online reports, “the image looks remarkably like Our Lady, with a crown and blue rays of light cast to either side… Our Lady has often appeared during times of trial and tribulation, and the present moment would qualify.” An unnamed San Carlos resident said that “in the sky, a rainbow started to be seen, and then some drops started to create the figure of the Virgin in the sky surrounding the Sun.”
Other Marian images are less dramatic. The apparition of the BVM in a ciborium on the altar of a church in Michigan in April was less convincing – more of a mini-Mary – but was still reported as an appearance of Our Lady of the Tear of Joy “bringing comfort when we need comfort most”.
Yet Mary is not the only member of the Holy Family putting in unexpected appearances. As the virus was taking hold of their country, dozens of Colombians in the town of Magangué broke the country’s strict lockdown regulations to gather in front of a ceiba tree to see for themselves an image of Jesus that had appeared in its branches. It was only four days into the lockdown when rumours
of this miracle spread. Video from the scene shows dozens of people gathered in front of the tree, looking up at an image which appears similar to an image of the crucified Christ. Shopkeeper Agustina Diaz told reporters: “It can clearly be seen, and everybody is praying and asking for Earth to be cured of this evil and for Magangué to be protected.”4 Police eventually broke up the gathering, and the crowds have not returned since.
Reports of holy apparitions at times of pestilence are not unprecedented. In 590, in plague-ravaged Rome, St Michael appeared to the future Pope Gregory, then only a deacon. He had organised a procession to take place through the city on 25 April that year. Plagues were often interpreted as being a punishment from God for human wickedness; the purpose of the procession was to express remorse, ask for forgiveness and pray for the pandemic to be brought to an end. As the procession approached the well-known landmark of the mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian, Gregory saw Michael the Archangel above the monument. He took it as a sign of God’s forgiveness and, indeed, the plague, it is said, ceased at that moment. The mausoleum became known as The Castle of the Holy Angel, and years later a bronze statue of St Michael, sword in hand, was placed atop it. Michael made another appearance in 1631 in San Bernabe, Mexico, this time during
a smallpox epidemic. During a procession honouring Saint Mark, a certain Diego Lazaro had a personal vision in which he was told by the archangel of a well whose waters would have miraculous curative powers and instructed to lead the people to it.
Perhaps to allow her to clear her diary for her Covid-19 appearances, the BVM has ceased her regular appearances in Medjugorje. The visionary who claims to have been in contact with her has said that Mary will no longer appear to her on the second of every month, as she has reportedly done since 1987. Since then, the community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which has thrived on the pilgrimage business, has itself been hit by Covid-19. Reports tell of the doors of the pilgrim church being shuttered and the Franciscan priests and nuns who manage the site themselves going into lockdown in a nearby convent.
NOTES
1 Catholic News Service, 27 Mar 2020.
2 Catholic Online, 27 Mar 2020.
3 Daily Mail, 27 Mar 2020.
4 Daily Mail, 7 Apr 2020.
5 Catholic News Agency, 18 Mar 2020.