The longest series of visions were attributed to Alphonsine Mumureke who received the first vision on November 28, 1981 and the last on November 28, 1989. So much blood! The horror continued to unfold before her tear-filled eyes as she saw a million headless bodies piled up in a vast land, and not a single living person to help bury the dead. Augustine Misago, Bishop of Gikongoro declared the final judgement on the event of the apparitions of Kibeho on June 29th, 2001, in agreement with the members of the two commissions and with the Magisterium of the Universal Church in Rome as well as with the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda. var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; At the conclusion of the vision, the seer sang a song to Jesus, pleading for His mercy. 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. Shortly before the apparitions she was admitted in Kibeho College in October 1981 in order to continue her studies after primary school. Militias set up roadblocks to slaughter the Tutsis, many with machetes. 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. 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! It is often she herself who welcomes individual pilgrims and assists them in anything they need or refers them to the chaplain if necessary. Alphonsine Mumureke left in 1994 during the genocide and never came back. For reasons mentioned below, she was unable to complete her studies. 9The Blessed Virgin once told St. Bridget that very few contemplated her sorrows: I look around at all who are on earth, to see if by chance there are any who pity me, and meditate upon my Sorrows; and I find that there are very few. 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. She justifies this by referring to personal messages from the Blessed Virgin, whom she calls "Umubyeyi", mother. 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. In early July 1994, Nathalie was forced to leave Kibeho at the request of the Bishop, in order to get into greater safety. She was baptised on July 27th, 1977 at the age of 12 years. She was taken to a land of lighta place of communionwhere she saw seven angels singing indescribably beautiful hymns in praise of God. He looked after her until his death in December 1998. You should enable them to normally operate within their surroundings and go about their usual activities. var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; Then, on March 1, 1982, Marie-Claire fainted while walking in the gardens. Elie was studying at the university while working as a journalist at Orinfor (Rwandan Office of Information) but was appointed to the Primer Minister's Office Services just before the genocide of 1994. Whether the visions that they described were real or not, the schoolgirls testimony highlighted the daily injustices that they saw around them. Are there any descendants of Wyatt Earp alive today? The two commissions started their work immediately after their creation. Unable to answer her friends questions, the distraught Marie-Claire began to pen a letter to her mother asking permission to come home. As work continues on the Shrine, so may Our Lady work in the hearts of all her children so that she may bring them to her Son, Jesus: Holy Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, teach us to understand the value of the cross in our lives, so that whatever is still lacking to the sufferings of Christ we may fill up in our own bodies for His mystical Body, which is the Church. 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. After these three apparitions, there were several more alleged appearances. Coffee and tea are the primary cash crops. However, as Divine Providence would arrange it, a space had unexpectedly opened up in a government-run all-girl school staffed by religious sisters. Despite rumblings of the growing divide between Hutus and Tutsis, we lose ourselves in this story of these three young women who want to change the world they will inherit. Everything said or done after that date at Kibeho did not bring anything new with respect to what was already known, from the point of view of the messages and of the signs of credibility. Our Lady was pleased with her answer, telling her that she desired her schoolmates to have her same strong faith. Kibeho, a small mountain village in southern Rwanda, is also the name of a parish founded in 1934, dedicated to Mary Mother of God. This parish was well known for its strong Catholic faith and gave a large number of priests and consecrated persons to the Church of Rwanda. She asked Alphonsine to tell people that they needed to convert. 8www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/messages/kibeho_messages.html#marieclaire. At the end of her studies at Kibeho, Alphonsine was immediately employed by the Diocese of Butare as a secretary and stenotypist at the Diocesan Service Centre for Catholic Education, at that time part of the prefecture of Gikongoro. She had just finished a geography test and was filled with inexplicable emotions: confusion, joy, dread and fear. Others asked her for proof to support her story. 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". By Ginny Kubitz Moyer December 13, 2010. Father Gbangbo seems to have played a major role in Alphonsines life as a spiritual advisor, also having influence on the Archbishop of Abidjan, Cardinal Bernard Agr, with whom Alphonsine was able to get into contact. The young professed was given the name of Alphonsine of the Glorious Cross ". Misago writes in his declaration of June 29th, 2001: A visionary, even when recognised as authentic by the church authorities, remains a human being like everyone else, with his/her personal temperament, qualities and shortcomings. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Congo, where she sought refuge at the house of befriended families, who knew her from Kibeho. During one of Marie-Claires visions, Our Lady told her that she had come to Rwanda because she was still able to find humble souls who were not attached to wealth. 3 . The director asked her to apologize to the whole school for her lies, but Alphonse couldnt deny that she had seen the Mother of the Word. Forename Alphonsine. As a Latin adage says: Gratia non tollit naturam, sed perficit eam. ("Grace doesn't do away with nature, but perfects it."). The White Fathers were successful in their evangelization efforts, generating a fervent, faith-filled people and abundant vocations to the priesthood and religious life. One woman was shot in the hip and ten people, mostly children, were trampled to death [The soldiers] torched many of the huts so that the IDPs would not return home. Who are you? Alphonsine asked. "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. They are the ones who made Kibeho known as a place of apparitions and pilgrimage causing crowds of people to flock there. When she awoke from the nightmare, she found two friends supporting her, questioning her and advising her to return to the dormitory. Lateron, she was hosted in a community of the Daughters of Mary Queen of the Apostles Sisters up to May 1996. Augustin Misago, Declaration bearing the final judgement on the event of the "Apparitions of Kibeho", n 14.). Alphonsine often made retreats at a Poor Clare monastery in Abidjan until, finally, she joined the order and in 2003 professed temporary vows. In 1982, Our Lady conducted Alphonsine and Anathalie on separate journeys to heaven, hell and purgatory. Father Halter became Alphonsine's spiritual director. Discrimination and struggles between these two classes persisted through the 1990s, as the Tutsis were being excluded from public service and military jobs. Some. My advice therefore is: Guarantee these visionaries peace and encourage them to lead a fairly disciplined life.. But Mukamazimpaka, on what she says was an order from the Virgin Mary, has stayed in Kibeho, except for two years. She was baptised on July 27th, 1977 at the age of 12 years. 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. She was just a simple schoolgirl with no transportation. Why did he die in a cell? The three visionaries then claimed that on August 15, 1982 the Virgin showed them images of rivers of blood and dismembered bodies. \rDans la suite elle fut admise lInstitut Suprieur de catchse dAbidjan affili lUniversit Catholique dAfrique de lOuest. Anathalie Mukamazimpaka's visions began in January 1982 and ended on 3 December 1983. I invite the parents or guardians as well as the friends of the visionaries of Kibeho still alive to moderately treat the visionaries, avoiding exaltation only for them having been favoured by the approved apparitions. My advice therefore is: Guarantee these visionaries peace and encourage them to lead a fairly disciplined life.. At the time of the apparitions she attended Grade 4 of the elementary level at Kibeho College. Her religious name is Alphonsine of the Glorious Cross. Calming down a little, she went into the dining hall to serve. One of the schoolteachers, Sr. Blandine, pushed her way through the unbelieving crowd and brought Alphonsine to the school director and to the nurse. The Blessed Mother then asked her to join the Legion of Mary. Aprs y avoir obtenu un baccalaurat en thologie, en juin 2003, elle est entre dans un monastre des Clarisses dAbidjan. She explained that our heavenly Mother loved her children so very muchfar more than their own mothersand that she wanted the girls to think of her as a Mother who really did love them. 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. Congo) family whom she had also met during the time of the apparitions at Kibeho, she she continued her tragical journey up to Abidjan at Ivory Coast a few weeks later and got into contact with Father Raymond Halter, a Marian priest who knew her since her last apparition on November 28th, 1989. In Kibeho, Rwanda, in 1981, a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Alphonsine Mumureke, heard a heavenly voice calling out to her. A few days later, Alphonsine did not appear for dinner. Alphonsine Mumureke left in 1994 during the genocide and never came back. Augustine Misago, Bishop of Gikongoro declared the final judgement on the event of the apparitions of Kibeho on June 29th, 2001, in agreement with the members of the two commissions and with the Magisterium of the Universal Church in Rome as well as with the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda. When Anathalie awoke, she was surrounded by friends and a few nuns who informed her that she had been in the same kind of trance Alphonsine had experienced. On August 22nd, 1987, Marie Claire celebrated her church wedding to Elie Ntabadahiga, a member of Mushubi parish. - Developed by jofarsystems.com. The Hutus, as part of the lower class, were the object of discrimination, eventually leading them to rebel against the Belgian colonial power in 1959, forcing 150,000 Tutsis to flee to Burundi. The executions spread like wildfire throughout the country. When he died Father Basile Gbangbo, a priest of the Archdiocese of Abidjan, took over as spiritual guide. Only the three initial testimonies merit being considered authentic; they were given by Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, and by Marie Claire Mukangango. Then she heard a voice calling her. In April 1982, two commissions were authorized to investigate the events. But before she could finish the letter, she fainted again and was back in the gloom. Unfortunately, they did not have a child, despite their strong desire to start a family. In November 1981, 16-year-old Alphonsine Mumureke reported a vision she described as the Virgin Mary, warning of a bloody, apocalyptic, hate-filled conflict to come. Rwanda and Burundi were once part of the German East Africa, from 1894 to 1918. Today, she lives in a small one-story house on the church grounds, directly across from . This page was last edited on 16 April 2022, at 11:32. Mary first appeared to a girl named Alphonsine Mumureke "when she was serving other kids," Ilibagiza explained. Our Lady first appeared to Alphonsine Mumureke, a student at Kibeho High School, on Nov. 28, 1981. Witnesses say that Marie Claire was killed in an attempt or defend or to find her husband kidnapped and lead together with other victims to an unknown destination. The temporary religious profession ceremonies took place on July 15th , 2006. Pour sa scurit, elle dut se rfugier au presbytre de la paroisse de Gikongoro. 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. Gabrielle Brooks, Yasmin Mwanza and Pepter Lunkuse in rehearsals for Our Lady of Kibeho. She and her husband were among the thousands of victims of the Rwandan conflict. A year later, in April 1995, tens of thousands of Hutu refugees were massacred in Kibeho by the troops of the new regime. By that time, news of the apparitions had already spread far and wide. They reported seeing a tree on fire, an open chasm and a monster. Alphonsine kept her job when the Diocese of Gikongoro was founded in 1992 up to the point in 1994 when she was forced to flee in order to survive the terrible genocide in Rwanda, first to the presbytery of the parish of Gikongoro and then to Bukavu in former Zaire, now D.R. Fortunately, the Benebikira Sisters had just come back to Kibeho and reopened their convent, the school and the health centre. Improvements to the Shrine continue: electricity was added, a small campsite with facilities constructed, the sacristy furnished, and a pathway for processions established. The Bible was translated into the national language of Kinyarwanda, and nine dioceses were created. Here, three people, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, Alphonsine Mumureke and Claire Mukangango, received messages from Our Lady. She is very pious, and has always shown a great love for the Blessed Virgin. When she regained consciousness, she found herself in a dark place that repulsed her. Of course we now know that, a decade after the Trinitys terrible visions, Rwanda was riven by a terrible genocide. She responded: I am the Mother of the Word.. What is more important is that Alphonsine, Nathalie and Marie Claire corresponded satisfactorily to all the criteria established by the Church in the matter of private apparitions and revelations. But Mukamazimpaka, on what she says was an order from the Virgin Mary, has stayed in Kibeho, except for two years during the genocide when she was ordered to leave by the bishop. Congo) family whom she had also met during the time of the apparitions at Kibeho, she she continued her tragical journey up to Abidjan at Ivory Coast a few weeks later and got into contact with Father Raymond Halter, a Marian priest who knew her since her last apparition on November 28th, 1989. 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