La Virgen del Cerro - Salta, Argentina
Salta, Argentina
http://www.lastampa.it/2011/12/27/vaticaninsider/argentina-the-extraordinary-happenings-at-the-shrine-of-our-lady-in-salta-HRLUZIRKTgAAqZX3RpBV7J/pagina.html
Hundreds, perhaps thousands of rosary beads are hanging
from the branches of trees around a hilltop shrine outside the city of
Salta, in northern Argentina. They are the visible signs that something
extraordinary is happening at this place where, it is claimed, Our Lady appears & communicates with a local housewife, Maria Livia de Obeid.
“Miraculous cures”, “liberation from demons that even exorcists have failed to cast out”, & other supernatural things have taken place here over the past decade according to several sources, including Father Rene Laurentin, the world’s expert on Marian apparitions.
Young & old, women & men, faint & fall to the ground when Maria Livia lays her hand on them during the Saturday afternoon prayer meetings at this shrine of La Virgen del Cerro, (The Virgin of the Hill).
Santiago & Carolina, teenage twins, came here from Buenos Aires with their elder brother, mother & travel agent father. They both fainted & fell to the ground when Maria Livia put her hand on their shoulders. “It was a beautiful feeling. I felt happy. I smelled roses”, Carolina, 14, told me.
Florencia S., a 44 year old economic analyst, was knocked out for 20 minutes after Maria Livia touched her. “I felt completely freed from everything, without any concerns”, she confided.
Not everyone has this experience, however. Some like Juan Manuel, the elder brother of the twins, felt an inner resistance & didn’t faint. “I felt this wasn't for me”, he commented somewhat disconsolately later.
Over a million people a year come here to pray with Maria Livia. Every Saturday, between March & December, 30-40,000 people descend on the shrine that she had built in the year 2000 on the 300 meter high hill (Cerro), 10 minutes drive from Salta, at the explicit request of Our Lady – she said.
Pilgrims arrive by cars, minivans, busses & taxis & are shepherded to the shrine by a highly disciplined corps of 400 Marian volunteers, who wear distinctive light blue scarves & white blouses.
Unlike the area around the Marian shrines at Lourdes & Fatima, there is no merchandising here. There are no religious objects for sale. The holy pictures, rosary beads, prayer cards & bottles of water are all free, thanks to grateful devotees.
Many who come here are afflicted with physical illness, or troubled in spirit; some are mourning the loss of a dear one, or belong to dysfunctional families. They come here from all strata of Argentinean society. Some want to thank Our Lady for favors received, others seek special assistance. Many are looking for inner peace, for hope, a direction in life, & for God.
They pray the rosary, write petitions, sing hymns as they wait for hours for Maria Livia to come & lay her hands on them during the Saturday gatherings. Many go to confession, very many experience spiritual conversion or deepening of their faith.
News of the extraordinary happenings here is transmitted by word of mouth. New pilgrims arrive every week.
“It’s all very positive”, the 94 year-old French priest, Father Laurentin, told the local daily, El Tribuno, on December 10, at the end of his 7th visit.
On his first visit several years ago, the local bishop asked him to meet 3 persons opposed to all this: an important personality in the archdiocese, the chaplain to the enclosed Carmelite sisters in Salta, & a sister of Maria Livia. After speaking to each individually & then to Maria Livia, Laurentin concluded that “the positive” here “was far superior” to the objections.
Laurentin doesn't conceal his esteem for Maria Livia, 62, whom, he said, the Virgin “has formed from within” over the 10-year period before the year 2000, & gave here “a horror of sin”.
http://www.lastampa.it/2011/12/27/vaticaninsider/argentina-the-extraordinary-happenings-at-the-shrine-of-our-lady-in-salta-HRLUZIRKTgAAqZX3RpBV7J/pagina.html
Miraculous cures, the casting out of demons, conversions &
deepening of the faith are being reported from a hilltop shrine in the
city of Salta, northern Argentina, where Our Lady is alleged to have
appeared to a local woman.
“Miraculous cures”, “liberation from demons that even exorcists have failed to cast out”, & other supernatural things have taken place here over the past decade according to several sources, including Father Rene Laurentin, the world’s expert on Marian apparitions.
Young & old, women & men, faint & fall to the ground when Maria Livia lays her hand on them during the Saturday afternoon prayer meetings at this shrine of La Virgen del Cerro, (The Virgin of the Hill).
Santiago & Carolina, teenage twins, came here from Buenos Aires with their elder brother, mother & travel agent father. They both fainted & fell to the ground when Maria Livia put her hand on their shoulders. “It was a beautiful feeling. I felt happy. I smelled roses”, Carolina, 14, told me.
Florencia S., a 44 year old economic analyst, was knocked out for 20 minutes after Maria Livia touched her. “I felt completely freed from everything, without any concerns”, she confided.
Not everyone has this experience, however. Some like Juan Manuel, the elder brother of the twins, felt an inner resistance & didn’t faint. “I felt this wasn't for me”, he commented somewhat disconsolately later.
Over a million people a year come here to pray with Maria Livia. Every Saturday, between March & December, 30-40,000 people descend on the shrine that she had built in the year 2000 on the 300 meter high hill (Cerro), 10 minutes drive from Salta, at the explicit request of Our Lady – she said.
Pilgrims arrive by cars, minivans, busses & taxis & are shepherded to the shrine by a highly disciplined corps of 400 Marian volunteers, who wear distinctive light blue scarves & white blouses.
Unlike the area around the Marian shrines at Lourdes & Fatima, there is no merchandising here. There are no religious objects for sale. The holy pictures, rosary beads, prayer cards & bottles of water are all free, thanks to grateful devotees.
Many who come here are afflicted with physical illness, or troubled in spirit; some are mourning the loss of a dear one, or belong to dysfunctional families. They come here from all strata of Argentinean society. Some want to thank Our Lady for favors received, others seek special assistance. Many are looking for inner peace, for hope, a direction in life, & for God.
They pray the rosary, write petitions, sing hymns as they wait for hours for Maria Livia to come & lay her hands on them during the Saturday gatherings. Many go to confession, very many experience spiritual conversion or deepening of their faith.
News of the extraordinary happenings here is transmitted by word of mouth. New pilgrims arrive every week.
“It’s all very positive”, the 94 year-old French priest, Father Laurentin, told the local daily, El Tribuno, on December 10, at the end of his 7th visit.
On his first visit several years ago, the local bishop asked him to meet 3 persons opposed to all this: an important personality in the archdiocese, the chaplain to the enclosed Carmelite sisters in Salta, & a sister of Maria Livia. After speaking to each individually & then to Maria Livia, Laurentin concluded that “the positive” here “was far superior” to the objections.
Laurentin doesn't conceal his esteem for Maria Livia, 62, whom, he said, the Virgin “has formed from within” over the 10-year period before the year 2000, & gave here “a horror of sin”.
Thanks to
this extraordinary formation she has “a profound mystical life, she does
what God asks She is a simple instrument, very transparent, very
natural” & “radiates heaven & the light of God”, he said.
Some, like Mercedes Recondo, 43, compare the Salta experience to that of Medjugorie. A housewife & mother, she has been to Medjugorie 3 times & to Salta 5.
Some, like Mercedes Recondo, 43, compare the Salta experience to that of Medjugorie. A housewife & mother, she has been to Medjugorie 3 times & to Salta 5.
She brought her manager husband, Enrico, & 3 children to both places, & sees great similarities between them: “the same peaceful atmosphere, the respect, the devotion, the same kind of hymns of adoration”.
“But maybe in Salta, I felt all this stronger”, she told me. “I fainted when Maria Livia touched me. This never happened to me in Medjugorie, even though I was present when one of the seers had a vision.”
“But maybe in Salta, I felt all this stronger”, she told me. “I fainted when Maria Livia touched me. This never happened to me in Medjugorie, even though I was present when one of the seers had a vision.”
“In Salta I
felt the peace of Christ stronger &, as Maria Livia says, I feel that
Christ himself embraces every pilgrim. This is something very special
here in Salta, one feels the presence of Christ”, she stated.
Father Laurentin, who has studied the more than 2,500 reported Marian apparitions across the globe, agrees. He claims “the apparitions in Salta are different to the other ones because what stands out in Salta is that Christ is at the center.
“Here the Virgin turns to Christ & implores him to come to convert, heal & cast out demons. It is Christ who accompanies Maria Livia when she moves among the pilgrims”, he said.
This focus on Christ is also contained in the name by which Our Lady revealed herself to Maria Livia: “The Immaculate Mother of the Divine Eucharistic Heart of Jesus”. It is such a complicated name & difficult to pronounce that pilgrims simply call her “La Virgen del Cerro.”
As for the fainting phenomenon, some observers interpret this as telekinesis (that is, the ability to move things by mind power only), but Laurentin, who studied this in many places, calls it “the grace of total physical relaxation”.
“People need this physical, psychological relaxation because in relaxation in the spirit one abandons oneself to God”, he added.
Maria Livia had been married 20 years when she began to receive visions & apparitions in 1990. At first she only told her confessor, but later confided in her husband & immediate family. She didn't speak publicly about this until the year 2000 when, she claims, Our Lady instructed her to build the shrine on the Cerro.
Between 1990 & 2000, she became friends with the enclosed Carmelite nuns in St Bernard’s monastery in Salta. She described to them the Virgin she sees in the apparitions: she has the face of a 14 year old girl, the age at which Our Lady conceived Jesus, is kneeling, & wears a white mantle & veil.
Father Laurentin, who has studied the more than 2,500 reported Marian apparitions across the globe, agrees. He claims “the apparitions in Salta are different to the other ones because what stands out in Salta is that Christ is at the center.
“Here the Virgin turns to Christ & implores him to come to convert, heal & cast out demons. It is Christ who accompanies Maria Livia when she moves among the pilgrims”, he said.
This focus on Christ is also contained in the name by which Our Lady revealed herself to Maria Livia: “The Immaculate Mother of the Divine Eucharistic Heart of Jesus”. It is such a complicated name & difficult to pronounce that pilgrims simply call her “La Virgen del Cerro.”
As for the fainting phenomenon, some observers interpret this as telekinesis (that is, the ability to move things by mind power only), but Laurentin, who studied this in many places, calls it “the grace of total physical relaxation”.
“People need this physical, psychological relaxation because in relaxation in the spirit one abandons oneself to God”, he added.
Maria Livia had been married 20 years when she began to receive visions & apparitions in 1990. At first she only told her confessor, but later confided in her husband & immediate family. She didn't speak publicly about this until the year 2000 when, she claims, Our Lady instructed her to build the shrine on the Cerro.
Between 1990 & 2000, she became friends with the enclosed Carmelite nuns in St Bernard’s monastery in Salta. She described to them the Virgin she sees in the apparitions: she has the face of a 14 year old girl, the age at which Our Lady conceived Jesus, is kneeling, & wears a white mantle & veil.
The nuns made a statue based on her description, but were
unable to paint the exact color of the eyes. But soon after they
completed their work, Maria Livia discovered that the eyes of the Virgin
had been mysteriously painted the right color – aquamarine. She &
the nuns interpreted this as something ‘miraculous’.
Afterwards the statute was carried to the little chapel on the Cerro, & ever since people have come from far & wide to pray before it. Thousands have left their rosary beads hanging on the trees around the shrine, as a kind of permanent prayer.
When I came here on Friday afternoon, December 9, & participated in the 7 hour-long, end of the year, prayer-celebration, I was struck by the deep faith & devotion of the people.
The celebration began around a makeshift altar at the foot of the hill. It included prayers, scripture readings, a 2-hour liturgically very orthodox mass, a procession with the Blessed Sacrament, the bringing of the sick & disabled to touch & pray before the statue which was located – for the occasion – in a tent at the side of the altar.
The ceremony culminated in an hour-long torchlight procession up the steep hill, under a full moon, as thousands accompanied the Virgin’s statue back to the shrine, reciting the rosary & singing hymns. Maria Livia & a young man helped Father Laurentin walk to the top.
The most striking & deeply moving part of this prayer service was the procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the crowd of 15,000 pilgrims who'd come from all over Argentina, Uruguay & other countries.
As the priests, taking turns, carried the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament through the crowd, the choir & pilgrims sang hymns. And, in an atmosphere of profound devotion, emotion & prayer, people fell on their knees & raised their hands towards the Blessed Sacrament as it passed by, imploring Jesus present in the Eucharist to bless them.
Many held up pictures of loved ones, others held out rosaries & medals seeking Christ’s blessing on them. Very many, overcome with emotion, broke down in tears. Pilgrims left feeling consoled and strengthened in their faith.
The Bishops of Argentina haven't made any public pronouncement on the Virgin of Salta or on the happenings at the shrine; they have let the task of overseeing all this to the local archbishop, Mario Cargnello.
Afterwards the statute was carried to the little chapel on the Cerro, & ever since people have come from far & wide to pray before it. Thousands have left their rosary beads hanging on the trees around the shrine, as a kind of permanent prayer.
When I came here on Friday afternoon, December 9, & participated in the 7 hour-long, end of the year, prayer-celebration, I was struck by the deep faith & devotion of the people.
The celebration began around a makeshift altar at the foot of the hill. It included prayers, scripture readings, a 2-hour liturgically very orthodox mass, a procession with the Blessed Sacrament, the bringing of the sick & disabled to touch & pray before the statue which was located – for the occasion – in a tent at the side of the altar.
The ceremony culminated in an hour-long torchlight procession up the steep hill, under a full moon, as thousands accompanied the Virgin’s statue back to the shrine, reciting the rosary & singing hymns. Maria Livia & a young man helped Father Laurentin walk to the top.
The most striking & deeply moving part of this prayer service was the procession with the Blessed Sacrament through the crowd of 15,000 pilgrims who'd come from all over Argentina, Uruguay & other countries.
As the priests, taking turns, carried the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament through the crowd, the choir & pilgrims sang hymns. And, in an atmosphere of profound devotion, emotion & prayer, people fell on their knees & raised their hands towards the Blessed Sacrament as it passed by, imploring Jesus present in the Eucharist to bless them.
Many held up pictures of loved ones, others held out rosaries & medals seeking Christ’s blessing on them. Very many, overcome with emotion, broke down in tears. Pilgrims left feeling consoled and strengthened in their faith.
The Bishops of Argentina haven't made any public pronouncement on the Virgin of Salta or on the happenings at the shrine; they have let the task of overseeing all this to the local archbishop, Mario Cargnello.
In July 2006, after 3 years study of the
happenings here, Archbishop Cargnello declared that there was “no proof
or objective witnesses to support a supernatural explanation of the
alleged Marian apparitions.”
He described Maria Livia’s invitation to come to the Cerro to pray, & the messages given there, as “a personal initiative” which “the Church can't endorse or promote”.
He described Maria Livia’s invitation to come to the Cerro to pray, & the messages given there, as “a personal initiative” which “the Church can't endorse or promote”.
Significantly, however, the Archbishop didn't then ban nor prohibit
people going to the shrine of La Virgen del Cerro. Indeed, this year he actually gave permission for the celebration of the mass at the closing ceremony of
the pilgrim year, & Fr Laurentin said he considered this “as progress
towards the official recognition by the Church of this event”.
Asked whether the Church might soon recognize the Salta apparitions, Father Laurentin responded, “We don’t know”. He has a list of 2,500 apparitions worldwide, but only 14 have so far gained such recognition. Whether recognized officially or not, one thing is certain: the faith is very much alive here.
Asked whether the Church might soon recognize the Salta apparitions, Father Laurentin responded, “We don’t know”. He has a list of 2,500 apparitions worldwide, but only 14 have so far gained such recognition. Whether recognized officially or not, one thing is certain: the faith is very much alive here.
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