The Apparition of Akita, Japan.
Little known is the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a Religious Sister, and a statue that shed many tears for over six years, in a remote village of north western Japan. In 1973, a series of supernatural events began to happen to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa, in the convent chapel of the Eucharistic Handmaids of the Sacred Heart.
On June 12-14, 1973, as Sr. Agnes opened the tabernacle to expose the Blessed Sacrament for Adoration, a bright light emanated from the tabernacle and filled the chapel. This supernatural event was repeated the next three days and on the Feast of Corpus Christi. On one of the days, Sr. Agnes saw angels worshiping the Blessed Sacrament, in a semi-circle around the altar.
On June 28th, the vigil of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of the same year, Sr. Agnes saw rays of bright light coming from the Blessed Sacrament.
In July, she saw her guardian angel while in the hospital. The angel taught her the Fatima decade prayer. At that time, the Fatima prayer was little known in Japan. During the visitation of the angel, a wound appeared in Sr. Agnes’ left hand.
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy.”
While reciting the Eucharistic prayer composed by Bishop John Ito, our lady added the word “truly.”
“Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and my soul to be entirely one with Your Heart being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His Kingdom. Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls. Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen.”
The significance of this addition to the prayer, and her appearances to Sr. Agnes, who was a member of the Eucharistic Handmaids of the Sacred Heart, is in itself a message of the importance of belief in the Real Presence.
On the same day, a bleeding wound appeared in the right hand of the statue in the convent chapel. The guardian angel of Sr. Agnes told her that the bleeding is for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins.
On July 6th, Sr. Agnes’ guardian angel told her:
“Do not fear. I am the one who is with you and watches over you. Do not fear. Pray with fervor not only because of your sins, but in reparation for those of all men. The world today wounds the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord by its ingratitudes and injuries. The wounds of Mary are much deeper and sorrowful than yours. Let us go and pray together in the chapel.”
The statue of Our Lady came to life and gave Sr. Agnes the following message:
“My daughter, My novice, you
have obeyed Me well in abandoning all to follow Me. Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Be patient. It is the last trial. Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins of men. Each person in this community is My irreplaceable daughter. Do you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist? Then, let us pray it together:
‘Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His Kingdom. Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls.’
Most Holy Mother of God. Never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your special child. Amen.”
On September 23, 1973, the statue began to sweat from the face and the feet. Tears flowed from both of the statues eyes, and the chapel was filled with a fragrant scent. The statue wept over 101 times, in the presence of many pilgrims, including Bishop John Ito. Bishop Ito had the tears tested at a Japanese university. The test found the tears to be human tears.
Our Lady told Sr. Agnes that she wanted to gather souls who would be willing to suffer for sinners.
Sr. Agnes received a second message on August 3, 1973:
“My daughter, My novice, do you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to you. It is very important. You will convey it to your superior.
Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with My Son, for souls who will repair, by their suffering and their poverty, for the sinners and ingrates.
In order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. With My Son, I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the Father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him and form a cohort of victim souls.
Prayer, penance, and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father’s anger. I desire this also from your community, that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men. Recite the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its meaning; put it into practice: offer (whatever God may send) in reparation for sins. Let each one endeavor, according to her capacity and position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord.
Even in a secular institute, prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered. Without attaching too much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master.”
On Saturday, October 13, 1973 Our Lady gave Sr. Agnes her third and most serious message:
“If men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have 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 which 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.
The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see Cardinals opposing Cardinals, Bishops against other Bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres (other priests). Churches and altars will be sacked. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises, and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
The demon will be especially implacable against the souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will no longer be pardon for them.
…Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able to still save you from the calamities which approach. Those who place their confidence in Me will be saved.”
Following personal experience and an eight year intensive investigation, Most Rev. John Shojiro Ito, Bishop of Niigata declared the events of Akita to be of supernatural origin and authorized the propagation of devotion to the Holy Mother of Akita in a pastoral letter that was read in every parish of the diocese on April 22, 1984, Easter Sunday. When Bishop Ito presented his findings to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger gave his approval of Bishop Ito’s decision.
Bishop Ito stated:
“I believe the third message in Akita has a deep connection with Fatima. Even after the Blessed Virgin gave the message in Fatima, the people did not repent with their lives. Our Lady had to repeat and revive the memory of Fatima again.
Eucharistic Prayer of Our Lady of Akita
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and my soul to be entirely one with Your Heart being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His Kingdom. Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls. Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen.
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, and when the priest said: “The Body of Christ,” I responded: “The Body of Christ.” But that’s off topic.
When we were seminarians, we guarded our love for traditional clerical attire, lest we were ridiculed at rigid traditionalist nutcases and expelled from formation. Wearing the cassock or expressing any solid Catholic devotional life was considered a very serious sin, mortal in the sense that it would separate you for your vocation.
