Through the years there have been many visions of Mary to help guide us during difficult times. Although all the visions have not been approved by the Church, the message of love sent is always meant to be a warning for those that Mary encounters. Given these special blessing from Our Lady, the Church has chosen to acknowledge some of these visions due to the universal message that is given.
Today's feast shares one of these accepted visions that took place in Kibeho, a small village in southern Rwanda. The visions began in 1981 when a high school student, Alphonsine Mumureke, saw a woman of great beauty calling herself "Nyina Wa Jambo," which means "Mother of the Word." In these visions, Mary asked for "conversion, to keep faith and to pray without hypocrisy."
Alphonsine was ridiculed and scorned when she spoke of the visions. Those in charge of the school as well as students begged for a way to bring credit to her claims of visions. When she would go into an ecstasy (a spiritual trance), teachers and students would often test her to determine her sincerity.
Alphonsine was so distressed by the actions of the others that she begged Mary to present her visions to others. Her request was granted in two new visionaries, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango. Nathalie's visions brought messages of "redemptive suffering and unceasing prayer for a world that is very bad and at risk of falling into an abyss." However, the surprising visions of Marie Claire were enhanced by her once severe opposition to the visions of Alphonsine. Marie Claire's vision insisted on the praying of the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and the desire for repentance.
By the end of 1981, there was a group of converts that met to pray and sing along with Alphonsine. This group continued to grow, as well as those who believed to have their own visions. By May 1982, the spread of the message had gone far beyond the school and throughout the region. However, with the documented visions that were considered valid, there were also false visions.
An investigation took place throughout the time of the visions and the Church authorities officially conclude the visions in 1989 as well. A year into the investigation, the officials verified the visions of fourteen girls. Of these visions, most ended within a year after they began and were repetitive of the original messages. Alphonsine continued her visions for eight years. She stated at that time that there would no longer be any public messages.
In 1990, Pope John Paul II visited Rwanda and asked the faithful to turn to the Virgin as a simple and sure guide, and to pray for greater commitment against local divisions, both political and ethnic.
One of the key reasons the visions were deemed as authentic was the anticipated vision of the Rwanda genocide that occurred 12 years later, in 1994. On August 19, 1982, the seers saw “a river of blood, people who were killing each other, abandoned corpses with no one to bury them, a tree all in flames, bodies without their heads.” This prophecy seemed at first incredible, but about a decade later, in the spring of 1994, a horrifying civil war erupted in Rwanda, and, in just three months, an estimated 500,000 to one million were killed, many beheaded by machetes and dumped into the Kagea River (“river of blood”).
The Blessed Virgin had warned us at Kibeho that sexual promiscuity would lead to disaster. That was before the world knew about AIDS, but by 1994, Africa has seventy percent of the world's AIDS cases – and entire villages were destroyed! So far, 25 million Africans have contracted AIDS.
The warnings of the Blessed Virgin Mary were not just for Africa. Our Lady spoke to Marie Claire about the world:
"When I tell you this, I am not addressing myself strictly to you, child, but I am making this appeal to the world,"
Marie Claire, who would later be killed in the war, said that Mary described the world as in revolt against God, the world “is on the edge of catastrophe.” To avoid war, all were to pray, to fast, and to make penance.
Alphonsine would continue to be educated and desired to answer her religious vocation. After many years, she was able to take her vows under the order of the Poor Clares in 2006.
Nathalie remains in Kibeho because on June 24th, 1982, the Blessed Virgin asked Nathalie to remain at Kibeho and, until further notice, fully engage herself in prayer life and mortifications for the salvation of the world. She continues to serve at the shrine built in honor of the visions. She often greets visitors to the shrine and prays fro them daily.
Marie Claire would later become a teacher and marry soon after college. She and her husband were separated during the genocide of Rwanda and both were killed.
Regardless of the number of visions or those who saw the visions, the message is clear that we must live lives of repentance and pray for conversion. This message emphasized is much what we are asked to do as Christians so it is not surprising that the visions should be taken for truth. Let us begin today to live out the message that Christ gives to us and assures us to be true through his mother, Mary, also known as Our Lady of Kibeho.
Our Lady of Kibeho, pray for us!
