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The commission was created in a decree that Arguelles issued on Nov. 12, the same day the archbishop issued another decree, formally lifting the 1951 Church ban against the public veneration of the image of the Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, in Lipa. [Alleluia! Our Lady promised that the last great Marian dogma that will be proclaimed is about her being declared Co-Redemptrix, Advocate and Mediatrix! You can see a religious image in the petal.]
Nov. 12 this year was the 61st anniversary of the last of the series of apparitions that occurred from September to November 1948 in Lipa.
In 1948, the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared 19 times to Teresita Castillo, a novice in the Carmelite convent. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In her last apparition to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin identified herself, saying, “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.” [The apparitions pre-dates the apparition of our Lady of All Nations in Belgium.]
Although the veneration of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace was allowed by the then Bishop Alfred Verzosa, the Church hierarchy declared in 1951 that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings including the shower of rose petals in Lipa.” [Reportedly there was something controversial that led to the bishops' decision on this. The future cardinal, Rufino Santos, was part of the commission.
Verzosa’s successor, Rufino Santos, ordered that “no petals be given to anyone by the Lipa Carmelite community and the statue of Our Lady of Mediatrix be withdrawn from public view.”
The ban was lifted 40 years later by Arguelles’ predecessor Archbishop Mariano Gaviola in 1991.
Arguelles said his decree lifting the ban was merely a “reiteration” of Gaviola’s 1991 order and that he was doing it because “there was nothing wrong in praising apparitions” and was aware of “the love of the people for the Blessed Mother.”
“The Blessed Mother has [protected] the country from calamities,” he said.
Despite the ban, Arguelles said the faithful have unceasingly gone on pilgrimages to the Carmel monastery in Lipa to pray and ask for favors from the Blessed Mother. [The case of the Lipa apparitions cannot be compared to what happened to Medjugorje.]
There has been an increasing number of pilgrims to the monastery, “making penitential processions and praying almost every day but most of all on first Saturdays and every twelfth day of the month,” he said.
A repeat of the shower of rose petals is said to have occurred some years ago but the Carmelite nuns have kept a low profile. Some people still have petals in their possession. [We received some from friends back in 1994. The 1951 commission even claimed that the sisters used medals to make impressions on the petals! Imagine the bishops claiming this! They even said that the sisters installed a huge blower on top of the monastery to create the shower of petals witnessed by hundreds. How can the sisters place the blowers on top of the monastery? How can the sisters find all these rose petals which according to botanists, were not endemic to the Philippines. It was said that the roses were native to Russia! And lastly, if the sisters used medals to impress the images on the petals, why are the veins of the petals not bruised or broken? See the photo above and more below.]
The image made according to the instructions of the visionary
I found this interesting series of articles about the apparitions. I suggest you right click on the link and choose open in new window or tab.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
And for a timeline of the events of the Lipa Apparitions, click here
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