Apparitions of Our Lady of El Escorial, Spain, 1981-2002

Our Lady of El Escorial

Spain, 1981-2002

Apparitions of Jesus Christ and Our Lady, undergoing investigation by a commission
headed by the Archbishop of Madrid, the Most Reverend Carlos Osoro;

and with approven Eucharistic Cult at the place of the apparitions.

Painting of Our Lady of Sorrows, according to the description of the visionary Luz Amparo Cuevas.

Known as the apparitions of Our Lady of Escorial, they happened in Prado Nuevo (on the outskirts of El Escorial, county of Madrid) between June 1981 and May 2002, to a humble housewife called Luz Amparo Cuevas (1931-2012). Our Lady appeared on an European Ash, which is nowadays the great relic of Prado Nuevo, together with the Chapel that the Mother of God asked for in the first apparition on June 14th, 1981:

«I am the sorrowful Lady. I want a chapel, in honour of my name, to be built in this place. Let all peoples come here to meditate on the Passion of my Son, which is completely forgotten. If what I say is fulfilled, there will be healings; this water will heal [in reference to the water that springs forth from the nearby fountain].

I shall bless everyone who comes here to pray the holy Rosary on a daily basis. Many will be marked with a cross on their foreheads. Do penance, pray.»

European Ash where the first apparition of Our Lady to Luz Amparo took place, on June 14^th, 1981,
and the fountain from where springs forth the water that Our Lady promised would heal after the building of the Chapel.

MESSAGE OF JESUS CHRIST ABOUT THE SITUATION IN THE WORLD

13th of November 1981

[Considered the portico of the Messages of Jesus and Our Lady at Escorial]

«Yes, My daughter, here is your Celestial Father, as I told you on the first day of My apparition. I am your Celestial Father and I know you suffer a lot. How would I not know how horrible those torments are, if I Myself suffered them for the whole of Humanity, which is so ungrateful! I know you don't deserve any of this, My daughter, but they need to be saved, they need to be saved no matter what. Listen to Me, My daughter, for My Victim Heart gets tired of the ungratefulness of My loved children. I'm not talking about the wickedness of the ungodly, but of the malice of the Christians.

I'm going to openly report to you the situation of the world, so that you understand the reason of My Mystical Passion as immolated victim for the world, as Martyr King of My charity for souls and as God disdained by My creatures. My daughter, I used all My Wisdom to make available to men all the means to obtain the joy of My eternal Kingdom. To attract them, I used all My tenderness, My goodness, My mercy, My riches, My magnificence, and My love. But they don't want to know about anything, they're ungrateful. I did for all what I would do for My own children, but they don't deserve it. Everything I did for them [the unfaithful], for everyone in general, I did in the same way as for My elected. What I did for My own, I did for everyone in general and to everyone I gave My example in the way of this world. For all I ascended into Heaven, heading back to the bosom of the Father, and for all I made the miracle of the consecration of the Eucharist, to remain here with them. I am, for all, not only for some, shut in that sacrament, sad, suffering. For all I instituted My privileged Priesthood and for all I founded the Holy Church with its aid of unfailing virtue and of only hope of eternity.

My daughter, I gave to all My words of salvation and of life, that the holy Gospel of the law, of grace and of love keeps and expresses with all clarity in those words: “Love one another”. I expressed it in a language that all would understand. And I said to you: “Remain united all of you, remain in Me, so that we are one..., so that we are one, as the Father and I are one”. But what have they done of My Word, of My doctrine and of My wishes, other than mockery, crimes and betrayal, My daughter?

Look, My daughter: My beloved Church was formed, erected and extended throughout the souls; but the eternal Enemy entered the mischievous race to take possession of all; he took possession of the whole race. He also came to divide the family [Christianity], in which, with the emerging of groups, started undermining each other.

I don't complain about the Enemy neither of his followers, for they are all damned; I complain about the ones that, although Mine, favor the works of evil. My daughter, the Enemy wants to seduce and doesn't know how.

Always remember My words, because if I hadn't warned you..., but I am constantly warning you. If I hadn't warned you, you would have less responsibility, but as it is, how can you excuse yourselves, My children? You have no excuse.

My daughter, the Final Day is near and in that Final Day I will come as Judge. Have I not, by any chance, said it to My Holy Church? Have I not come to the rescue with shepherds? Have I not poured miracles everywhere and poured My love? But they refused to receive all these things with a pure heart. Of course, all these; do you know who they are? The unthankful, the ungrateful.

My daughter, tell them that they are still in time, that they all come to Me, as I have said in one occasion: “Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Come contrite and repentant, making efforts to beat the evil tendencies of your passions and of the seductions that the world, the devil and the flesh offer you, like he [Satan] did one day in the paradise of the first natural parents.

Tell them that when I invite them to come to Me, it is to come with the spirit of changing the bad life of vice, of sin, of disbelief, of malice and of refined commodity with which, in each day, you surrounded your human life. Because it is, precisely, human beings that have to supernaturalize the actions, imitating Me in everything I did, when I assumed the human nature, in which, from the first to last day in this life, I sought sacrifice, poverty, humility and discomfort. That is why I was born in a freezing winter night and was placed on straw of a corral of animals, to offer My Father the redeeming and propitious sacrifice to be paid to Divine Justice for your sins, My children. As it is, you are all obliged to love Me, for it was for that that I descended to you, making Myself similar to you in all moments, except in sin.

My daughter, tell the youth what real love consists in; tell the young to come close to Me. That, in silence and with faith in My presence in My Eucharist, they ask Me the secret of happiness of the human heart in this life and in eternity. My daughter, reveal to them how blessed you are by the action of My love and that there will be no love that makes someone happy, if it is not grafted in My love. Yes, My daughter, warn them all.

Look, My daughter, today Satan is celebrating his party in the depths of Hell. You are going to see him: look how the caves are full of damned, sinners, unrighteous, and how they roll around because of the fire! They are damned spirits, My daughter. Look how Hell is full of sinners, and don't forget that it is for all eternity! There are those who think “how can God, being merciful, send such a punishment?” Yes, My daughter, My Eternal Father is merciful, but He is also just and gives each one what he deserves. Look, My daughter, how many spirits of evil there are in the middle, and how the souls of sinners suffer tortures for their sins. There is no death here, however, in the places in Heaven there is the life, My daughter. How many preferred to die in order not to suffer! Look, My daughter, you are going to see a part of Heaven, so that you don't remain horrified, with that bad taste. Look at such happiness, look at such peace, look at such joy; here there is no envy, no suffering, everything is love! Where I am there can never be suffering, but where Satan is with his followers there is nothing but torment and suffering. Warn them all, tell them to convert, for I do not want them to be condemned. Tell them, My daughter, tell them all.

Goodbye, My daughter.»

Official position of the Church

regarding the apparitions of Our Lady of Escorial

In 1985 (four years after the first apparition), the Archbishop of Madrid at that time, the Most Reverend Cardinal Angel Suquía y Goicoechea, published a note stating: «It is not admitted the supernatural character of the supposed “apparitions and revelations” that happen in the place known as Prado Nuevo [...]». Right from the beginning, these declarations caused confusion in whoever heard the words «it is not admitted the supernatural character»; in fact, being precise theological formulas, they may be misunderstood by whoever is not familiar with the terms. The Ecclesiastical Authority, whenever making an official statement on supposed apparitions, may use one of three theological formulas for this purpose:

1.       «It is admitted the supernatural character», when the supernatural character of the apparition has been proven to exist.

2.       «It is not admitted the supernatural character», when the supernatural character of the apparition has not (perhaps yet) been proven.

3.       «It is admitted that there is no supernatural character», when the supernatural character has been proven not to exist.

So, the formulas 1 and 3 are both conclusive statements from the Ecclesiastic Authority on what happened: either positive («it is admitted the supernatural») or negative («it is admitted the non-supernatural»).

The formula 2 (which was used by the Archbishop of Madrid regarding the apparitions and revelations in Prado Nuevo) is essentially temporary, and is used when the apparitions are undergoing an investigation by the Ecclesiastic Authority. Archbishop Angel Suquía has clarified in successive occasions the temporary character of the formula that was used regarding the apparitions of Prado Nuevo: «Where it says “not admitted” it does not mean “does not exist”». He also clarified that the formula does not mean “prohibition” but rather a first measure of ecclesiastic prudency, «a standard procedure in these matters».

The temporary theological formula that states «it is not admitted the supernatural character» targets a fact for which there is still no conclusive judgement. Therefore, this temporary formula must necessarily be changed into a conclusive formula, either positive (1) or negative (2), once the apparitions and their contents are examined. Having this in mind, the full investigation on the theological content of the messages started only after May 2002, when the last apparition took place and the last message was revealed. This investigation looks at 376 messages given by Jesus and Our Lady, from 1981 to 2002, for the whole mankind.

On the same statement of 1985, the archbishop of Madrid asks («ruego encarecido») – in no way a prohibition – the priests and religious to refrain from participating in the religious acts (Rosaries, Stations of the Cross, etc.) in Prado Nuevo so as to avoid spreading the idea that the Church had already officially recognised the apparitions as from Our Lady and Jesus.

However, archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela (the successor of archbishop Ángel Suquía), due to the concessions regarding the apparitions of Our Lady in Prado Nuevo of Escorial, de facto revokes the statement of his predecessor regarding the affluence of priests and religious to the place of the apparitions. In June 14th, 2006, the archbishop of Madrid, the Most Reverend Antonio Maria, grants permission for the celebration of the Eucharist in the context of the 25^th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to Luz Amparo. This permission was granted on every June 14^th of the following years until February 2009, when permission to celebrate Mass on the first Saturday of every month in a nearby location was granted by the same archbishop. More recently (2011), during the celebrations of the 30^th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to Luz Amparo, the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, the Most Reverend António Maria Rouco Varela, granted permission for the construction of the Chapel that Our Lady asked for in her first message on June 14^th, 1981, in Prado Nuevo of Escorial, where there is now daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist, with a particular high number of pilgrims on the first Saturday of every month. Thus, the permission de facto for the cult and piety deeds on the place of the apparitions of Our Lady to Luz Amparo in Prado Nuevo of Escorial has been officially granted.

A lot of people regarded this gesture of the cardinal archbishop of Madrid as an implicit recognition of the supernatural character of the facts and messages of Escorial. It can be! However, for the time being, the theological formula of the statement of archbishop Ángel Suquía, in 1985, regarding the supernatural character of the events of Prado Nuevo, still stands as the official position of the Ecclesiastic Authority and has to wait for the conclusive statement on these matters from the same Authority.

Jesus and Our Lady gave a total of 376 messages for the whole mankind, touching on every aspect of the Gospels of Our Lord Jesus Christ and on all dimensions of the Faith of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. And this is precisely what I intend to spread in this blog, through publishing some parts of messages of Our Lord and the Virgin Mary regarding:

• the Passion of Christ and other mysteries of the life of Our Lord (incarnation, presentation in the temple, transfiguration, descent into the hells, etc.)
• the Holy Church, the Sacraments, the Pope, the bishops, the priests, the consecrated people, the families, the lay people;
• the second coming of Christ (universal scatology);
• the four last things: death, judgment, Heaven and hell (individual scatology);

Procession with the image of Our Lady of Sorrows – from the Chapel to the European Ash

where Our Lady appeared to Luz Amparo – in order to start the recitation of the Holy Rosary.

The nuns are the “Sisters for the Reparation of Our Lady Virgin of Sorrows” – a Work of the Church born out of the requests of Our Lady to Luz Amparo and that was canonically recognized on July 14th, 1994, by the once Archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Ángel Suquía y Goicoechea.

Moment of Holy Communion, during Holy Mass, on the first Saturday of May 2013, in Prado Nuevo of Escorial.
On the background, one can see the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows.