Marian Apparitions
Documented appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary, approved by the Church and witnessed by thousands
Our Lady of Walsingham
Walsingham, England
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the Saxon noblewoman Richeldis de Faverches, showing her the house of the Annunciation in Nazareth and asking her to build a replica — creating 'England's Nazareth,' one of the greatest medieval pilgrimage sites in Europe.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Mexico City, Mexico
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the indigenous peasant Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill in December 1531, requesting that a church be built in her honor. As proof, she left her miraculous image imprinted on Juan Diego's tilma (cloak), which remains preserved to this day — defying all known scientific explanation for its preservation over nearly 500 years.
Our Lady of Vailankanni
Vailankanni, India
The Blessed Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to two boys in the 16th century in Vailankanni, India. The shrine, known as the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, is a major pilgrimage site and the devotion was officially approved by the Vatican in 2024.
Our Lady of Lezajsk
Lezajsk, Poland
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Thomas Michalek, a simple woodcutter, in a forest near Lezajsk, Poland. She requested that a church be built on the site of the apparition. The vision was accompanied by a miraculous light and the appearance of a beautiful lady dressed in radiant garments. The apparition led to the construction of the Basilica of the Annunciation, which became one of Poland's most important Marian shrines.
Our Lady of Good Success
Quito, Ecuador
Our Lady of Good Success appeared to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres, a Spanish-born Conceptionist nun living in Quito, Ecuador. The Virgin Mary requested that a statue be made in her likeness and prophesied about future crises in the Church and the world, particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries. She warned of the loss of faith, corruption of morals, and attacks on the sacraments, but promised that her devotion would bring restoration.
Our Lady of Siluva
Siluva, Lithuania
Our Lady appeared weeping on a large rock to shepherd children near the town of Siluva, Lithuania. She held the infant Jesus in her arms and wept because the land, once Catholic, had been taken over by Calvinists and the people had abandoned the true faith. The apparitions led to the restoration of Catholicism in the region and the recovery of a buried miraculous painting of the Virgin Mary.
Our Lady of Manaoag
Manaoag, Philippines
A Marian apparition in the Philippines where the Virgin Mary appeared to a farmer in 1610. The site is now a major pilgrimage destination, and the devotion has been approved by multiple Popes.
Our Lady of Querrien
Querrien, France
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Jeanne Courtel, a 12-year-old shepherdess who had been deaf and mute from birth, near the village of La Prenessaye in Brittany. Our Lady miraculously healed the girl, restoring her hearing and speech. She then directed Jeanne to the location of a buried statue of 'Our Lady of Eternal Aid' and requested that a chapel be built on the site.
Our Lady of Laus
Saint-Etienne-le-Laus, France
Our Lady appeared to Benoite Rencurel, a young shepherdess, over a period of 54 years from 1664 to 1718 in the French Alps near the hamlet of Laus. The Virgin Mary identified herself as 'Mary, the Mother of your Lord' and requested the construction of a church and a house for priests. The apparitions were accompanied by mystical phenomena including supernatural fragrances, ecstasies, and the gift of reading souls for the sacrament of confession.
Madonna of Montagnaga
Montagnaga di Pine, Italy
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Domenica Targa, a young shepherdess, in the alpine village of Montagnaga di Pine in Trentino, Italy. Our Lady appeared dressed in white with a rosary in her hand, standing in a meadow. She appeared five times between May 1729 and May 1730, calling for prayer and devotion to the Rosary.
Our Lady of Las Lajas
Ipiales, Colombia
An image of the Virgin Mary was miraculously found on a rock in a canyon. The image is not a painting but is part of the rock itself, extending several feet deep.
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Paris, France
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to novice Catherine Laboure in the chapel of the Daughters of Charity in Paris, revealing the design of a medal that would become one of the most widely distributed sacramentals in Catholic history — the Miraculous Medal.
Our Lady of Zion
Rome, Italy
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Alphonse Ratisbonne, a young French Jewish banker and avowed atheist, in the Church of Sant'Andrea delle Fratte in Rome. The apparition was sudden and overwhelming — Ratisbonne saw the Virgin Mary exactly as she appears on the Miraculous Medal, surrounded by brilliant light. He was instantly converted from Judaism and atheism to Catholicism, describing the experience as being struck by a blinding truth.
Our Lady of La Salette
La Salette-Fallavaux, France
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared weeping to two young shepherds in the French Alps, delivering a message about the consequences of sin and the importance of prayer and penance.
Our Lady of Lourdes
Lourdes, France
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous in the grotto of Massabielle, identifying herself as 'the Immaculate Conception' and revealing a spring whose waters have been associated with over 70 medically verified miraculous healings.
Our Lady of Good Help
Champion, United States
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared three times to Adele Brise, a young Belgian immigrant, near the rural community of Robinsonville (now Champion), Wisconsin. Our Lady appeared dressed in dazzling white with a yellow sash, a crown of stars above her flowing golden hair, and was surrounded by brilliant light. She identified herself as 'the Queen of Heaven' and commissioned Adele to teach the children of the frontier settlements about their faith.
Our Lady Help of Christians (Philippsdorf)
Filipov (Philippsdorf), Czech Republic
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Magdalene Kade, a woman who had been bedridden for 12 years with a severe illness, in the village of Philippsdorf (now Filipov) in Bohemia. Our Lady appeared in brilliant white light and said: 'My dear child, from now on you are healed.' Magdalene was instantly and completely cured, rising from her bed for the first time in over a decade.
Our Lady of Pontmain
Pontmain, France
During the Franco-Prussian War, as Prussian troops advanced toward the village of Pontmain in northwestern France, four children saw the Blessed Virgin Mary appear in the night sky above a neighbor's house. She was dressed in a dark blue gown covered with golden stars and wore a blue veil and a golden crown. A message appeared letter by letter on a white banner beneath her: 'But pray, my children. God will hear you in a short time. My Son allows Himself to be moved.' Within 11 days of the apparition, an armistice was signed and the Prussian troops withdrew.
Our Lady of Gietrzwald
Gietrzwald, Poland
Two young girls, Justyna Szafrynska and Barbara Samulowska, saw the Blessed Virgin Mary seated on a golden throne with the infant Jesus on her lap, accompanied by angels, above a maple tree near the parish church. Our Lady spoke to the children in the Warmian dialect of Polish — the only approved apparition where Mary spoke in Polish. She requested daily recitation of the Rosary and identified herself as 'the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception.'
Our Lady of Knock
Knock, Ireland
Fifteen witnesses of varying ages saw a silent apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Evangelist, and a Lamb on an altar with a cross — a unique Marian apparition that was entirely visual with no verbal message.
Our Lady of Sorrows (Castelpetroso)
Castelpetroso, Italy
Two shepherdesses, Fabiana Cecchino and Serafina Giovanna Valentino, saw the Blessed Virgin Mary first as the Pieta — holding the body of her crucified Son — and later as Our Lady of Sorrows, in a rocky cave near Castelpetroso in the Molise region of Italy. The apparitions were accompanied by a healing spring that appeared at the site.
Our Lady of Fatima
Fatima, Portugal
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared six times to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, delivering three secrets and culminating in the Miracle of the Sun — witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people, including skeptics and journalists.
Our Lady of Beauraing
Beauraing, Belgium
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared 33 times to five children in the garden of a convent school in Beauraing, Belgium, identifying herself as 'the Immaculate Virgin' and revealing a golden heart.
Our Lady of Banneux
Banneux, Belgium
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared eight times to 11-year-old Mariette Beco in the small village of Banneux, identifying herself as 'the Virgin of the Poor' and leading Mariette to a spring.
Our Lady of Zeitoun
Zeitoun, Cairo, Egypt
Luminous apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared above a Coptic church in Cairo for over three years, witnessed by millions of people — Muslims, Christians, and non-believers alike — and photographed and filmed by Egyptian state television.
Our Lady of Akita
Akita, Japan
A wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin in a Japanese convent wept human tears 101 times over six years, witnessed by hundreds of people including Buddhist visitors and television crews. The tears were scientifically analyzed and confirmed as human.
Our Lady of Betania
Cua, Venezuela
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared under the title 'Reconciler of People and Nations' to Maria Esperanza Medrano de Bianchini and numerous other witnesses at a farm called Finca Betania near Cua, Venezuela. On one occasion in 1984, over 100 people simultaneously witnessed a public apparition of the Virgin. The apparitions were accompanied by extraordinary phenomena including stigmata, a bleeding Eucharistic host, and numerous healings.
Our Lady of Cuapa
Cuapa, Nicaragua
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernardo Martinez, a humble church sacristan, in the small town of Cuapa, Nicaragua. Our Lady appeared clothed in white, standing on a cloud, and asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary and renewal of the First Saturday devotions. She warned of future sufferings for Nicaragua if the people did not change their ways.
Our Lady of Kibeho
Kibeho, Rwanda
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three schoolgirls in Rwanda, showing them terrifying visions of rivers of blood and mass violence — prophecies that were fulfilled 13 years later in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Our Lady of Medjugorje
Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
A series of visions of the Virgin Mary reported by six Croatian children beginning in 1981. The Vatican granted a Nihil Obstat in 2024, authorizing pilgrimage and devotion at the site.
Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas
San Nicolas de los Arroyos, Argentina
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared daily to Gladys Quiroga de Motta, an ordinary housewife, mother, and grandmother with no formal education, in the city of San Nicolas de los Arroyos, Argentina. The apparitions began on September 25, 1983, and continued for over six years, with thousands of individual apparitions. Our Lady appeared under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary and delivered messages emphasizing prayer, the Rosary, Eucharistic devotion, and family unity.