VIII. Pastoral Letter of Apparations at Akita
(Note: section numbers added.)
Bishop John Shojiro Ito, Ordinary of the Diocese of Niigata, describes the events which take place in his diocese
over a period of several years:
Pastoral letter of approval of the Bishop of Niigata on the Subject of the Statue of the Virgin of Akita
I
1. To all members of the diocese, my blessing and my best wishes on this Feast of Easter. It is now twenty-
two years that I have been bishop of the diocese of Niigata, named by His Holiness John XXIII in 1962.
In conformity with the legislation of the Church I have reached the age of retreat and must give up my
function. My thanksgiving goes to each one of you for prayer and cooperation which have permitted me,
despite many difficulties, to fill my task up to the present day.
2. Before leaving you I must confide to you a preoccupation. It has to do with the series of mysterious
events concerning a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary in the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist.
(The request for ecclesial recognition of this secular institute has been introduced in Rome.) This institute
is found in Yuzawadai, Soegawa, Akita, in this diocese of Niigata (Japan). You are without doubt aware of
these events through magazines, books, television, and so on.
When the first commission of inquiry was named in 1976, I publicly announced that it was necessary
to abstain from all official pilgrimage and all particular veneration of this statue while the inquiry was
underway. From that day I have made no declaration on this subject. Indeed, being a question of important
events concerning the Church, one cannot treat them lightly. However, to keep silence at the time of
leaving my function as bishop, since I have been at the heart of the events, would be a negligence with
regard to my episcopal duties. For that reason I have decided to make a new declaration in the form of this
pastoral letter.
3. Since 1973, when the events began, eleven years have passed. As that was the first time I was a witness
of the rather extraordinary events, I went to Rome to the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith in 1975 where I consulted Monsignor Hamer, secretary for the Congregation and whom I already
knew. He explained to me that such a matter belonged above all to the authority of the bishop of the place.
In 1976, I asked the archbishop of Tokyo for the creation of a commission of inquiry. This commission
declared that it was not in a position to prove the supernatural events of Akita. In 1979, I presented to the
Congregation a request for the formation of a second commission of inquiry which permitted us to examine
the facts still more in detail.
In 1979, a letter of the Congregation,unfavorable to the events, came to the nunciature in Tokyo. But
this letter contained some misunderstandings. Esteeming it my duty to restore the exactitude of the facts,
I re-examined it all in 1982 at the time that the events came to an end. Through the intermediary of the
Apostolic Nuncio in Tokyo, I sent the complete dossier, augmented with the new facts, to Rome.
At the time of my trip to Rome in the month of October last year (1983) I was able to meet with three
personalities charged with the matter in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. At the end of this
meeting we had decided that the dossier should again be submitted to prolonged examination.
II
4. The series of events relative to the statue of the Virgin Mary include the flowing of blood from the right
hand of the statue, also a perspiration spreading a sweet perfume, perspiration so abundant that it was
necessary to dry the statue. However, the most remarkable fact, in our opinion, and the most evident, is
the overflowing of an aqueous liquid, similar to human tears, from the eyes of the statue of Our Holy
Mother.
This began on the 4th of January, 1975 (Holy Year) and some tears flowed 101 times, until the 15th of
September, 1981, Feast of Our Lady of the Seven Dolors. I was able myself to witness four lachrymations.
About 500 persons have also been eyewitnesses. I twice tasted this liquid. It was salty and seemed to me
truly human tears. The scientific examination of Professor Sagisaka, specialist in legal medicine in the faculty
of medicine at the University of Akita, has proved that this liquid is indeed identical to human tears.
5. It is beyond human powers to produce water where there is none, and I believe that to do this the inter-
31
vention of a nonhuman force is necessary. Moreover, it is not the question of pure water, but of a liquid
secreted by a human body. It flowed only from the eyes of the statue, as tears flow, and that more than 100
times over a period of several years and before many numerous witnesses. It has been established that it
could not have been by trickery or human maneuvers.
If these events are not natural one can envisage three causes. They would be due to:
1. Paranormal faculties of the human being;
2. Machinations of the devil;
3. A supernatural intervention.
I do not know well what could be paranormal faculties. However, certain individuals say that Agnes
Katsuko Sasagawa, member of the Handmaids of the Servants of the Eucharist, and who was the one lined
most especially to the events of Akita, might possess paranormal powers permitting her to transfer her
own tears to the statue. For that however, it would be necessary, according to Professor Itaya of the
Technical University of Tokyo (specialist in this field) that the interested person be aware of the fact in
order to cause such paranormal powers to intervene. Now the tears flowed from the statue when Agnes
Sasagawa was sleeping and even when she was not aware of the event, being home with her family 400
kilometers from Akita. I think therefore that the hypothesis of such faculties can be put aside.
6. There are also persons who suppose that it is a question of a machination of the devil. If that is the
case it ought to lead to evil effects for the faith. Not only have there not been such effects, but quite to the
contrary there have been favorable effects. For example, a husband whose Catholic wife had for a long time
recommended conversion decided to receive Baptism after seeing the tears.
In another case, a former believer, separated from the Church for several decades, returned to the regular
practice of our religion. And again, following a visit to the place, a believer resolved to work in evangelization.
Alone she created two bases of evangelization and continues this work to the present day.
7. Furthermore, there are numerous reports of miraculous cures of sicknesses such as cancer, thanks to
the mediation of the Virgin of Akita. I am going to mention two, the most proving.
One is the sudden cure of a Korean woman. Following cancer of the brain, she was reduced to a vegetable
state from July 1981. The Virgin of Akita appeared to her and told her to get up. Almost at once she
was able to get up, having entirely recovered her health. This healing took place while priests and Korean
women prayed to the Virgin of Akita for her cure and asked for a miracle in view of the canonization of the
Korean martyrs.
There are X-rays of this person taken during the sickness and after the complete cure. Even nonprofessionals
can verify the cure. The authenticity of the X-rays is attested to by Dr. M.D. Tong-Woo-Kim, of
the Hospital of Saint Paul in Seoul who took these X-rays, and also by Fr. Theisen, S.T.D., president of the
ecclesiastical tribunal of the archdiocese of Seoul. All of the records have been sent to Rome. I went myself
to Seoul (Korea) last year and was able to interview the person involved; I could thus assure myself of the
truth of the facts of her miraculous cure. For her part in the person came to Akita to than Our Holy Mother.
The second case is the complete cure of the total deafness from which Agnes Sasagawa suffered. I will
speak in detail of this later.
By such facts propitious to the faith and to physical health, it would seem to exclude that the events of
Akita could be of diabolical origin. There remains therefore only the possibility of a supernatural intervention.
It is in any event difficult to hold that it might be not a question of supernatural phenomena.
III
8. But why have such phenomena taken place? I ask if they are not with regard to the messages coming
from the statue of the Virgin and perceived by the deaf ears of Agnes Sasagawa.
The first message was given to her on the morning of June 6th, 1973, First Friday of the month. A voice
coming from the statue of Mary, always splendid saying:
“My daughter, my novice, you have obeyed me well in abandoning all to follow me. Is the infirmity of
your ears painful? The wound will be healed, be sure. Be patient. It is the last trial. Does the wound 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:
“Oh, Jesus, really present in the most Blesses Sacrament, I offer you my body and soul to become one
in Your Sacred Heart Which is transubstantiated and sacrificed on all the altars of the world, remaining
with us to praise the Father and to pray for the coming of His Kingdom.
32
“I implore You to accept my humble consecration and to use me, as will please You, for the glory of God
and the salvation of souls.
“Dearest Mother, do not permit that I may ever be separated from your Divine Son. Guard me always
as belonging entirely to you. Amen.
Pray very much for the Pope, the Bishops and the priests.”
Agnes Sasagawa lost her hearing when she was working as a catechist in the church of Myokokogen.
Because of this deafness she was for a time in the hospital of Rosai in the city of Joetsu. Dr. Sawada diagnosed
her total deafness as incurable and issued the documents permitting, for this reason, state subsidy.
No longer being able to work as a catechist, she came to the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist
at Akita, where she began to live a life of prayer.
9. The second message, like the first time, was given by the voice coming from the statue of the Holy
Virgin:
“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 capacity and
position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord.”
“Even in secular order 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.”
the 13th of October in the same year:
“My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior.”
“As I told you, 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…The priests who venerate Me will be
scorned and opposed by their confreres, churches and altars 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 (unrelenting) against 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
be no longer pardon for them.”
11. This message is based on the condition if men do not repent and better themselves…I think that it is
a serious warning, although one feels here the maternal love of Our Heavenly Mother in the words “The
sight of the loss of numerous souls makes me sad”. If the promise contained in the first message of 1973
was not realized (“Is your deafness painful to bear? You will soon be healed.”) one would be able to doubt
the veracity of these messages. But this promise was kept nine years after the beginning of the sickness.
Before this happened, a person similar to an angel announced to Agnes Sasagawa (the 25th of March, and
the 1st of May, 1982) “Your deafness causes you to suffer, doesn’t it? The moment of the promised cure
approaches. By the intercession of the Holy and Immaculate Virgin, exactly as the last time, before Him
Who is truly present in the Eucharist, your ears will be definitely cured in order that the work of the Most
High may be accomplished. There will be many sufferings and obstacles coming from outside. You have
33
nothing to fear.”
Effectively on the last Sunday of the month of Mary, the 30th of May 1982, Feast of Pentecost, at the
moment of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament her ears were cured completely and instantly.
That same evening she telephoned me and we conversed normally. On the following 14th of June, I visited
Doctor Arai of the Eye and Ear Division of the Hospital of the Red Cross of Akita who had verified the
complete deafness of Agnes Sasagawa at the moment she arrived in Akita nine years before. I asked his
impression. He was amazed at this complete cure. Doctor Sawada of the Rosai de Joetsu who had been the
first to examine her when she became deaf, has now issued a medical certificate dated June 3rd, 1982,
attesting that following minute examinations of the auditive capacities, he certifies that there is no further
anomaly in the two ears of Agnes Sasagawa.
I have known Agnes Sasagawa for ten years. She is a woman sound in spirit, frank and without problems;
she has always impressed me as a balanced person. Consequently the messages she says that she
has received did not appear to me to be in any way the result of imagination or hallucination.
As for the content of the messages received, there is nothing contrary to Catholic doctrine or good
morals, and when one thinks of the actual state of the world the warning seems to correspond to it in many
points.
12. Having set down here my experiences and my reflections with regard to the events relative to the statue
of the Holy Virgin of Akita, I esteem it my duty as Ordinary of the place, to respond to the requests of
the faithful to give pastoral directives on this subject. It is only the bishop of the diocese in question who
has the power of recognizing a fact of this kind. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith has given
me directives in this regard.
I have been in constant relation with the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist since its creation,
and thus I know exactly the situation of this Institute and of its members. In studying the history of the
apparitions of the Virgin Mary up to this day, I am aware that it is always the bishops of the place who
have authorized the veneration of the Virgin Mary when she was manifested herself in their dioceses.
After long prayer and mature reflection, I draw the following conclusions in my position as Bishop of
Niigata:
1. After the inquiries conducted up to the present day, one cannot deny the supernatural character of
a series of inexplicable events relative to the statue of the Virgin which is found in the convent of the
Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist of Yuzawadai, Soegawa, Akita (Diocese of Niigata).
Nor does one find in it elements contrary to Catholic faith and good morals.
2. Consequently, I authorize throughout the entire diocese, with which I am charged, the veneration of
the Holy Mother of Akita, while awaiting that the Holy See publishes definitive judgement on this matter.
13. And I ask that it be remembered that even if the Holy See later publishes a favorable judgement with
regard to the events of Akita, it is a question only of private revelation which is not a point of doctrine.
Christians are bound to believe only content of Divine Revelation (closed after the death of the last Apostle)
which contains all that is necessary for salvation.
Nevertheless, the Church, until now, has equally taken into consideration private revelations insofar as
they fortify the faith. For reference, I cite the following texts of the document on Catholic doctrine:
“The saints and angels having been conformed to the Will of God, receive from Him grace and glory in
abundance and it is just to venerate them because this results in offering praise and thanksgiving to God
Himself. Among the saints the Virgin Mary receives a special veneration. Indeed, she is not only the
Mother of Our Savior Who is God, but also the Mother of us all, and it is as Mother that she intercedes for
us, full of Divine grace more than all the saints and angels.” (Article 72)
No comments:
Post a Comment