in browser, or right-click and choose “Save link as…” I’ve lost track of how many people asked me what Marian Apparition I’d be speaking about this week, but not one person had heard of San Nicolas. They didn’t know that Mary was appearing in Argentina, and most of them asked me if St. Nicholas was appearing or Mary or both. The ignorance of Catholics about this Apparition, my own included, who live outside of South America is nothing less than surreal. It’s a modern Apparition, it’s officially approved, and if we judge it like we do a Broadway musical by the sheer number of performances, then it’s the greatest of all Marian Apparitions because it surpasses all other Apparition sites. But regardless of the sheer number of appearances, we have done well to gather here this morning to praise and thank God for all that he’s been accomplishing by sending his Blessed Mother to the humble housewife, Gladys DeMotta.
San Nicolas is an industrial community located 150 miles from the capital, Buenos Aires. In the 1980s most of it’s 138,000 population depended on the city’s steel plant for their livelihood, including Gladys’ husband, Ricardo. If your memory from geography class is rusty regarding South America, we can look at it from Mary’s perspective. Messages for the modern world first came to Venezuela on the northeastern part of the continent. Ven. Maria Esperanza experienced her first Apparition of the Blessed Mother at Betania, on March 25th, 1976. Then Mary went up to Central America, to war-torn Nicaragua to appear to Bernardo Martinez at Cuapa in 1980. Then the Mother of God traveled to the bottom of the continent on the southeastern side to begin visiting Gladys in Argentina. Then She circled round on the western coast and caught Patricia Talbot in Ecuador by surprise. This teenage girl was intent on the vanities of the world and in pursuing a career as Pachi the fashion model. These Apparitions of Mary in Ecuador as “Protectress of the Faith” went on for a year and a half from 1988 to 1990 and the bishop approved a sanctuary for Mary under that title, although, as far as I can determine, the messages to Pachi have not yet been formally approved. Pachi said the Antichrist was alive in the world, but still very young. Perhaps the local bishop is waiting for his manifestation to verify her amazing messages.
Catholics in continental United States are more likely to know something about Mary’s approved Apparitions in Betania and Cuapa than San Nicolas. After all, the bottom of South America is 5000-7000 miles away, depending on where you live. But Kibeho in Africa and Akita in Japan are much farther, so distance can’t be the only factor. What’s the problem? The answer is the language barrier. What! Thousands of people in the United States speak Spanish. Yes, in certain areas. I studied Spanish when I attended high school in Kansas, but in the 1970s I had to vacation with my family a thousand miles away in the southwestern United States before I met someone who spoke Spanish. In Argentina, I am sure there are many educated people who have learned English in school, but they might have to travel a very great distance before they might meet someone who speaks it. I couldn’t hold on to my Spanish because if you don’t use a language it fades away from memory rather quickly.
There is not one single book currently in print, in English, on the Apparitions in San Nicolas. Maybe there are books in German or Swahili or Japanese, but I doubt it. There are 7 million square miles in South America, much of it rough terrain, and most of the countries in some level of economic hardship. It’s a serious challenge for the Catholics down there to publish the messages in Spanish and Portuguese. Nevertheless, most of the bishops of Argentina are on record for taking part in celebrations at the large sanctuary that was built in San Nicolas at Mary’s request through Gladys. Vatican envoys have been there many times. Couldn’t some prelate get the word out to the rest of the world? If Mary’s messages are “to the world,” doesn’t the world need to know?
Well, not if the messages aren’t to one’s taste, not if they aren’t politically correct, not if they are somewhat old-fashioned because they identify certain things as sin when the modern world wants to acclaim people’s freedom to do whatever they like. We are gathered here this morning to speak about what Mary is doing and saying in the province of Buenos Aires, and to upload some resources to the internet, at least for the English-speaking world, because we’ve been committed to do this systematically for Mary’s Apparitions “to the world.” But research on this particular Apparition was so difficult and challenging, that I feel all the more motivated to untangle and relay to you the truth. I have to thank Google for their automatic translation software which allowed me to navigate many Spanish websites.
So, are the Apparitions in San Nicolas approved or not approved? As of May 2016, all the messages up to that month are fully approved. Let’s repeat that. Yes, the Apparitions at San Nicolas, Argentina are officially approved up until May of 2016. Mary has spoken thousands of times to this lady since 1983, and She is still appearing now in 2017, often several times a day. It’s already thirty-four years. The messages are short, but they fill several volumes.
The city of San Nicolas, a diocesan see, has been through several bishops during Mary’s Apparitions to Gladys, and some of them have been ambiguous in their statements and actions, while others have been passionately in favor of the Apparitions. In September 2016, the former bishop turned seventy-five and was obliged to retire. The newest bishop greatly disturbed the local people by declaring that he wasn’t going to release to the public any more messages. Back in 1990 something similar happened. The messages until that date were officially approved, but subsequent messages were not released by the new bishop until he died or was transferred and another bishop took his place. It is a fact that none of us has a right to a single word of admonition or guidance from the Mother of Jesus, but it is a matter of consternation when a visionary has been extensively investigated, proved as worthy of credence, and everyone knows that at each Apparition Mary usually concludes her words to Gladys with “make this known.” For this reason it’s understandable that Catholics suffer when certain persons in authority seem to be inhibiting the flow of grace from on high.
Since the messages are “to the world,” does the place of delivery really matter? When a local prelate isn’t receptive, can’t heaven instruct the visionaries to please put their house up for sale and move to a friendlier diocese? No, it doesn’t work that way because, although the messages are ultimately “to the world,” they are not generic. They are also “to that particular place in the world.” In her opening Apparition to the world back in 1830, Mary spoke at length to the young Sr. Catherine, of the politics going on in the Communes of Paris. At Pontmain this sweet Mother comforted those devout and fervent Catholics who were anxious about their sons because Prussian soldiers were very near their village. At Knock our Lady stood with the Irish that summer in which the farmers had witnessed another failed potato crop so they were facing another winter of famine. At Green Bay, Wisconsin, Mary admonished the pioneers who were working so hard for the material things in life that they weren’t taking time to instruct their children about heaven and hell. When Mary appeared at Fatima She assured the people of Portugal that they would be spared involvement in World War II if they prayed the Rosary. At Amsterdam Ida saw Mary standing on a globe, with her feet planted on Holland and Germany. Mary expressed her anxiety for these countries which seemed at the time to be firm in the Faith, but in the years ahead would radically drift away. At Cuapa She told the Nicaraguans (engaged in civil war) that they would have no peace if they didn’t make peace. In Rwanda She warned the tribes to forgive their grudges or it would escalate into a genocide. Yes, each place had broader messages for the world, and each place would serve as an object-lesson if the world would take the time to look. But Mary never sees the people of the locality as objects to be used. She is a mother, who understands our particular challenges, our temptations, our crosses. She takes each local situation quite seriously.
The 140,000 people living in San Nicolas de los Arroyos didn’t see it coming in 1983, but a dramatic, unprecedented, economic crisis would hit San Nicolas in the early 1990s. Its official title was the City of Steel but the steel factories would lay off thousands of employees. I don’t know the particulars. Was it greed or the rising price of fuel or was it the price of raw metal? I remember hearing years ago, when I was Turn Sister in Carmel, that the price of steel jumped 800% in one year because China was prospering and so many Chinese were buying cars. Whatever the cause of the employment disaster that stopped income for thousands of families, Mary was there well in advance of this. Perhaps it could have been averted if her calls to conversion had been heeded more deeply. But judging from the immediate welcome of the Apparitions with faith and enthusiasm, and from Gladys herself who accepted to bear the pain and wounds of the stigmata every Friday for years to come, I’m more inclined to think that God sent Mary ahead of the unemployment crisis because God did not want to avert it. Rather God wanted the people to be formed by Mary and prepared to embrace this cross with patience and humility so as to offer their sufferings for the conversion of the world.
So who is Gladys the gladiator? Gladys Herminia Quiroga DeMotta was born on July 1, 1937. In 1983 she was 46 years old and mother of two daughters who would bear her five granddaughters in due time. Her husband, Ricardo, was a crane operator at one of the steel factories. Four or five years later in 1989 he would take an early retirement. They lived in a low-roofed house in the working class area. Gladys had only four years of elementary school, from age seven to eleven. She wore glasses from childhood and reading was always difficult for her. Never in her life had she ever written a letter to anyone. She loved her family and kept the house well, even though her health was never good. Gladys was known as an average Christian, solid, realistic and optimistic, but definitely not very pious and certainly not possessing a theological knowledge of her Catholic Faith. However, in 1976, she had to undergo surgery and hospitalization. She confided her recovery to Mary and promised, in thanksgiving, to go to Mary’s sanctuary of Lujan for five years and perform the penance of walking on her knees from the entrance to the main altar.
Tradition holds that a settler ordered the terracotta image of the Immaculate Conception to be made back in 1630, because he wanted to set up a chapel to reinvigorate the Catholic Faith in his region in Brazil. But when his ship arrived in the port of Buenos Aires, and the travelers stopped to rest, they couldn’t resume their journey because the oxen refused to move. Only after they removed the little crate containing the image of Mary, would the animals pull the cart. The people believed the Virgin wished to remain among them, so they erected a chapel, and eventually a much larger one, in nearby Lujan.
In early September 1983, people began noticing that their rosaries were lighting up. This happened in many homes. It caused quite a sensation. People responded by praying the Rosary either in small groups or individually. On September 24, 1983 Gladys noticed that her own rosary was illuminated. The next day, on Sunday, September 25, Gladys was praying the Rosary when suddenly she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in her arms. Mother and Child were in an extraordinary light. This Apparition surprised Gladys, but it didn’t frighten her, because Mary was easily recognized in a familiar pose typical of many statues. She was gazing at Gladys with kindness and made a gesture as if to give Gladys her rosary. Gladys, didn’t mention this to anyone. But she felt she should record this remarkable vision so she, who never wrote anything, wrote this down. Later on, when Mary started delivering more and more messages, Gladys displayed the very rare gift of automatic handwriting. She would write rapidly, sometimes with her eyes closed, sometimes without knowing what she was writing. I haven’t come across this in any modern Apparition, however, it isn’t rare in the occult world. Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew used to watch St. Teresa of Avila writing her books on prayer late at night when the other nuns had gone to bed. Teresa would only dip her pen once into the inkwell and then cover pages very quickly, far more quickly than people can normally write.
The Blessed Virgin returned again several times. Gladys didn’t know what to make of this. On October 12th she went to speak about it to her parish priest Father Carlos Perez, pastor of the city’s cathedral. He listened attentively and took her seriously. He advised her to pray, and comforted her by saying that if they were things of God, it would be for the good of all. But he barely knew this woman and didn’t really know what to make of it either. As the years unfolded and Mary asked for a large sanctuary where the people could come and ask for her intercession, this same Father Carlos Perez would become rector of the new sanctuary. To this day, thirty-four years later, he remains the spiritual director of Gladys, and the Pastoral Advisor of everything related to the ever-growing devotion of the Virgin of the Rosary as Mary will say She wants for her title. Gladys turns 80 years old this year. I presume Fr. Perez is a bit younger. It’s surely been a delicate business to help this woman advance in her spiritual life as Mary asked her for more sufferings, such as the wounds of the stigmata, not to mention the tricky business of dealing with a string of bishops who would show more or less enthusiasm for the people’s devotion to Mary.
When the wounds of the stigmata began to appear, Gladys was examined by numerous medical professionalists. At first, they were not outwardly visible, just an inflammation of the skin, then the feeling of irritation, then piercing pain, then more exterior signs. To paraphrase Dr. Telechea, a cardiologist: “Among the various marks, the most impressive are the stigmata of the wrists. There is this peculiarity: in one wrist there is just one wound but in the other wrist there are two points as if it had been nailed twice. This coincides with the Shroud of Turin. Evidently Jesus was nailed twice in one hand because they missed the right space. The nail has to lodge between certain wrist bones or the weight of the body will tear away. On Thursday a red mark develops; on Friday the wounds bleed; on Saturdays they begin to scab over, and by Monday the skin is back to normal.” If I understand correctly, this usually happens in the Friday of Lent, but sometimes it can begin as early as Christmas. No physician has discovered any medical explanation for the phenomenon.
It’s almost impossible to find pictures of Gladys on the internet. She does not want photos taken of herself. Gladys wants all attention to be focused on God and the Blessed Virgin. The people love her very much and respect her wishes. Gladys never gives interviews to journalists. She shuns the limelight. Most pilgrims don’t know what she looks like and she can mingle in the crowd of worshipers at the shrine without even being noticed. But everyone knows where she lives, only a third of a mile from the great sanctuary. They don’t knock on the door, but slide notes through the mail slot. They know that she spends her time praying for the pilgrims and for the world. Of course, when bishops have resisted publishing Mary’s messages it makes her sad, but she’s never been rebellious or spoken against those who represent authority in the Church. Her behavior has always been humble and exemplary. She especially won the heart and the confidence of Bishop Hector Sabatino Cardelli.
Bishop Fortunato Antonio Rossi, 1977-1983
He was named archbishop and left San Nicolas when the Apparitions to Gladys had barely started
Bishop Domingo Salvador Castagna, 1984-1994
He could hardly deny the extraordinary signs and the enthusiasm of the people. He permitted the messages to be published and the sanctuary to be built, but he would not officially approve the messages. In fact, in 1990 he ceased to give permission for the messages to be published. I have not read all the messages, let alone evaluated them. Did the content become more severe, the warnings more dire? Or did his confreres get to him and make him feel silly for paying attention to private revelations? I have no idea what happened. Happily he too was named archbishop and he left the diocese of San Nicolas.
Bishop Mario Luis Bautista Maulion, 1995-2003
This bishop was not friendly to the Apparitions. I don’t know the details except that the Vatican was very satisfied with the happenings at the shrine and Pope John Paul expressed his approval. Did the pope deliberately name this man as archbishop so that he would leave the diocese of San Nicolas? In any case, the next man chosen by Pope St. John Paul would defend the messages courageously.
Bishop Hector Sabatino Cardelli, 2004-September 21, 2016 (his 75th birthday)
Bishop Cardelli immediately resumed the publication of the messages, giving joy to the people. A new congregation of Sisters began to serve Mary’s sanctuary and the Bishop entrusted the messages to these nuns, who made them available for free on the internet (in Spanish) and evidently got them printed into books also. On Trinity Sunday, May 22, 2016 a few months before his mandatory retirement, Bishop Cardelli formally, officially approved all the messages from 1983 through 2016. In Church law, the local bishop has full and complete jurisdiction as judge over the authenticity of private revelations in his territory. When a bishop issues a negative statement, a succeeding bishop can reopen the case to examine the evidence again. But when a bishop issues a positive statement that decision cannot be revoked by any subsequent bishop.
Dear Brother Bishops:
Having served twelve years as pastor of the flock of San Nicolas and having followed this Marian event with faith and responsibility, I have known it from the beginning and have permitted the devotion to grow in my diocese. I worked in consultation with experts and witnesses being fully aware of my serious duty to monitor or intervene, because this rests primarily with the local ordinary.
I judged the facts according to two criteria: positive and negative. I discerned on three criteria in specific, namely:
Is the event only a natural occurrence? Can this be work of the enemy? Is it’s origin supernatural? The answers to these questions left me absolutely certain that this phenomenon bears the true and positive fruit that exceed mere human action.
On the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy of the pilgrims from the Diocese, I announce this valid decision for the flock which I guide and accompany. I present the book entitled “The Spiritual School of Santa Maria del Rosario de San Nicolas” which highlights the most important teachings in the messages She gives to us for our commitment to everything She tells us because She is the culmination of revelation.
I promulgate this today during the Mass for the pilgrims at the Marian sanctuary and celebrating this jubilee on the seventh anniversary of Mary’s coronation at this sanctuary. As diocesan bishop entitled to this decision, motivated by moral certainty, good intent and hope; fulfilling the requirements suggested by the Holy See; seeking the greater glory of God and of our Church; calling on the name of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the name of Mary of the Rosary of San Nicolas, and her spouse St. Joseph, I acknowledge the supernatural character of these happy events brought to us from God to his favored daughter (Gladys) through our loving Mother Mary, the spouse of the Holy Spirit to our diocese.
Hector Sabatino Cardelli, Bishop of San Nicolas
A few months later on September 21, 2016 Bishop Cardelli was succeeded by Bishop Hugo Norberto Santiago. I will attempt to quote or paraphrase for you from a Spanish Argentine newspaper article which seems to take its information from the Italian newspaper “La Stampa” which is famous for inside news from the Vatican. This is an article dated March 15, 2017:
The local bishop, Hugo Santiago, has just announced the cessation of the publication of the messages that this seer attributes to Mary. The decision, endorsed by the Vatican, aims to divert attention from private revelations and to focus attention on the message of Jesus.
The shrine at San Nicolas will continue to function, the popular religiosity will remain intact.
When the diocese of San Nicolas de los Arroyos communicated the new decision, a heated debate broke out (the article refers the reader to a Facebook link five days before March 10, 2017). On Monday March 13th, Bishop Santiago responded with a video posted on the internet.”I consulted Rome on the possibility of ending the dissemination of the messages of Mrs. Gladys DeMotta as referencing the Virgin Mary and the Vatican answered me affirmatively that this was most convenient for the Marian faith in Our Lady of the Rosario de San Nicolas.”
In 1983, this woman began to receive the words of the Virgin, revelations which continue to the present. The local bishop at that time, Domingo Salvador Castagna, 1984-1994, after consultation with Pope John Paul II, discerned that these messages were “worthy of faith.” He authorized the construction of a sanctuary. However, in 1990, after consulting theologians and psychologists, he decided to end the publication of further messages of Mrs. Gladys DeMotta as referencing the source as the Virgin. He considered that the collection thus far was sufficient, and to avoid the risk that subsequent messages be misrepresented. For example it could easily happen over time that Gladys might put them forward as coming from the Virgin, rather than her prayerful reflections, so that what had previously been worthy of faith might not be thenceforth.
The Bishop went on to say that he will continue to receive and keep her incoming messages in the archives of the bishopric so that, after Mrs. DeMotta and he are no longer on this earth–they can be analyzed by the Church, because the Church cannot canonize anyone in life.
He asked that the monthly novena held in the sanctuary would be thenceforth inspired, not by the messages coming to San Nicolas, but solely by the words of the Virgin at the wedding of Cana: “Do whatever He tells you,” as prayers are offered for the intentions of the Pope each month. The people should reflect only on some passage of the Bible. “Mary is not silent; She continues speaking in the Sacred Scriptures and taking us to Jesus.”
The journalist of La Stampa (or is it the Argentine journalist?) make the curious observation:
Throughout the video, Bishop Santiago read from a prepared document. He appeared concerned to adhere, word for word, to this document. So it was very striking that he never attributed any messages of the seer to the Virgin, even involuntarily. He always spoke of them as “words referring to the Virgin.”
You can only imagine how badly this divided the local people about the lid he has dropped on Gladys and the messages that she continues to receive daily from Mary. They know this because Gladys tells the rector of the sanctuary, and people ask him point blank. The sanctuary, popularly called El Campito (the Land, or the Holy Land), is visited by more than 140,000 faithful each month. That is, until an arson set fire to it. I’m quoting an internet article again:
On Monday morning, March 2, the Bishop of San Nicolas de los Arroyos, Monsignor Hugo Santiago, gave a press conference in which he addressed different topics, including the reconstruction of the sanctuary, which was destroyed a month previously by an intentional fire that is under current investigation. They have one person detained and another person might be his accomplice, but the lawyer insists that there is insufficient evidence to hold them accountable.
The article relates how they are still collecting the pieces among the ashes. They recovered fragments of certain pictures and statues. The altar was charred. Virtually every thing wooden burned. I couldn’t figure out from the article whether the famous image of the Virgin of the Rosary survived the flames. The bishops and the priests with him urge the people to forgive the arsons and to be generous in rebuilding. But the economy is in a bad way, not as bad as Venezuela, but certainly bad. What are the chances that the people will rebuild it quickly when they fear that arsons will just set it on fire again? And did someone in the Bishop’s charge do the deed to discourage the so-called foolish superstition of listening to prophetic warnings from heaven?
So the sudden interruption of approval of ongoing messages mirrors what just happened at Medjugorje. Just last week, on May 25, 2017, the Vatican-based Ruini Commission, named for Cardinal Camillo Ruini, released their report. They decided to split the Apparitions into two time periods. They officially approved the first-time period, namely the first seven Apparitions at Medjugorje. Pope Francis said “Good, good, good. The Ruini report is very, very good.” Since Bishop Santiago had consulted the Vatican on the Apparitions at San Nicolas, he was evidently encouraged to do the same thing, to hold back approval of ongoing Apparitions for an indefinite time-period, preferably after all the visionaries are dead and no more messages will be forthcoming.
The long series of Apparitions at Amsterdam have ceased and Ida Peerdeman went to her reward, But the three sites of San Nicolas, Medjugorje and Ohio bear amazing similarities in that all three began in the 1980s and have continued daily until the present. But unlike the others, Ohio has been totally ignored by the American hierarchy as if it simply isn’t happening, as if thousands and thousands of people don’t travel to this humble farm location to witness miraculous phenomenon and to pray. If you are curious check out www.holylove.org. I know a priest in the southern United States and a family in the northern United States who have personally made the journey, and they are totally convinced that what is happening is authentic. I’ve personally followed the messages for years and have never seen the slightest doctrinal error. The sole visionary, Maureen Sweeney reminds me of Gladys. She mingles humbly with the crowd and people don’t even realize that she’s the seer. Maureen suffers, but she doesn’t have the stigmta.
Since there no English translations in print, I scanned in all I can find and will be uploading it to the internet as soon as I can find time to edit it better. In the meantime I will read aloud for you here some samples from the messages. But first I want to comment on the main themes.
The Apparitions began with glowing rosaries. Then Mary always appears to Gladys in a certain way, but Gladys doesn’t think much about it until Mary asks her to find a statue that had been blessed by a Pope and was forgotten in a church. She tells this to her director and within a couple of months Mary tells her to look in the belfry of the city’s cathedral, where it had been left because it had been damaged and not restored. Father Perez, rector of the cathedral and Gladys’ confessor, wanted to find out if the image that was deteriorated in the bell tower, corresponded with the description of Gladys. On Nov. 27, 1983, feast of the Miraculous Medal, he called the visionary and took her to the bell tower. Gladys immediately recognized the image of the Apparitions, but it was missing one hand and the rosary. At that same moment the Blessed Mother appeared to her in front of the image and said to Gladys: “They have forgotten me, but I have emerged. I want my sanctuary to be on the shore of the Parana; stay firm. Glory to the highest Father.”The image was eventually moved from the cathedral to be nearer to a greater public, for the benefit of the Diocese and of all Argentina. Father Perez had the image repaired and put a new rosary in her hand and in the hand the Infant. Constant gatherings of large crowds convened in front of the image of Our Lady of the Rosary.
The statue had been brought from Rome after it was blessed by Leo XIII, the great pope of the Rosary. He issued an encyclical on the Rosary nearly every year of his long pontificate. San Nicolas was originally part of the larger diocese of Rosario, named for the Virgin of the Rosary. But Mary isn’t satisfied with just the Rosary. Over in Nicaragua She is telling Bernardino Martinez that She wants them to pause at each decade of the Rosary and read and meditate on Scripture. And, as in Nicaragua She tells Pachi in Ecuador that the people shouldn’t rush through the Our Fathers and Hail Mary’s but pray the words meaningfully. Here in Argentina, Mary starts dropping scripture references into her messages. Nearly every day She’ll say a few lines and then say Read such and such Book of the Bible, chapter x, verses y and z. Gladys can barely read. She certainly can’t guide people to passages in the Bible. This starts a big craze in Argentina, getting Catholics interested in the Word of God.
The messages, some of them from Jesus, stress Mary’s role in our salvation, as “The Woman Clothed With the Sun”, “The New Eve”, and the “New Ark of the Covenant.” She states that her “New Sanctuary” will be her dwelling place on earth, and defines that this is the time of fulfillment of her role of leading all her children of the world back to her Son. But it’s not so much the physical buildings, but the hearts of the people where She wants God to dwell.
Since I haven’t read the entire collection as many of the messages are still in Spanish, I don’t know if it’s verified in the words of Mary, but the theme of reparation and victimhood for sin is obviously very strong because of Gladys who received the wounds of the stigmata. It’s true that most of the modern visionaries bore sufferings patiently from St. Bernadette and her illnesses to the children of Fatima and their heroic penances to Sr. Agnes at Akita who suffered the cross of being deaf for years. But only three of the modern visionaries bore the stigmata: Barbara at Marienfried, Maria Esperanza at Venezuela and
Melanie of LaSalette. Yet Barbara asked for this to be taken away, Maria Esperanza only suffered on Good Fridays and Melanie was never a public figure so that few people were aware of her hidden sufferings. Gladys DeMotta is a totally unique visionary in this regard. All the local people know about her heroic sufferings and she is a model to everyone, which helped people to bear poverty and unemployment with a good spirit.
“The Bishop could verify all this (…).” On Good Friday she is crucified on the bed (…). She suffers terrible pains (…).” Later she also had a wound with the form of a cross in the chest (…). On Fridays there appear different types of flagellations but in a partial form, not as Christ’s flagellation. Then, her back aches and one sees, for example, that she has like a lash (whipping) (…).” Much pain, much anguish, much sadness (…).”
According to the description of doctors Pellicciotta and Telechea, the thumbs of Gladys are contracted when the wrists are ulcered. The doctors also analyzed the blood of the wounds and their observations determined the nonexistence of artificial dye or other products. The stigmata of the wrists appeared during Advent and Lent; but the blood starts to flow on Good Fridays. Stigmata of the feet only appear on Good Fridays. They begin towards 3pm. According to Sister Marta “Gladys suffers much more by the pain that men cause to the hearts of Jesus and Mary (and that she sees) than by the pains of the stigmata which give her the grace of being united to the sufferings of Jesus in the Cross.” Some years the stigmatization diminishes in grade.
Father Perez explains the sense of these signs and says: “When there are extraordinary graces they do not need to take place indefinitely. God produces them when He wants and also they retire when God wants. At the present moment (…), they gradually tend to be more scattered (…). That is to say that this can last indefinitely or it may be possible that it does not last. That does not affect at all the sense that these events have (…) which are that the Lord, through a participation in the sufferings of the Passion makes us understand the importance that every Christian participate freely, in assuming the part of the Passion of Christ that corresponds to him. Stigmas are a visible exteriorization of this inner content which is the deepest one”.
Fasting
“The Blessed Virgin Herself proposed me to fast”, And she obediently began with a prolonged fasting that worried her family during the first times and greatly astonished the doctors.
On January 11th, 1989, Gladys received one of the few messages where fasting is mentioned:
My Daughter: Yesterday in Lourdes, today here, always the Mother in search of Her children. Prayer, fasting, penitence and specially conversion, that is what I request from them. The souls will be saved if they go to the Lord, if they open to the Lord. Peace is lacking in many souls; if the soul looks for Peace you will find God. Amen. Amen. Say this to all your brothers.
Dr Pellicciotta reported that “Gladys had been making prolonged fastings of forty days . Her husband was very worried. I weighed her every day. She only took liquids, I think that some fruit juices and nothing else. In forty days of fasting she should have had to lose much weight.”(She only lost one and a half kilos-3 pounds) According to Dr. Telechea “in forty days of fasting, scientifically, a normal person would lose weight and would feel debilitated (…). She only lost one kilo and a half and kept a normal vitality (…). the first years we did a good control of Gladys during the forty days (…) we monitored her weight and blood pressure every day. We have monitored her very closely. Besides these prolonged fastings, Gladys told her doctors that she normally fasts on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays every week. The Blessed Virgin told her to eat only bread without yeast, and liquids with sugar. Gladys does not like that bread, so she only drinks water, tea, maté, coffee and orange juice. She says that when she is fasting she sleeps well and is not hungry. She cooks for her family normally but she looses the sense of smell, which she recovers the day she finishes the fast. That day she recovers the smell, feels hungry again and eats normally.
On December 6th, 1983, the Blessed Virgin clarified the meaning of the fasting:
“Blessed be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; through the Most Holy Trinity you will find peace and Eternal Life. Go on fasting; after the third day, you will eat: fasting for you is not penitence but spiritual preparation that the Lord asks you.”(PM 30)
On December 10th 1983 the Blessed Mother tells Gladys:
“My daughter: Go on fasting today; pray this day so that the Lord enlightens men; this life is completely materialist but in heaven it is not so: the Almighty leads your lives today and for ever. Please the Lord by doing what He asks from you. Amen.” (No. PM 35) “Today’s fasting is dedicated to your Father. I shall put words in your mouth. The person who is going to talk with you will listen attentively” (this referred to an interview she had with the new Bishop, Mons. Rossi.
The Strong Prophetic Content of the Messages
Among the messages the Virgin points out that most of humanity has been left to pollute and as a result, the world is under a “warning.” The messages given to Gladys Quiroga DeMotta are among the strongest that have been approved by the official Church. Mary exhorts the faithful to spread the word of judgment, the justice of God.
It is his duty to teach the righteousness of the Almighty, and blessed is he who learns.”
Children must be warned, the plague is great. At this moment all humanity hangs in the balance.
My children, the person without meaning is dead, although alive, because he does not fear the justice of God, nor fears the fulfillment of his commandments.
He wants to ignore the fact that the day of the Lord and his judgment will come. Blessed are those who fear the judgment of God.
These are the hours, when prayer and visits to the Blessed Sacrament, should be especially fervent.
Humanity is living very dramatic moments.
Gladys says that she viewed the world in two parts, with one part representing those whose souls are being ‘destroyed’, especially through an obsession with wealth.
“A large part of the world is far from God,” the Virgin told Gladys in more than 1,900 messages.
They are ahead in all that is materialism, and they do not advance in what is more important, in the knowledge of the Word of God.
Daughter, the land is inhabited, but it seems uninhabited
A great darkness hangs over her. There is a warning from God to the world
Those who remain in the Lord have nothing to fear, but those who deny them are condemned.
Two-thirds of the world is lost and the other part must pray and repair so that the Lord will have mercy.
My dear daughter, there is darkness and loss all over the world.
My children in the great cities of the world cultivate atheism and total indifference to God.
The devil wants to have total dominion over the earth. He wants to destroy. The earth is in great danger.
In what can only be called harsh warnings, the Virgin emphasized materialism and pride in all its manifestations.
Do not be too ambitious, because wanting too much can make them forget that the only true ambition they must have is to enter the Kingdom of God.
Always try to remember this, for it is the only thing that matters to the Lord.
Not everything is corrupt in the world, but a large part is. This great part is the one that must be totally and completely renewed, since they despise God. They are the enemies of God. They are being used by the devil with cunning and very coldly.
Break the bonds with the materialistic world in which they live, and unite with the Lord.
Reaffirming messages from elsewhere, the Virgin told Gladys in 1988 that
“the weapon that has the greatest influence against evil is to recite the Rosary.”
And She stressed that for those who pray is not a time of anguish, but “hope, peace and strength.”
The coming of the Lord is imminent, and as the Scripture says, no one knows the day or the hour, but it will be, and certainly by that time the soul of the Christians must be prepared.
These are the hours when prayer should be fervent.
Do not you know that prayer is a shield against evil? It is not that humanity is abandoned by God, but that God is abandoned by mankind.
While there is no more detail about what is meant by a “great plague,” the messages of call to purification are abundant in the Blessed Mother.
I say this for all my children: God does not want you to humble yourself before the enemy.
He does not want them to be destroyed by him, but to face him.
Fear nothing, for the Lord goes before every battle.
Do not worry; Be strong because they have the presence of the Almighty.
Daughter, the prince of evil pours his poison today with all his strength, because he is worried that his reign is over; its end is near; little is left for him.
My daughter, the evil one triumphs now, it is true, but it is a victory that will have a short duration. Hurry up because time is running out.
Jesus also appears to the visionary
On November 17th 1983 He says to Gladys: “glorious days await you. The harvest will be great, you will gather it.” Although most of the messages are of a hopeful and consoling tone, they do not lack a prophetical and eschatological tint.
As a sample let us mention the one of January 8th 1984:
At this moment the humanity is suspended from a thin thread. If that thread breaks many will be the ones that do not have salvation. For that reason i call to reflection. Hurry up because the time is finishing. There will be no place for those who are late in coming. The lord wants that everybody enjoy his kingdom. To those that are far from him, i say: come close, come close; Jesus Christ is within reach of your hand. Proclaim it. Amen.
From Our Lady:
You were called to be bearer of peace so that the urgent call of Jesus Christ is known for the conversion of man. I am worried about the entire world. Remember that only the lord will save you. Proclaim this.
And Our Lady asks Gladys to read Jonah 4:8-9. The Biblical text of Jonas says:
And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
Peculiarly that is the population of the city of Saint Nicholas, Argentina!
July 26 #1230
I speak from this city, to all peoples, and you, my daughter, are the one chosen by me to transmit to all your brethren, the hope in Christ Jesus. From my mouth you listen to the pain I feel for those who are far from God: you also know of my Motherly anxiety. I have come to ask from my children, and to give to my children. Amen. Amen.
August 14 #1,239
Ah, my daughter, how foolish man is! How little he understands and even less obeys, the Lord!
They are only attached to what is earthly and they forget the promise made by God, about his Kingdom.
This is what the Mother says: Do not let the nourishment that I send you escape; only with this will you live.
May your brethren meditate. Amen. Amen.
Read: Nahum 1:3.Yahweh is slow to anger and of great might, and Yahweh will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
October 7 #1,272
On this day, I address all my children: offer your prayer to the Mother, contemplating each mystery of the Holy Rosary.
As time goes by, I am accustoming you to prayer, making you love prayer and helping you to discover that prayer is the real way to defend yourselves against the enemy. Pray, then, since I am the:
Mother of prayer,
Mother of contemplation,
Mother of the defenseless,
Mother of the desolate,
Mother of those who are lost,
Mother of Christians,
Mother of the Holy Rosary.
May the Lord be praised!
September 15 #285
Beloved children, appreciate the Holy Mass. Every good Christian ought to participate in the Sacred Supper of the Holy Mass every day, or at least once a week.
At that moment my adored Son communicates the Father’s love and eternal salvation. It is then that Christ Jesus offers Himself, in absolute obedience and full trust to God the Father.
You must imitate this great example. I invite you to make it a duty of great love for the Lord to receive Communion.
To those who consecrate themselves:
offer yourselves to the Lord with love.
Pray the Holy Rosary with Christian fervor, every day.
Improve your life, enriching it spiritually.
My children, this is what your Mother asks you.
May you be blessed in the obedience to the Lord.
Glory be to heaven.
August 23 #1,243
I see Jesus. He says to me:
May Christians not hide from the Shepherd and Savior of souls, lest because of hiding, they be lost.
November 22 #381
Many of my children are clumsy, they do not know how to walk alone. They have impenetrable hearts and, without knowing, they are attempting against their own lives. They have fallen into sin. I tell you, you are in a quagmire. Do not advance any further, you are in danger of death. Turn back, for you have salvation; Christ wants to save you. Praise be to the Lord.
Typical closing praise
Glory be to the Everlasting!
Glory be to the Lord!
Praise be to Heaven!
Glory be to the Savior!
Glory to the Most High!
Typical closing instruction
Make known the message of the Mother of God.
Propagate it.
Make it known.
Make My words known in the whole world.
Typical Scripture instruction
Read: book chapter verse
Typical post 1990
Do not adore idols. Adore the Lord! Pray for the little ones, for those defenseless children who, in their innocence can fall into cruel hands, to take away the purity of the soul and the heart
April 3, 2015
I am in ecstasy. I feel that I rise, now I hear the Voice of Jesus, who says to me: My daughter, every whip I was whipped with, was made with strips of leather and spikes on the tips; In every lash, they took pieces of my Flesh.
Child, no one on Earth knows my wounds, more than you, nobody knows of my Blood shed like you; No one has seen my Body on the Cross, as you have seen.
He shows me a whip and says: I show you this so that men will believe that you see me.
You know much about me, my daughter.
Today you are being judged by some, but the only one who
Judge with Justice, it is me.
Sept 19, 2015
My daughter, men should pray, to be on guard against Satan.
They must pray, to resist evil inclinations toward sin; They must pray, so as not to lose the good habits of every Christian.
Perfect must be the working and perfect must be the union of the Christian with Christ.
Glory to the Most High. You must propagate this.
Dec. 6, 1995
My glance rests upon you, my children, with the tenderness of a heavenly Mother.
Live always in my Heart, otherwise you will live in grave danger.
Blessed be the Lord.
Make it known.
Nov. 18, 1988
Daughter, the night is already upon the world. There are many slaves of the enemy.
I say to my children, Do not wait any longer. Reform! for you will not avoid the Justice of God.
Let your prayer be intense these days.
Glory to the Most High.
Let everyone know the word of this Mother.
Read 2 Peter 3:13-17. (we wait for new heavens and a new earth. . .)
The Medal
On December 2nd 1984 the Virgin requests Gladys that a medal be coined:
“You must have a medal coined with my image of the advocation of Mary of the Rosary of Saint Nicholas and on the back side, the Holy Trinity with seven stars “We know well this medal, that has had the amplest diffusion: On one side, it has the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Saint Nicholas, the advocation that expresses its bond with the city of Saint Nicholas. On the other side, there is a triangle, the symbol of the Trinity, surrounded by seven stars, and the Blessed Virgin clarifies, on September 25th 1985 (second anniversary of the first Apparitions): “My Daughter: I tell you the meaning of the seven stars: they represent the seven graces that my Son Jesus Christ will grant to those who wear it on their breast. Praised be the Lord.”
The Scapular
On March 5th 1986, our Blessed Mother requested Gladys that a Scapular be made.
Dear daughter: Please see to it that a Scapular is made. It must be white, since that is the symbol of purity. My image will be light blue and pink. This Scapular will have to be destined to those physically or mentally afflicted and it will be worn by those who really feel the need in their hearts, because with the Scapular goes the promise to pray to Mary of the Rosary. This is an urgent request. Amen. Amen.”
The following is the text of the decree of the Bishop of St. Nicholas:
“Considering that the use of the Scapular, accompanied by a suitable catechesis, will benefit the believers, and as a symbol of the Protection of the Mother of the Lord, as a defense against all evils and as an aid for the physical and spiritual health, it grants approval for the Scapular of Mary of the Rosary, not considering that a solemn imposition is necessary, and that it will be enough that it is blessed by a priest, with the habitual formula.” The Scapular is destined to those who want to receive it, and accept the spiritual and physical benefits, that by the intercession of the Virgin of the Rosary of St. Nicholas, the Lord wants to grant to them; this desire to wear it, will imply the commitment to pray to Mary, listen to the Word of the Son, receive the Sacraments of the Church, and live according to the exigencies of the Christian life”.
The Water of the Sanctuary
Three dreams and one inner locution of Gladys, the visionary, induced to the search of the water of the Sanctuary, which was finally found when, on June 4th 1991, the definitive perforation was begun. The first dream on the existence of the water was on August 3rd 1984. The following is its textual writing:
This morning I woke up from a dream. I saw much people who worked in “El Campito” (the Land of Mary). They were making the foundations for the Sanctuary. They were digging a well in the middle of the foreground, because I had told them that from there it was going to sprout water, in the place where it had been the shrub (the one where the ray of light had fallen down).” This morning, when the Virgin spoke to me, I asked Her what did that dream mean and She said to me: “Many dreams are realities, and this dream will become a reality.” And She smiled.”
More than five years passed when, on November 30th 1989, Gladys had the second dream about the water, which she narrated as follows:
“Again I dreamed about the water of the Sanctuary. This time I saw it around the temple and it ran on channels. There would be a meter of distance between the channels and the Sanctuary. The water was very clear. I saw again the Most Blessed Virgin alone, as the Immaculate, and heard that She said to me: “Great is the blessing on your town: it’s the blessing of God for his children.”
Two days later, while Gladys was talking about the subject of the water, she strongly felt in her interior, as a locution, the Biblical quotation of prophet Ezekiel, 47:1:
Then he (the Lord) brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced the east); and the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.”
The third dream took place on January 29th 1990, and Gladys related it as follows:
I dreamed that I saw a source with very crystalline water. The Blessed Virgin called it: “Gihon”, thus connecting it to the river in paradise which the Hebrews believed ran beneath Jerusalem. David ordered Solomon to be anointed at the Gihon.
Under the direction of Father Perez, a geologist, a priest and two architects supervised various perforations, and on June 4th 1991, at the place where the ray of light had descended water was found at a depth of 150 feet. When first extracting the water, all the Sanctuary was impregnated with a strong scent of roses. The water is distributed to pilgrims who have experienced the healing from a variety of illnesses.
Let us conclude with the Virgin, “Glory be to God!”
