Sister Agnes Sasagawa, the visionary of Akita, has died, at the age of 93, and, fittingly, like Saint Hyacinth of whom we wrote today, on the Solemnity of the Assumption.
Readers may recall the alleged visions of of Our Lady to Sister Agnes, at her convent in Akita, Japan, back in 1981 and 1982, with dire predictions for the future of the Church and our world, including factions and schisms within the Church, cardinals, bishops and priests divided against each other, and divine retribution, including ‘fire from the sky’. (Note the caveat of the alleged approval given by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1984, of which no written record exists).
The whole text of the visions to Sister Agnes may be found here.
We’re not bound by divine faith to believe any private revelation, but they are given to us as a warning, to repent of our sins, pray, and offer reparation, through all of our daily ‘prayers, works, joys and sufferings’. Of course, this is already in the public revelation of Christ and His Church – Our Lady, like the good mother she is, simply reminds us of these truths, when we most need such reminding.
This August 17th is also the traditional memorial of Our Lady of Knock, when Our Lady appeared in Ireland on August 21st, 1879 in the parish church of the eponymous village, accompanied by Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist. Our Lord was also present, in the form of the sacrificial Lamb on the altar, surrounded by angels. No words were spoken – none were needed – and the vision lasted about two hours, with fifteen witnesses attesting to its veracity.
May devotion to Our Lady, the truths her Son offers us, increase in these fraught days, always remembering that we have no homeland here. We are on a pilgrimage to eternity, and we should live in such a way, by God’s good grace, and the prayers of Mary, Joseph and all the saints, that we bring each other, and as many as we might, to that blessed end.