Obedience

By Glenn Hudson

[EDITOR's NOTE:  This is a guest post and while we welcome views from writers with whom we share the same commitment to expose the fraud behind Maria Divine Mercy, we remain neutral about other private revelations and apparitions that have yet to receive Church approval]

The virtue of obedience is one of the greatest indicators for determining the authenticity of alleged apparitions. 

According to the Saints, it is the only virtue the devil cannot imitate (who, by his nature, is disobedient), and is therefore the hallmark of authentic apparitions. To be obedient, says Venerable Mary of Agreda, is to cancel the sin of Lucifer, who knew what to do and chose not to do it. The Franciscan school teaches, in the religious state, the vow of obedience is the greatest of the three vows (poverty, chastity, obedience). 


In her diary, Jesus tells Saints Faustina that obedience merits more grace than any other external work. The Saint even goes so far as to say that God, in a sense, bends His will to that of the direction of His clergy; "Jesus says; 

'Obedience. I have come to do My father’s will. I obeyed my Parents, I obeyed My tormentors and now I obey the Priests'...I understood that our efforts, no matter how great, are not pleasing to God if they do not bear the seal of obedience....Obeying our superiors, we obey God. It makes no difference whether it is an angel or a man who, acting in God’s stead, gives me orders; I must always obey.'-(Diary of Saint Faustina)

At Garabandal

In the apparitions of Garabandal the examples of obedience are so numerous and varying, that one can say that it permeated from all facets of the girls' lives. Most notably, the Blessed Virgin instructed the children on the importance of obedience, especially to the Bishop. In fact, She told the children to obey the Bishop even before her; "She taught us to obey the Bishop before her." (Interview with Conchita, 1972). What is most striking, is even the Blessed Virgin Herself, in the apparitions, obeyed the commands of the bishop, as detailed in the account below:

Conchita, interview, 1973: 

"At the beginning, we used to go into the Church (editor's note; The Blessed Virgin often led the girls into a local church, where She would recite the Rosary together with them). But then the people, because they wanted to be first when we extended our arms, would make a big disturbance. So the bishop said we could not go into the church anymore. Then the Virgin, from the time the bishop said not to go into the church, never would let us in there again." 

Conchita recounts that, from that day forward, the Blessed Virgin no longer entered the Church, but instead remained outside.

The children learned from the example of the Virgin, and followed it themselves. The girls were not only obedient and docile to the bishops, but also to their parents, interrogations by doctors, physical exams, psychological tests, criticisms and slander, and so forth. They went along with everything imposed on them. Joseph Pelletier notes;

Conchita González (born February 7, 1949), 
one of the four school girls who allegedly saw 
the Virgin Mary and Archangel Michael
in San Sebastian de Garabandal, Spain
between 1961 and 1965.

"This simple unquestioning obedience to the commission manifested by the girls on this occasion is typical of their attitude and conduct toward the Church and clergy all during the apparitions" (jp53) 

In 1965, in response to those eager to spread the message of Garabandal, Conchita writes; 

"This is agreeable to the Blessed Virgin. She is very pleased to have us work to spread the message. That is what She wants. But she wants us to obey the Church, for in this way we will give greater glory to God. She will provide time for the message to be spread with the permission of the Church." 

Six years later, Conchita expresses similar sentiments; 

"Reflect on this. If something is God's work, He will see that it triumphs in the best way over all obstacles. It is God who does everything. Sometimes He acts through us, but He can also bypass us to perform great miracles and prodigies. What we should do is sacrifice ourselves, be faithful in prayer and in the recitation of the Holy Rosary, and visit the Blessed Sacrament often." (jp181).

http://www.ourlady.ca/info/ourLadyShowsWay.htm