Visions or apparitions? Mariological differences

Marian Theology: Distinguishing Interior, Imaginative, and Exterior Visions

Marian theology distinguishes carefully between interior vision, imaginative vision, and exterior appearance. This distinction, solidified by Saint Augustine in *De Genesi ad Literam* XII and passed down in the spirituality of Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross, is not merely academic. It determines the criteria by which the Church evaluates the discernment of alleged Marian apparitions, the credibility of witnesses, and the theological significance of each reported experience, from Lourdes (1858) to Fátima (1917).

Santa Teresa de Ávila and John of the Cross on Marian Visions

Saint Teresa of Ávila wrote:> «… some are frightened by visions and revelations merely at the mention of their name. I do not understand where this fear comes from, nor why one should believe in the danger that God leads in this way… Some are much less impressed by hearing that the devil attacks them with various kinds of temptations, with suggestions of blasphemy, with dishonest and extravagant things, than by hearing that they have seen an angel who spoke to them, or that Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross has appeared to them.’» (Saint Teresa of Jesus, *Foundations* 8.1)For his part, Saint John of the Cross cautioned with supernatural prudence:> …*”We believe that the mere knowledge that such visions are true and come from God is sufficient to accept them and rest in them, forgetting that the soul may there encounter a spirit of possessiveness, attachment, and constraint, as in the spirit of the world, even if in this case it does not know how to renounce.” […] “God, on the other hand, does not command them to place themselves in such a dilemma and expose humble and simple souls to dangers and uncertainties. They possess a sound and secure doctrine, that of faith. Following this path” (St. John of the Cross, *Ascension* 16.14).”*In our time, marked by a crisis of traditional values, especially religious ones, we witness a growing number of charismatic events and episodes, among which, in terms of number and popularity, emerge appearances or visions of celestial characters. Perhaps, influenced by uncertainty and fear, which are the companions of troubled faith, this phenomenon has been heightened, involuntarily but objectively, by the happy domination of the renewed liturgy over all other prayer activities: what meant a genuine education of Christians in the truths of faith and their celebration, but probably implied a decline in the sensory experience and the affective participation, components that cannot be eliminated and encouraged by the Church in the religious fact.Certainly, it is not by chance that the multiplication of supposed appearances is accompanied by impressive emotional manifestations on the part of broad layers of the simplest people, not only in small towns, but more generally, by a awakening of popular religiosity, particularly in sanctuaries: a phenomenon carefully investigated by pastoral theology and religious sociology, and which cannot be indifferent to the intensification of the phenomenon of “religious rebirth” seen as a reaction to the process of secularization.Add to these historical-social motivations the constant suspicion that the Western, Latin, and juridical soul has always cast upon what transcends the limits of the experimental and the natural. Only then will we better understand both the astonishment of St. Teresa and the prudence of St. John of the Cross. Above all, we will better comprehend the disorientation and confusion that reigns among well-intentioned people, but without adequate interpretative criteria, even among conscience directors, who do not know how to discern the authentic from the false, the pathological from the supernatural.Therefore, we aim to offer criteria, many of them brought from mystical theology to our days, even on the theoretical level in the light of contemporary theological trends.For practical reasons, it is easier to be guided by the introspective insights of masters of mystical experience.Sacred Scripture attests to numerous apparitions. Throughout the history of the Church, from the patristic era to the present day, the number of documented apparitions cannot be calculated, although they have been discussed and evaluated in various ways. It is a common opinion that these phenomena can have, and indeed have had, a value that cannot be underestimated, both in the history of the Church (consider the apparitions to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in Paray-le-Monial and to Saint Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes) and in the spiritual evolution of privileged creatures (consider the apparitions of Saint Gemma Galgani in Lucca).By the term *vision*, we mean the supernatural perception of an object, which is naturally invisible to man.

*Appearance* and *Vision*: The Typology of Saint Augustine (De Genesis ad Literam, XII) and the Three Degrees of Vision

By *appearance*, we refer to the sensible manifestation of a person or being whose presence cannot be explained, under the specific circumstances in which it occurs, according to the normal course of nature.*Vision*, therefore, does not necessarily imply the existence of the object, or its real presence.*Appearance* presupposes real presence, so that the fact that the object manifests itself to the external senses is part of its definition.> …The classic division into corporal or external visions, spiritual or imaginary visions, and intellectual visions dates back to Saint Augustine and forms the basis for the writings of Saint Thomas and the two Carmelite Doctors, Teresa and John (cf. S. Augustine, *De Genesi ad Literam* XII, 7,16 and the chapters 8-12).In corporal or external visions, the sense of sight perceives an object, whether a real body present or an external sensible form (e.g., luminous), as an objective reality invisible to man by natural means. This vision is produced either by the real presence of a body that, upon striking the retina, determines the consequent physical phenomenon, or by an immediate external action (e.g., the Lord), which, according to Thomistic psychology, produces this vision in the visual organ, the same kind of impression as the related body would produce there if it were actually present.In spiritual or imaginary visions, there is a limited sensible representation confined to the imagination, i.e., an operation limited to the imagination, presented to the spirit in a supernatural manner and, therefore, with a transparency and clarity that external physical realities do not have. This representation can be produced either by the supernatural illumination of images previously received by the ordinary path of the senses, or by the combination, by supernatural work, of these images among themselves, or by the infusion of new images by divine work.Such visions, due to their own origin, are of a superior type to corporal visions and, unlike these, can contain representations not only of the present but also of the past and future. Their most frequent forms are representative (e.g., the appearance of a saint) and symbolic (e.g., the exchange of hearts in the experience of many mystics).External and imaginary visions are the least secure. By presenting a sensible content, the intellectual interpretation by one who *saw* or *heard* introduces into the experience a principle of personal judgment, questionable or even erroneous.Indeed, when human intellect has to *interpret* a certain phenomenon, it is obviously exposed to all the dangers of error inherent to it. Saint John of the Cross demonstrated how easy it is to give an exaggerated or even wrong meaning to *heard* words, as man is naturally inclined to give an interpretation according to his own desires and concepts.The difficulties of interpretation are compounded by the difficulties relating to the origin of visions, which may come not only from God, but also from the devil, or from the spontaneous activity of the subconscious, breaking through and expressing itself at certain moments at the level of consciousness. This is all the more possible when one considers that, according to the teachings of modern religious psychology, the psychological mechanism of external and imaginary visions is not different from that of hallucinations, although their cause is entirely different. In the case of hallucinations, in fact, the cause is pathological. In true visions, on the other hand, the cause is divine, that is, it consists in the influence of God on the soul.Conversely, the action of the devil has the power to influence the senses of the body and simulate revelations and visions, especially about the future, which should not be underestimated, to the point where one can say that diabolic falsifications of extraordinary gifts are as numerous as the true gifts.

The Action of the Evil Spirit and the Ecclesial Criteria for Discerning Mystical Experiences

The action of the evil spirit can intersect or add to the psychopathological conditions of the subject. Physiological disturbances related to temperament, age, and sex, natural imagination that creates pseudo-psychological phenomena, psychic depressions caused by very absorbing intellectual activity or by excessive meditation on religious themes, or by poorly regulated corporal austerities, diseases with the results of organic imbalance as all possible or contributing causes of distortion or imperfect interpretation of external and imaginary visions and, more generally, of mystical phenomenology.The theological distinction between visions and apparitions marianas and their place in the faith of the Church is deepened in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater.Redemptoris Mater by John Paul II offers a theological framework for understanding Mary’s presence and action in the history of salvation.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and Post-Graduate Studies in Mariology.