Hundreds flocking to ‘glowing Mary’ statue in Belgium
Hundreds in Belgium have been visiting a glowing statue supposedly of Mary:
March 14, 2014
A ‘glowing’ statue of the Virgin Mary has brought hundreds of pilgrims flocking to a house in a small town in southern Belgium.
Police in Jalhay have been forced to post guards around a pavilion erected by the retired owners of what is being referred to as ‘the mysterious glowing Virgin’.
On one day this week alone 500 people visited the house in the normally quiet town to see the statue, which witnesses claim emits a dull glow in the dark.
But local Catholic authorities, who have sent clergymen to investigate, remain cautious about claiming for definite whether there is a natural or religious explanation for the statue’s luminescence.
The phenomenon was first noticed in the middle of January and has gradually attracted growing crowds.
Local media report that some of those visiting the statue claim to have been cured of ailments. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2580733/Hundreds-flock-sleepy-Belgian-town-glowing-statue-Virgin-Mary.html#ixzz2vwpR0Ehp
Police have been required to bolster their presence around a pavilion erected by the retired Belgian owners of the statue, which witnesses suggest lets out a dull glow after dark.
The phenomenon was first noticed in mid-January and has gradually attracted larger crowds, with local media reporting that some of those visiting the statue claim to have been cured of a skin condition.
The statue, about 30 centimetres (one foot) in height, represents the “Virgin of Banneux”, from the name of a nearby village where in 1933 a young girl was said to have witnessed an appearance by the Virgin. http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-belgians-flock-glowing-virgin-mary-statue-171557770.html
The Bible never indicates that Christians should look to statues for healing or to see if any ‘glow.’
Instead, the Apostle Paul warned about signs and lying wonders:
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
Many, within Roman Catholicism as well as some without, consider statues like this as miraculous proof that Mary is present and approves these statues.
Here is some of what I wrote about it in my book Fatima Shock!:
It has been reported that there are weeping and bleeding statues of the Lady of Fatima. Many people, including some of the Catholic clergy, have indicated that these types of occurrences are proof that the apparitions are Mary sent by God to the earth.
Now here is another shock–since I have no reason to doubt all the reports of weeping and/or bleeding Fatima statues, and since none of the statues that reportedly have wept look like the apparition that was originally described as appearing to the three children in Fatima in 1917, there is no way that the weeping and/or bleeding is proof that they are from God. That would be confusion.
According to the Holy Bible, “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33, NKJV) or “God is a God not of disorder” (NJB), but the devil is a liar, and the father thereof” (John 8:44, DRB).
Therefore, weeping and/or bleeding statues are further proof that the apparition seen at Fatima was not Mary sent by the God of the Bible, but instead suggest a demonic origin:
“Let them be all confounded that adore graven things” (Psalm 96:7, DRB; Psalm 97:7 is where the equivalent reference is in NJB/NKJV).
This includes statues and images that are supposed to be of Mary. And of course, the ‘Pilgrim Statues’ in Fatima do not resemble what was seen there. (Thiel B. Fatima Shock. Nazarene Books, 2012, pp. 246-247)
Those who rely on enchantments like weeping/bleeding statues are relying on something that is condemned by the Bible.
What about reported healings? Here is something else from my book Fatima Shock!:
What About the Healings?
Are claimed healings associated with Fatima proof that the messages were from God?
There are several reasons to consider that they are not proof.
The first is that there have been hundreds of claimed healings from those going to discredited sites like Medjugorje. According to Msgr. Pavao Zanic, Bishop of Mostar, the “seers” claimed messages from the “Marian” apparition that were clearly false and the facts he laid out prove this. Hence it would not be appropriate to ascribe the “healings” there as approved by God.
The second is that many of the original healings claimed at Fatima seemed to be related to properties that the water and/or soil once had. One study indicated that twenty- nine out of thirty claimed healings at Fatima seemed to be related to the soil and/or water. In fact, many who claimed that they were “healed” indicated that the water and/or soil were decisive factors in their healing. It has been speculated that perhaps the water and soil in that area no longer has the same healing properties. Furthermore, since the area in and around where the Lady appeared five of the six times in 1917 is all under concrete, even if that soil had retained healing properties, direct contact with it is no longer practical.
The third is that many of the “healings” at Fatima appear to be similar to the claimed healings from those who saw various “aliens” or UFOs. Thus, since Catholics do not normally consider those encounters are from God, then just having a lot of “healings” should not be accepted as absolute proof. (Thiel B. Fatima Shock!, pp. 142-143)
Of course, Satan can influence people and affect ailments.
The Bible warns of a “virgin” that uses enchantments who is also called the Lady of Kingdoms. Notice the following as shown in a Catholic version of the Bible:
1 Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called delicate and tender…4 Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms. 6 I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and have given them into thy bend: thou hast shown no mercy to them: upon the ancient thou hast laid thy yoke exceeding heavy.
7 And thou hast said: I shall be a lady forever: thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, neither hast thou remembered thy latter end.
8 And now hear these things, thou that art delicate, and dwellest confidently, that sayest in thy heart: I am, and there is none else besides me: I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know barrenness.
9 These two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day, barrenness and widowhood. All things are come upon thee, because of the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great hardness of thy enchanters. 10 And thou best trusted in thy wickedness, and hast said: There is none that seeth me. Thy wisdom, and thy knowledge, this hath deceived thee. And thou best said in thy heart: I am, and besides me there is no other. 11 Evil shall come upon thee, and then shalt not know the rising thereof: and calamity shall fall violently upon thee, which thou canst not keep off: misery shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be it may profit thee any thing, or if thou mayst become stronger. 13 Thou hast failed in the multitude or thy counsels: let now the astrologers stand and save thee, they that gazed at the stars, and counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that shall come to thee. (Isaiah 47:1, 4-7, 11-13, DRB)
Jesus warned that signs and wonders would deceive almost everybody (Matthew 24:24). As we get closer to the end and the formation of an improper ecumenical religion, expect to see more issues with statues that appear to have supernatural properties. Notice something from the Book of Revelation:
11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. (Revelation 13:11-15)
So, just because a statue seems to be supernaturally influenced, and is even endorsed by one who ‘looks like a lamb,’ this does not mean that this is approved by God. God’s word repeatedly condemns many things associated with statues as well as various odd wonders.
Notice what the Apostle Paul warned:
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
Deception must be clever to work, and multitudes have already been deceived by signs and wonders coming from statues–even prior to the time that the New Testament was written. The current Pope Francis keeps encouraging people to turn to Mary and has often endorsed Marian statues and apparitions–this is not good.
As far as the Bible goes, all should realize that there is nothing in the Bible, or even in early church writings, that supports the view that God wanted to use glowing or weeping statues, etc. of Mary. More are likely to be deceived by them (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
For more information, please check out the following:
Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions Do you know much about Mary? Are the apparitions real? What happened at Fatima? What might they mean for the rise of the ecumenical religion of Antichrist? Are Protestants moving towards Mary? How do the Eastern/Greek Orthodox view Mary? How might Mary view her adorers? Here is a link to a YouTube video Marian Apparitions May Fulfill Prophecy.
Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy? Pope Francis has taken many steps to turn people more towards his version of ‘Mary.’ Could this be consistent with biblical and Catholic prophecies? This article documents what has been happening. There is also a video version titled Pope Francis: Could this Marian Focused Pontiff be Fulfilling Prophecy?
Origin of the Marian Dogmas: Where Do Catholic Scholars Say The Four Dogmas of Mary Came From?
Assumption of Mary Did Mary die? Was she taken to heaven on August 15th? What is known? What does the Bible show?
Women and the New Testament Church Were women important in the New Testament Church? Which women and how were they involved?
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Continuing Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity?
Fatima Shock! What the Vatican Does Not Want You to Know About Fatima, Dogmas of Mary, and Future Apparitions. Whether or not you believe anything happened at Fatima, if you live long enough, you will be affected by its ramifications (cf. Isaiah 47; Revelation 17). Fatima Shock! provides concerned Christians with enough Catholic-documented facts to effectively counter every false Marian argument. In addition to the print version, there is a Kindle version of Fatima Shock! which you can acquire in seconds.
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