ON THE APPARITION OF VIRGIN MARY IN CALABAR

By Fr. Evaristus Bassey

Ever since I tweeted messages and pictures concerning the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a lot of interest has been generated on social media, with many expressing their faith or doubt, and quite a few making jest of the whole matter. However I was able to make further findings through interviews I conducted with some of the witnesses. In my earlier tweet I had mentioned a pastor who is cousins to one of the assistant priests in St. Charles Lwanga Parish where the apparition took place, but while he was there, he doesn’t seem to be the principal witness, according to my findings. The person that had the encounter from the onset and saw the Virgin Mary from the beginning, face to face, was one of the domestic assistants in the priests’ residence. The young man is called Saviour Asuquo. According to him, shortly before 6pm he was standing in front of the priests’ residence when public electricity was restored so he ran in and plugged his phone for charging and came back and stood in front of the residence again. By this time those who came for Adoration were inside the church. None of the priests was around as they were out for a meeting. He was the only one outside apart from a woman who was praying inside the chapel and whose daughter was playing in the car park in front of the chapel. But within the school premises he could see about four persons standing and facing the priests’ residence. He says as soon as the Angelus bell rang, he saw to his left up in the sky a very bright rainbow which he could distinguish all the colours very clearly, which made him wonder what was up. Then suddenly on his right he saw a beam of light that came from the sky, passing between a palm tree and a mango tree that were outside the church premises and falling on a spot in the car park in front of the chapel and the shrine. And then it seemed as if his attention was drawn to his left again and he could see the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary emerging from the area of the rainbow and coming closer. He said he was transfixed as he saw very clearly a woman wearing a blinking crown and a rosary with lights blinking as well, and that all around her was light; that he turned and looked towards the statue to compare and contrast and that the face on the statue did not in any way match the beauty of the woman; that she smiled at him and then came into the beam of light and the entire premises shone so brightly as if it was day and again, she smiled at him. He said it was by this time that those who were in church noticed that something was taking place and rushed out, including those who stood at the school block who now had come closer. He said he was transfixed as he saw very clearly a woman wearing a blinking crown and a rosary with lights blinking as well, and that all around her was light; that he turned and looked towards the statue to compare and contrast and that the face on the statue did not in any way match the beauty of the woman; that she smiled at him and then came into the beam of light and the entire premises shone so brightly as if it was day and again, she smiled at him. He said it was by this time that those who were in church noticed that something was taking place and rushed out, including those who stood at the school block who now had come closer. He says a young lady who tried to take pictures while the apparition was on ground in that beam of light could not take any clear pictures, that it was when the apparition moved up over the shrine in that vertical beam of light that some people could manage to take some shots. He says the little girl who was playing outside saw the apparition and ran to call the mother who came out and knelt down. According to him, as the apparition started moving away, he himself ran back to carry his phone but the image was already too far and so his shot was very hazy. But he could take a picture of the fading beam of light. According to him, he had never seen a woman so beautiful. I asked him if she said anything to him, and he said no, she only smiled.
He says that people in the neighbouring premises who had seen the beam of light ran to the church, and also some passersby and motorists stopped when they noticed the brightness and many within the Church could see the exiting apparition. But he, the little girl and the mother may have been the ones that saw her face clearly.
I asked him why he thought the apparition visited the parish and his answer was rather simplistic, that since Our Lady loves a clean environment and recently the parish had tidied up everywhere and made everywhere clean, that probably Our Lady visited in commendation. I smiled at his parochial view. From what I gather the assistant priest returned to the parish around 6.20 pm when the apparition was already over but they could sense a certain energy within the premises.
For those who have been asking for videos, maybe they think it is like the visit of a celebrity where you have time to take all the selfies you want. A supernatural event such as this first of all fills you with a certain awe that you don’t even think about reaching to your phone. The protestant pastor whom we mentioned earlier is called Destiny Egan, actually a former Catholic. I invited him over and had a chat with him on Saturday 2nd June. He says he arrived when the apparition was hovering over the shrine of Our Lady and that there were people there already and so he didn’t actually take pictures because he was awed and was praying. So the info I gave earlier about the photos being from him is incorrect. The assistant priest insists the pictures he gave me came from parishioners. Pastor Destiny says he attempted to take a picture when he saw people trying to use their phones but the brightness was too much for his eyes. I also invited a young girl whom I was told took some photos but Felicia aka Nene said she could only take one picture and at this time the image was too far away but that there were other parishioners who were conscious enough to take pictures. “I saw the apparition very clearly. I told my mother about it when I got home and she said it wasn’t true. I was sad. But I know what I saw. Some of my friends I told also doubted me. I even cried in frustration.”
I spoke with another man, Donatus Kajiang a civil servant, who said he was in church for devotion when the event occurred and that he very clearly saw the apparition. That he left his phone in the house because he was going to church. “I would have been so offended if I wasn’t part of those who saw the apparition because I am always in Church for prayers when I am not busy at other things. My friends would have made jest of me. This one wasn’t a matter of seeing only the brightness of the sun, I saw her very clearly with my own eyes,” he said.
Some people say that if it is Our Lady, she would visit again and leave a message. My own submission is that even if she doesn’t come again, the fact that she came with a smile is a positive indication; indeed she is a messenger of God, that all will be well with our raped and plundered country Nigeria.