Editing Marian apparition (section)

{{Short description|Supernatural appearance by Mary, mother of Jesus}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{NPOV|date=August 2024}}
{{Catholic marian prayers sidebar}}

A '''Marian apparition''' is a reported [[supernatural]] appearance of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]], the mother of [[Jesus]]. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as internal, spiritual experiences. Throughout history, both Marian apparitions and visions have been associated with religious messages, [[Marian devotions|devotional practices]], and [[pilgrimage]] traditions.

In the [[Catholic Church]], for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian apparition, the person or persons who claim to see Mary (the "seers") must claim that they see her visually located in their environment.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syMABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|last=Zimdars-Swartz|first=Sandra L.|title=Encountering Mary: From La Salette to Medjugorje|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1400861637|page=4|quote=An apparition is best understood as a specific kind of vision in which a person or being not normally within the visionary's perceptual range appears to that person, not in a world apart as in a dream, and not as a modification of a concrete object as in the case of a weeping icon or moving statue, but as part of the environment, without apparent connection to verifiable visual stimuli.}}</ref> If the person claims to hear Mary but not see her, this is known as an [[interior locutions|interior locution]], not an apparition. Also excluded from the category of apparitions are [[dream]]s, [[Visions of Jesus and Mary|visions]] experienced in the imagination, the claimed perception of Mary [[Perceptions of religious imagery in natural phenomena|in ordinarily-explainable natural phenomena]], and miracles associated with Marian artwork, such as [[weeping statue]]s.

Believers consider such apparitions to be real and objective interventions of divine power, rather than subjective experiences generated by the perceiving individuals, even in cases where the apparition is reportedly seen by only some, not all, of the people present at the event's location.

Marian apparitions are considered by believers to be expressions of Mary's ongoing motherly care for the church. The understood purpose of each apparition is to draw attention to some aspect of the Christian message, given the needs of a particular time and place. Apparitions are often accompanied by other alleged supernatural phenomena, such as medical cures. However, such miraculous events are not considered the purpose of Marian apparitions, but are alleged to exist primarily to validate and draw attention to the message.<ref>''Dictionary of Mary'', Catholic Book Publishing Co. New York. 1985, Imprimatur, pp. 25–26 {{ISBN|978-0-89942-367-8}}</ref>