Cuapa: a message of peace

Cuapa is part of the diocese of Juigalpa.

In the recent history of Nicaragua

The apparitions occurred during a time of crisis and make explicit reference to the situation in the country: the earthquake, the other sufferings (related to the two successive popular uprisings), the martyrs of the faith (during the Marxist propaganda), the risk of a world war (in the context of the Cold War), and finally, "peace" and national reconciliation. That is why we give these historical markers:

In 1972, Somoza, leader of the National Guard, took advantage of the catastrophic situation created by an earthquake to promulgate martial law and take control of the country. Responsible for distributing international aid received after the earthquake, he kept the majority of it for himself.

In July 1979, dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the last of the Somoza dynasty, was killed in a popular revolt that claimed 40,000 victims.

The coalition that took over the government lead the country to another dictature, with Daniel Ortega at the helm, a Marxist allied to the Eastern bloc.

A part of the local population, the "Contras" (both natives and ex-Somozists), with the help of the United States (Irangate scandal), opposed the president's projects, particularly on the collectivization of lands and compulsory conscription, causing a bloody civil war that caused 29,000 victims.

The return to democracy came in 1990. In 2006, Daniel Ortega reached out to the Catholic Church, before being elected president in 2007. He chose a former Contra for vice-president.

It is in this context that the message of the presumed apparition takes its full meaning.

The first apparitions

On April 15, 1980, at about 8 am, in valley of Chontales, single peasant man named Bernardo Martinez, about forty-years old and member of a neo-catechumenal community, "saw an extraordinary light" near an old chapel.

On the following May 7th, Bernardo was fishing in an isolated place in the Cuapa Valley when "She" appeared to him: "Her clothing was white and long. She had a blue belt on her hips and long sleeves. A pale cream-colored veil covered her with gold embroidery all the way through. She had her hands clasped over her chest. She resembled the image of the Virgin of Fatima... She stretched out her arms, and from her hands came rays of light brighter than those of the sun... She was a hovering a little above the ground, and the rays coming out of her hands flooded into my chest.” Bernardo asked the woman her name.

The apparition revealed her name as Mary. " ‘I come from heaven, I am the Mother of Jesus,’ she revealed to me, in a voice so soft that I had never heard the same voice in any woman or any other person."

"What do you want?” - "I want you to pray the Rosary every day. I want you to love one another, do your duties and make peace around you."

Then she continued: "Nicaragua has suffered a lot since the earthquake. And it is on the verge suffering even more. You will continue to suffer if you do not change... Pray, pray, my son, pray the Rosary for the whole world. If you do not change, the coming of a third world war is near."

Bernardo then noticed that the apparition was leaving: "She raised her arms to heaven, like the statue of the Assumption that I have seen so many times in the Cathedral of Juigalpa. She turned her eyes upward to the sky, and the cloud under her feet lifted her. She was inside a niche of light, and at a certain distance She disappeared from my sight."

A vision of heaven

On the night of June 8, 1980, Bernardo saw the Virgin in his sleep.

"She said to me, 'Look at the sky.'"

"I saw a large group of people dressed in white who were walking towards the east. They went, all bathed in light and joy, singing. I heard them, but I did not understand the words they sang... The bodies were illuminated.

"I heard her say to me, ‘Look, here are the first communities of early Christianity, the first catechumens, many of them martyrs. Do you want to be martyrs? Would you like to be a martyr?’"

"Then I saw another group. The people were also dressed in white with bright rosaries in their hands. The beads were very white and sparkled with many colors. One of them had a large open book ... "

Bernardo says he then saw another group of people dressed like Franciscans, and then a last one, people dressed "just like us."

"I have shown you the Glory of the Lord and that is what you will gain if you obey the Lord and His Word, if you persevere in the prayer of the holy Rosary, and put into practice the Word of God," the apparition continued.

An apparition and a sign that was visible to all

The last apparition took place on October 13, 1980, around 3 pm, in the presence of about 50 devout witnesses.

"Suddenly a large circle of light formed on the ground. All, without exception, saw it. It was like a single ray falling down and making that luminous circle on the ground. The light came from above. The light came from a particular source, and on reaching the ground was it spread out... I looked up and saw that a circle had also formed in the sky... This circle radiated colors," Bernardo remembered.

Two flashes of light preceded the apparition. Bernardo asked her to make herself visible to all present. The Virgin refused, and started to weep: "It is because of the hardness of your heart. Say the Rosary, meditate on the mysteries of God. Love one another. Forgive one another. Do not just ask for peace without making it. I am being asked for things that do not matter. Ask for faith, to have the strength to carry your own cross. The sufferings of this world cannot be taken away from you... Such is life. I am with you, although you do not see me. I am your Mother, to all of you who are sinners."

And also:

On July 13, 1991, Bernardo received this message: "Bernardo, the Lord is very sad, because Nicaragua commits many collective sins."

The bishop's position

Bishop Pablo Antonio Vega Mantilla of Juigalpa, sensitive to Bernardo’s honesty and the messages concerning the social duties of the faithful, accepted the publication of the story of the apparitions, with his approval, without taking a position on the apparitions.

After going to minor and major seminary, Bernardo was ordained a priest on August 20, 1995.

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Excerpts from: Patrick SBALCHIERO, "Cuapa, Nicaragua", in: René LAURENTIN and Patrick SBALCHIERO, Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge. Inventaire des origines à nos jours. Méthodologie, prosopopée, approche interdisciplinaire, Fayard, Paris 2007, annexes.

F. Breynaert