Akita and the Lady of All Nations

In this feverishly active Japan, there is a very poor convent where five nuns from a secular institute live. They have a chapel with the continual presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Near the tabernacle is a statue representing the Blessed Virgin Mary, standing on a globe and leaning against the Cross, a replica of the Virgin who appeared in Amsterdam (this apparition has been recognized by the local bishop since then): The Lady of All Nations.

Sister Agnes Sasagawa Katsuko

Agnes Sasagawa Katsuko, born in 1931, had had an appendectomy at age 19, but the excessive dose of the anesthesia the doctor injected left her paralyzed. Her father, a man of great nobility, chose not to sue the medical staff. Agnes told me that he said: "The doctor made an honest mistake in trying to cure my daughter, I will not seek to avenge myself."

A Catholic nurse talked to her about Christ. Agnes' conversion occurred peacefully, while she spoke openly to a Buddhist monk who respected her conscience.

In 1956, her state worsened: she went into a coma. The sisters of Nagasaki sent some holy water from Lourdes to the Myoko Clinic. As soon as she has tasted the water Agnes regained consciousness: her congealed limbs recuperated their mobility. She was twenty-five years old at the time. She began to work with all her heart teaching catechism at the church of Myoko-Kogen. But then she went deaf and had to stop this ministry. She entered the small convent of the Handmaids of the Eucharist in Yuzawada - a contemplative community founded by the bishop of Niigata, Rev. Shojiro Ito.

Blood, Sweat and Tears on the Statue: the Messages

On the evening on Thursday, July 5, 1956, as she started praying, Sr. Agnes suddenly felt a cross-shaped wound in her left palm, 2 centimeters wide by 3 centimeters long. It apparently looked like a scratch, but in reality she felt a deep stabbing pain, like a needle, preventing her from sleeping at night. At 3 o'clock in the morning, she suddenly heard a voice (her guardian angel):

"Don't be afraid! Do not pray only for your own sins, but in reparation for those of all mankind. Today's world hurts the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord by its ingratitude and insults. Mary's wound is much deeper than yours. Now, let's go to the chapel together."

Sister Agnes continued her prayer in front of the statue of the Lady of All Nations

The voice was silent, the angel disappeared. Agnes' contemplation lasted until 5 o'clock (on the First Friday of the month). Then the other sisters filed into the chapel. Agnes didn't dare to approach the statue and look more closely at the hands, so she asked one of her companions, Sister K., to do it. The sister examined them, and then fell on her knees, visibly very deeply moved. Agnes joined her and she noticed on the Virgin's hands the same wound she had on hers; it was slightly bleeding too.

On Saturday, October 13, 1973, after Lauds, individual prayer and the Rosary, Agnes received a new message

"Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. [...].The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. ..."

The messages were at times accompanied by the sight of a strong light, at other times by an ineffable fragrance...

On January 4, 1975, the first Saturday of the month, at the end of a retreat, the twenty or so sisters were expecting a visit from Bishop Shojiro Ito. At about 9 o'clock in the morning, the sacristan sister wondered why the base of the statue was all wet: Our Lady had been weeping! The following days and months, she cried a total of 101 times. The day and the time were carefully noted by the chaplain Fr. Teiji Yasuda, O.S.V. and witnessed by the persons who happened to be there: in all, 2,000.

The Local Bishop Approved the Phenomenon

Bishop Shojiro Ito finally obtained from Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the formal authorization to proclaim the authenticity of the Akita events and messages, before he retired due to his advanced age. His conclusion, on April 22, 1984 (Easter):

"These facts, established after 11 years of investigations, are undeniable [...]. Consequently, I authorize the veneration of Our Lady of Akita."

Sister Agnes, the seer, was cured of her deafness in 2 stages (October 13, 1974, and May 30, 1982), but has now been paralyzed since August of 1981. She lives in a profound interior peace.

Excerpts from René LAURENTIN, Akita, in: René LAURENTIN and Patrick SBALCHIERO, Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary (Dictionnaire encyclopédique des apparitions de la Vierge), Fayard, Paris 2007.