Life Ways

Life Ways

A Call to Return to God

excerpted from Apparition Shrines: Places of Pilgrimage and Prayer,
by Robin Ruggles, Ph. D.

I have often been asked what led me to write this book. A number of factors converged that led to my decision. I was baptized an Anglican but as a teenager I left the Church, and for the next thirty years I had absolutely no interest in religion.

Throughout my career, I traveled widely. One day in Manila, the Philippines, fear and anxiety overwhelmed me. I was convinced I would soon die (my father had died young of a heart attack and my brother had already had a heart attack). I feared I would never see my young children grow up. At that terrifying moment in the hotel room, a voice told me to look at the label of my shirt. I was amazed to see the word "Jesus" clearly printed in my shirt collar. Immediately a sense of peace flooded me, leading to a feeling that everything would work out for the best. It did.

I returned to Victoria, Canada and told my wife, Belen Socorro (Spanish for Bethlehem and Hope), I wanted to return to the Church. Because Belen and our children were Catholic, I soon converted and was received into the Catholic Church in May 1987 (the month of Mary in the Marian year being celebrated by the Catholic Church). I felt Our Blessed Mother had touched my life and I wanted to do something in return.

On a trip to Washington, I packed copies of Catherine Odell's Those Who Saw Her: The Apparitions of Mary and John Delaney's A Woman Clothed with the Sun. It was fascinating reading but I longed to see what these shrines looked like. The more books I read, the more I found that there were no extensively illustrated overviews of the most famous Marian apparition shrines. Only the fortunate few among pilgrims could visit all the major shrines. Others who, for financial or health reasons, could not travel to Europe, Asia and Latin America would have to be armchair pilgrims. This book is intended for them.

I increasingly felt an interior urging which prodded me year after year to design a photo pilgrimage of Our Lady's shrines celebrating her appearances. I felt that Our Lady was inviting me to put together this work. From 1988 to 1998 I visited most of the major apparition shrines at least three times.

It is difficult to say which shrine I prefer. Each one offers something unique to the pilgrim, and all convey serenity, blessed by a touch from the divine. For me, nothing surpasses the majestic surroundings of La Salette, high in the French Alps. The stained glass window of the scarlet cross in the Basilica of Pontmain stands out as the most stunning one I viewed. The Eucharistic adoration chapel in Fatima and the midnight Masses in Knock, Ireland and Betania, Venezuela etched themselves into my memory. I felt thrilled to view the evidence of Our Lady's appearances in Akita, Japan and Zeitoun, Cairo. The resting place of Jacinta Marto in the Fatima Basilica is particularly moving as one recalls the courageous example of this six-year-old who joyfully accepted the pain of her terminal illness in reparation for the sins of others.

I personally believe that Our Blessed Mother's appearances call us to conversion, to turn away from sin, and to be reconciled with God and others. To do this, we need to consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, font of divine mercy, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We must practice mercy if we expect to receive it from God. Mary's messages often invite us to prayer. Perhaps Mary's increasing appearances on earth during the 20^th century are a special grace to call us to repent and return to God.

Go to Apparition Shrines: Places of Pilgrimage and Prayer in our online catalog.

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