COMFORTER OF THE AFFLICTED (OUR LADY OF ADVENT)

Day 203: December 01

Comforter of the Afflicted (Our Lady of Advent), Mettenbuch, Germany



Mettenbuch is a city in Bavaria, which became famous during the period of the Kulturkampf (conflict between the German Empire and the Catholic Church) due to intense supernatural events in the vicinity of the monastery of Metten (Deggendorf) which also led to the healing of Barbara Eder.

The apparitions took place between December 1st and December 21st, 1876 and again, for the last time, Mary Most Holy appeared in 1878. The visionaries, NC Kraus, Francisco Javier Kraus, Teresa Sack Liebl and Matilda were all between the ages of eight and fourteen, but some adults and other children also saw some of these apparitions.

The children had the privilege of receiving apparitions of the Virgin, the Child Jesus, and sometimes even St Joseph and various angels and saints, along with luminous phenomena.

These events were recorded in detail by the parish priest and the then bishop of Regensburg Senestrey Ignatius. The latter, however, later decided to distance himself from the apparitions by suspending the investigations already underway against the will of the entire commission instituted, which also protested to Rome for this unexpected decision.

The apparitions continued throughout the Advent and Christmas seasons. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the faithful as "Comforter of the Afflicted," and was later called by all "Our Lady of Advent."

In October 1876, some people in the forest near Mettenbuch, perched on a cliff, were attracted by luminous phenomena: red, blue and white lights, about a meter above the ground, intertwined, creating a strange play of colors. It was immediately believed that these lights were the poor souls in purgatory seeking prayer and support on Earth. From that day on, at nightfall, many people in the area decided to return to the site to pray. The phenomenon recurred, but not everyone was able to see it and not always.

On December 2, six-year-old Catherine and ten-year-old Francisco Javier saw the Child Jesus sitting on the lap of his Mother seated on a chair. Our Lady showed a face full of indescribable joy and was wrapped in a blue robe, bluer than the sky, with white stockings and golden shoes, a white veil covered her head to the middle of her tunic. The Holy Virgin said to the children: "I am the Comforter of the Afflicted." Behind her, the figure of St Joseph suddenly appeared, while to the right and left of the Mother of God, two angelic figures appeared.

Our Lady also asked for the construction of a simple chapel and invited everyone to confession. The children's mothers spoke to the village priest and tried to convince him to build a chapel in honor of the Comforter of the Afflicted.

The angels appeared to the members of the Liebl family as they prayed the Rosary. Francisco even kissed their feet. They heard them play and also saw the Three Wise Men.

On the evening of December 19-20, the ecstatic children saw an increasingly intense diaphanous light appear, taking the form of the Infant Jesus, radiant in a red robe, with his upper body bare. This apparition lasted about two minutes.

On the afternoon of December 21st, the Virgin Mary appeared to Matilda Sack, saying that this would be her last apparition in this place, but that she would return after three years, waiting for them near the gorge of the forest, once again urging the construction of a chapel. "If you meditate on the Rosary daily, you will receive the grace of the Lord."

After December 21, visionaries and adults continued to go to the woods but there were no more extraordinary phenomena. In 1878, Francis had a brief vision: a double star with blue and white rays inside which the Blessed Virgin and Jesus Crucified appeared.


St Justin Russolillo Writes...

"This devotion [Consecration to Jesus through Mary] consists of (1) offering oneself totally to Mary in order to belong completely to Jesus; (2) seeking always to make a habit of living in totally perfect dependence on Mary, thus imitating the Son of God who was subject to her thirty years."

(Ascension, trans. Louis Caputo, Vocationist Father, Newark, 1997, p. 420)

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