Saints LightGuadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima: What Approval Means
Approved apparitions like Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima are private revelations that Catholics may believe, but are not required to believe, and their messages point us back to Christ.
What this lesson teaches
- Public revelation is complete in Christ; private revelations add nothing to it.
- Church approval means an apparition is free of error and may be believed, not that it must be believed.
- Guadalupe (1531), Lourdes (1858) and Fatima (1917) are approved apparitions with feast days.
- Approved messages point back to the Gospel: prayer, repentance and trust in Christ.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 66-67
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21; John 2:5.
A sample question from this lesson
Must Catholics believe in the apparitions at Fatima?
- Yes, because the Church approved them
- Yes, but only if they live in Portugal
- No, and Catholics should consider them false
- No; approved private revelations may be believed but are not required
Show the answer
No; approved private revelations may be believed but are not required. The lesson explains that no Catholic is bound to accept any apparition, because private revelation does not belong to the deposit of faith (CCC 67).
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Public revelation
- God's revelation completed in Christ and handed on through Scripture and Tradition.
- Private revelation
- A later revelation, such as an apparition, that adds nothing to the faith and no one is required to believe.
- Apparition
- A reported appearance of Christ, Mary, an angel or a saint.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima: What Approval Means" is lesson 9 of Mary and the Saints. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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