Never will anything touch you as deeply with grace as the story of Our Lady of Nicaragua as told by Bishop Vega. What is amazing about Nicaragua is that after more than sixteen years after the first apparition of Our Lady, almost no one knows anything about it. The messages from the Virgin Mary are so important, yet so simple, so orthodox, so timely, and so loving that they should be shouted from the mountain tops. Every Marian newspaper, magazine, radio, and Catholic television should be spreading Her love. The Silence is amazing. The Bishop of the area (Bishop Pablo Vego), who is responsible for testing the authenticity of the apparitions, has said that he believed in the apparitions. He even bought the land where Our Lady appeared right after the last apparition.

The right of private devotion and the dissemination of information is totally approved. The message of the Virgin Mary is simple: pray the Rosary properly (especially in the family), make peace with each other (especially in the family), and renew the First Saturday Devotion as often as you can, (especially as a family).

The apparitions were short (only five), and they ended as She prophesied. The standard tests of all apparitions: obedience to superiors, fidelity to doctrine, prophesy fulfilled, miracles, and evident graces, can be checked by anyone, since everything was so simple. As in the case with almost all legitimate apparitions, sooner or later Satan will try to drown out the message. He will do this by having someone else near the area have more apparitions [this happened in Lourdes 50 times], or he will inspire uncautious writers to add things to the messages that are not there. For this reason, we only use Bishop Vega’s official version to analyze the messages, and to help spread them.

The visionary is a very simple, middle-aged peasant rancher with remarkable humility. He took care of the small sacristy in the valley of Cuapa, Nicaragua. He did the cleaning in the chapel, opened the doors for services, prepared for all celebrations, rang the bells, and led the Rosary hours. He had been the sacristan (without pay) from the time he was a little boy. Bernardo Martinex was very poor. He bathed in the nearby stream, and owned a single calf.

Apparently, he had a very holy grandmother, who taught him to have a great love for Mary and the Rosary. Bernardo always thought himself to be a great sinner, which is a good sign that the Holy Spirit is with him.

As a preparation for the apparitions, the lights in the sacristy mysteriously were found turned on (two different nights0 before April 15, 1980. On that night, Bernardo saw the statue of the Virgin Mary illuminated all by itself. Because of his great humility, Bernardo thought the statue lit up because Mary was mad at him. He had blamed some of the women for leaving the lights on.

"I thought: ‘The Holy Virgin, the Holy Mother, is angry with me because I have been quarreling with the people.’ I decided to ask their forgiveness because I was so moved at seeing Her so illuminated.

"After the public apology, I told all the people (who were there praying the Rosary) what I had seen [the illuminated statue]. But I asked them to keep it secret. It was not so. The secret spread throughout all of Cuapa and I suffered due to this because some of them ridiculed me."

The verbal persecution continued even by his pastor. They began to ask him if Mary was talking to him and what She was saying. The priest kept asking for news, as if to make fun of him. The priest told him to pray to the Virgin and ask Her if there was anything She wanted from the people of Cuapa. But Bernardo prayed instead:

"Blessed Mother, please do not request anything of me. I have many problems in the church. Make your request known to some other person because I want to avoid any more problems. I have a great many now. I don’t want any more."

This is the type of man Mary selected for Her very important message: humble, childlike, prayerful, obedient, and simple. That, in itself, conforms to the gospel messages.

On May 8, 1988, Bernardo was coming back from fishing when he saw two flashes of lightning. On the second flash the Virgin appeared. Bernardo’s own words:

"It looked like the statue of the Virgin of Fatima. I was immobile. I had no inclination to run, to yell, I felt no fear, I was surprised. I had thought and said: ‘What am I seeing? … Could it be the same statue of the Virgin that they brought and placed here for me? … The statue from the chapel … Is it in order to play a joke on me because I said I saw it illuminated? … Is it a trick? … But no! I would have seen them carrying it.’ I then passed my hand over my face because I thought that what I saw was a dream. And I said, ‘Could it be that I am asleep, but I have not tripped over anything.’

"And when I removed my hands from my face, I saw that she had human skin and that her eyes moved and She blinked. I then said, in my thoughts, because I could not move my tongue … I said: ‘She is alive. … She is not a statue. … She is alive!’ My mind was the only thing that I could move. I felt like numb, my lower jaw stiff and my tongue as if asleep, everything immobilized, as I said, only the ideas moved in my head. I was in those thoughts when She extended Her arms --- like the Miraculous Medal which I never had seen, but which later was shown to me. She extended Her arms and from Her hands emanated rays of light stronger than the sun. She was – She rested up high and the rays that came from Her hands touched my breast. When she gave out Her light is when I became encouraged to speak, although somewhat stammering. I said to her: ‘What is your name?’

"She answered me with the sweetest voice I have ever heard in any woman, not even in persons who speak softly. She answered me and said that Her name was Mary. I saw the way She moved Her lips. I then said: ‘She is alive! She spoke! She has answered my question!’ I could see that we could enter into a conversation, that I could speak with Her. I asked her, then, where She came from. She told me with the same sweetness:

"I come from Heaven. I am the Mother of Jesus.’ At hearing this I immediately asked Her --- remembering what the priest had told me --- I asked Her: ‘What is it you want?’

"I then interrupted and said to Her: ‘Yes, we are praying it. --- The priest brought us the intentions of the San Francisco parish so that we would unite ourselves with them.’

"She told me: ‘I don’t want it prayed only in the month of May. I want it to be prayed permanently, within the family, including the children old enough to understand; to be prayed at a set hour when there are no problems with the work in the home.’

"She told me that the Lord does not like prayers we make in a rush or mechanically. Because of that She recommended praying of the Rosary with the reading of bible citations and that we put into practice the Word of God.

"When I heard this I thought and said, ‘How is this?’ because I did not know the Rosary was biblical. That is why I asked Her and said, ‘Where are the biblical citations?’

"She told me to look for them in the Bible and continued saying: ‘Love each other. Fulfill your obligations. Make peace. Don’t ask our Lord for peace because if you do not make it there will be no peace. Renew the Five First Saturdays. You received many graces when all of you did this.’

"Before the war we used to do this. --- We went to Confession and Communion every First Saturday of the month. --- But since the Lord already had freed us from the shedding of blood in Cuapa, we no longer continued this practice. Then She said:

"Nicaragua has suffered much since the earthquake. She is threatened with even more suffering. She will continue to suffer if you don’t change. --- Pray! Pray, my son, the Rosary for all the world. Tell believers and non-believers that the world is threatened by grave dangers. I ask the Lord to appease His Justice, but if you don’t change, you will hasten the arrival of a Third World War.’

"After She had said these words, I understood that I had to say this to the people and I told her: ‘Lady, I don’t want problems. I have many in the Church. Tell this to another person.’ She then told me:

Obedience

Eight days later, Bernardo still had not told anyone because he was afraid of what they would say. Mary appeared to him again.

"Why have you not told what I sent you to tell?’

"Lady, it is that I am afraid. I am afraid of being the ridicule of the people, afraid that they will laugh at me, that they will not believe me. Those, who will not believe this, will laugh at me. They will say that I am crazy."

"Do not be afraid. I am going to help you. And tell the priest."

Bernardo told all the people, who came to his house. Then he told all the people in the chapel, who came to the Rosary hour. On May 9^th, 1980, he went to Juigalpa and told the priest. The priest told him that what he had already seen he could tell the people, but if he had any more messages or apparitions he was not to tell anyone. He would tell the priest only.

On June 8^th Our Lady appeared to him again. She showed him four visions like a movie in the sky. He saw a large group of people dressed in white, their bodies radiating light, singing and marching towards heaven. These were the first Christians. In a second vision he saw another large group of people, dressed in white with large luminous Rosaries in their hands. One of them carried a very large book. He read, then everyone silently meditated on the words. Then they all prayed the Our Father and ten Hail Marys.

Bernardo then saw a third group all dressed in brown robes. These were the Franciscans.

Then he saw a fourth very large group all dressed in normal street clothes and all carrying Rosaries. They were normal except that they radiated light from their bodies, and their bodies were all beautiful. "Lady, I am going with these because they are dressed as I am." Said Bernardo.

"No! You are still lacking. You have to tell the people what you have seen and heard. I have shown you the glory of Our Lord and you people will acquire this if you are obedient to Our Lord, to the Lord’s Word; if you persevere in praying the Holy Rosary and put into practice the Lord’s Word."

After this vision, Bernardo wanted to tell everyone what he had just seen, but he chose to obey the priest instead, and he told no one except the priest. This is a very major test of any seer, and Bernardo did not fail. He didn’t know anything about these tests, but he obviously received the grace of the Holy Spirit to do the right thing. Within a short time, the priest received the same grace and gave his permission. The message was spread throughout the area. Bernardo continues to this day to be obedient to his superiors in the Church.

It has always been the teaching of the Church that we must trust the Church before we trust any apparitions. This is also what the Bible teaches: "The Church of the living God, the pillar and the mainstay of the truth." (1 Tim. 3:15) "Tell the Church. And if he will not hear even the Church, let him be to you as the heathen." (Matthew 18:17)

In every legitimate apparition throughout history, the grace necessary was always given to the Church authorities when God wanted approval. We have always said that if Christ, Himself, appeared to us, we would not believe Him unless our Bishop gave us permission to believe. The Church is the protector of the Word of God. How else would we know that it was not Satan appearing as Christ? "Satan pretends to be an angel of light. His ministers pretend to be ministers of justice." But in the case of Our Lady of Nicaragua and Bernardo Martinez, it is definitely of God, since Satan hates to be obedient even for one minute. His pride will not let him obey mere humans.

On July 8^th, 1980, Bernardo had a third vision. This time it was an angel in the form of a very beautiful boy. Bernardo had come with many requests from the people, but it would be the angel who would handle these and not Mary.

There was a boy from Cuapa who had been put in jail accused of being a counter-revolutionary against the communist government. His sister could not even visit him. There was another lady who had a problem at home with her father and brother who would get drunk and become violent. She also had problems with her job as a teacher, since the communists were trying to teach the people to give thanks to Fidel Castro for their food instead of to God. But she did not want to lose her job. Before Bernardo could ask the angel about these things, the angel said:

"Your prayer has been heard. Go and tell the prisoner’s sister to go and console him on Sunday, as he is very sad;-- to advise him not to sign a document that they are going to pressure him to sign a paper in which he assumes responsibility for some money; [He is innocent.] that she should not worry; --- that she will be able to talk to him for a long time; --- that she will be treated in a friendly manner; --- to go on Monday to the Police Headquarters of Juigalpa to complete all the steps for his release because he will be released that day; --- to take 1,000 Cordoba because they are charging a fine."

Regarding the other woman’s prayers about her father and brother’s problems with the vice of drinking too much, and her problems with the communists at the school, the angel said:

"The persons around them should be patient with them, and not to complain when they are inebriated. Go and tell them to discontinue with that vice; to do it little by little and in that way the desire will be leaving them."

Then the angel told Bernardo to warn his cousin that they were going to assault him; and that they were going to shoot him in the foot, wounding his left heel. At a later time they were going to kill him. Regarding the prayer about the job of the school teacher, the angel said that she should not be afraid, and to stay firmly where she was. He said that she should not leave her job, because as a teacher (who has faith in Our Lord) she could do a lot of good with the people. The angel said not to turn our backs on problems, but to never curse anyone.

All these prophesies came to pass exactly as the angel had predicted. The boy was released from jail in exactly the manner told by the angel. The drinking problems were abated. The cousin was shot in the left foot and later killed.

The test of prophesy is very important to apparitions, since Satan cannot see into the future. Only God knows what is going to happen. Demons can make good educated guesses at the future. They see all that is happening in the world as it is happening. If demons see that there is a plan to assassinate someone [like in the case of President Kennedy], and they see that it will probably succeed, they will run and tell one of their mystics to make a prophecy. These prophesies come to pass about 60% of the time. But there are two major differences when comparing them to God’s prophesies. Satan’s prophesies are vague, God’s are not. And God’s prophesies are always 100% accurate. They always come to pass exactly as predicted and when predicted.

Make Peace

On September 8^th, 1980, Mary appeared to Bernardo as a child of six or seven years old. She had the same message as the first time. Bernardo asked Her if She wanted a church built in Her honor. One man had already given him C80.00 Cordoba for this purpose.

"No! The Lord does not want material churches, He wants living temples which are yourselves. Restore the sacred temple of the Lord. In you is the gratification for the Lord. Love each other. Love one another. Forgive each other. Make peace. Don’t just ask for it, make peace. From this day on do not accept even one cent for anything. Always continue firmly in the catechism. Little by little you will comprehend all that the catechism signifies. As a community group meditate on the beatitudes, away from all the noise. I am not going to return on the 8^th of October, but on the 13^th."

In Scripture we find John, the Baptist, in prison and starting to doubt whether this is really the Christ. He had seen a dove come down out of Heaven and heard the voice say, "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him." just as was predicted to John by an angel. But John, in jail, began to wonder if he was not fooled, for he knew that even the demons can make signs in the sky, and voices from the heavens. He wanted proof and Christ gave it to him. What Christ said is the test of all apparitions.

"Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them." (Mt. 11:4-5)

Only God can perform any one of these miracles. Demons cannot. And no prophet of God gives out the Holy Spirit for money. This is the work of God, not of man. No man should make a profit on the work of God. Sacraments are not sold, because they are done by God, not by the priest. The fact that Bernardo has never accepted a penny to this day is testimony of the grace he received and acted upon.

Mary is not advocating any new doctrine but the teachings of the Church since Vatican II, the catechism of Vatican II. And now She is going to honor and remind us of the miracle of Fatima by returning on the feast of Fatima, October 13^th. If we simply compare these messages to Fatima, we see great correlations, and yet needed corrections to our understanding. Fatima stressed the Rosary, and Nicaragua stresses the need to say it correctly. Fatima stressed the Five First Saturdays, and Nicaragua stresses the need to continue doing them over and over again. Fatima asked us to pray for peace, and Nicaragua adds that we must have peace in our hearts and in our families first.

Miracle

On October 13^th, 1980 [the feast of the Fatima Miracle] Bernardo and about fifty followers arrived at the site of the apparitions. They prayed the Rosary and sang, "Holy Queen of Heaven" when all of a sudden --- "a big luminous circle formed over the ground. Everyone without a single exception saw it. It was like a single ray that fell and marked this luminous circle on the ground. The light came from above. The light that came was like a spotlight that on touching the ground was scattered. Seeing how this light fell over the heads of everyone who was there, I again looked upward and saw that a circle gave off lights in different colors, without coming from the sun. It was not at that spot as the sun was already setting.

"A little girl, being held by the hand of her mother, tried to release her hand, telling her mother that the Lady was calling her. The mother held her even more firmly and did not let her move. The child’s mother told me this herself after the apparition was over.

"It was 3:00 in the afternoon. One could feel a small breeze that moved softly. Pleasant, like a fresh shower, but which did not wet us. While we observed this, we were silent and continued seeing that circle of light which gave off colored lights from the exact center, where the sun is at twelve noon.

"All of a sudden a lightning flash, the same as the other times; then, a second one. I lowered my eyes and I saw the Lady."

While the people looked at the luminous circle of light, Bernardo listened to Our Lady. This time She appeared as Our Lady of Sorrows, and She cried:

"It saddens me to see the hardness of those persons’ hearts. But you will have to pray for them so that they will change. Pray the Rosary. Meditate on the mysteries. Listen to the Word of God spoken in them. Love one another. Love each other. Forgive each other. Make peace. Don’t ask for peace without making peace, because if you don’t make it, it does no good to ask for it.

Bernardo began to shout: "Don’t leave us, my Mother! Don’t leave us, my Mother! Don’t leave us, my Mother."

"Do not be grieved. I am with all of you even though you do not see me. I am the Mother of All you sinners.

At that Our Lady of Nicaragua went away and never again returned. The message was complete. Pray the Rosary, meditate on the life of Christ and the Beatitudes, pray together in the family, never rush or say mechanically your prayers, make peace, never violence, love, forgive, please God, and put into practice the Word of God.

Fidelity to Doctrine

Nothing in all of this can we find anything that is contrary to the Scriptures, the Dogma of Faith, or different from other approved apparitions and private revelations. The Rosary is well documented in the Church and in Scriptures in the way that the Publican prayed. Study of Scripture is essential to a spiritual life. Group prayer was advocated by Christ, Himself.

The idea of peace might seem strange in a country that was taken over by communists; in a country where the government was trying to undermine the faith of the little ones. But the same was the case in Rome with the early Christians, but they defeated the Romans without resorting to war. In the Philippines, Marcos was defeated without resorting to violence. Violence is only justified in self-defense or in defending others, as in the case of the Christian Crusades.

What was the result of Our Lady asking the Nicaraguan people to make peace in their families, in their hearts, and to never resort to violence? A woman defeated the communists without war. A woman, who even the United States government said had no chance. A woman beat the communists at an election that the communists only agreed to because they felt she had no chance. She didn’t have a chance from an earthly perspective.

World War III

What about the prediction of World War III? Seems impossible now that Russia has fallen, doesn’t it? In 1972, long before anyone had the idea that Russia would not be the enemy, we wrote that World War III would not be with Russia. It would be simultaneous civil wars all over the world, with to real enemy to go after with all the American might. The reason we made this prediction is that it corresponds to 104 approved prophets from the sixth century until now. It also corresponds to Akita, and what has been said about the Third Secret of Fatima. We have a fictional book about World War III based on these 104 prophets called "The Ark of Apocalypse" written in 1979. Pope John Paul II, in answering questions on the Secret of Fatima, said this:

"It should have been made public in 1960, but because of its troubling content, and to dissuade the superpowers from undertaking war, my predecessors in the papal chair have chosen the diplomatic way. All Christians should be content in the knowledge that the oceans will inundate whole continents, and millions of people will die from one moment to the next. Hearing this, people should not long for the rest of the secret.

We repeat, those are the words of Pope John Paul II. We have what is reported to be the Secret of Fatima by the German press, but we prefer to use only what we know to be the truth. We know that Cardinal Ratzinger read the Secret of Fatima, and made this statement about it on November 11^th, 1984:

"The things contained in this ‘Third Secret’ correspond to what has been announced in Scripture and has been said again and again in many other Marian apparitions."

What Bible passages? Joel 2:30-3:10, Zach. 6:12-13, Romans 11:23-32, Joel 2:1-11, Ez. 37:21-23, Osee 3:4-5, Apoc. 10:1-10, Apoc. 14:14, not to mention the Apocalypse of Thomas and the Epistle of the Apostles before 100 AD. What other apparitions? Hyppolitus in 235 AD, St. Methodius in 385 AD, the Sibyline Oracle before 400 AD, St. Cataldus of Tarentino in 500 AD, St. Remigius of 535 AD, St. Caesar of Arles around 460 AD, Leo the Philosopher of 911 AD, Monk Adso in 992 AD, Monk Hilarion in 1476 AD, Werdin d’Orante - 1300 AD, Blessed Catherine of Racconigi in 1547 AD, David Pareaus in 1622 AD, Holzhauser - 1658 AD, King Louis XI of France in 1470 AD, St. Francis de Paul in 1470 AD, La Sallete last century, Akita in this century and many, many more. But it suffices to quote only one of the hundreds of approved apparitions: Sister Elena Aiello, the stigmatist nun of Consenza, Italy, in 1954 at the time of World War II and under Mussolini.

"The wrath of God is near. Soon the world will be afflicted with great calamities. Bloody revolutions, frightful hurricanes, and the overflowing of streams and the seas. … Some nations will be purified, while others will disappear entirely. The bad example of parents train the family in scandal and infidelity instead of virtue and prayer, which is almost dead on the lips of many stained and withered is the fountain of faith and sanctity --- the home."

See how these correspond to the messages of Nicaragua! But there are many more: Sister Faustina, St. Columba, St. Methodius, Theresa Neumann, Saint Anna Maria Taigi, Ven. Holzhauser, St. Margaret Mary, and on and on.

The Five First Saturdays

Stressed over and over by Our Lady of Nicaragua is the Five First Saturday Devotion. It must be revised to the point of making it a part of the lives of every Catholic in the world. In Fatima Lucia received the first complete understanding of the devotion in 1925 after the other two children had already died and she was in the convent.

The Child Jesus said,

Then Mary said,

"Look, My daughter, at My Heart, Surrounded with Thorns with which ungrateful men pierce Me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console Me. Tell people that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep Me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to Me."

And on June 13, 1929 Lucia had a vision of the Trinity and Mary holding Her Immaculate Heart with swords piercing it.

In 1943 Christ appeared to Lucia:

When we look at the lines for Confession each week, we see less and less people going. On the First Saturdays we see more, but not many. Have the blasphemies gone away? Is the world grateful to Our Lady for the defeat of communism in Russia and the other 87 dictatorships that have fallen, including Nicaragua, since the Consecration of the World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1984?

Father Patrick Peyton, the great Rosary priest, worked all his life to convince people that "The Family That Prays Together" Even among those people who are very devoted to the Rosary and Our Lady, how many of them find a quiet hour in the day to pray together, especially the Rosary? The Bishops of America complain about the lack of vocations, but vocations come from the family, and the Bishops are not supporting the family unit. The mere fact of 40% divorces amongst Catholics in America proves they did not pray together as one body in Christ. The children who are leaving the Church prove what was said by Sister Elena Aiello.

Today there are people who are trying to bring the family unit back to what it is supposed to be: the main cell in the Body of Christ, the Church. The "Apostolate For Family Consecration" is one such group, and it is growing faster than the American Catholic Church. People want holy and happy families, they just don’t know how to have them, and they are not being taught at the parish level.

It is the apostolate of Unity Publishing to "Test the Spirit" of all who claim to be inspired by God [supernatural]. The fact that Our Lady of Nicaragua was approved immediately by the local Bishop is of great importance, but that is not all that is needed. There have been mystics in the past who were so good they fooled not only their own superiors but even Patriarchies. We find this amongst the Marionites and the Franciscans.

But all the tests of anything supernatural must pass the tests of the Church: Fidelity to the Doctrine of the Church, Obedience to those put in charge over the seer and obedience within the apparitions, Humility of the seer, Simplicity in words and actions, Prophesy fulfilled exactly as predicted, Harmony with other approved apparitions and saints, Miracles that only God can accomplish, total Truth in every single statement made, and long-term Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Bishop Pablo Vego was exiled from Nicaragua by the communists for his support of the apparitions of Our Lady. He had even purchased the property where Our Lady appeared. But Our Lady did not forget the love of the Bishop. She used a woman to throw the communists out of Nicaragua. These are fruits.

Bernardo Martinex has remained a sacristan. He has never accepted a penny of donations; never shown any signs of pride; obeyed his superiors in all things; and learned his catechism as Our Lady requested. He still opens the chapel and leads the Rosary when there is no priest in the room.

In a private revelation given to the stigmatist, Marie Julie Mahenny of La Fraudais, France in 1882, Christ said:

Why, sixteen years later, is Our Lady of Nicaragua almost unknown in the world? We will tell you why: blasphemies and ingratitude. Blasphemies against Her Immaculate Heart by promoting Satan in the appearance of Our Lady, and at the same time not promoting the true messages from Heaven of Our Sweet Mother. Ingratitude by not thanking Our Lady for the overthrow of 87 dictatorships throughout the world, including Russia, because this would not fit into the false messages of the false mystics.

Yes! There will be a great chastisement of the world. Ezechiel 38 and 39 prophesies that 75% of the world will die, and that it will take many months to bury the dead. If we know this, the demons know this also. What are they doing to prepare for it? False apparitions! Why? To divide [demonic means to divide] the people from their bishops, and then all these false mystics together will declare the next Pope to be the antichrist. What then happens to the people? Without their bishop and without their Pope they are outside the Church. Outside the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, the Church, there is no salvation. If the demonic can divide the people from their bishops by saying, "We trust the Pope only," and then announce that the Pope is the antichrist, they have won.

Why haven’t you heard about Our Lady of Nicaragua for the past sixteen years? Think about it!