1877 – Our Lady of Gietrzwald

Fun Facts

• *Apparitions in Gietrzwałd took place a mere 20 years after those of Lourdes, where the Mother of God told Bernadette Soubirous “I am the Immaculate Conception,” and 23 years after Pope Pius IX announced the dogma of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception.
• *During July, Szafryńska and Samulowska were daily visited by Our Lady during the evening Rosary service. 
• *The apparitions lasted for 3 months.

Who did Our Lady appear to?

Justyna Szafryńska, and a 12-year-old Barbara Samulowska.

What was her message?

God supported the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception and had Our Lady repeat her earnest request: to pray the rosary!  She visited the 

How did the witness describe her appearance?

The same apparition was repeated on two different days , 1.  The Angelus bells were heard 2. The maple tree was brightly illuminated. 3. A golden circle appeared around it with a throne of gold 4. two angels escorted the Blessed Mother to the throne.5. Our Lady was seated on a gold, pearl-studded throne, and two other angels brought Baby Jesus in a heavenly glow and placed Him on the left knee of Our Lady; the Child was holding the orb in his left hand. Still other angels were raising a crown above Mary’s head. Yet another angel brought a gold scepter and held it in the right hand above the crown. One more angel hovered above the entire scene, pointing to a cross.

Who approved?

In 1877,  Future Saint Pope JPII as the Archbishop of Krakow presided over the 100 year anniversary.   On that day, Bishop Józef Drzazga of Warmia issued a decree validating the credibility of the apparitions and proclaiming them as worthy of Christian belief and devotion.

Miracles

In early September 1877, the bishop moreover asked three physicians to examine the visionaries during the apparitions. When the girls were seeing the Blessed Virgin Mary, their pulse slowed down, their upper and lower extremities got cooler and their gaze was fixated.