Our Lady of the Nations

Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe

Chris Maunder

Provides a detailed analysis of the apparitions of Mary in twentieth-century Catholic Europe
Relates apparitions to major twentieth-century movements and trends, such as communism, Nazism, liberalism, consumerism, and the growth of information technology.
Situates outbreaks of apparitions in their socio-political context.
Explains that apparitions are movements of renewal amid falling numbers of Catholic adherents, and continue to be signs of the maternal presence of Mary and her concern for the world.

Our Lady of the Nations

Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe

Chris Maunder

Description

Our Lady of the Nations is a detailed and scholarly overview of the apparitions of Mary in 20th-century Catholic Europe. Chris Maunder discusses apparitions in general and how they are interpreted in Catholicism by, for example, Karl Rahner and Benedict XVI. The role of women and children as visionaries is considered, including issues concerning changing views of gender, children's spirituality, and the protection of minors. He covers cases that are well known and approved by the Church (Fatima, Beauraing, Banneux, and Amsterdam), others that are well known but not approved (such as Garabandal and Medjugorje), and many that are neither well known nor approved, such as those in Belgian Flanders or Nazi Germany in the 1930s, or in France, Italy, or Germany after the Second World War. Resources include academic studies of particular apparitions, some Catholic theological and devotional literature, and occasionally travel writing. There is also coverage of material in French which is not known to the English reader.

Shrines and visionaries are believed to be indicators of the presence of Mary. In the visionary perspective, she has appeared in order to reassure her followers and to warn of divine judgement. Her messages echo doctrinal Catholic Mariology with some innovations, but also express a deep dissatisfaction with the events and trends of the 20th century, from communism to Nazism to liberalism and religious indifference. While the Marian cult evolves according to new templates for apparitions and developments in Mariology, the fundamental message of presence, consolation, and admonition remains constant.

Our Lady of the Nations

Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe

Chris Maunder

Preface
List of Illustrations
1. Introduction
2. Immaculate and Sorrowful Mary: Apparitions 1830-1917
3. Sister Lucia's Narrative of War and Peace
4. Catholic Interpretations
5. Women as Visionaries
6. Children as Visionaries
7. Basque Raggle-Taggle: Ezkioga
8. Between the Wars: the Belgian Visionary Epidemic
9. 'When the Gestapo Hounded the Apparitions': Mary in Nazi Germany
10. Hearts and Nations: Visionary Women as Popular Theologians
11. The Cold War and the Marian Cult
12. Vatican II: Visionary Reactions to Change in the Church?
13. Medjugorje: the Queen of Peace and a Civil War
14. Grottos, Statues, and Visions in Ireland
15. The 1980s: Italy, Spain, France, and England
16. Conclusion
Bibliography

Our Lady of the Nations

Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe

Chris Maunder

Author Information

Chris Maunder is a senior lecturer in Theology & Religious Studies at York St John University; he has worked there as Head of Department and Head of both B.A. and M.A. programmes, but is now semi-retired. Since completing a PhD at the University of Leeds in 1991, he has written several articles on the European apparitions of Mary. While being a scholar of Catholic popular religion in his professional life, he is also passionate about Marian shrines as a personal interest, visiting them across Europe and helping to maintain his local shrine, a 15th-century rock chapel in Knaresborough, Yorkshire.

Our Lady of the Nations

Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe

Chris Maunder

Reviews and Awards

"The novelty and value of Our Lady of Nations is that it brings supernatural forces, mystical experiences, and religious visions back into the Western European political landscape. Traditionally, modern European societies saw themselves as a stark contrast to their own colonies. Europe was characterized by secularization and rationalism and the colonies were associated with mysticism and irrationalism. Maunder challenges binary dichotomies between modern rationality and premodern irrationality by demonstrating how religious visions of Mary played a political role in 20th-century Europe. This book will be of great use for anyone interested in studying and understanding collective memory, propaganda, ideologies, popular consciousness, culture wars, or silent resistance." --Rasa Baločkaitè, Reading Religion

"[Maunder] is a judicious guide to the main themes and his book can be recommended as an introduction."--David Blackburn, Common Knowledge

"Maunder adopts an objective, scholarly and journalistic approach to the original events and their aftermath. While alert to rationalizing interpretations of claims about the paranormal, he avoids cynicism. The book is engagingly written and has good and full bibliographical details." --J.K. Elliott, Times Literary Supplement

Our Lady of the Nations

Apparitions of Mary in 20th-Century Catholic Europe

Chris Maunder

From Our Blog

The Catholic Church and the visions of F¡tima

Outbursts of popular interest in apparitions and miracles often lead to new devotional movements which can be uncomfortable for the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, contrary to the belief that they encourage them. Visionaries represent alternative sources of authority within the Catholic community; they claim to have encountered supernatural figures and understood divine imperatives in a way that is commonly thought to transcend the theological expertise of the Church magisterium.

Posted on September 18, 2016

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