From Isis to Medjugorje: Why Apparitions?

Abstract

The phenomenon of Marian apparitions or visions is a culturally specific feature understandable only to Mediterraneans or those in contact with Mediterranean cultural scripts. In visionary form, the mother of Jesus has become the bearer of direct messages from heaven, messages which have been part and parcel of Mediterranean living from time immemorial. Yet from the viewpoint of American experience, mainstream, non-ethnically oriented persons lack the experience of the cultural elements such apparitions presume: Mediterranean motherhood, gender division of labor, mother-son symbiosis, patron-client system and the like. Female roles and aspirations in the U.S. no longer resonate with Mediterranean symbolism. Further, from the viewpoint of monotheism, the theological ascription of omnipotence and omnipresence to Mary is simply repugnant to reflective, educated persons. Hence the low level of Marian cult is not due to a lack of religiousness, but due to cultural irrelevance.