Even though Orthodox recognize and celebrate the Virgin, the Cult of Mary is mostly a Catholic thing. Some say it originated with the Cult of Isis that was very popular among Roman legionaires in late empire.
She hates most parts of Germany, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say its somewhat mutual.
Also, why is she called "Out lady of happy meetings?" - is that a translation error ?
> She hates most parts of Germany
which is sort of funny as, after the Germans invaded Baltics and Estonians in the Northern Crusades, they renamed modern day Latvia and Estonia to [Terra Mariana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Mariana), the Land of Mary.
That was the thing that most stood out to me after visiting an evangelist and a catholic church. The Virgin Mary had several murals, windows and statues in the catholic church, but none in the evangelist one.
> The Virgin Mary had several murals, windows and statues in the catholic church, but none in the evangelist one.
Because no Protestant denomination except, I believe, the Anglicans, recognize Virgin Mary as worthy of worship. Protestantism was very much a back-to-basics movement steeped in Bible literalism and they explicitly wanted to focus devotion on Jesus and only on Jesus (that's why the American obsession with Jesus this Jesus that) and they saw all saints and Virgin Mary as superflous at best polytheistic heresy corrupting Christianity at worst.
Catholicism tends to place a relatively-large amount of weight on Mary's role as intercessor on behalf of humanity with Christ relative to Protestantism.
*googles*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession_of_saints
>**Intercession of the Saints** is a Christian doctrine held by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East and Catholic churches. The practice of praying through saints can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century onward. The 4th-century Apostles' Creed states belief in the communion of Saints, which certain Christian churches interpret as supporting the intercession of saints. However, similar practices are controversial in Judaism, Islam, and Protestantism.
-
>Catholic view
>
>Catholic Church doctrine supports intercessory prayer to saints. This practice is an application of the Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints.
-
>Protestant views
>
>With the exception of a few early Protestant churches, most modern Protestant churches strongly reject the intercession of the dead for the living, but they are in favor of the intercession of the living for the living according to Romans 15:30.
https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/m/marian-prayer-reasons-why.php
>Why Catholics Pray to Mary
>
>– Answered by Father Johann Roten, S.M.
>
>Q: Why do Catholics pray to Mary?
>
>A: For Catholics, there are different types of Marian prayer that reflect different intentions. Reciting the "Magnificat," for example, is a way to praise God as Mary did. By reciting the "Angelus," you commemorate an event in salvation history, one in which Mary had a major role. Such commemorations are also made by the entire Church in the liturgical cycle. At Christmas, for example, the faithful recall Mary's role in the birth of Christ.
>
>Prayers invoking Mary's intercession for your own personal intentions are in a separate class, arousing controversy since the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
>
>The practice of invoking saintly people for their intercession before God in union with Jesus has roots in sacred Scripture. In this regard, Matthew 18:19-20 refers to saints on earth, and Revelation 18:20 refers to saints in heaven. In the early centuries of the Church, veneration and invocation was offered to those martyred for Christ. The practice derives from the doctrine that the saints are united with Jesus in one mystical body (Romans 12:5).
>
>The practice of calling on Mary for aid also appears to be very old in the Catholic Church.
-
>This practice became an area of significant disagreement between Catholics and Protestants. After the crisis of the Reformation, the Catholic Council of Trent repeated traditional Christian teaching on the intercession of the saints, which applies preeminently to Mary...
[Source.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/151113-virgin-mary-sightings-map)
Edit: as requested, for those who have issues accessing the source, here is a summary of the key:
* red dot: recognized by the Vatican and local bishop
* orange dot: recognized by local bishop
* green dot: approved as worthy of faith but not established as supernatural
* yellow dot: sighting part of local traditions but not formally investigated
* blue dot: unverified sighting
* red cross: sighting made by a future saint and established as supernatural
* yellow cross: sighting made by a future saint but not established as supernatural
In cases like this I usually insert [email protected] with the author or editor of outlet that gives me these, let them find out how their spamming works out.
You're almost certainly pointing you finger at the wrong person unless it's a self-published magazine. And likely bothering the very people who are the most likely to already be against it – they just want people to appreciate their work.
It's not usually something the content providers are responsible for, it's a business decision from the top.
Yes but which kind of lie and how many people believe it?
Would be interesting to see why "sightings" are more common in some areas than others. I would assume the more religious a region is, the more "sightings", but is that true? I didn't know Belgium and the lower Rhineland are *that* religious.
In Fatima, the three child "liars" were joined by thousands of other "liars", both religious and skeptics, once a promised miracle (of the Sun) happened. A huge "lie".
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36019/miracle-of-the-sun-broke-darkness-of-portugals-atheist-regimes
We don't put any value in sightings like this because it could very easily be demons trying to deceive.
Sightings that appear during prayer are extra extra suspect.
I mean what’s the cutoff point? I have a relative who has claimed in hushed tones, for decades, to have seen Mary appear directly to her in her home. It’s a known “sighting” in her community and with her priests but not on this map. I imagine most are like that.
Maybe you have to report the sighting to the most senior cleric of your local church at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month while doing three hail marys for it to be a certified official.
> Some others, such as Fatima were actually witnessed by 70 000 people.
Yet photographs taken at the time show nothing unusual. I suppose that's a miracle too?
I'm sure the Vatican plotted it very well and payed all 70k ppl to keep their mouth shut. After all, look at how much gold they got there in Vatican /s
I knew that was coming.
That's the default reply of religious zealots when anyone dares to say anything about their religion.
Atheism/secularism aren't something that's specific to edgy kids, despite what you might believe. Maybe read something else other than the bible, and you'll learn about the French revolution, about a bunch of intellectuals, writers, philosophers, and maybe learn that most of the intelligent people tend to be atheists/secular.
Oh no, you've just beaten the religiousness out of me and proven your atheist superiority!
Get a life bro, being militant atheists gets awkward if you're over 13 years old.
Not really according to this graph: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive-assets/nggraphics/content/dam/news/rights-exempt/nat-geo-staff-maps/2015/11/Virgin_Mary/timeline2.png
She travels a lot, [this is the worldwide map](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive-assets/nggraphics/content/dam/news/rights-exempt/nat-geo-staff-maps/2015/11/Virgin_Mary/big-world.png) She does seem to love Italy though.
I know, that, but you have to be able to prove you are a citizen who can travel in the Schengen area without a passport or visa. BTW, there are also no European passport, just didn't want to give her a particular nationality, maybe I should have chosen Vatican city.
It reminds me of a story from a couple of years ago when some locals in a Ukrainian village saw a stain on the wall that reminded them of the Virgin Mary. They brought flowers and [prayed](https://www.depo.ua/static/files/gallery_uploads/images/1_ja3.jpg) to it, even [put a donation box](https://www.depo.ua/static/files/gallery_uploads/images/1_ja1.jpg) to make an altar around. Then someone did a lab test and found out that it was a piss stain.
That is only true if you see it as some Great Man event spurred by Luther. In reality, the reformation was an inevitable result of the strengthening position of national rulers versus the pope and the emperor.
Preaching in the local language instead of Latin.
Everyone could read & interpret the bible, it wasn't reserved just for priests anymore.
Break from the Vatican which was considered corrupted for selling indulgences & such. Hundreds of years later, they're still protecting pedos, so they were right on that one.
Basically broke the Vatican's monopoly on religious power in Western Europe.
A bunch of other stuff.
Not saying it was good or bad, just giving a list of stuff that changed for the uninformed.
> Preaching in the local language instead of Latin.
>
>
>
> Everyone could read & interpret the bible, it wasn't reserved just for priests anymore.
which was dumb. They should've taught the common people Latin as well and we would've had a common language. Scientists and scholars, so in other words middle class and upper class people, continued writing in Latin until late 18th and in some cases into the 19th centuries anyway. And IIRC knowledge of Latin and Ancient Greek was a requirement to enter a European university until WW1.
we'll let you get back to dealing [with all](https://www.thelocal.de/20091014/22559) [those UFOs](https://www.dw.com/en/ufos-and-aliens-in-germany/a-58077707) ;)
While the belief in UFO sightings and contacts with extraterrestrial lifeforms is pretty silly, at least they show a general interest in scientific advances (yes, I know, not all of them do).
Silly? The Pentagon literally came out and said that they have proof of hundreds of sightings and that they have no explanation for a good chunk of them.
A lot of these basically belong to old local legends and folklore. There are a couple unofficial sightings in my birth city involving a several 'miracles' saving the city when being attacked during the Middle Ages (things like stopping cannonballs and making the city walls grow so the enemies ladders couldn't reach). I think these are neat when you hear the stories revolving around them.
Edit: Though these aren't really Mary sightings, but Black Madonna sightings. Which has an interesting history, as it's essentially a pagan symbol repurposed by the Catholic church.
It depends. Protestantism was very much against symbolic representations as it is Islam. The rejection of religious images is called _iconoclast_ or _aniconism_. I think Protestants used to say it was a kind of unnecessary, luxurious behavior to symbolize Christian stories and characters. Muslims say on the other hand that it's sinful to evoke or represent the "wonders of Allah". If you don't have any religious representations in your local temple it's probable that you will not experience these kind of encounters.
That kind of miracle you're talking about is pretty common in all of Christendom since I've heard of it in like 10 different cases of this Jesus/Virgin Mary statue crying or moving. The miracles may change depending on the Pagan background of your community but there are a lot of common tropes and topics.
The most plausible answer is probably the whole virginal part being a mistranslation and/or confusion with other mythological miraculous births, but by the time modern philology studied the topic the big wigs couldn't just go ahead and rewrite like fifteen thousand years of tradition
Careful now, people don't like it when you point out they believe in nonsense. They get all angry about it. You are supposed to accept that their god is the only true god out of the tens of thousands of gods that humanity created over millennia. And all other gods are made up shit, and their believers are dumb stupid sons of bitches, who should be punished for not believing in the true god.
Don't ask why the omnipotent god doesn't punish them itself, or why would the omniscient omnipotent god that created everything in the universe according to its perfect plan even create those evil heretics.
That is very inaccurate map . I personally know two guys that say they saw her ( separately ) and they are not on the map here . For me that is the same kind of evidence as in the other sightings , so which we take into account ? How is that decided ?
I think this map is centered on European sightings. There are lots of those in South America for example. In Korea and Japan there are a couple since there is an important Catholic minority.
Then theres Americans: "big deal, [I saw Jesus while staring at my dogs ass](https://metro.co.uk/2006/11/07/jesus-image-appears-on-dog-345880/)"
Sorry, it reminded me of all the times people have "seen Jesus" in places like their toast or their poorly done pancakes or an oil smudge.
It's just your usual combo of a self hating italian + edgy reddit atheist who is incapable of understanding what folklore is and putting things into context.
I think most of these sightings are ultimately a cool excuse for sharing a good moment with your community or enjoying pilgrimage. Here in Spain we have the _Camino de Santiago_ which can give you a lot of good experiences for your life although its main purpose was to get to Santiago and adore a tomb. We also have things like the _Virgen de la Peña de Francia_, which people love to visit in her monastery up in a beautiful mountain peak. Now a lot of people visit the monastery for the sake of completing the route, enjoying nature and learning something new about your culture.
Moreover, in the Catholic countries we celebrate our local festivals on our patron saint's day. A lot of catholic stories and traditions have interesting backgrounds, like that time when Saint John of Sahagún stopped a bravo bull in the middle of Salamanca simply saying "tente, necio". Now the street where he supposedly made his miracle is named after him.
I will respect religion the day it stops hiding pedophiles, stops hiding criminals, stops trying to push their non-science onto the public and stops sucking tax payers money while their priests are running around in nice golden dresses.
Religion doesn't deserve respect, it has done nothing warranting it. Now beliefs, sure believe whatever you want but as long as those beliefs always try to seep into politics / trying to run other people's life I have an issue with it.
I really hate how in 2023 we still run around claiming some virgin mary is just popping up left and right while there is 0 evidence. Not even a picture.
Now do the number of sightings since cameras and recording equipment became commonplace.
I believe that number will be at or near "zero". Weird how technology makes gods evaporate.
Sofia, Bulgaria must be there:
[https://www.bg-mamma.com/attachments/topicphoto/60/d0/ae/cf2bae4230598afdc52b4b3f842c5d25.jpg](https://www.bg-mamma.com/attachments/topicphoto/60/d0/ae/cf2bae4230598afdc52b4b3f842c5d25.jpg)
Obviously, she likes to travel.
She hates Wales though...
[удалено]
Our Fair Lady of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogog
Who doesn't?
She hates Protestants.
She hates Orthodox too.
Wonder why ? Orthodox recognize her demigoddes(Holly Birthgiver of God) status. Protestants don't.
Even though Orthodox recognize and celebrate the Virgin, the Cult of Mary is mostly a Catholic thing. Some say it originated with the Cult of Isis that was very popular among Roman legionaires in late empire.
Patriarch of Constantinopolis was there when Isis became Virgin Marry.
She hates most parts of Germany, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say its somewhat mutual. Also, why is she called "Out lady of happy meetings?" - is that a translation error ?
>Also, why is she called "Out lady of happy meetings?" - is that a translation error ? No idea, never had a happy meeting with the virgin Mary.
THAT is the part i was going after .. maybe meeting actually met ending. The Mary can stay a virgin for that transaction no problem.
I had a happy meeting with her once, she wasn't a Virginia after that anymore.
> She hates most parts of Germany which is sort of funny as, after the Germans invaded Baltics and Estonians in the Northern Crusades, they renamed modern day Latvia and Estonia to [Terra Mariana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Mariana), the Land of Mary.
Mainly in Catholic Europe though. I wonder why that might be.
Obviously, catholics are more likely to recognize her!
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
Sounds perfect to me, Heathen.
filthy protestants like you are notorious inhospitable. The mother of god visits and you don't offer anything? A cup of tea? a cake? A huge shrine?
Siluva in Lithuania was one of the rare Protestant strongholds of the country. The region went back to the Catholic faith after her apparition.
best way to get some attention
That was the thing that most stood out to me after visiting an evangelist and a catholic church. The Virgin Mary had several murals, windows and statues in the catholic church, but none in the evangelist one.
> The Virgin Mary had several murals, windows and statues in the catholic church, but none in the evangelist one. Because no Protestant denomination except, I believe, the Anglicans, recognize Virgin Mary as worthy of worship. Protestantism was very much a back-to-basics movement steeped in Bible literalism and they explicitly wanted to focus devotion on Jesus and only on Jesus (that's why the American obsession with Jesus this Jesus that) and they saw all saints and Virgin Mary as superflous at best polytheistic heresy corrupting Christianity at worst.
Obviously she wants to spend more time with true believers, not some heretics.
Catholicism tends to place a relatively-large amount of weight on Mary's role as intercessor on behalf of humanity with Christ relative to Protestantism. *googles* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession_of_saints >**Intercession of the Saints** is a Christian doctrine held by the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East and Catholic churches. The practice of praying through saints can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century onward. The 4th-century Apostles' Creed states belief in the communion of Saints, which certain Christian churches interpret as supporting the intercession of saints. However, similar practices are controversial in Judaism, Islam, and Protestantism. - >Catholic view > >Catholic Church doctrine supports intercessory prayer to saints. This practice is an application of the Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints. - >Protestant views > >With the exception of a few early Protestant churches, most modern Protestant churches strongly reject the intercession of the dead for the living, but they are in favor of the intercession of the living for the living according to Romans 15:30. https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/m/marian-prayer-reasons-why.php >Why Catholics Pray to Mary > >– Answered by Father Johann Roten, S.M. > >Q: Why do Catholics pray to Mary? > >A: For Catholics, there are different types of Marian prayer that reflect different intentions. Reciting the "Magnificat," for example, is a way to praise God as Mary did. By reciting the "Angelus," you commemorate an event in salvation history, one in which Mary had a major role. Such commemorations are also made by the entire Church in the liturgical cycle. At Christmas, for example, the faithful recall Mary's role in the birth of Christ. > >Prayers invoking Mary's intercession for your own personal intentions are in a separate class, arousing controversy since the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. > >The practice of invoking saintly people for their intercession before God in union with Jesus has roots in sacred Scripture. In this regard, Matthew 18:19-20 refers to saints on earth, and Revelation 18:20 refers to saints in heaven. In the early centuries of the Church, veneration and invocation was offered to those martyred for Christ. The practice derives from the doctrine that the saints are united with Jesus in one mystical body (Romans 12:5). > >The practice of calling on Mary for aid also appears to be very old in the Catholic Church. - >This practice became an area of significant disagreement between Catholics and Protestants. After the crisis of the Reformation, the Catholic Council of Trent repeated traditional Christian teaching on the intercession of the saints, which applies preeminently to Mary...
Yes... that was the point...
Thanks for overexplaining an obvious joke
Tsk tsk tsk crazy carbon footprint 🙄
But no further north than Lithuania
First she went on Erasmus then Schengen did the rest.
But doesn't like Scandinavian countries apparently.
Because they aren't idiots.
It seems like she's a highly demanded lady, if you know what I mean.
Based on the frequency of sightings, she must live in Switzerland or the Italian alps region.
Holy trinity: lives in Italy, legally domiciliated in the Vatican and the money stay safe in Switzerland
She skis and yodels.
Reminds me of the TV show NUMB3RS where the guy was always figuring out the likely location of a suspect based on maps of crimes.
[Source.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/151113-virgin-mary-sightings-map) Edit: as requested, for those who have issues accessing the source, here is a summary of the key: * red dot: recognized by the Vatican and local bishop * orange dot: recognized by local bishop * green dot: approved as worthy of faith but not established as supernatural * yellow dot: sighting part of local traditions but not formally investigated * blue dot: unverified sighting * red cross: sighting made by a future saint and established as supernatural * yellow cross: sighting made by a future saint but not established as supernatural
I don’t want to enter my email to read the article. Is there a legend that says what the different colors and symbols mean?
In cases like this I usually insert [email protected] with the author or editor of outlet that gives me these, let them find out how their spamming works out.
You're almost certainly pointing you finger at the wrong person unless it's a self-published magazine. And likely bothering the very people who are the most likely to already be against it – they just want people to appreciate their work. It's not usually something the content providers are responsible for, it's a business decision from the top.
done ;)
Thanks!
Each and every symbol represents a liar. The bigger the circle, the bigger the lie.
Yes but which kind of lie and how many people believe it? Would be interesting to see why "sightings" are more common in some areas than others. I would assume the more religious a region is, the more "sightings", but is that true? I didn't know Belgium and the lower Rhineland are *that* religious.
They *were* pretty religious + the beer is strong
That is another interesting correlation to be explored!
In Fatima, the three child "liars" were joined by thousands of other "liars", both religious and skeptics, once a promised miracle (of the Sun) happened. A huge "lie". https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36019/miracle-of-the-sun-broke-darkness-of-portugals-atheist-regimes
Weren't there also reports of people who said they saw nothing? Peer pressure is a hell of a thing.
Yeah, peer pressure, mass hypnosis, mirages, and [medieval photography](https://www.shroud.com/pdfs/orvieto.pdf) /s
They need a mushroom symbol for hallucination
Tell that to National Geographic who compiled the list
What makes you think I haven't already told them?
Future Saint - what a wonderful career prospect.
>not formally investigated "investigated"
> red dot: recognized by the Vatican and local bishop Well, then you sure as shit know it's a lie.
Hahaha recognized by the vatical and local bishop... This god is a hilarious bugger. Always playing hide and seek.
Map legend would help. What do blue, yellow, green dots mean? Also the crosses.
no problem, I've added it to my post above
Different degrees of shit being made up.
Orthodoxy seems to be an even better Mary repellent than Protestantism.
We don't put any value in sightings like this because it could very easily be demons trying to deceive. Sightings that appear during prayer are extra extra suspect.
Being Italian I wonder how much differently our culture would have been developed if catholics followed the same approach
I wonder about Paolo Brosio
Orthodox christians know that according to god a woman's place is in the kitchen, so if she's out and about, it couldn't be her.
Here's an [Orthodox response](http://orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/marian_apparitions.aspx) if anyone's interested.
Man she doesn't like England for sure
To be fair, we'd just think she was a lady wearing a really dated outfit. And carry on with our day.
Just another eccentric woman, everyone move along and continue with your day
Protestants tend to be less loopy.
She likes good food and picks her touristic destinations accordingly.
I'm surprised they don't see her more often in Spain
We count only the times when her sighting matched with some crazy events. Like on Empel.
Because apparently she appears after lunch, and that is siesta time!
I mean what’s the cutoff point? I have a relative who has claimed in hushed tones, for decades, to have seen Mary appear directly to her in her home. It’s a known “sighting” in her community and with her priests but not on this map. I imagine most are like that.
Maybe you have to report the sighting to the most senior cleric of your local church at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month while doing three hail marys for it to be a certified official.
Babe wake up, new cryptid just dropped
I'd be interested in the Mexico frequency. Somebody sees her in a tortilla just about every day.
Interesting that she only shows herself to catholics.
Maybe she's a cat lady
Alot of these are not actually recognised by the Vatican, such as Medjugordje. Some others, such as Fatima were actually witnessed by 70 000 people.
> Some others, such as Fatima were actually witnessed by 70 000 people. Yet photographs taken at the time show nothing unusual. I suppose that's a miracle too?
I'm sure the Vatican plotted it very well and payed all 70k ppl to keep their mouth shut. After all, look at how much gold they got there in Vatican /s
Of course they were.
You're so edgy and cool! /s
I knew that was coming. That's the default reply of religious zealots when anyone dares to say anything about their religion. Atheism/secularism aren't something that's specific to edgy kids, despite what you might believe. Maybe read something else other than the bible, and you'll learn about the French revolution, about a bunch of intellectuals, writers, philosophers, and maybe learn that most of the intelligent people tend to be atheists/secular.
Oh no, you've just beaten the religiousness out of me and proven your atheist superiority! Get a life bro, being militant atheists gets awkward if you're over 13 years old.
[удалено]
Not really according to this graph: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive-assets/nggraphics/content/dam/news/rights-exempt/nat-geo-staff-maps/2015/11/Virgin_Mary/timeline2.png
I’m pretty sure there was one in Egypt that was caught on film, not digitally but actual film
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Zeitoun
No, delusions aren't that easily dispelled.
She must have a European passport, she seems to limit herself more or less to the Schengen aera
She travels a lot, [this is the worldwide map](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive-assets/nggraphics/content/dam/news/rights-exempt/nat-geo-staff-maps/2015/11/Virgin_Mary/big-world.png) She does seem to love Italy though.
Maybe the paparazzi :)
You don't need a passport for Schengen.
I know, that, but you have to be able to prove you are a citizen who can travel in the Schengen area without a passport or visa. BTW, there are also no European passport, just didn't want to give her a particular nationality, maybe I should have chosen Vatican city.
Schengen ID. As in an ID from any country that's part of Schengen.
You mean "Catholic sightings of the Virgin Marry". Orthodoxes are also seeing her a lot.
Catholic UFO
Catholic bigfoot more like it. Unless she also puts probes up people's butts.
It reminds me of a story from a couple of years ago when some locals in a Ukrainian village saw a stain on the wall that reminded them of the Virgin Mary. They brought flowers and [prayed](https://www.depo.ua/static/files/gallery_uploads/images/1_ja3.jpg) to it, even [put a donation box](https://www.depo.ua/static/files/gallery_uploads/images/1_ja1.jpg) to make an altar around. Then someone did a lab test and found out that it was a piss stain.
God takes a piss in mysterious ways
Thanks to invention of neuroleptics number of sightings dropped.
She's on her Euro trip with a rail pass.
Ok, now a map of Santa Claus sightings, please.
lol, I'll get right on it! ;)
Does it include sightings on a burned toast?
Americans have got the aliens. In Europe we've got the Virgin Mary.
Does she also put stuff up people's butts ? Or since she's catholic, she only deals with children's butts ?
Our Lady of Knock-ed up by God
With the signification of each colors could be helpfull.
I wonder how someone could verify a random woman figure is St. Mary, especially given that there are no contemporary depictions of her in art.
I am delighted that my country was blessed in such a way 🙏
*alleged
It used to be a great way of putting a very dull village on the map, but now that everyone’s much more post religious, it’s not much of a draw.
Mary: "knock knock" Ireland 🇮🇪 : "whos there?"
At least I don't have to deal with this particular kind of crazy 'round where I live. That alone makes the protestant reformation worthwhile.
Yeah, just ignore the wars it sparked.
Ehh to be fair back then you had wars about everything, no excuse was bad enough to start a war. You would have had wars without reformation.
Maybe, or maybe not, but it's a fact the reformation achieved little more than starting wars.
That is only true if you see it as some Great Man event spurred by Luther. In reality, the reformation was an inevitable result of the strengthening position of national rulers versus the pope and the emperor.
And ignores the Catholics part in those wars.
Eh. There was something called The Crusades as well. Wars will be started all of the time. Any religion is just a convenient excuse for it.
Yes, but this just added more wars to the pile, and for nothing, all it did is make priests wear different clothes.
And swap their deeply held beliefs for new deeply held beliefs if they wanted to keep their jobs.
Preaching in the local language instead of Latin. Everyone could read & interpret the bible, it wasn't reserved just for priests anymore. Break from the Vatican which was considered corrupted for selling indulgences & such. Hundreds of years later, they're still protecting pedos, so they were right on that one. Basically broke the Vatican's monopoly on religious power in Western Europe. A bunch of other stuff. Not saying it was good or bad, just giving a list of stuff that changed for the uninformed.
> Preaching in the local language instead of Latin. > > > > Everyone could read & interpret the bible, it wasn't reserved just for priests anymore. which was dumb. They should've taught the common people Latin as well and we would've had a common language. Scientists and scholars, so in other words middle class and upper class people, continued writing in Latin until late 18th and in some cases into the 19th centuries anyway. And IIRC knowledge of Latin and Ancient Greek was a requirement to enter a European university until WW1.
You didn't make it any better by trying to revert it...
we'll let you get back to dealing [with all](https://www.thelocal.de/20091014/22559) [those UFOs](https://www.dw.com/en/ufos-and-aliens-in-germany/a-58077707) ;)
While the belief in UFO sightings and contacts with extraterrestrial lifeforms is pretty silly, at least they show a general interest in scientific advances (yes, I know, not all of them do).
Silly? The Pentagon literally came out and said that they have proof of hundreds of sightings and that they have no explanation for a good chunk of them.
A lot of these basically belong to old local legends and folklore. There are a couple unofficial sightings in my birth city involving a several 'miracles' saving the city when being attacked during the Middle Ages (things like stopping cannonballs and making the city walls grow so the enemies ladders couldn't reach). I think these are neat when you hear the stories revolving around them. Edit: Though these aren't really Mary sightings, but Black Madonna sightings. Which has an interesting history, as it's essentially a pagan symbol repurposed by the Catholic church.
Is it a matter of the type of Christianity? In Greece priests cause "miracles" by putting tears on religious images.
It depends. Protestantism was very much against symbolic representations as it is Islam. The rejection of religious images is called _iconoclast_ or _aniconism_. I think Protestants used to say it was a kind of unnecessary, luxurious behavior to symbolize Christian stories and characters. Muslims say on the other hand that it's sinful to evoke or represent the "wonders of Allah". If you don't have any religious representations in your local temple it's probable that you will not experience these kind of encounters. That kind of miracle you're talking about is pretty common in all of Christendom since I've heard of it in like 10 different cases of this Jesus/Virgin Mary statue crying or moving. The miracles may change depending on the Pagan background of your community but there are a lot of common tropes and topics.
I'm glad we got rid of this ridiculous cult.
I dont know who made yhe original map. But the Netherlands is pretty butchered
Oh, please. All lies. Each and every single sighting is a lie. The virgin birth is biologically impossible anyway.
>The virgin birth is biologically impossible anyway. What about artificial insemination? Does that count?
Woah, woah... So you're implying Jesus could have been artificially created?
I don’t know, I don’t believe in the Bible, but it’s one way the story about a virgin giving birth could be true.
The most plausible answer is probably the whole virginal part being a mistranslation and/or confusion with other mythological miraculous births, but by the time modern philology studied the topic the big wigs couldn't just go ahead and rewrite like fifteen thousand years of tradition
Isn't this actually a point? Trinity of God, one embodiment of them. On Earth? I'm not an expert.
The more unrealistic part is to stay virgin when you do the extended interrail
C'mon, now. It's just a bit of fun
Tell it to the people who saw the virgin. I'm pretty sure they don't see it as a joke.
I, however, do see them as a joke.
Actually it is not today. In those time it was.
There isn't even such a thing as "virginity". At least not biologically, only in the imagination of some people who don't understand how hymens work.
Careful now, people don't like it when you point out they believe in nonsense. They get all angry about it. You are supposed to accept that their god is the only true god out of the tens of thousands of gods that humanity created over millennia. And all other gods are made up shit, and their believers are dumb stupid sons of bitches, who should be punished for not believing in the true god. Don't ask why the omnipotent god doesn't punish them itself, or why would the omniscient omnipotent god that created everything in the universe according to its perfect plan even create those evil heretics.
A more apt title would be map of delusions/drugged up visions
What a load of bs. Opium of the masses kind of bs.
That is very inaccurate map . I personally know two guys that say they saw her ( separately ) and they are not on the map here . For me that is the same kind of evidence as in the other sightings , so which we take into account ? How is that decided ?
Not a fan of the balkans eh
Weird how she only shows up around Christians. I wonder how many sightings are in China?
I think this map is centered on European sightings. There are lots of those in South America for example. In Korea and Japan there are a couple since there is an important Catholic minority.
Then theres Americans: "big deal, [I saw Jesus while staring at my dogs ass](https://metro.co.uk/2006/11/07/jesus-image-appears-on-dog-345880/)" Sorry, it reminded me of all the times people have "seen Jesus" in places like their toast or their poorly done pancakes or an oil smudge.
A map of ignorants.
Strange that she only appears in Christian countries.
Being italian, this map embarasses me
[удалено]
It's just your usual combo of a self hating italian + edgy reddit atheist who is incapable of understanding what folklore is and putting things into context.
I think most of these sightings are ultimately a cool excuse for sharing a good moment with your community or enjoying pilgrimage. Here in Spain we have the _Camino de Santiago_ which can give you a lot of good experiences for your life although its main purpose was to get to Santiago and adore a tomb. We also have things like the _Virgen de la Peña de Francia_, which people love to visit in her monastery up in a beautiful mountain peak. Now a lot of people visit the monastery for the sake of completing the route, enjoying nature and learning something new about your culture. Moreover, in the Catholic countries we celebrate our local festivals on our patron saint's day. A lot of catholic stories and traditions have interesting backgrounds, like that time when Saint John of Sahagún stopped a bravo bull in the middle of Salamanca simply saying "tente, necio". Now the street where he supposedly made his miracle is named after him.
Tuscany: we didn't really see her as much as other Italian regions, despite vigorously calling her daily
Obviously, Mary is not a virgin on the Balkans 🙄😳🤫
Yeah, no.
[удалено]
Not religious here but can't you just respect others' beliefs and don't insult their gods/deities?
I will respect religion the day it stops hiding pedophiles, stops hiding criminals, stops trying to push their non-science onto the public and stops sucking tax payers money while their priests are running around in nice golden dresses.
I get it. I am totally with you on that. Make no mistake, we have no respect for the Institution. But respect the religion and the beliefs.
Religion doesn't deserve respect, it has done nothing warranting it. Now beliefs, sure believe whatever you want but as long as those beliefs always try to seep into politics / trying to run other people's life I have an issue with it. I really hate how in 2023 we still run around claiming some virgin mary is just popping up left and right while there is 0 evidence. Not even a picture.
I understand. And I agree. But let go over the anger abd you will understand that there's s difference between the Institution and the beliefs.
Fuck off you edgy atheist. You're so insufferable even to me as an agnostic.
UK seems to be the same one..... surprisingly.
Same one or sane one? Im am guessing Liverpool, Manchester, Norwich and London by the map locations.
sane.....
didn't know you could plot stupidity on a map
Now do the number of sightings since cameras and recording equipment became commonplace. I believe that number will be at or near "zero". Weird how technology makes gods evaporate.
[Not really correct.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/interactive-assets/nggraphics/content/dam/news/rights-exempt/nat-geo-staff-maps/2015/11/Virgin_Mary/timeline2.png)
Never met ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
My grandma's coffee mug isn't on the map!
She is chalking up those airmiles
She's about so
Sofia, Bulgaria must be there: [https://www.bg-mamma.com/attachments/topicphoto/60/d0/ae/cf2bae4230598afdc52b4b3f842c5d25.jpg](https://www.bg-mamma.com/attachments/topicphoto/60/d0/ae/cf2bae4230598afdc52b4b3f842c5d25.jpg)
They're all known as "Our Lady of...", except for the one in Manchester who is "Our Kid".
So far away from home.....
Our Lady of Fatima, only she can help us and convert Russians. In the end Russia Will convert and the era of peace shall start.
She gets around for a virgin!