There have been a number of approved Marian apparitions throughout the world and if we examine them, a few questions arise: Should we believe the messages given by these apparitions? Which apparitions are the most reliable? Can’t we just ignore them and continue as before?

These questions never really arise, of course, if we are not particularly interested in pursuing a spiritual life. However, for those of us who wish to become holy and eventually get to heaven, the urgent message of the apparitions is that we are in a time of spiritual warfare, in which we do not have the luxury of opting out, straddling the world and the kingdom of God, or dallying with the enemy. If the apparitions are to be believed, we are in a war for the souls of all of humanity, where our allegiance to either the forces of good or the forces of evil will decide the fate of every individual on earth.

Among the most historically significant apparitions that the Church deems “worthy of belief” are Guadalupe in Mexico in the 16th century; Lourdes in France in the 19th century; and Fatima in Portugal in the 20th century. Some of the messages coming from these apparitions deal with prophecies about what is happening on the global stage. For example, the warnings of Fatima include a vision of hell, predictions of World War I and II, and a warning about the persecution of the Church and the pope.

What should our personal response be to these prognostications? Quite simply, in a time of spiritual war, we are to pursue a life of prayer and repentance. Now, you might say, “Isn’t that what the Church has always taught? What’s so different?” Perhaps the difference is to do with the urgency. We are being asked to completely change our way of life, to throw ourselves on God’s mercy, and to pray ardently for those, like us, who have sinned.

There are obvious, but rarely reported, manifestations of anti-Catholic feeling in our country. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops , “At least 368 incidents have occurred across 43 states and the District of Columbia since May 2020. Incidents include arson, statues beheaded, limbs cut, smashed, and painted, gravestones defaced with swastikas and anti-Catholic language and American flags next to them burned, and other destruction and vandalism.”

Nevertheless, this is small beer compared to the more insidious attacks on our Christian worldview through the gradual acceptance of abortion and euthanasia, the rise of woke ideologies, the widespread availability pornography, the normalization of perversions, the increased use of psychoactive drugs, addictions to devices and computer games, and other addictions. Each of these represents an avenue we may wander down to escape from the realities of life.

This may be why the messages coming from Marian apparitions sound so urgent. They put one in mind of the scripture from Romans 13:11-14: “you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Each of us will be asked to give an account of how we have spent our proverbial three score years and 10 — and no one knows when his or her time is up. So, it’s worth pondering on how far we have wasted time in worldly pursuits at the expense of a life of virtue, love, and peace.

All this may seem rather somber, but consider this: If there were an imminent assault on our country, wouldn’t we want to be told about it so that we could prepare? Well, there is an attack Already in progress in the battle for our souls, and Our Lady is so gracious as to inform us of it.

The good news is that the closer we get to Jesus through prayer and repentance the more we are freed from fear. We can own the words of comfort that Jesus uttered to his disciples when he walked towards his disciples on the water of the lake (Mt14:27); when Jairus, a synagogue leader, is told that his daughter has died (Mk 5:36) ; and when Peter, James, and John are terrified at the transfiguration. (Mt 17:7) Those words are: do not be afraid.

In the end, what he offers us is a life of peace, love, and freedom.