Were you to take a survey of popular Marian titles and apparitions, Our Lady of Kibeho would probably not be first on the list, especially in a small town in southern Ohio. And yet, in the small parish of Waverly St. Mary, Queen of the Missions, devotion to Our Lady of Kibeho is growing.
In August 2021, I visited Africa for almost two weeks to attend the ordination of my seminary classmate, Emmanuel Ingabire, in the Diocese of Gikongoro, Southern Province, Rwanda. It was a beautiful trip, not only to see my classmate ordained a priest, but also to experience the great and joyful faith of the people in Rwanda, a country with a recent history of division and violence but that has also responded to the invitation of God for reconciliation and peace.
Just as Our Lady of Guadalupe is at the heart of devotion for Christians in Latin America, the apparitions of Mary now under her title of Our Lady of Kibeho are at the heart of Catholic life in Rwanda and much of Africa.
As a parting gift, Bishop Célestin Hakizimana gave me two statues of Our Lady of Kibeho to bring back to Ohio. The first was a personal present to Bishop Robert Brennan as a sign of gratitude for allowing me to attend the ordination as well as for his ordaining Emmanuel a deacon while still in the seminary.
The second statue was a gift for me, to be placed in my parish, to help bring the message of Our Lady of Kibeho to Ohio. Bishop Hakizimana gave me one statue, but Bishop Brennan assigned me as parochial vicar to three parishes. Even worse than the baby in King Solomon’s court, I was not about to split the statue in three!
I decided to place the statue in the church of St. Mary in Waverly for two reasons: Our Lady appeared to the smallest ones, young schoolgirls; and as the parish under the patronage of Mary, Queen of the Missions, it seemed most fitting that a link be established with Mary’s recent apparition in Africa.
On Nov. 28, 1981, in one of the poorest villages in Rwanda, a high school girl named Alphonsine Murmureke was at lunch when she heard a soft voice call to her: “Child.” When Alphonsine responded, she saw a beautiful lady, who introduced herself as “Ndi Nyina wa Jambo” – “I am the Mother of the Word.”
During the next four months, Mary appeared to two other girls, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango. Over the course of two years, beginning from Alphonsine’s first encounter with Mary in 1981 and concluding with an apparition to Nathalie on Dec. 3, 1983, the public apparitions of Mary at Kibeho conveyed a message for the world.
While only these three girls could see Mary and be transported in ecstasy to a place of encounter with her, a place that the visionaries could not describe, their time of ecstasy was viewed by everyone around them.
In later appearances, Mary clarified that the title “Mother of the Word” is the same as “Mother of God,” and that Mary prefers the first title because it prepares us to communicate the “Word of God,” her Son, Jesus Christ.
Each of the girls was given a related mission by Mary. To Alphonsine, Mary gave the mission of praying for the Church, which would be persecuted. To Nathalie, she asked for prayer and mortification, to unite herself with Jesus and Mary’s sufferings for the salvation of sinners. And to Marie Claire, Mary requested spreading devotion to the rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.
In his letter officially recognizing the authenticity of the apparitions, Bishop Augustin Misago stated that Mary appeared at Kibeho to stir up the neglected consciences of Christians to remind them of their duties as children of God, to encourage spiritual renewal in believers of the way to salvation and to let Christians know of Mary’s presence with them every day.
Mary came to lead people back to her Son, the Word of God, bringing back those who have gone astray and encouraging those persevering on the right path. While public apparitions ended in 1983, Alphonsine continued to receive private apparitions once a year until 1989.
In her final appearance to Alphonsine, on Nov. 28, 1989, Mary gave these parting words: “My children, I am going to leave you. I love you. I love you. I love you so much. But woe to those who will be indifferent to the love I expressed to you and promise you!” Thus, we approach Mary full of love and confidence because we are her children.
The most significant apparition occurred on Aug. 15, 1982. The girls were lifted to a state of ecstasy in front of 20,000 people. Instead of a joyful message, as expected on the Solemnity of the Assumption, Mary appeared full of sadness and tears. She warned the world of its complacency in sin and continual disobedience to God and His Will.
The scenes shown to the visionaries were of the gruesome consequences of sin, a fiery abyss and what some believe to be predictions of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In her messages of repentance, Mary said this was a call to the world. She said to Marie Claire: “When I speak to you, I do not appeal to you alone. I am appealing to all people. People of this age have gone against all reason. When they do wrong, they do not feel guilty.”
Similarly, she said to Alphonsine: “I opened the door, and people did not want to enter! I saw the world in a very bad state (nearing its own complete destruction), and when I came to help, you refused.”
Mary encouraged the willful acceptance of suffering in the life of the Christian as a way to participate in Jesus’ own passion and suffering for the salvation of the world. In her final apparitions to Nathalie, Mary said: “No one is exempt from suffering in this world.”
It is necessary to suffer, as Jesus did, to attain the glory of God in heaven. Marie Claire’s mission to spread devotion to the rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady is a way to stimulate repentance for sins and to participate in the sufferings of Jesus and Mary so that hearts might come to embrace the mystery of the Cross.
As Mother of the Word and our mother, too, Mary is inviting the world into a deeper relationship with her Son. In her farewell to Alphonsine, Mary leaves us with these words: “My children, pray, pray! If you follow the Gospel of my Son and put it into practice, nothing will prevent you from being at ease in your souls.”
Heeding the words of Our Lady of Kibeho, in September, we began a monthly devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. We chose the 15th of the month because of the significant Marian feast days on Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, days that Mary chose in her apparitions at Kibeho.
On the 15th of each month, or the closest Wednesday, parishioners stay after Mass and pray the rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and the Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows. The first few months saw only a few parishioners stay for the devotions, but each month, more and more pray together to the Sorrowful Mother, asking her to assist us in uniting our sorrows and pains to those of her Son for the salvation of the world.
This year, April 15 was Good Friday. After Stations of the Cross that day, parishioners prayed together the devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows. How fitting it was, on the day of Jesus’ Passion, to unite ourselves not only with Jesus, but also with Mary, who spiritually offered herself from the foot of the Cross.
The Fifth Sword of Sorrow is the Crucifixion. The reflection for this sorrow reads: “Through this bitter sword of sorrow, obtain for us the grace to unite all our sufferings to our crucified Lord with unselfish generosity and love.”
While some might struggle to find Rwanda on a map, or even Waverly, Ohio, Our Lady’s presence is being renewed and strengthened because of the connection these two places have with each other.
At Kibeho, Mary spoke a message for the world, calling everyone back to her Son. At Kibeho, Mary reminds us that salvation is not found by fleeing the sorrows and pains of this life for one of comfort, but that it is precisely by offering these sorrows with her to God that we are open to the holiness to which God is calling us.
One of the opening prayers of the rosary of the Seven Sorrows says, “O Blessed Virgin Mary, you are our tender Mother and Refuge of sinners. … Obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins and the grace to live a life of heroic holiness.”
Everything Mary does for us is as the mediator between us and her Son, as the Second Vatican Council proclaims. We ask Mary for the grace to be holy, to spread the joy of the Gospel even in the midst of sorrows. This is how St. Mary, Queen of the Missions parish is doing its part to build up the Catholic Church in southern Ohio.
Father Jacob Stinnett is the parochial vicar at Waverly St. Mary, Queen of the Missions Church.