But no one believed the shy school girl had really seen and spoken to Our Lady. She was ridiculed and bullied mercilessly by the students and staff, particularly by fellow student Marie Claire Mukangango who said she was possessed by demons and a witch.
" At first, Alphonsine thought that she had gone crazy, to think that she had seen the Blessed Mother. The school director told her that claiming to have a holy visitation was a serious matter in a Catholic school, bordering on blasphemy, and she demanded an explanation. The teenager wept in front of the director and said that she couldn't explain what had happened since she didn't understand it herself.
"'Then you're going to go back to the dormitory, stand in front of all the students and staff, and deny that you saw the Virgin. You will then pray for forgiveness,' the director said.
" Alphonsine dried her tears and said her heart wouldn't allow her to deny what she'd seen: 'All I can do is tell you the truth. The Mother of the Word (Jesus) came to me; I spoke to the Virgin Mary.'"(from "Our Lady of Kibeho," by Immaculee Ilibagiza)
As Mary continued to appear to Alphonsine, the other students and staff continued to verbally and physically abuse her, torment her, and reject her, Then another girl began to see visions, Anathalie Mukamazimpaka, and slowly, more people began to believe. Finally, in the strangest twist of all, she appeared to Marie Claire herself. The girls agreed on how much Mary loved them, and loves everyone. Alphonsine said, "She loves us - that's what I feel the most when she's with me. Her love is so powerful that it could lift you up and carry you to heaven....Imagine how much your mom loves you, and then multiply that love a million times....Because she loves us so much, she wants us to have more faith in God." (from "Our Lady of Kibeho.") Alphonsine felt so comfortable with Mary that she called her "darling."
Mary's message was simple and direct: the world is overwhelmed by the darkness of hatred and sin. She asked everyone to follow God's Commandments and to say the rosary every day to cleanse their hearts. She begged us all to be pure in body and soul, to repent and ask God for the forgiveness of our sins, and to offer our joys and sufferings for the salvation of other souls. She was playful with these young girls and asked them to sing and dance for her - a perfect message for the exuberant people of Africa, who always dance when they sing hymns.
As the visionaries continued to see the Blessed Mother, they recounted her messages to the people at the school, who were slowly but surely converted to belief. The girls' stories were repeated, and soon thousands of pilgrims were converging on the tiny village and school, to see the missionaries, hear them recount Mary's messages, and to join them in singing, dancing, and praying the rosary. People were healed; people saw visions of the sun dancing and changing colors.
Doctors were mystified by the visionaries. When the visionaries saw Our Lady, they could see only her, no one or nothing else, and they didn’t respond to any outside stimulus. During their visions, the girls were hit and tugged, even stuck with needles, but they never reacted. The Church began to investigate the visionaries to make sure that their messages were in conformity with Church teachings. Church representatives also carefully consulted with Doctors and psychiatrists to make sure that there was no physical or mental illness involved.
Eventually there were three more visionaries who came to Kibeho; although the Church has only recognized the first three visionaries so far, the messages these three relayed were very beautiful and prophetic. Twenty-five years before AIDS was recognized, Agnes said that Jesus appeared to her and that his message was this: "Young people must stop treating their bodies as playthings and instruments of pleasure. So many of the youth are using any means they can to find love and to be loved by others - they have forgotten that true love comes only from God and God alone."
The visionary Valentine recounted that Mary said to her, "My children, there are many who want to pray, who try to pray, but do not know how to pray, You must ask for the strength and knowledge to understand what is expected of you. My love goes out to you all....I will teach you how to pray from the bottom of your hearts. You must begin your prayers by offering God all you conceal in your soul. God sees your every action and knows your every thought; you can hide nothing from Him. But you must tell Him yourself - you must be willing and strong enough to confess all of your transgressions of body, mind, and spirit to Him. Hold back nothing....then you must ask God's forgiveness from the bottom of your hearts....He will forgive you."
The most devastating visions that the original three visionaries had were the ones that convinced Church authorities that what was happening at Kibeho was real.
"But amidst the messages of encouragement to repentance and love of neighbor there was one very significant message that seemed to be the most important of all the Blessed Virgin's messages; in 1982 the Blessed Virgin specifically predicted the horrible 1994 genocide--12 years before it occurred. She said that "a river of blood" would flow across Rwanda unless the Rwandan people stopped harboring hatred and animosity for each other, and instead would need to turn their hearts with love and brotherly charity towards one another. And on August 15, 1982, the seers saw “a river of blood, people who were killing each other, abandoned corpses with no one to bury them, trees all in flames, bodies without their heads....”
"At that time this vision and the Blessed Virgin Mary’s prophecy seemed completely unrealistic to most, even though it is true that the Rwandans have a very long history of tribal feuds and the animosity amongst the different tribes and social groups has always been a significant problem for the country. What the Virgin Mary soon began to plead for is for the people to abandon this hatred based on tribal affiliations, and to see all of their fellow Rwandans’ as brothers. She strongly encouraged all peoples to have a love and concern for others centered and based on the love and mercy of Her Son, Jesus. And by practicing this love, She said the looming civil war and bloodshed could be averted. Sadly, too few Rwandans heeded Our Lady's advice, and the country descended into madness, mayhem, and murder, just as She had predicted. If they had only listened to the Virgin Mary's warnings when She appeared in Kibeho, the bloody genocide never would have happened!....
"Throughout the course of 100 days from April 6 to July 16 1994, approximately 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and some moderate Hutus were massacred in the Rwandan genocide. During this period, more than 6 men, women and children were murdered every minute of every hour of every day. This incredible rate of killing was maintained for more than 3 months. Along with the intense bloodshed, it is believed that approximently 250,000 women were raped during the 100 days of genocide (a precise count is such circumstances is impossible) and roughly 30% of the women who were raped during the genocide were infected with HIV/AIDS. In many cases, this resulted from a systematic and planned use of rape by HIV+ infected men as a weapon of terror and future genocide. There were 10 times as many widows(women) than widowers (men) with almost 50,000 widows, and there were approximately 75,000 children who were orphaned as a result of the genocide....
" In Kibeho and elsewhere in recent times, Jesus and Mary have been warning ALL of us that we must change our hearts—we must be converted and repent of our sins—or we too will suffer unspeakable horrors as a result and consequence of our sins and our hard hearts. Are we listening, or have we not learned from the tragic events in Rwanda? -Lord Jesus crucified, have mercy upon us!" - from mysticsofthechurch.com
Yet Mary continued to appear during the genocide with messages of hope, consoling survivors like Immaculee Ilibagiza, who survived locked in a bathroom with seven other women, listening to the horror of murders taking place outside the house. Nearly overwhelmed with anger, bitterness, and despair, it was her hearing of the messages of Our Lady of Kibeho, and praying the rosary, that empowered her to have hope, to keep her faith and sanity, to believe that her dead loved ones were at peace with God, and to finally forgive the men who murdered her family. Today she travels the world teaching about Our Lady and forgiveness.
"Like all of Rwanda, Kibeho was nearly completely decimated by genocide. But because the Blessed Mother's love is eternal and irrepressible, her spirit broke through the scorched and hardened earth and pushed up toward heaven, like a beautiful flower that would blossom with a thousand miracles.
"Today , Kibeho is once again alive with the same fervor and passion that drew hundreds and thousands of Rwandans during the height of the apparitions in the 1980's. Once again, pilgrims are flocking to the site where messages and miracles flowed so freely to any heart willing to receive them. Now the believers come not only from Rwanda, but from across Africa as well - people are even coming from as far away as Europe and America. Word has definitely spread that something wonderful, something miraculous, is happening in Kibeho....
A shrine dedicated to 'Our Lady of Sorrows' is now located on the spot where the visionaries received their apparitions. And if you stand where the podium once was, you'll find yourself looking up at a statue of Mary. She is standing upon a pedestal, hovering ten feet in the air, appearing to all who gaze upon her, as she did to the visionaries during their apparitions....But Mary is not alone; she's watched over by her son. Just a mile from the shrine, a magnificent bronze statue of 'the Divine Mercy of Jesus' faces Our Lady of Sorrows. Weighing two tons and standing 18 feet tall, it's the largest statue of its kind in the world. Its message is simple: God loves us and His mercy is greater than our sins, so we must call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow to us through others." ("Our Lady of Kibeho")
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word,
Mother of all those who believe in Him,
and who welcome Him into their life,
we are here before you to contemplate You.
We believe that you are among us,
like a mother in the midst of her children,
even though we do not see You with our bodily eyes.
We bless you, The Sure Way that leads us to Jesus the Savior,
for all the favors which You endlessly pour out upon us,
especially, that, in your meekness, You were gracious
enough to appear miraculously in Kibeho, just when our
world needed it most.
Grant us always the light and the strength necessary to
accept, with all seriousness, Your call to us to be converted,
to repent, and to live according to your Son's Gospel.
Teach us how to pray with sincerity, and to love one
another as He loved us, so that, just as You have requested,
we may always be beautiful flowers diffusing their pleasant
fragrance everywhere and upon everyone.
Holy Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows,
teach us to undestand the value of the cross in our lives,
so that whatever is still lacking to the sufferings of Christ
we may fill up in our own bodies for His mystical Body,
which is the Church.
And when our pilgrimage on this earth comes to an end,
may we live eternally with You in the kingdom of Heaven.
Imprimatur: Gikongoro, the 25th of March, 2006
Augustin Misago-Bishop of Gikongoro