Philippine Bishop Lifts Ban on ‘Our Lady’

By Marrah Erika Lesaba Philippine Daily Inquirer 11/18/2009

BATANGAS CITY — Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles confirmed that he had lifted the 1951ban on the public veneration of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace.

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Arguelles said he lifted the ban on Nov. 12 as “there was nothing wrong in praising apparitions” as he was well-aware of “the love of the people for the Blessed Mother.”

“The Blessed Mother has [protected] the country from calamities,” he said.

In 1948, the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared 19 times to Teresita Castillo, a novice in the Carmelite Order in Lipa City. Rose petals with holy images reportedly fell from the sky. In her last apparition to Castillo, the Blessed Virgin identified herself: “I am the Mediatrix of All Grace.”

Although the veneration of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace was permitted by then Bishop Alfred Verzosa, the Philippine church hierarchy declared in 1951 that “there was no supernatural intervention in the reported extraordinary happenings including the shower of rose petals in Lipa,” according to the website www.marymediatrixofallgrace.com.

Editor's note: “The Blessed Mother has [protected] the country from calamities”?... perhaps the bishop was out of the country when the Eight Days of Disaster occured in October.

See also: Mary of Rome: Manila's Mediatrix of Grace