Our Lady of Kibeho

Last weekend I was blessed to be able to venture over to Rwanda for a few days. I visited a friend from high school and a friend from college who are both volunteering over there in separate locations. I learned a lot and experienced a lot by visiting a different African country, and will share more about that later. But the main purpose for my visit was to pilgrimage to see Our Lady of Kibeho, a Catholic shrine. It has been a dream of mine to go, and was a huge blessing to finally make it there!

For those of you who are not Catholic, or familiar with who Our Lady of Kibeho is, let me give you a very brief explanation! In the Catholic Church, we honor Mary, the mother of Jesus as the woman we should all strive to be like. We believe she was born sinless and remained that way until she was taken to heaven, walking next to her son in all his sorrows and pains. She suffered with Jesus throughout his years of public ministry, and on the cross and is the perfect person to intercede for us and show us who Jesus is, after all she was the closest person to him.

In the past hundred of years or so, there have been a few approved ‘apparitions’ across the world where Mary has appeared to normal, every day people and warned them to repent and change their lives, in order to go to heaven and take others with them. One of the apparitions that is least talked about is in Kibeho, Rwanda. Our Lady first appeared to a young girl names Alphonsine, a freshman in high school in 1981 and told her “I would like your friends to have faith, because they do not believe strongly enough.” Only Alphonsine could see or hear Mary, but all the other students could hear her responses in conversation. In 1982, as Alphonsine’s apparitions were continuing regularly Mary began to appear to other girls in the school, even those who were unbelieving and converted them. She always urged the girls to have greater faith and spread it to others, along with repentance of their sins. Mary called herself “The Mother of the Word.” By this time large crowds of people would gather to listen and see what would happen in the apparition. Mary’s main priority is always trying to bring people to her son. These apparitions have continued until today, where some of the girls still receive the visions. In fact, last January I went on a retreat and 1 of the visionaries was there, and she received specific words from both Mary and Jesus to tell us on retreat. Incredible!

One of the key factors that has made these visions credible is the vision that Mary predicted and warned the Rwandans about the genocide that was to happen in 1994. In 1982 Mary warned about the “river of blood, people killing each other, abandoned corpses with no one to bury them…” and it was confirmed in 1994 when the genocide killed nearly 1 million people in just 3 months, neighbors killing neighbors and dumped into the Kagea River, which means river of blood.

In the Catholic Church, a LOT of investigation, and many years of work, is undergone to test the validity of such messages, especially the mental sanity of the visionaries. In some cases, they are deemed invalid and the general public is advised not to visit the sites, but Kibeho has been approved and is encouraged to be visited as a holy site. Unfortunately with it being in Africa it is not very accessible for people to visit. However, I am super blessed to be in Africa, and to have my friends in Rwanda specifically, so I was able to make the pilgrimage to Kibeho and see where Our Lady appears. It was beautiful.

There are many aspects of being in Kibeho that I will have to share with you more personally, but it was a very blessed trip. I stayed with a friend of mine and we started our journey at 6:45 am, and after a motor bike, a bus, and an overstuffed mini van ride we made it to Kibeho at 11:45am, just in time to catch the middle of mass. The ride, though it was long, was BEAUTIFUL through the country side. We were not expecting to go to mass, but there was some event going on, with tons of nuns and priests so we were able to go to mass, and confession-very exciting! The church is a large cathedral that Mary asked to be built in her honor. It took many years for such a small village to raise enough money, but they were finally able to build the church. It is simple and beautifully African. After that we went to the small chapel where Mary first appeared in 1982. It used to be a cafeteria for the school but they have transformed it into a chapel for visitors to pray in. It was also very simple and very African, but sitting in it you could tell it was a holy place. I spent most of my time praying for all of you, giving Mary all the intentions I had, knowing she would keep them close and plead with her Son for the prayers. We did not have as much time as I would have loved, because of the long journey and bus schedules, but I felt so comfortable being there, I know I will be back some day.

There are so many miracles and stories attributed to Our Lady of Kibeho, please look them up, they are wonderful!

I am blessed to have been to 1 other Marian Apparition site, Medjuorie, which is also the home to a war that Mary warned about in Bosnia. Medj is a beautiful place as well, and I found a lot of peace being there, but it is very touristy since they receive so many pilgrims. Being in Kibeho was anything but touristy. We were among 4 white people, and there are 2 gift shops—and you have to find a certain nun to open them! In a way it is shame that more people cannot pilgrimage to Kibeho, but I am so happy it is able to retain its simple African beauty. It takes work and intention to get to Kibeho, as a true pilgrimage should. I am sure I won’t know the many blessings that came from that trip, but it was treat to go and see Our Lady. Be assured of my prayers for each of you there, I hope that Our Lady can reach you and bring you closer to her Son and his love for you.