Our Lady of Akita is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary based on apparitions and Marian messages received by Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa, a Japanese nun of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist, at Yuzawadai near Akita, Japan, in 1973. The principal phenomena were a wooden statue of Mary that wept human tears on 101 separate occasions between January 1975 and September 1981 (scientifically tested by Akita University and confirmed as identical to human blood, sweat, and tears across multiple blood types), three messages from Mary recorded by Sr. Agnes — including warnings about the future suffering of the Church — and the healing of Sr. Agnes herself from total deafness (twice — and her permanent healing in 1982 has been documented in Japanese medical records). The local ordinary, Bishop John Shojiro Ito of Niigata, formally approved the apparitions on April 22, 1984 after a six-year investigation. The Akita messages share thematic continuity with Fatima: a call to penance, prayer of the Rosary, and reparation for sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The shrine at Yuzawadai is one of Japan's principal Catholic pilgrimage sites and is increasingly visited by Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese Catholic communities in the Pacific Rim. The novena to Our Lady of Akita is appropriate for: any sustained Marian intercession patterned on Fatima's reparation theology, the protection of the Church in times of internal difficulty, the healing of disability (Sr. Agnes's deafness healing is the central documented miracle of the apparitions), and prayer for the Asian-Pacific Catholic Church.
12 min
Tagal
9 araw
Pangako
Katamtaman
Antas
Our Lady of Akita
Patron na santo
Pray once daily for nine consecutive days. The novena can be prayed at any time but is especially appropriate in the nine days leading up to October 13 (the anniversary of the third and final Marian message at Akita, October 13, 1973 — date deliberately chosen by Mary to echo the final Fatima apparition of October 13, 1917) or the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8). The structure: (1) Sign of the Cross; (2) The novena prayer; (3) A decade of the Rosary, meditating on a Sorrowful Mystery (Akita's reparation theme pairs naturally with the Passion); (4) The Fatima sacrifice prayer ('O my Jesus, forgive us our sins…'); (5) Name the specific intention. The novena pairs strongly with the First Saturdays devotion, since both Fatima and Akita ask for that specific reparational practice. Catholic communities in the Pacific Rim — Japan, Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Hawaii, the US West Coast Asian-Catholic diaspora — have particular devotion to Our Lady of Akita; many parishes display a print or small statue of the Akita Madonna. The novena is especially appropriate for: any deep reparational intention (sins of the Church or one's own), the healing of disability, the spiritual protection of the Asian Catholic Church, and as a continuation of Fatima devotion brought into the contemporary moment of Marian apparition history.
O Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Eucharist, in the apparitions of Akita you wept tears of human blood for the wounds of the Church and for the salvation of souls. With these tears you called us to penance, to the Rosary, and to make reparation for offenses against your Immaculate Heart. I unite my prayer today to those tears. Intercede for the intention I now bring before you (mention your intention). Through the documented sufferings of your statue at Yuzawadai, through the miraculous healing of Sister Agnes, and through your motherly care for the Asian Church, obtain for me the grace I seek and the courage to make reparation as you have asked. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Amen.
I-coordinate ang patuloy na panalangin para sa isang mahal sa buhay. Pinupunan ng mga boluntaryo ang 30-minutong slot sa loob ng mga araw o linggo; tumatanggap ang pamilya ng spiritual bouquet sa katapusan.
Mag-imbita ng maliit na grupo upang sama-samang manalangin araw-araw. Lahat ay tatanggap ng parehong teksto, parehong ritmo, parehong intensyon.