Our Lady of Akita

In the mountain remote place Yuzawadai, belonging to city Akita near the western coast of Japanese island Honsu, a nun Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa lives. After a badly done operation of her appendix her nerve system became paralyzed when she was 19. For sixteen years she was sentenced to be immobile, she was driven from hospital to hospital and she underwent many operations. In one clinic she met a nurse, good Catholic who gave her bases of the faith. Thanks to this nurse her health gradually bettered. Then she became a member of the community of Nuns of Virgin Mary in Nagasaki. After four months her health became critical again and for 10 days she was unconscious. Her stage was considered to be hopeless. In spite of that she recovered after taking in the water from Lourdes which sisters from Nagasaki use to send her. In 1969 she decided to enter the order of Eucharist Servants. In 1973 she became totally deaf. She left for the remote place in Yuzawadai to live with nuns.

The extraordinary events began on June 12, 1973, when Sr. Agnes saw brilliant mysterious rays emanate suddenly from the tabernacle. The same thing happened on each of the two days that followed. On June 28, 1973, a cross-shaped wound appeared on the inside left hand of Sr. Agnes. It bled profusely and caused her much pain. On July 6, Sr. Agnes heard a voice coming from the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel where she was praying. The statue was carved from a single block of wood from a Katsura tree and is three feet tall. On the same day, a few of the sisters noticed drops of blood flowing from the statue's right hand. On four occasions, this act of blood flow repeated itself. The wound in the statue's hand remained until September 29, when it disappeared. On September 29, the day the wound on the statue disappeared, the sisters noticed the statue had now begun to "sweat", especially on the forehead and neck.

Sr. Agnes heard a voice coming from the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel where she was praying. "My daughter, my novice, you have obeyed me well in abandoning all to follow me. Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins of men. Each person in this community is my irreplaceable daughter. Do you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist? Then, let us pray it together: "Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His Kingdom." Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls." "Most holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen."

"If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to you. It is very important; you will convey it to your superior. Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console him to soften the anger of the heavenly father. I wish, with my son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates. In order that the world might know his anger, the heavenly father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. I have intervened so many times to appease the wrath of the father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering him the sufferings of the son on the cross, his precious blood, and beloved souls who console him forming a cohort of victim souls. Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the father's anger. ... Even in a secular institute, prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching too much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the master."

"You have still something to ask? Today is the last time I will speak to you in a living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you (Father Yasuda) and your superior. My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior. As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all humanity. It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither Priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms that will remain for you will be the Rosary and Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the Bishops, and the Priests. “The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.”

Notice that the warning is conditional. We are not told the punishment will definitely come; it will come only “if men do not repent and better themselves.” Although this may sound very serious and even depressing we cannot dismiss this warning. April, 1984 - Most Rev. John Shojiro Ito, Bishop of Niigata, Japan, after years of extensive investigation, declares the events of Akita, Japan, to be of supernatural origin, and authorizes throughout the entire diocese the veneration of the Holy Mother of Akita. He said: "The message of Akita is the message of Fatima." June, 1988 - Vatican City - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gives definitive judgment on the Akita events and messages as reliable and worthy of belief.

"The Holy See has never given any kind of approval to either the events or messages of Akita."

Eucharistic Prayer of Akita

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His Kingdom. Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as you will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls. Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your special child.
Amen.