Our Lady of Akita: Still Relevant?

Japan. It is one of the richest countries of the world but unfortunately, Christians number less than 10% of the total population. Who can also forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the first atomic bombs were unleashed? In a land which has known the terrors of the atomic bomb, Our Lady gave a grave warning to mankind way back in 1973. Is it still relevant today?

The Wooden Statue of Our Lady of Akita

The mysterious events in Akita, Japan began with a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary found in the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist. Blood oozed from the right hand of the statue as it also did from the left hand of one of the handmaids, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa. The statue perspired abundantly and cried human tears; laboratory tests at Akita University confirmed that the liquid oozing from the Virgin's eyes were indeed human tears. About 500 persons were eyewitnesses to the crying of the statue and in several instances the weeping was filmed by television cameras and broadcast several times throughout Japan.

One test of the authenticity of an apparition is in the "fruits." Numerous conversions and cures have been attributed to Our Lady of Akita. A Korean woman, Teresa Chun, recovered miraculously from a brain tumor after praying to Our Lady of Akita. Documentation on this was done in St. Paul's Hospital in Seoul and an entire dossier was sent by the Korean bishops to Rome.

A Punishment Harsher than Noah's Flood

More important than the supernatural occurrences is what Our Lady of Akita, through Sr. Agnes, has been trying to convey. She warns us of a terrible punishment if mankind does not repent:
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