BRIEF HISTORY ON THE ORIGIN OF THE APPARITION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AT IFITE - AWKA, NAMED “OUR LADY QUEEN OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, APPARITION CENTER, IFITE-AWKA.” .
OUR LADY, QUEEN OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
INTRODUCTION
The origin of the apparition and my involvement in the Ifite-Awka Apparition Centre is providential and a mystery beyond my expression. Concerning my going to the apparitions as a pilgrim, it was with the intention to know, decipher and understand for myself the phenomenon, as well as for my spiritual benefits. I intended also to ascertain whether it promotes the faith and morals, which we dispense and uphold in the Catholic Church; or to ascertain if it contradicts the teachings of the Catholic church. To my surprise none has been on the contrary to the faith and moral of the Catholic church. However, my faith has been on the increase rather.
Apparitions that have occurred in Nigeria from Aokpe, Umunya, and Obowo promoted the Catholic church as well as calling for the world conversion, repentance and the need to pray. Coming to Ifite-Awka apparition, my involvement was providential and was not of my own accord, as I will explain later.
Therefore, as I was requested by Rev. Fr’s Simon Amateze, Lawrence Nwankwor and Collins Okeke on Sunday 16th January, 2005, [the bishop’s official investigation panel to the apparition] to write on my involvement at Ifite-Awka Apparition Centre, I have the following to say about the apparition and its brief origin.
MY INITIAL ENCOUNTER
My participation at Ifite-Awka just like my involvement at Umunya apparition, was providential. It happened that I was just going to Umunya Apparition as one of the pilgrims, like other Priests, religious and laity, until one day, a message came through the visionary, Mary Cynthia that I was appointed to help out in directing the prayer warriors to the visionary.
In the same vein, one day between August and September 2002, a girl called Miss Uju Nwafor aged 17 years, came to my office at Amansea and intimated me that she was having some spiritual encounter with the Blessed Virgin Mary, who directed her to me for some discernment and direction. She started seeing Our Blessed Mother according to her as from 10th August, 2002. Thus, since I never met her in my life and she is not from my parish, I rejected her message thinking that she was day dreaming as a result of some malaria parasites or that she was sent by the devil to tempt me.
Before she left my office, I asked her to kneel down so as to pray for her to recover from her illness. Thus, when I started praying for her, there was a manifestation in her like what the charismatic people called anointing, which eventually pulled her down. When this was happening, I applied various methods of exorcism so as to exorcise the evil spirit in her, thinking that she was possessed by the devil.
Suddenly after a while, a voice came from her mouth saying that she was the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. She declared that she would like to use the girl [Miss Uju], for an apparition and other spiritual works. And that I would be her spiritual director, as well as helping the pilgrims as I did at Umunya. She further declared her intention to deliver some divine messages of repentance to the world through her, as she did in other places of the world like Fatima, Lourdes, France, Aokpe, Umunya and Obowo. She declared also that she was the person that shed tears of blood at Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe. She did this in order that the people of the world might turn from their evil ways, do penance and turn back to God.
She was sent to me on several occasions like that before a date was given for the beginning of the public apparition on 11th March 2003. Besides, there was in one of her visits, to confirm the messages already given, I was directed to take her to other visionaries. To compound it all, at Obowo on 26th January 2003, Jesus through the visionary Marylene Ezejiofor, confirmed the messages I received through MaryJane as coming from Our Blessed Mother. A week before the first Apparition of 11th March, 2003, names of the prayer warriors (partners) to the visionary were given together with committee members via the mouth of the visionary. From these people, few of them especially the Committee chairman Sir Fabian Emeka Ndubuisi, were asked to accompany us to our Diocesan Bishops and the Parish Priest of Ifite- Awka to deliver the messages.
MESSAGE TO THE BISHOPS
On Thursday of 6th March, 2003, we went to meet our Bishops. As many people were waiting for the Diocesan Bishop that day, we had the opportunity of meeting first, the Auxiliary Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Solomon Amatu. He gave us a fair hearing. He welcomed the development provided such a gathering reflects the Catholic character like recitation of rosaries, via crucis, hearing of confessions and the celebration of holy masses, then, if so, we could go ahead. He ended his speech by saying that the Diocesan Bishop should give the final say. We thanked him and moved straight to the Local Ordinary, Rt. Rev. Dr. Simon Akwali Okafor.
Our Diocesan Bishop also gave us a good hearing and welcomed us warmly as a good father. We narrated the whole message to him and he gave us a good response. His first reaction jokingly, was that if the Blessed Virgin Mary was coming, she should come and tell him in person. We replied in the same mood that if he prays for it, she could visit him and manifest her presence. We then asked him now that a date had been fixed for the inception of the public apparition, what do we do? He then asked us to give our opinion. Since a date had already been fixed for its official take off through the visionary, we then requested that we be permitted to inform as many people as possible to gather at the venue so as to know what would happen. We added that if the message is not of divine origin, after few occurrences, people would disappear naturally, but if it is of divine origin it will fissile out as Gamaliel said in the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 5:34-39]. If however along the line the Blessed Virgin Mary appears to him and tells him that she is not the person coming, he can stop us later. We concluded our request by saying that it is still like an egg, which has not been hatched, but time is needed to determine its veracity.
After the above request, he asked us whether we had met the Auxiliary Bishop, and if so, what was his response. We then narrated to him the positive response of the Auxiliary Bishop. He further asked us whether we had met the parish priest of Ifite-Awka. We answered him no, but that we shall move straight to the Parish priest in question based on his response. He then asked us to go ahead while he keeps on watching. We then thanked him for his acceptance and requested for his paternal blessing. He blessed us and we left his office very happy.
Having got a positive verbal response from the Bishop, we went straight to the parish priest of Ifite-Awka, Rev. Fr. Cajethan Obiekezie. As we met his absence, I repeated later in the evening to deliver to him the same message together with the Bishops’ response.
FIRST PUBLIC APPARITION DAY (11TH MARCH, 2003)
The first public apparition of Our Lady at Ifite-Awka was held in Nwafor’s compound Agbani, Ifite-Awka on 11th March, 2003 which started at about 7.30 pm. It commenced with the stations of the cross, followed with the recitation of the full rosary, Confessions and the Holy Eucharistic celebration. By 12.00 midnight, the message was given by the Blessed Virgin Mary who greeted all the pilgrims and gave the name of the Apparition centre as “Our Lady, Queen of the Immaculate Conception”. The Holy Mass was concelebrated by my humble self and Fr. Cajethan Obiekezie, the Parish Priest of St. Anthony’s Catholic parish Ifite - Awka. Speeches, songs and candle light procession followed after the message. The apparition ended at about 7.00am.
Subsequent ones continued every three weeks till today. It has lasted more than two years now. It is still on going. Unfortunately, this apparition has recorded the highest persecution from mainly the ecclesiastical authorities than from the laity and not even from the civil authorities as used to be the case in some other apparition centres in the world like at Fatima and so on. We thank God and Our Lady, early this year a panel of the theologians and psychologists was appointed by the diocesan Bishop to discern the apparition on 5th January, 2005 as noted above.
We have in the web all of the recent messages and few of the previous ones. We are making efforts to bring all to the web soon.
This brief history is from the Spiritual Director, Rev. Fr. Innocent UgoMary Obidiegwu ordained 1992 [Parish priest of St. Anthony’s Amansea in Awka South L.G.A. Anambra State - Nigeria]. Posted to the web by Antonio Len-Rios and Fr. H. U. Ekwenibe on 27th May, 2005.
Sister Mary Jane Nwafor Principal Visionary of the Ifite-Awka Apparition
Prayer Partners of Sr. Mary Jane and Co-Seers
Sister Mary Jane with some members of her family. From Left to Right: Sister's Grandmother; Sr. Mary Jane; her mother; and immediate senior sister.
Sr. Mary Jane and some committee members. To Sister's immediate left is the Chairman of the Committee, Bro. Fabian Emeka Ndubisi.
Sr. Mary Jane and her spiritual mother, Rev. Sr. Loretto.
Sr. Mary Jane in the apparition chapel.
Sr. Mary Jane with the Madonna Statue at the Apparition Site.
