After the cycle of sightings has come to an end (in some cases over 1,000 visitations will occur over the course of several years), the apparitions are investigated. Apparitions are not considered accredited until church authorities have had an opportunity to evaluate them. Some Christians believe that apparitions are demonic. To this concern, writers such as Roy Varghese respond that authentic apparitions cause conversions, something that Satan could not (or would not) do.

A Call to Prayer

In almost every apparition, the faithful are urged to pray more. This call to prayer is often accompanied by warnings about events that might occur if people do not change. In many cases, predictions have come through the apparitions, including predictions of World War II, and of the rise, spread, and eventual collapse of Communism.

Apparitions in Context

Apparitions have occurred in such locations as India, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Croatia, Russia, and Japan. After these apparitions have occurred, statues and paintings have sometimes been created to commemorate them. These works of art testify to Mary's ability to transcend cultures. She tends to be universally recognizable as the Virgin Mary but is also depicted as a person native to the country and culture in which the apparition occurred. In the statue of Our Lady of LaVang, Vietnam, created in 1798, Mary appears as a Vietnamese woman, holding an Asian infant Christ — both appear in gowns that would be appropriate to Vietnam's culture. In the statue Our Lady of Good Health from India, she and the Christ child wear shimmering gold saris and have distinctly Indian faces. In Our Lady of Akita, in Japan, Mary appears as an elegant Japanese woman.

One of the fascinating aspects of apparition accounts is that Mary most often seems to come in a form and context that will be recognizable to the locals. The messages she gives (as well as the ways in which she communicates them) tend to be ideally suited to the culture in which she appears. This was certainly the case with the recent apparitions in Damascus, Syria, in which a woman began to experience olive oil dripping from her own fingertips (and then her icon of the Virgin Mary began to weep myrrh-scented tears). Olive oil is an ideal conduit for a miracle in the context of the Middle East because in the Christian Middle East, olive oil is associated with sacred rituals, health, and healing.

Each accredited apparition has left a profound mark not only on the individuals who report having witnessed the event but also on the heritage of each nation that includes apparitions in their national history. Mary's ability to be present in a variety of cultures is celebrated in the great variety of international depictions of her.