The Blessed Virgin Mary: A maternal alarm for a world in crisis

Mike Langlois is the Faith Formation Director for St. Augustine Knights of Columbus Council 7273 in Peru. He is also the Upstate Conference Coordinator for Evangelization and Faith Formation for the New York State Knights of Columbus, which encompasses the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Ogdensburg dioceses. Local Knights of Columbus councils interested in fortifying the faith of their memberships, or offering column topic ideas, can contact him at [email protected] (Courtesy photo of JASON WYSONG)

Whenever we see a tragic event reported on the news, investigations often reveal that the incident could have been avoided if people had recognized the warning signs. Sociologists call this phenomenon “the normalization of deviance.” In this context, warning signs become so common that individuals choose to ignore them, treating them as mere background noise.

History is filled with preventable tragedies that claim innocent lives. One event in particular — the 1875 wreck of the German ocean liner SS Schiller, which killed 311 people — perfectly mirrors the warning signs we overlook in the spiritual realm. For three days, a dense fog surrounded the ship, blinding the crew. They failed to check their depth as required, drifting helplessly toward shallow reefs. Nearby, a lighthouse foghorn blared repeatedly, but the Schiller never reduced speed, its roaring engines completely drowned out the alarm. The disaster stemmed from a fatal combination of neglected procedures, reckless speed and missed signals.

We can fall into the same complacency, repeatedly ignoring God’s warnings as we drift toward spiritual shipwreck. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that although baptism removes original sin, it leaves behind concupiscence, an inclination toward sin. This tendency acts like a magnetic disturbance, throwing off our moral compass, darkening our intellect and weakening our ability to choose the good. Even when the warning signs are unmistakable, our fallen desires still pull us toward the immediate but passing gratification of sin. While concupiscence first operates within individual souls, Catholic teaching recognizes that sin is never purely private. When these dispositions become widespread and are embraced by large numbers of people, they create what the Church calls “structures of sin” — social, cultural, economic and political systems that reflect humanity’s fallen nature. Like the SS Schiller’s tragic but preventable disaster, a nation is endangered when its citizens, leaders and institutions ignore moral warning signs and allow the wounds of fallen human nature to set the course.

Throughout salvation history, God has sent prophets to call His people to repentance before calamity struck. In His providence, He also gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary, who continues her maternal mission of leading souls to her Son. Over the past two millennia, thousands of supernatural encounters with Mary have been reported, though the Church remains highly cautious with private revelations. The Church has investigated hundreds of reported Marian apparitions throughout the centuries and has approved only a small number after rigorous examination. Yet among those approved apparitions, a remarkably consistent message emerges. Like a foghorn sounding through the darkness, Mary warns humanity of the dangers of sin, unbelief and self-destruction, while calling people to repentance, prayer, conversion and fidelity to the Gospel before it is too late.

In 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared six times in Fátima, Portugal, to three shepherd children — Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto. The Catholic Church has since declared these apparitions “worthy of belief.” Occurring near the end of World War I — a conflict that claimed 20 million lives and shattered the global order — Mary warned that a refusal to repent would trigger an even more devastating war during the next pontificate. She specifically foretold that Russia would “spread her errors throughout the world,” unleashing militant communism and brutal persecutions against the Church. To pierce this spiritual fog, she requested daily Rosary prayer, the First Saturdays Devotion, and the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Because the world largely ignored these warning signs, humanity suffered the exact chastisement Mary predicted: the catastrophe of World War II.

Mary’s warnings extend beyond the past. Since June 1981, she has reportedly appeared to six visionaries in Medjugorje, a small town in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2024, the Vatican granted an official nihil obstat — meaning nothing hinders the site — recognizing its significant spiritual fruits while allowing Catholics to prudently follow its core messages. Many verified and long-standing website platforms are available for those seeking access to Mary’s historical and most recent messages. Similar to the messages of Fatima, Mary is urgently warning that modern humanity is facing a severe crisis of peace, driven by extreme selfishness, godlessness and materialism. The visionaries have made it clear that when the final prophetic signs appear, it will be “too late” for many people to convert.

The foghorn is sounding and the choice to open our eyes rests entirely with us. We can no longer treat Mary’s maternal warnings as background noise or presume upon God’s mercy while drifting toward the reef. We must silence our modern distractions, heed the call to immediate conversion and turn our rudder toward Christ while the hour of grace remains open.

Mike Langlois is the Faith Formation Director for St. Augustine Knights of Columbus Council 7273 in Peru. He is also the Upstate Conference Coordinator for Evangelization and Faith Formation for the New York State Knights of Columbus, which encompasses the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Ogdensburg dioceses. Local Knights of Columbus councils interested in fortifying the faith of their memberships, or offering column topic ideas, can contact him at [email protected]