Maria Esperanza and Our Lady, Reconciler of Peoples

Summary:

Maria Esperanza Medrano de Bianchini was born on November 22, 1928, in Barrancas del Orinoco, in the state of Monagas, Venezuela. She was an alert, sensitive girl who was very intuitive and loved going to catechism classes. Her parents gave her a solid and meaningful Christian education.

In 1940, she fell seriously ill. The doctors diagnosed bronchial pneumonia, a serious condition at the time. The specialists predicted a bleak future for her, and some said it was terminal. But she suddenly and inexplicably recovered. Later, the young woman became aware that Heaven had helped her in a direct way.

The teenager thought about becoming a nun. Attracted for a time by the contemplative life, she made a cloistered retreat at the Franciscan monastery in Merida (Venezuela). But one day, as she was praying in the chapel, she received an inner message from Saint Therese of Lisieux: "This is not your vocation, you do not have to be a nun, but you will make your journey as a wife and mother, and you will sanctify yourself and shine in the midst of the world."  Saint Therese then invited her to go to Rome, where she would meet her future husband, someone who "carried the sword".

Maria Esperanza didn't understand at the time, but on November 1, 1955, she did indeed go to Rome, where she met, completely by chance and as Saint Therese has said, a man who carried a sword - a soldier in the presidential guard. Their marriage was celebrated in Rome the following year. They had seven children.

On March 25, 1976, while walking near a grotto on a hill not far from the family home at "Finca Betania" (a 200-hectare farm), near a spring, she saw the Virgin Mary, "radiant with light", who said to her: "My daughter, I have given you my heart, I give it to you and will always give it to you. I am your refuge", and then: "I am the reconciler of peoples". This was the beginning of a series of exceptional and countless apparitions, bearing great spiritual fruit.

These apparitions, which took place over a dozen years, had one incredible feature: the Virgin appeared not only to Maria Esperanza, but also to dozens of people, for five to ten minutes each time. Not all of these visionaries were exemplary Catholics, far from it! They included students from Caracas, poor people from the region, policemen, soldiers, engineers, lawyers, doctors and psychologists. Our Lady appeared in a magnificent light and was accompanied by a mysterious scent of roses.

The visionary's life went on, however, as usual: she was a devoted wife, an excellent housewife and an ever-attentive mother: nothing distracted her from her human duties. At the same time, extraordinary phenomena were multiplying as the weeks went by, without ever disturbing her duties: visions, temporary stigmatisation, levitations, soul readings, prophecies, the gift of healing... so many charisms offered to a humble laywoman in the middle of the 20th century.

In 1979, Maria Esperanza and her husband set up the Betania Foundation to help the poor and sick. Today it has around twenty centers throughout the world. At no time has this structure ever been called into question by anyone.

The bishop of the diocese of Los Teques, Pio Bello Ricardo, a Jesuit with a doctorate in psychology, conducted his own investigation into the events. The prelate personally interviewed 492 people, compiled a vast file of 283 written statements and reported them to Pope John Paul II. His pastoral note of November 21, 1987, recognized the authenticity and supernatural origin of the Betania apparitions.

A shrine was built in honor of Our Lady Reconciler of Peoples, with a full pilgrim and hospitality center. A large number of healings were recorded in the 1980s: the disappearance of an advanced kidney cancer and the sudden healing of two duodenal ulcers; the unexplained disappearance of an ovarian fibroid just before a critical operation; the healing of a vaginal mycosis that had resisted all treatment, etc.

Maria Esperanza, who died in the United States on August 7, 2004, and was buried in her native country, was proclaimed a Servant of God by the Church.

Beyond reasons to believe:

The fruits of Maria Esperanza's charity, peace and reconciliation are now spread across the world, without social, religious or cultural distinction.

Going further:

Apparitions in Betania, Venezuela, by Margaret Catherine Sims, Medugorje Messengers; Second Printing edition (January 1, 1993)

More information:

• M. De Di Michele, La Virgen se aperece en Venezuela, Betania, 1990.
• Timothy E. Byerley, Maria Esperenza and the Grace of Betania, Mary Mother Reconciler Foundation, 2014.
• A complete website about the history of the apparitions, messages, and more