Quotes from Akita: The Tears and Message of Mary (Part 1)

With the news of a new message from Sister Agnes Sasagawa, the story of the Akita returned to the fore of Catholic consciousness. Since then, WQPH has relayed messages from sources close to Sister Agnes, including her desire that people become familiar with the definitive Akita documentary by David Dionese, which we have transcribed.

With that documentary relying so heavily on the book by Father Teiji Yasuda, we obtained this book and have for you the first of two installments of quotes from the book. The first of these will cover the three messages of Akita. The second is in progress.

Notably, the book is no longer in print, with used copies going for $100 or more on Amazon, so we are happy to share this content from our copy. (We find it most unlikely that there is now so little interest in this book that it would not see great success from a new printing.)

The book is dense with little redundancy, and it proved to be quite challenging to pull concise quotes from it while retaining context. There is much in here to ponder, and the author, Father Teiji approaches the subject matter from all angles, offering spiritual reflections where appropriate, as well as corroborating accounts of some events.

Sister Agnes goes deaf

It was Friday, the 16th of March, 1973, when Sister Agnes was suddenly and brusquely plunged into a world of total silence, and there is a coincidence in this which is a sign of Divine Providence.

The 16th of March, which marked the beginning of this deafness (which would be miraculously cured on May 30, 1982, following a promise of the Virgin in Her first message), is the vigil of the day when the Catholic Church of Japan commemorates the discovery in 1865 of the descendants of the “hidden Christians” on the site of O’ura in Nagasaki. To the French missionary who arrived there shortly after the reopening of the country, these “hidden Christians” made themselves known by asking, “Where is the statue of the Virgin?” This is a celebrated fact in the annals of the Church in Japan.

Thus the Lord began by submerging His instrument into total silence with the intention of communicating to the world the message of which we shall soon be speaking.

Pg 10-11

A vision of a multitude of angels

The word “angel” did not at once occur to Sister Agnes. As we will see later, she was embarrassed when she tried to explain to the Bishop what she had seen in the light. She said, “These were not human beings, but one could see very clearly that they were an adoring crowd of spiritual beings.” When the Bishop remarked that they must have been angels, then she began to use this word. Furthermore, she used the word “multitude because it seemed to her that the moment of their appearance, the space around seemed to open up into a sort of infinite depth.

Pg 17

Her guardian angel appears and creates a connection to Fatima

“At the instant when I took my Rosary to begin, a person appeared very close to me on my right,” Sister Agnes relates in her journal. She wrote:

“Before I continue, I should explain something which happened four years before. I was a catechist in Myoko and I had fainted because of a high fever caused by a virus infection. I had to be taken to the hospital and it seems that I was four days in a coma, completely cut off frame the exterior world. The thermometer indicated a very high temperature. On the evening of the second day when a priest gave me the Sacrament of the Sick, I very clearly recited the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Gloria and the Apostles Creed in Latin, without knowing that I did it. Immediately afterwards, I did not know how to answer the priest who asked me where I had learned Latin. Indeed, I had never learned it to the point of knowing these prayers by heart any more than I would be able to say them now. If there had not been witnesses there, I would not have believed it.

My mother recounts that all the time I was praying my face seemed in a light and my hands were crossed on my breast. As for me, I remember that I saw a beautiful person in a place which seemed like a pleasant field. This person with a moment of the hand, had invited me to approach her. But I was hindered from doing it by people as thin as living skeletons who gripped at me. Looking beyond, I saw a crowds of persons who were fighting each other to reach a level of pure water, but one after the other they fell into a river of dirty water. Filled with compassion for these poor people, I prayed also for them. I said especially the mysteries of the Rosary. Then I suddenly saw on the right side of my bed a gracious person whom I did not know and who began to pray the Rosary with me. After the first decade she added a prayer I did not known. Surprised, I repeated it after her. Then she counseled me to add this after each decade. The words are:

Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven and especially those who are most in need of your mercy.

A friend who was watching at my bedside that very moment was about to leave on the advice of my mother, because it was getting very late, but she remained a little longer in order to her this unknown prayer to the end. As for myself, the worlds of the prayer remained engraved in my memory and I never fail to add them after each decade.

A short time afterwards, a Salesian priest asked me to teach it to him and wanted to know where I had learned it. Later, I received a letter from him saying that this prayer had been taught by the Virgin to the children at Fatima, that there had not yet been a definitive translation into Japanese, but it was indeed in this manner that the prayer should be said. It is this that I came to know the precious origin of the prayer.

Pgs 19-20

The angel prays the “Akita prayer”

Following was the time of silent prayer. Suddenly, I saw the blinding light. I immediately prostrated myself in adoration and when I lifted my eyes, I saw a soft light which enveloped the alter like a mist or a dense smoke in which appeared a cohort of angels turned towards the Blessed Sacrament whose pure and clear voices proclaimed ‘Holy, Holy, Holy.’ When they finished I heard a voice on my right praying:

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, (TRULY) present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father, pleading for the coming of His Kingdom.

Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls.

Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your special child. Amen.

This was the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist which I knew well and which I recited aloud. During this prayer, I heard the voice of the same heavenly person who had come to my side in the hospital in Myoko. It seemed even more beautiful and pure when she recited these prayers than when she had told me in the hospital.

Sister Agnes / Pgs 21-22

Her angel appears in the form of a woman

As I said before, Sister Agnes did not use this word [angel] in the beginning. But after speaking to the Bishop who remarked that it must have been an angel she began to use the term. And finally, in the course of time, the angel, appearing to Sister Agnes in the form of a woman, identified herself as a guardian angel.

Pg 23

A wound appears on Sister Agnes’ hand

While praying in the chapel, Sister Agnes felt as though something pierced the palm of her hand. She was concerned because she hand never before experienced such pain. the following morning this was prolonged during the Mass and redoubled in intensity during adoration.

When she left the chapel, she furtively spread her fingers which she had held closed tight. There in the center of her palm were two red scratches in the form of a cross. “What was that?” she asked herself. She was deeply concerned, thinking it was perhaps a sign of her sinfulness.

The wound was two centimeters wide and three centimeters long and appeared very large in the center of her hand. The pain was intense and the aspect of the wound was very different from what one is accustomed to see. This does not seem to have been caused with a blade. Even if she had held a small cross in her hand there would have remained a light cross pressed into the skin. It was as though a cross had been engraved in the skin. Of the color bordering on rose, it was not repulsive as other wounds and it seemed to give off even a certain beauty.

Pg 25-26

“The wounds of Mary are much deeper”

Tormented by the piercing pain, she was obliged to get up and lie down without stopping, incapable of closing her eyes. It was already profound night when, towards 3 o’clock in the morning, she continues: “I had just hanged the bandage again and was praying. Then I heard a voice which came from I know not where saying:

‘Do not fear. Pray with fervor not only because of your sins, but in reparation for those of all men. The world today wounds the most Sacred Heart of Our Lord by its ingratitude and injuries. The wounds of Mary are much deeper and more sorrowful than yours. Let us go to pray together in the chapel.’

While I had become a little accustomed to the angel, I had never looked at her face, as she always stood near my right shoulder. But now seeing her, I noticed such a striking resemblance to my elder sister that I instinctively called her by my sister’s name. The latter had died some years before after having received the grace of baptism.

She smiled at me sweetly and made a light negative movement of her head. She said: ‘I am the one who is with you and watches over you.‘”

Pg 34

The statue of Mary speaks

“At that time the statue [of Mary] was placed on the right side of the altar. When I put my foot on the step of the altar, I suddenly felt that the wooden statue came to life and was about to speak to me. I looked: She was bathed in a brilliant light. Instinctively, I prostrated myself on the ground and at the same moment a voice of indescribable beauty struck my totally deaf ears.

‘My daughter, my novice, you have obeyed me well in abandoning all to follow me. Is the infirmity of your ears painful? Your deafness will be healed, be sure. Be patient. It is the last trial. Does the wound of your hand cause you to suffer? Pray in reparation for the sins of men. Each person in this community is my irreplaceable daughter. Do you say well the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist? Then, let us pray it together.’

As this beautiful voice began the prayer, the angel who had led me to the chapel reappeared at my side and joined in. Always prostrated and thinking of nothing else, I had just said the words, ‘Jesus present in the Eucharist,’ when the voice interrupted me, adding: ‘Truly present.‘ And to impress this all the more upon my troubled spirit, the voice added: ‘From now on, you will add TRULY‘.

Did I even have the time to answer yes? All I know is that I thought only of uniting myself to that voice of such inexpressible beauty which seemed to come from Heaven. I was aided also by the sweet voice of the angel speaking by my side. Our three voices together prayed:

Most sacred heart of Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom.

Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the father and the salvation of souls.

Most Holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your special child. Amen.

When the prayer was finished, the Heavenly Voice said:

‘Pray very much for the Pope, Bishops and Priests. Since your Baptism you have always prayed faithfully for them. Continue to pray very much…very much. Tell your superior all that passed today and obey him in everything that he will tell you. He has asked that you pray with fervor.‘”

Pgs 35-36

The voice of the angel and the voice of Mary

In her effort to try to express as much as possible the beauty of this voice [of Mary], Sister Agnes often uses an expression which in her dialect means, “of a beauty without limit.”

One day, I was speaking with a stranger who had come to the convent on the recommendation of Bishop Ito and we were speaking again of the voice. “A voice never heard and which certainly could not have come from this world.” Sister tried to explain while seeking just the right expression since the stranger asked, “Was it comparable to that of the angel?

The two voices are beautiful, but the voice of Mary has something more divine.”

Can you explain this difference by comparison?

She reflected a moment and then said, “One can say that the voice of the angel resembles a song and that of Mary, a prayer.”

The stranger seemed overcome with this answer. “It is a very beautiful comparison. I understand much better now.”

Pg 37-38

Sister Agnes sees the wound on hand of the statue

It was true! There was a wound in the middle of the little hand made of wood. who lines crossed each other and blood flowed from the central hole, creating a most sorrowful spectacle.

What indeed could that mean? Overcome by a fear mixed with respect, Sister Agnes could not even weep. The words heard during the night came back to her, “Pray in reparation for the sins of men.” She said to herself, “Is the wound of Mary due to the sadness because of ingratitudes and outrages of man? Does she show her pain in order to incite us to conversion and penance? It is the time to confide to Her everything and to place oneself entirely with Her in prayer!”

Pg 39

Sister Agnes grapples with the meaning of the wound

A wound appearing on the hand of a person is nothing in comparison. But this prodigious sign, which defied all laws of nature… what indeed could it mean. Surely something urgent and serious was indicated.

Sister Agnes did everything possible so that no one would know the anguish and the emotion that troubled her heart. She paid special attention to fulfilling her daily tasks while she did not cease to pray in silence. “Lord, have pity, have pity on us!”

Pg 45

Report to Bishop Ito

The following day the Bishop celebrated the Mass followed by an hour of adoration. Then Sister Agnes was called again. The Bishop asked her to begin from the beginning and repeat everything to the end. She did so repeating exactly the same details. (When one answers questions in complete loyalty and good faith, without additions or subtractions, it goes without saying that one can repeat the same thing ten times without making a mistake).

The Bishop made no commentary. He merely repeated the same recommendation made in his preceding visit: “Be careful not to say to yourself: It is a phenomenon especially destined for me. I am a special case.” Strive for humility.

Pg 46

The wound deepens

It was past 3 o’clock when Sister S.I. came to the room with Sister Agnes to say that she could not find Sister K. anywhere. Sister Agnes thought at once to look in the chapel. They went there and found Sister K. kneeling before the statue of Mary between the Bishop and Sister I. They were reciting the Rosary. After a moment of hesitation Sister Agnes advanced to tell Sister K. that she was expected.

The Sister turned, her eyes full of tears: “The blood flows again from the hand of Mary. Today there is much more, and it has a somber color which makes it painful to see. Take my place,” she said, leaving.

It was not necessary to come any closer to be struck by the presence of not a thread but of a large stain of blood in the center of the hand. Sister Agnes could not approach the Bishop and took a step backward. “Such a quantity of blood! What does it mean?”

Sister I turned towards her and asked her to join them in the Rosary. Hardly had they begun to pray when the wound of Sister Agnes’ left hand jerked in pain. The other times it was always from Thursday evening and she was wondering why she had pain so soon. Despite it she forced herself to participate as well as she could in the prayers.

The Mass began after 5 o’clock. At the moment when Sister Y.I. read her Act of Consecration, the pain in Sister Agnes’ hand reached an intensity never before known.

Pgs 50-51

Sister Agnes pain redoubles

That evening as on the night of the First Friday of the month, she could not close her eyes the entire night. She sat on her bed, reciting the Rosary, straightened the room while protecting her hand. She had to move constantly in order to bear the pain.

Dawn came like a deliverer. She hastened to the chapel, her only refuge. She participated in Lauds concentrating as best she could, but with a feeble voice.

During the Mass at 7 o’clock, at the Consecration, the pain again reached its zenith. Blood flowed. It seemed that the piercing reached such an extreme that it was as if the hand had been pierced through.

Pg 52

The mysterious activity of the wound

“Strangely, the blood that appeared on the hand of the statue never fell to the ground. Even when Sitter K. (kneeling with Sister I and the Bishop) had alerted me with tears in her voice about the bleeding, the blood always remained in the palm of the statue even though the statue’s hand is open and pointing downward… Furthermore, in my case also I felt that the blood accumulated when I prayed in the chapel but it never soiled the floor a single time. It is also strange that my wound did not open and did not twitch with pain except from Thursday to Friday. When the pain reached its peak on the 26th, the Bishop advised me to go to the hospital if it got worse. But on Saturday I no longer felt pain. The central orifice had only a rose color but perhaps that was an impression.”

Sister Agnes – Pgs 52-53

The wound is healed

During the free time of the afternoon she tried to give a little rest to her body deprived of sleep for two days. But the pain took over; lying or standing, she could not remain in one place. At 2:30 in the afternoon she was pierced with a pain of unheard violence. Unable to bear more, she fled to the chapel as to her only refuge. Floored by pain, Sister Agnes prostrated herself.

Immediately the voice of the angel sounded to the ears of her heart:

“Your sufferings will end today. Carefully engrave in the depth of your heart the thought of the blood of Mary. The blood shed by Mary has a profound meaning. This precious blood was shed to ask your conversion, to ask for peace in reparation of the ingratitude and the outrages toward the Lord. As with devotion to the Sacred Heart, apply yourself to devotion to the most Precious Blood. Pray in reparation for all men.”

In her pain and surprise, Sister Agnes could not reply. The angel continued:

“Say to your superior that the blood is shed today for the last time. Your pain also ends today. Tell them what happened today. He will understand all immediately. And you, observe his directions.” The angel ended with a smile and disappeared.

Sister Agnes regretted not having spoken to the angel. She noted that the pain had vanished at the same time that the angel disappeared…a pain so violent which ceased as though by magic without any trace of wound or blood, as though it were another hand!

Quickly she looked at the statue: from the hand of the statue blood still flowed through the hole.

Pg 53-54

Bishop Ito gives questions for Sister Agnes to ask of Mary

On the evening of Saturday, July 28th, Sister Agnes was called to the Bishop’s room. His Excellency asked her to recount what had happened the previous afternoon. She spoke of the voice of the angel which surprised her while she was praying in the chapel and of the intense pain which vanished as the angel announced. She spoke also, excusing herself for not having shown it to the Bishop, of the blood which appeared on the hand of the statue.

The Bishop listened with close attention as was his custom. He went back over the preceding facts, asking the same questions a little as one would review a lesson. He made written notes of each detail, perhaps to be sure that there was no contradiction. As for Sister Agnes, she invariably repeated over and over the same answers. As for the message of the Virgin, she hesitated a bit as to the way in which our Lady had insisted that one add truly before present in the Eucharist in the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist. (The Bishop had not taken any decision concerning this, using great prudence in everything.)

At the end he gave Sister Agnes an unexpected mission:

“When this person returns, you will ask the three following questions:

1. Does our Lord wish the existence of our institute?

2. Is its present form suitable?

3. Is a group of contemplatives necessary in a secular institute?”

Pgs 61-62

The second message

“I remained to meditate on Passion of Our Lord after 2:30 in the afternoon and I said the Rosary. Had perhaps an hour passed since I arrived in the chapel? That day [August 3rd 1973] the angel appeared (which had not happened for some time) and she recited the Rosary with me. During this time I had in my mind the questions of the Bishop and I secretly hoped tat the occasion would present itself for me to ask them.

Had the angel divined my desire? The occasion was quickly given: ‘You have something to ask? Go ahead, you have no need to be troubled,’ she said with a smile slightly inclining her head. Then taking my courage in two hands, very impressed, I was just saying the first word when suddenly from the statue of Mary, I heard as the first time that voice of indescribably beauty:

‘My daughter, my novice, do you love the Lord? If you love the Lord, listen to what I have to say to you.

It is very important. You will convey it to your superior.

Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates.

In order that the world might know His anger, the Heavenly Father is preparing to inflict a great chastisement on all mankind. With my Son, I have intervened so many times to appears the wrath of the Father. I have prevented the coming of calamities by offering Him the sufferings of the Son on the Cross, His Precious Blood, and beloved souls who console Him forming a cohort of victim souls. Prayer, penance and courageous sacrifices can soften the Father’s anger. I desire this also from your community….that it love poverty, that it sanctify itself and pray in reparation for the ingratitude and outrages of so many men. Recite the prayer of the Handmaids of the Eucharist with awareness of its meaning; put it into practice; offer in reparation (whatever God may send) for sins. Let each one endeavor, according to capacity and position, to offer herself entirely to the Lord.

Even in a secular institute prayer is necessary. Already souls who wish to pray are on the way to being gathered together. Without attaching too much attention to the form be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master.’

After a silence:

‘Is what you think in your heart true? Are you truly decided to become the rejected stone? My novice, you who wish to belong without reserve to the Lord, to become the spouse worthy of the Spouse make your vows knowing that you must be fastened to the Cross with three nails. These three nails are poverty chastity and obedience. Of the three obedience is the foundation. In total abandon, let your self be led by your superior. He will know how to understand and to direct you.’

It was a voice of indescribable beauty such as these could only be in heaven. I was far too impressed and overcome to wonder whether I was hearing with my deaf ears or with my heart. I was prostate unable to make the slightest movement. Even more, it was as if my whole body was alert not to lose a single one of the words.”

Sister Agnes / Pgs 61-63

Sister Agnes records the message in her journal

“Opening my notebook win which I registered all the events which had taken place for some time under the title of Journal Of A Soul, as the Bishop had requested I began to write. I wrote concentrating my thoughts and praying at each word, that each phrase be as exact as possible. The long message flowed from my pen without the slightest difficulty to my great amazement. I was able to put it all down straight away without the slightest hesitation and without the need of searching in my memory for the words which had become engraved in my soul and as though they were dictated by an invisible presence. I think this would have been impossible by my natural faculties.”

Sister Agnes / Pg 64

Interventions by her guardian angel

[On August 3rd] In the middle of the night, Sister Agnes was awakened with a start, “Get up! Get up!” She could not be mistaken. It was the voice of the guardian angel.

With a bound she was up and opened the door. A curious burning odor filled the corridor. Following the smell, she went down the stains and hastened to the kitchen. The metal kettle on the stove was red as a ball of fire! Now completely awake she had only time to turn off the gas. She got some water and threw it on the incandescent kettle. After a moment the steam began to dissipate and the kettle appeared, but in what a state! In the bottom, calcified leaves of herbs gave off a fetid odor. The next morning it was learned that a sister had gone to bed forgetting the kettle on the fire. A little while longer and the house might have been the prey of flames.

This was not to be the only happening of its kind for the community from this day. The guardian angel would more than once come to help in the daily things of the life in this community especially marked and chosen to be among the special souls whom Our Lady was now gathering together as those “who will repair, by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and the ingrates.“

Pg 65

Fr. Yasuda examines the structure of the second message

The second message of Mary contains major themes which form the central nucleus of Her words. It contains a teaching of the highest importance which is accentuated by the background of the miracle of the bleeding of the statue. The central theme begins with the words, “Many men afflict the Lord,” that is to say the sins which we commit daily in our earthly life. Mary searches the world with Her glance and seeks “souls who console the Lord. To appease the wrath of the Father (She awaits souls who repair, by their suffering and their poverty, for the sinners and the ingrates.“

The warning contained in the words, “The Father is preparing to inflict a great punishment,” is the consequence of what precedes. It is a pressing cry of distress which leads to an explicit demand in the following sentence.

And here clearing appear the answer to thee questions of the Bishop. To the questions, “Does the Lord wish the existence of our institute?” Mary answers with the simple words, “I wish this also of your community.” She thus recognizes the existence of the Handmaids of the Eucharist while at the same time making an appear to all men.

To the second question, “Is its present form suitable?” She gives her direction, “Without paying too much attention to the form, be faithful and fervent in prayer to console the Master.” She seems to wish to suggest that it is inappropriate to emphasize the distinction between a contemplative order, an active order and a secular order and that we should not put a scale of values among the religious belonging to to different congregations. She thus reproves the attitude which looks to establish a hierarchy among the different categories of religious orders, a conception influenced by the spirit of the world which always seeks to make comparisons and segregations. She insists on the essential which is not the form but the conformity to the will of God.

The third question finds an answer in the passage, “Even in a secular institute, prayer is necessary….already souls who wish to pray are in the course of being assembled.” Clearly whether a secular institute or not, even when one is in the lay state, prayer must be the center of life.

In the beginning, the Institute of the Handmaids of the Eucharist was a group of women living without a well-defined rule. The main principle was community life lived in simplicity and poverty by persons wishing to offer themselves in prayer.

Finally, when we look closely to the answers to the questions of the Bishop, given without awaiting the questions themselves, one is touched by the content and pertinence which could not be attributed to human wisdom, but which are indeed the very words of Heaven, of the Mother of God in person.

Pgs 65-66

The statue’s wound disappears and the statue perspires

Almost two months later, on the 29th of September, all the community had gone into the city to attend Mass in the parish church for the feast of Saint Michael. When they came back. Following the meal, Sister Agnes and a companion went into the chapel to pray the Rosary.

At the beginning of the fifth decade Sister Agnes saw that the statue of Mary shone with a brilliant light. She tugged at the sleeve of her companion. Both saw the light shining from the statue as they continued to pray. It was the garment which shone the most, but also from the two hands there emanated a dazzling light.

The fight decade completed, they approached. While Sister Agnes prostrated herself, her companion pointed her finger towards the hand, “Oh! The wound has disappeared!”

As we remarked before, the blood had flowed for the last time on the 27th of July, but the trace of the wound was always on the hand of the statue, even though it had disappeared from the hand of Sister Agnes that same day.

Now also on the statue it was as though there had been nothing there. They stood astonished, seeing the state of the hand suddenly become intact as it had been three months before. They decided not to speak of it to the others before informing the Bishop.

However, during the course of the evening office an unusual event occurred which brought the metamorphosis of the statue to the knowledge of all. As the office was almost over, the statue again became resplendent in light and began streaming as though with perspiration.

Sister Agnes who had her head lowered suddenly felt someone beside her. She lifted her eyes and saw the angel who said: “Mary is even sadder than when She shed blood. Dry the perspiration.

She joined the other sisters who brought a sack of cotton. Five of the sisters, with great care and devotion, sponged the perspiration. The entire body was soaked. They had to dry and dry; a liquid similar to heavy sweat oozed without stopping, especially on the forehead and the neck. In addition to the general amazement there was a shared feeling of grief. Sister K. prayed with tears in her voice. “Holy Mary, pardon us for causing you so much faults. Protect us, help us!” Each sister applied herself to drying the area before her eyes with the same common intention of reparation and veneration. The pieces of cotton were wringing wet.

After dinner the community returned to see the statue. It was again wet with perspiration. Distracted, the sisters began again to dry it. One even heard Sister O., not naturally talkative, murmur in a sad voice, “My cotton does not absorb. One would say that there is no perspiration when I dry.” Immediately, as if in answer to her anguished words, the cotton that she was holding began to absorb the perspiration like a sponge plunged into water…which impressed her very much.

Suddenly one of the sisters remarked that the cottons had a fragrant odor. Each one began to smell the cotton she was holding and they discovered a subtle fragrance which they could not describe as rose, violet, or lily. There was general delight. One had never experienced such a marvelous fragrance. And when Sister O. declared that not even the most subtle of perfumes give off such a sweet fragrance, it was indeed the opinion of everyone. They were asking if this might not be the perfume of paradise.

Pg 71-72

The third message

Taking up my Rosary I knelt down and made the Sign of the Cross. Hardly had I finished when that voice of indescribably beauty came from the statue to my deaf ears. From the first word I prostrated myself to the ground concentrating all my attention:

“My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you. You will inform your superior.“

After a short silence:

“As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all of humanity . It will be a punishment greater than the deluge, such as one will never have seen before. Fire will fall from the sky and will wipe out a great part of humanity, the good as well as the bad, sparing neither priests nor faithful. The survivors will find themselves so desolate that they will envy the dead. The only arms which will remain for you will be the Rosary and the Sign left by My Son. Each day recite the prayers of the Rosary. With the Rosary, pray for the Pope, the bishops and the priests.

The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate Me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres…churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated sous to leave the service of the Lord.

The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of My sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity there will be no longer pardon for them.”

With courage, speak to your superior. He will know how to encourage each one of you to pray and to accomplish works of reparation.“

When the Voice was quiet I gathered the courage to raise my head and I saw the statue still brilliant in light but a slight expression of sadness seemed to veil Her face. Then I resolved to ask the question, ‘Who is my superior?’ And at once I felt a reproach from the angel who had appeared at my side during the interval (I did not hear this reproach in a living voice I simply felt her say to me, ‘On such an occasion you would certainly have been able to ask something more important‘), But as I had three superiors in addition to the Bishop I had thought it opportune to ask it.

The Voice at once replied:

“It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community.” And she smiled and then said:

“You have still something to ask? Today is the last time that I will speak to you in living voice. From now on you will obey the one sent to you [Fr. Yasuda] and your superior.

Pray very much the prayers of the Rosary. I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach.

Those who place their confidence in me will be saved.“

She had finished speaking. This time my lips were numb with emotion and I was able only to say “Yes” while OI bowed to the ground. Little afterwards I lifted my head. The dazzling light had disappeared and there remained only the wooden statue which had resumed its normal state and stood there, silent, in its humble and poor corner of the chapel.

The light had disappeared, but the Voice remained engraved in the depths of my soul and I was filled with fear and thanksgiving at the idea that a person like me had been able to have the grace to receive messages of such importance. I prostrated myself to the ground again knowing only to repeat:

Holy Mary, refuge of all sinners pray for us.

Sister Agnes / Pg 77-79

Father Yasuda reflects on the third message

On October 13th, at Fatima 1917, following the great miracle which was witnessed by thousands over an area of 32 miles “so that all may believe,” the primary message to the world was, “Men must stop offending God Who is already so much offended!”

And the heart of the third message given by Our Lady at Akita is a warning which can be summed up thus, “If men do not repent and better themselves, there will be a terrible chastisement.” At Fatima Our Lady had said that if her requests were not heard “error will spread from an atheist Russia throughout the entire world, fomenting further wars, the good will be persecuted, the Holy Father will suffer much, and several entire nations will be annihilated.”

Sister Agnes said that after Our Lady spoke the face of the statue had an air of sadness. Has not Our Lady permitted us to see Her profound maternal concern, concerning how many of Her children will indeed mend their lives by prayer and acts of adoration? Despite the great miracle at Fatima, recognized so signally by the Church and by two personal visits there by popes, there has not been an adequate response.

Pg 80

This concludes the first part of WQPH’s special series of excerpts from “Akita: The Tears and Message of Mary.”

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