At  Farm In Canada, Claims Persist That The Blessed Mother Often Makes Visits

The owner of a farm in Canada where 30,000 have traveled in homage to the Blessed Mother asserts that apparitions have occurred for 14 years and continue to take place.

The farm, located in Marmora, Ontario, about 120 miles east of Toronto, has been the site of numerous claims since 1991, when phenomena erupted during a reunion of those who had journeyed to the famous apparition site of Medjugorje in former Yugoslavia.

The farm was owned by John Greensides, who died several years back, and his wife, Shelagh, 80, who is in the process of turning the land over to Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

The local diocese based in Kingston has issued no official comment on the site, according to a diocesan spokesman, although a warning was issued from a bishop during the 1990s on the potentially harmful effects of staring at the sun.

Many who have visited claim to have seen the solar orb act strangely -- a claim made at a number of alleged apparition sites -- or to catch an actual glimpse of the Blessed Mother. Among visitors to the farm have been Ukrainian mystic Josyp Terelya, Medjugorje seer Ivan Dragicevic, and Venezuelan seer Maria Esperanza.

The Greensides had placed Stations of the Cross around a field and into the woods for the reunion and it is at the Tenth Station, where Christ is stripped of His garments, that much of the phenomena takes place.

The visions started with alleged solar phenomena on June 24, 1991. "That evening at 6:30 p.m. a lady got up to the microphone and said she saw the miracle of the sun and when we looked it was spinning and went down and back up like at Fatima," Shelagh says. "The next spring Our Lady appeared to ten children all in one day. They were aged four to 14 and went into ecstasy. Different people have seen her."

Among the children was an 11-year-old girl named Marci Guinto from Mississauga, Ontario [left], who first saw Our Lady, allegedly, on August 23, 1992. Since that time, dozens of statues have since oozed oil in the girl's presence (including during a visit by Spirit Daily).

A nun who has written a book about Marmora says that the actual origins of the phenomena may greatly predate Medjugorje.

"About 45 years ago, a little boy named Karl Clemens lived on the family farm about two kilometers east of the village of Marmora," writes Sister Alice Johnson, a member of the Sisters for Christian Unity in Peterborough, Ontario. "The film, 'Our Lady of Fatima,' was shown at the village, and Karl was very moved by it. Afterwards, he climbed to the top of the hill at the back of the farm, and spoke to Our Blessed Mother, 'You did it there. Why don't you do it here too, so that people can get to know you better?' Karl and his brothers grew up, and eventually left the farm. After some years in the teaching profession, Karl became a priest. The family farm was sold and in 1972 was bought by Shelagh and John Greensides. Twenty years later, Our Blessed Mother answered young Karl's prayer."

Or so it is claimed at this time when such claims are endless. In Canada, Marmora lays claim as the most active and well-known site at a time of great social turmoil.

"I had a vision of the Blessed Mother in 1992," recalls Shelagh, who has sixty grandchildren and great-grandchildren. "She appeared as if she was in a picture in the sky. One night I was sitting on the chesterfield and got a very heavy feeling. When I asked in prayer if I was wrong about the vision -- if it was real -- I saw the exact same thing again."

At that moment, says Mrs. Greensides, she was granted a locution telling her to give a Miraculous Medal to everyone who visited. The number of pilgrims is estimated by the fact that she has handed out more than 30,000 of the medals.

Asked if she thought the special events were about to take place in the world, the great-grandmother says, "Oh dear, I think we're in those times. I don't think Our Lady came just to surprise us all for entertainment. I think her message is, pray and pray and do the best you can. The States are getting hit hard right now, but I think Canada is worse and so we're praying for Canada. What's going on with the climate has a lot of significance."

Alleged seers at the site have warned that it is time to "prepare our souls" (in the words of one), and that "it's no longer too long" before major events will come. "My children, I am the Lord and I am here to tell you that the world is going to be judged," said another, quoting Jesus. "Very soon you will see the recompense of the wicked. You will see the prince of the world cast down. The world will be judged by its own wickedness. My children, tell your loved ones, tell your brothers and sisters, that they do not have much time. The time has come now to repent, to return to God the Father, to ask forgiveness for their sins, to cut the pride that is the root of all evil."

As always, we urge prayer and fasting for discernment before visits to any such site, and the Greensides themselves have warned about attacks from the enemy: that not all who claim to be seers there are legitimate. At the same time, there is spring water at the farm and some claim it has healing effects in this time when so many need healing, especially the inner kind.

11/7/05