(Update, Mar 2 2012: Here’s the link to the bishop’s decree concerning Holy Love Ministries on the website of the Diocese of Cleveland. The diocesan site was down when I originally wrote this article and I had forgotten to go back later and link directly to their page. I wrote a new post about HLM tonight, too.
After discussing this with a new friend, I’d like to pass along her request that all of us pray for the alleged visionary, that she may be reconciled with the bishop, that she may be faithful, that she may be humble, that she may be patient and accept the will of God, even if that will is not what she would like. These would be signs of the validity and veracity of her alleged visions, or locutions, whichever type of revelations they are alleged to be. But those are not the signs that she has exhibited. In any case, I accept the bishop’s word and am not promoting Holy Love Ministries or anything associated with it unless and until the Church approves it. And that means when the bishop of the diocese where HLM is, in Cleveland, approves it.)
(Update, Dec 1 2011: The title of my post now seems misleading to me. I do not want to imply that determining the validity of “Holy Love Ministries” — or of the private revelations associated with it — is the responsibility of the Catholic laity. As you will see further on in the post, their bishop spoke out about this a long time ago and gave his ruling on it. Which was No, it is not authentic and the faithful are to have nothing to do with it. Period. The people at “Holy Love Ministries” refuse to obey. That certain other people insist on spreading the “messages” and the rosary is itself disobedient and I am disgusted to see advertisements for this group prominently displayed on the right hand side of each and every page of a well-known pro-life site. I have written to them about it and have mentioned it to them several times but have never received a reply or even an acknowledgement of my concerns.)
A friend gave me a rosary a few months ago. It’s an unusual rosary: the “Hail, Mary” beads are the shape of tears and inside each one is a tiny figure of an unborn baby. The booklet that accompanies the beads contains special pro-life meditations and prayers. I’ve enjoyed using the beads while praying the rosary, but I haven’t ever used the actual book. And I’ll tell you why. Because the text is based upon “messages” that were allegedly received by someone in Ohio who claims that the Virgin Mary has appeared to her for more than 25 years.
Now, I’m not saying she’s lying. I have no idea if she’s really been visited by our Blessed Mother or not. But I do know this: The Church has not approved the “apparitions” of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Maureen Sweeney Kyle. As a matter of fact, the Bishop of Cleveland issued a decree about Holy Love Ministry back in November of 2009. I did a search and found it on the web just now. (The diocesan site is down for maintenance and upgrades but I found a copy of the decree on another site. When the official site is back up, I’ll link to the document there.)
The Bishop of Cleveland is pretty clear in his warning to the faithful. And Ms. Kyle is equally clear in her rebuttal of the bishops warning. And that is what gives me pause. And cause for concern. If she was truly being contacted by the Blessed Virgin Mary—the model disciple, the most faithful, humble and perfect of all disciples ever —wouldn’t she respond to the Ordinary of her diocese in a faithful, humble, less prideful manner? Wouldn’t she accept the bishop’s authority and decision and, with patience and prayer, hope that he might change his mind, that God would make it known to him that Holy Love Ministry was, if not authentic, then at least, not to be forbidden to his flock?
Consider what happened to St. Teresa of Jesus (St. Teresa of Avila). She was denounced to the Inquisition for, I believe it was, the Book of Her Life and the account of some of her spiritual experiences therein. Visionary experiences. She had to write a letter explaining certain things to the Inquisition and they were happy with what they read and lifted the ban on her book. But my point is that St. Teresa submitted to the authority—the legitimate authority, I might add—of said Inquisition and complied with what had been requested of her. St. Teresa wanted nothing more than to be—and was—a faithful daughter of Holy Mother Church.
Read the rebuttal from HLM. Does that sound like someone who wants to be faithful to the Church? Someone who wants nothing more than to spread the Gospel of Christ? I’ll tell you what it sounds like to me, considering also the rest of the site, slick marketing and merchandising included. It sounds to me like someone has found a very lucrative way to profit as a “prophet”. I’d be much more inclined to view her activities favorably, or at least to reserve judgment, if they would stop hawking their wares like any common hucksters and ceased operating what looks on their website to be very like a Catholic-themed theme park instead of a place of pilgrimage or a holy and sacred shrine.
As for HLM’s claim of being “ecumenical” and “having nothing to do with the Catholic Church”, this tactic seems to me to be just part of an attempted justification for not seeking ecclesial approval.
Q – Is the Rosary of the Unborn approved by Catholic Church?
A – Holy Love Ministries is an ecumenical organization (which means it is for all people) and is NOT affiliated with the Catholic Church or any other denomination. We do not seek ecclesiastic approval under the Catholic Church. We are not a church, but an organization given a specific mission. The Rosary of the Unborn comes directly from The Blessed Virgin Mary and we are under Her direction regarding The Rosary of the Unborn. — From the FAQ page.
And consider this: our beloved Blessed Virgin Mary never ever ever points to herself but always points to her Divine Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. I cannot imagine her telling HLM that anything comes directly from her. Nor can I imagine her condoning rebellion against her Son’s representative who has ecclesial jurisdiction over HLM in his diocese. By their fruits we shall know them. And this actually forms part of the criteria by which such things as supposed apparitions are in fact judged.
With respect to any disciplinary precepts the bishop makes concerning the apparition and its site, they should be followed faithfully (e.g. what sacraments, if any, may be celebrated there). No Catholic should ever violate the practical norms laid down by the local bishop with respect to an alleged apparition, even if intellectually they disagree with his conclusion regarding the alleged apparition. Such disobedience would be sinful, and if it characterized the attitude of the followers of the alleged apparition it would be a sign of its inauthenticity, i.e. by producing bad fruit. — From EWTN’s Expert Answers on Apparitions/Private Revelations. Written by Colin B. Donovan, STL, the whole article is very interesting and quotes relevant sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Emphasis added.)
So what will I do with my rosary beads from HLM? I’ll use them the way I have been. Occasionally. And with traditional, approved or not disapproved prayers and meditations. I long to be what St. Teresa longed to be: and in my case, if not a saint, then at least a faithful daughter of my Holy Mother, my Church.
Catholic Heart and Mind 
I recommend everyone to make a pilgrimage to Maranatha Spring & Shrine, if they are able.
This property and Ministry has been a great blessing in my life.
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I recommend that people stay away from any “ministry” run by people who disobey their bishop and claim to be ecumenical in order to dodge his ruling. That’s a bad sign. Can God bring good things out of any situation? Yes, of course. That doesn’t mean that every situation is desirable. The whole way people ignore or reject the bishop’s ruling floors me. That rejection is another bad sign. If a place or devotion, what-have-you, tends to foster obedience and faithfulness, then it’s a good sign. If it does the opposite, that is manifestly not a good sign.
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Shame on everyone who condems the rosary in any form.Our Lady has said wherever she shows up the devil does also.It’s so obvious in the comments made here. The apparitions with it’s attendent graces & miracles were never fully investigated by ay either bishop in Cleveland.There isn’t enough room here to describe the graces received by persons l’ve known who’ve visited this site. How many priests lead their flock in the rosary or even speak about abortion? Jesus sent His Holy Mother to earth for a reason. This bishop simply refuses to admit priests aren’t doing their jobs ( and are creating scandal within the Church. ) Our Lady has said “,There will always be Judases who will not believe”. I think they will have much to answer for when they come before the throne of God.
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God can send graces wherever He pleases, but He gave us a Church to decide about apparitions and other things. The very refusal of so many to abide by the bishop’s ruling confirms that there is something there that is not of God. Shame on those who will not show enough humility to be shepherded by their shepherd. It’s as if the sheep want to lord it over their shepherd. I choose Christ, the Gospel He gave us, and the Church He gave us, too, over any apparition any day, though I accept any and all apparitions that have been approved by Holy Mother Church. And I love Our Lady and I know she only ever recommends obedience and faithfulness to her Son and His Church. Woe unto those who have too much pride to listen to what she has always truly said.
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Funny…I was just saying my rosary for the unborn …..yes the one everyone wants to talk about instead of pray on. I was at the shrine on the 16 of July and did get the triple blessing card. 2 of my sisters also were there, and 7 nieces. We’ve been going there since Sept. 14, 1997. I too will not go into the miracles we have received because you have to have faith and trust and confidence in what God is showing you. I have never been to any of the other holy shrines, also not approved by the church. My husband has offered to send me and my family because he knows my love for shrines, but Holy Love has my heart. We are very prayerful family. I had 7 brothers and sisters. My dad converted when my oldest sister made her confirmation. He told my mom, he wanted what she had. He meant her faith. They said the rosary every day. Most of us say the rosary every day, and daily mass, and adoration. Since I’ve been going to the shrine, I helped start adoration in our parish. Only by the grace of God did this get off the ground back then, because Priests didn’t think enough people would come and the Blessed Sacrament would be left alone. Everyone who prayed and started adoration over 20 years ago had all been to the Holy Love Shrine. In fact on the 16th of July I saw 2 of those original ladies there. Did I mention we have a 6:15 pm mass at our church and afterwards they say the rosary of the unborn. 50% of the people there are using the rosary with the babies. Also, back in 1997-99, (same ladies and a few men) after saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at Holy Love at the 3:00 hour, came back to ask if we could have Divine Mercy Sunday Services and put a Divine Mercy Image in the church. I love my priest at that time. A very good friend of our family. We met him when my sister was his nurse when he had cancer. He ONLY follows church teaching which we knew he had to. Everyone was telling him about the shrine. He had us go through the liturgical committee to see if the Divine Mercy Image could be put up in the church. They said NO because, if we were allowed to put up Divine Mercy… then others would want Our Lady of Guadeloupe, etc. I had already purchased the image and framed it so they could see the beauty, but they said no. Fr. knew how upset we were…(crying in front of the Blessed Sacrament…so he said we could put it in the PSR hall. I told Fr. HE (JESUS) wants to be where HIS RAYS can touch everyone… to make a long story short, every time I went to church I went back there to venerate Jesus. The picture FELL off the wall 3 times and the frame busted. Finally one day I was at the shrine with my mom and dad on there wedding anniversary. That’s where they wanted to go. I was praying for the picture to be placed where everyone could see it. I was praying where the Blessed Mother left a stand of her hair for Maureen. It’s in a monstrance there. Just saw it again last week. I told Our Lord, His Time, His Way, His How on getting the picture moved. On the way home I stopped into the church to get something. The picture was hanging over the front doors where everyone walked under. I can’t tell you the joy I had. I ran back in the offices and asked to see Fr. He wasn’t busy, so I went in. I said I can’t believe you put my picture over the door! I wouldn’t have even thought to ask for that! He said he was tired of it falling down.
Before the virus we had adoration 24 hrs 5 days a week, started by same crew. One of the woman was able to persuade the 3rd priest after my priest friend, to put the Blessed Sacrament back in the church.
I forgot to mention…back when we all started going to the shrine, I also prayed for discernment on its authenticity. I had the 3 days of darkness which I didn’t understand at the time. Came out smelling roses. Went to talk to another priest friend who was at the diocese at the time. He didn’t tell me not to go. He told me it wasn’t needed for my salvation. Also, he said you can tell what’s from God by the fruits. Last week when we were up there we walked and prayed the stations of the cross, said all 4 decades of the rosary, prayed the divine mercy Chaplet.
What are you and your family praying? What have you done to further grace in the world? All I know, if this shrine is ever proven to be a hoax, (only my guardian angel would be the one to let me know), my family, my parish friends and myself sure have prayed a lot of rosaries, and prayers and Chaplets, and stations of the cross, and …..
God Bless you all!
Stay safe.
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“…if this shrine is ever proven to be a hoax, (only my guardian angel would be the one to let me know)…”
I don’t think that’s the role of a Guardian Angel, but it is the role of the Church with her Magisterium, her teaching authority, and her authority to rule on matters of faith and morals, the authority given her by Christ Himself. If your Guardian Angel leads you to disobey or reject the legitimate ruling of legitimate authority (in this case, the bishop of the diocese where HLM is located), then I would doubt not the Church but the authenticity of the Guardian Angel or my understanding and interpretation of his communication with me.
And I would start studying what the Church actually teaches about seers and visionaries and apparitions, and read the lives and the writings of saints like St. Teresa of Avila and St. Faustina, and see how they handled adversity. Rejecting the legitimate authority of their bishops was not something they practiced. They were keen on obedience and also keen on being certain that they were not being deceived by spirits. Yes, even these marvelous saints were at pains to make sure they were not being deceived. And if they were so careful, then we ought to be doubly so. Listening to the Church and being obedient is the way of the saints, the way one protects oneself in matters of the spiritual life. To do otherwise is not the way of the saints and not the way I want to live my life.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Patti. God bless you.
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I’d get rid of the rosary, if I were you. If the devil is at work through Holy Love Ministries, I’d not want to touch one of those. I have had friends try to give me those and I just say no thank you.
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Hi, Elizabeth! What a beautiful reminder of Our Lady’s Visitation to her cousin who was also with child: Elizabeth, carrying the baby Saint John the Baptist to be in her long-barren womb. What joy!
I’m not afraid of the rosary beads themselves. Everything I know about Holy Love Ministries, which isn’t very much, leads me to believe that the people are either deceived or deceivers, but that doesn’t necessarily make them in league with the devil. But you could be right. Have you actually been there? In any case, I got rid of the beads a long time ago after going through a thorough explanation of what I saw as the problem. The woman who took them is strong in the Holy Spirit and I’m sure she went right to a priest to have them cleansed or whatever he thought they needed.
But, like you, a dear pro-life friend gave me those (as she gave them to lots of other people, too). As soon as I glanced at the booklet that came with it, my Uh-Oh alarm went off. Nothing anyone has said has made that alarm go away yet.
Peace be with you, Elizabeth! Thank you for stopping by and for speaking out about something you see as harmful. I wish more Catholics would have the awareness and the courage to do that, every day, wherever they are.
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I agree. Unfaithfulness to the local bishop is a big red flag, Mei. I haven’t used my rosary from this company (I really can’t use the word ministry when referring to it) since, well, since I wrote this post, as far as I can remember. I look at it and see all those little figures of tiny babies in the beads and I can’t quite bring myself to get rid of it. But I don’t use it; I keep it in my rosary bag. Every time I see it, I’m reminded of the pro-life cause and about the importance of the faithful Christian witness, too.
And, yeah, I stay away from the Medjugorje stuff, too. If and when Holy Mother Church approves, I’ll look more into it. Until then, I have more than enough approved devotions and studies to keep me busy the rest of my life. The Church is so vast and time is so short. The Divine Mercy Shrine suggestion is a great one! The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy and the Rosary are two of my favorite devotions. :)
Thank you for reading and commenting, Mei. :) Peace be with you.
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When I read about the decree by the local Bishop, I also felt the way you do concerning it. If the ministry is not following the authority of the local Bishop, then I think it is wise to be wary and avoid it. The rosary of the unborn is beautiful and needed and I wish another legitimate, Church approved organization would have something like it too. I won’t even buy that rosary from that ministry because I would be reminded of the concern over it. Unfortunately, when I was younger, I went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. I was naive at the time to realize it was a questionable pilgrim site. I just went along with the parish group that organized it. I went with a youth group. When I attended the prayers when the apparitions were suppose to be happening, I did not experience anything unusual. My experiences out of the whole trip were positive with my interaction with the children and other pilgrims. I just admired their strong faith but felt I could have learned the same remaining at home. I think if you want to make a pilgrimage, go to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge instead. :)
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i was there and after i found out was going on i told people not to go and to be obedient to the church,but the response its that some priests has told them to just go.i know a priest and a woman who after been there (the woman lives in ohio and work for hlm they booth got a house from some rich men who our lady told him to do it .
this woman its very deep into the messages and actually all her family receives messages too.i know the bishop from mexico has said not to go and rule the same as the bishop from cleveland.also another minister in mexico its promoting hlm and bring in people from mexico..who will put a stop to this?when priest are going there too?
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Greetings, margarita! Welcome to the blog! :)
It is troubling when priests don’t listen to bishops and lead their flocks astray. But this isn’t new. I’ve heard priests tell people on Catholic radio that it doesn’t matter what the Church says about Medjugorje, that they should just go anyway and make up their own minds. When the show’s host pointed out that we are supposed to listen to the voice of the Church on these matters, the priest insisted that he knows the apparition is authentic and people should just go.
This (along with many other instances) is what makes me suspect that the apparitions are not authentic. We shall know them by their fruit. Disobedience and obstinance are fruits but they’re not good ones. When the followers and the “seers” stubbornly refuse to listen to the Church, I want to steer clear of it all.
But what to do with those who won’t listen? I don’t know. Perhaps we can speak to them, speak the truth, in charity. And we absolutely must pray for them.
Thank you for reading, margarita, and for sharing your story about HLM. And for being a faithful Catholic. Peace be to you. :)
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I am liking your blog a lot, by the way.
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Thank you, Carlos! And welcome! :)
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I just got one of those rosaries for free at my church and I like it. Not very long after reading the booklets that come with it, I also started to doubt about the authenticity of its claims, looked for their website and it all looked like little more than marketing. and after searching more about it, I ended here.
I want to point out that when they answer the question
“Q – Is the Rosary of the Unborn approved by Catholic Church?
A – Holy Love Ministries is an ecumenical organization (which means it is for all people) and is NOT affiliated with the Catholic Church … We do not seek ecclesiastic approval under the Catholic Church. W…”
they are not actually answering the question. The question was wether the Rosary was approved, not about wether the organization has or seeks approval.
I am also taking the approach of waiting to hear about an official approval by the Catholic Church before I trust their claims.
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Yeah, I agree, Carlos. They certainly did dodge the question and the dodge itself is revealing. But did you notice the link (I did link to it, didn’t I?) to the document from the local bishop? The Church did rule on it. The only ruling the Church needs is the ruling from the local bishop. He is the Ordinary in his diocese and he has authority over it. He’s pretty clear in his decision and it is binding upon Catholics, as I understand it, in his diocese and beyond. I can’t imagine that he would rule that Catholics from Cleveland are to stay away from HLM but other Catholics could attend services there. Nor can I imagine that another bishop would come along and give his approval, contradicting the local bishop.
Here’s the link: Bishop’s Decree on HLM.
Now it is possible that more rulings could come at a later date when the situation warrants it. But, really, the only way I can see that happening is if HLM and the “mystic” concerned undergo a serious interior conversion and become faithful to their bishop. The obvious commercialism that you note in your comment would seem to indicate that this conversion has not yet happened, as does their disobedience, rebelliousness, and the fact that they issued a “rebuttal” of all things, instead of a mere letter of clarification and submission.
An example will be useful (especially for non-Catholics reading this): Consider St. Bernadette. She was upset with people for selling “holy” items at Lourdes. She absolutely refused to profit off of the apparitions. And she objected to her family profiting from them too, poverty stricken though they were. She submitted to her bishop and remained a humble daughter of the Church, even though she refused to deny what she had seen. She still obeyed the Church, she did not rebel.
I’m glad you got the same impression I did about HLM. But I”m sad that they’re taking the direction they seem to be taking. I still like the rosary. And I’m glad I didn’t give them any money for mine.
Now that you’ve found the blog, I look forward to hearing from you again! Peace be with you, Carlos. :)
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