#Our Lady of Akita

[portraitsofsaints]

Our Lady of Akita

First apparition:July 6

In 1973, Sister Agnes Katsuko, a nun of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist in Akita, Japan, noticed that their statue of the Blessed Mother was weeping. The wooden statue in the convent at Akita was carved by a Buddhist woodcarver from an identical image of The Lady of All Nations. The statue wept human tears 101 times and bled type AB blood, along with other supernatural changes to the statue. Mary gave Sister Agnes messages of prayer, chastisement, and repentance. The phenomenon was witnessed by Bishop Ito and Father Teiji Yasuda. Bishop Ito gave his authorization for the veneration of the Holy Mother Mary in 1984.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[jameslmartello]

The Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association

[a-really-big-cat]

The third message of Our Lady of Akita:

My dear daughter, listen well to what I have to say to you… As I told you, if men do not repent and better themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible punishment on all 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… Each day recite the prayer of the rosary. With the rosary pray for the Pope, 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, and 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 souls 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… It is Bishop Ito, who directs your community. 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 and your superior… I alone am able still to save you from the calamities which approach.

[clementianos-blog]

Fun fact: Japan has a strong Catholic history and actually has insanely holy ground, blessed by the blood of many martyrs (including some very famous ones in Nagasaki). There was also a very famous and Church-approved apparition of Our Lady in which a statue of Mary bled real human blood and cried real human tears which were confirmed in double-blind testing. This happened at different times for several years. Our Lady of Akita also gave messages that are, again, officially approved by the local Bishop, who is always the deciding voice on whether apparitions are Church-approved. This makes the apparition officially Church-approved.

This isn't exactly what the person was asking, but it is interesting to note that while Christianity isn't very common in Japan, it does have a rich and extensive history with it. God is definitely at work in Japan, and the Japanese people seem to recognize Catholicism as the True Christian Faith, even when they aren't themselves Christian.

Also, I've always thought it was so sweet that Sailor Moon (Usagi) appears to finally get married to Mamoru in a Catholic Church in the last scene of the manga. It even has a St. Damiano Cross in the background.

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/26-martyrs-of-nagasaki

Robin do you have any thoughts on Christian religious themes/imagery in Japanese storytelling? I watched enough of Tristamp before getting locked out of Hulu (lol) to pick up on the themes and imagery and now I'm reading FMA and I'm seeing it there too, and like... I'm all for it, it's very interesting, I'm just curious as to why that seems to be rather pervasive in this genre (are Trigun and FMA even the same genre...?) and if you have any Thoughts... bc if anyone was going to have something to say on the topic, it would be you my friend :)

HIIII THANKS FOR THE QUESTION <333

short answer: I don't know! I would like to find out too!

longer answer: okay I'm gonna generalize for a second, so please know none of this is true for Everyone In Japan, thank you. But Christianity is a minority religion in Japan (under 2 percent of Japanese people are Christian). It's not unknown—some Western Christian customs, such as celebrating Christmas, have trickled into Japanese culture over time, plus Christian art is widely appreciated in Japan—but most Japanese people don't know the actual doctrines of Christianity. Christianity as a practice simply is not that relevant in wide Japanese culture, so it doesn't appear that much in Japanese culture based anime as a whole.

Christian themed anime: some anime, of course, such as Blue Exorcist or Trigun, are explicitly themed around Christianity, but that's a subgroup, not typical of anime as a whole. I think that what you're seeing of the presence of Christian themes/imagery in anime is kind of... confirmation bias? Both of our friend groups have a lot of Christian presence, and of course we both tend to gravitate toward stories that deal with faith, and we tend to talk out loud about elements that are subtextual in the original work (Trigun is HEAVILY Christian coded, but isn't like, Christian Fiction TM the way Christian Fiction TM happens as a consumer culture thing in America, whereas Blue Exorcist doesn't actually present a typical or complete Christian worldview, just uses demons as generic monsters). I don't think I can speak to anime as a whole, but I don't think Christianity is either overrepresented or underrepresented there compared to the interest in Christianity in Japanese culture. shrug!!

short note about genres: FMA and Trigun are both under the (huge) umbrella of "shōnen" (boys') anime/manga. FMA is a pretty standard, if unusually sophisticated, shōnen adventure story; it was serialized in Monthly Shōnen Gangan. Trigun is specifically "DEEP SPACE PLANET FUTURE GUN ACTION!!" (that's the official uh. description.) it's a sci-fi western :] it was originally serialized as "Trigun" in Monthly Shōnen Captain, but it's meant for a more mature audience, as is clear from its subsequent publication as "Trigun Maximum" in Shōnen Gahosha's seinen manga magazine Young King OURs. Seinen is like shōnen, but marketed towards young adult men instead of boys and teens.

about the authors: Yasuhiro Nightow, author of Trigun, was apparently raised Catholic. So that's where the Christian imagery and themes in Trigun comes from! I don't know much about FMA's author (Arakawa Hiromu), but I know that it's themed around historical European "alchemy" and the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins, with the ideas of "nature", "God / Divinity", and so on, all of which are of course historically intertwined with that era's interpretations of Christianity. So obviously it's easy to apply Christian ideas to FMA's themes.

more information and a link to a good source under the cut :]

source: "A Little Faith: Christianity and the Japanese" by Ishikawa Akito, associate professor at Momoyama Gakuin University, where he teaches religion and war studies. 

[foldingfittedsheets]

One of our neighbors is this nosy lady with an awful little chihuahua that comes up and barks at us and shits where it wants because she never has it on leash. It makes me furious.

She saw me taking Wyvern out and asked if he was new. I said yes, he’s still getting the hang of things. She asked his breed and he’s honest to god the muttiest mutt I’ve ever seen. Big time dog people in my life are stumped when they see him because he’s honestly bizarre and doesn’t harken very strongly to any established breed.

When I said he was a mutt though she said, “Probably a pit bull, look at that face!”

And I looked at Wyverns face and was frankly shocked anyone would think he looked like a pit bull. But from her tone and body language I was wary of her spreading it around and said truthfully, “Well, the only thing all the siblings in his litter looked like was border collie, so probably the most of that.”

She wandered away unconvinced and I told my betrothed later, “Okay, I need you to practice this lie with me.”

“Okay?”

“When people ask what Wyvern is you’re gonna say he’s a border collie, akita mix, okay?”

They laughed but agreed. It’s a weird enough mix that I doubt he’ll raise eyebrows and his coloring could be Akita for all I know.

There’s way more mistrust and legislation against pitbulls that I feel is undeserved, but we’ll certainly be worse off if she starts spreading around that he’s a pibble.

[trashyayo]

Our Lady of Akita

[moonlight26posts-blog]

In Baltimore City, MD: URGENT: Attentive, happy-go-lucky, stuffy-loving Akita mix needs rescue by 6pm on 11/14 - BARCS, Baltimore MD

If you can help save this beautiful girl and offer her a foster home, please email foster@charlietotherescue.org

Malibu- 4 y/o, altered female, 88lbs

Beautiful Malibu is an attentive and eager lady. This is her second time at our shelter and she always enjoys having her fluff brushed out by her doting fans (our volunteer dog walkers). She absolutely loves going for walks and adventuring along the shelter's trails, and is very well behaved aside from some on leash reactivity towards other animals. Malibu is also a big fan of stuffed toys and romping around our shelter's play yard while tossing them in the air for herself to catch.

While in our shelter's care, Malibu has shown polite play behavior around other dogs at times, though can also be very rude and mouthy as well, so has been working on her social skills while muzzled and under the management/supervision of staff.

Upon examination, our vets noted that Malibu had fleas (which we treated for), a crumpled/'cauliflowered' left ear, and is overweight. Fatty acids and joint supplements are recommended in a future home, and a full medical summary can be provided upon request.

Malibu originally came to our shelter in June of 2022 through our partnering Animal Control after she was running at large, entered someone's yard, and attacked and killed the small dog that was tethered in the yard. No humans were harmed during the attack, but the owner of the small dog did report having to pry Malibu's mouth open to get her to release their dog. Malibu was then transported to our shelter for a mandatory quarantine period.

Malibu is available immediately for rescue pick-up, and due to her history of having an offensive animal on animal bite, she is not an adoption candidate through BARCS and must be placed with an approved partner rescue by close of business (6pm) on 11/14.

Please let us know if your organization can help!

Thank you,

The BARCS Rescue Team

Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS) ​New Address! 2490 Giles Rd, Baltimore, MD 21225 rescue@barcs.org| (410) 396-4695

Rescue pick-up hours: Monday-Friday: 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m

Adoption hours: Monday-Friday: 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc. (BARCS) | 2490 Giles Rd | Baltimore, MD 21225 US

[martinwilliammichael]

Sister Agnes, visionary of Our Lady of Akita, died on the feast of the Assumption

In Akita, Japan, Sister Agnes Sasagawa Katsuko, a nun and member of the Institute of the Servants of the Holy Eucharist, renowned for her visions of the Virgin Mary, died on August 15, 2024, at the age of 93, on the Solemnity of the Assumption.

Her story is marked by three Marian apparitions and messages delivered by the Blessed Virgin, recognized as authentic by Cardinal Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in 1988.

Agnes Sasagawa Katsuko was born into a Buddhist family in 1931. At the age of 19, a botched appendix operation left her paralyzed, leading to a series of twenty operations. It was through contact with a nurse that she discovered Catholicism and decided to be baptized. She took the name Agnes when she entered religious life. 

On June 12, 1973, Sister Agnes saw rays of light emanating from the tabernacle in her convent, a vision that recurred two days in a row. On June 28, a cross-shaped wound formed on her hand, bleeding profusely. Soon afterwards, messages from Our Lady of Akita began to reach her. On July 6, 1973, a voice coming from a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary asked her to “pray in reparation for the sins of men”. The voice also taught her a prayer of consecration to the heart of Jesus. On August 3, 1973, Mary delivered an “important” message to Sister Agnes, telling her: “Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls who console him, to appease the anger of the Heavenly Father.”

On October 13, 1973, on the 60th anniversary of the miracle of the Fatima sun, Our Lady warned: “If men do not repent and improve themselves, the Father will inflict a terrible chastisement on all mankind”, adding that the only weapons left to the survivors would be the Rosary and the Sign left by her Son.

From then on, a series of supernatural manifestations began, some of which were filmed by Japanese television: premonitory dreams, demonic attacks, various changes in appearance to the statue of the Blessed Virgin of Akita. The statue wept 101 times between January 4, 1975 and September 15, 1981.

In 1984, Bishop John Shojiro Ito recognized the supernatural nature of the events linked to the statue of Mary and authorized the veneration of Our Lady of Akita in his diocese. The Redemptoris Mater shrine in Akita, completed in 2002, attracts some 7,000 pilgrims each year.

www.tribunechretienne.com  

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[portraitsofsaints]

Our Lady of Akita Feast day: June 12

In 1973, Sister Agnes Katsuko, a nun of the Institute of the Handmaids of the Holy Eucharist in Akita, Japan, noticed that their statue of the Blessed Mother was weeping. The wooden statue in the convent at Akita was carved by a Buddhist woodcarver from an identical image of The Lady of All Nations. The statue wept human tears 101 times and bled type AB blood, along with other supernatural changes to the statue. Mary gave Sister Agnes messages of prayer, chastisement, and repentance. The phenomenon was witnessed by Bishop Ito and Father Teiji Yasuda. Bishop Ito gave his authorization for the veneration of the Holy Mother Mary in 1984.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[jameslmartello]

The Death of the Akita Visionary: Sister Agnes Sasagawa

[gratefultothealmighty]

Fr. Elias Mary F.I. - Our Lady of Akita, Fatima, Amsterdam - PART 2

[christianpureofficial]

Sister Agnes Sasagawa, Our Lady of Akita visionary, dies at 93

A Japanese nun holds her arms out as she prays at a chapel in her convent in Nagasaki, Japan. / Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images CNA Staff, Aug 17, 2024 / 07:52 am (CNA). Sister Agnes Sasagawa, a Japanese nun whose purported visions of the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Akita included stark warnings for humanity and instructions to pray the rosary and repent of sin, died Aug. 15 at…