On May 31, 2016, Archbishop Ramon C. Arguelles released his COMMUNIQUE to the public. The joys of the devotees suddenly turned into sorrows. Surprised at this turn of event devotees wondered what makes the Archbishop Arguelles issue such document. On June 26, 2016, for the first time was seen at the web page of the Diocese of Pasig, a copy of the decree PROT.N. 226/1949 PRESUMED APPARITION OF THE BVM AT THE CARMELITE CONVENT IN LIPA, PHILIPPINES (a copy of which you will find on our Documents page), the basis of the COMMUNIQUE of Archbishop Ramon Arguelles.
The Lipa phenomenon again was in the news locally and abroad. Some even wrote: A BIG HOAX! The Prioress of the Carmel of Lipa during the time of the apparition in 1948, Mother Mary Cecilia of Jesus, was made the culprit of the supposed big hoax of this Marian apparition. To her was blamed the deception of the many people who came to believe in this Marian phenomenon, of orchestrating an apparition in her and with her Carmelite community.
On the other hand, please see the attached biography written about Mother Cecilia, with commentaries of nuns in her Lipa Carmel community and from the Carmel where she came from. Note that even now, one of the two nuns who do not believe in the apparition and still alive, who was present during the 1948 apparitions, vouch for the holiness and sanctity of this Mother Prioress of Lipa. In 1983 this Mother Prioress died a few days after offering her life for the cause of the Mediatrix and her Lipa Apparition. Offering one’s life for a particular cause or for the will of God is a practice not only with the Carmelites but with the many other religious congregations or communities.
Additionally, please note that the real subject of Lipa Apparition is not the Mother Prioress, but the visionary Sr. Teresita Castillo who lived in silence and humility amidst humiliations and illnesses until her peaceful and silent death on November 16, 2016. May her soul rest in peace. May she pray for us and the cause of the Mediatrix and Lipa Apparition.