It is well-known among the faithful that some true private revelations are accompanied by miraculous signs, such as an image or statue of the Virgin Mary crying tears, or even tears of blood. However, false private revelation is often accompanied by false signs and wonders, which seek to imitate the truly miraculous signs. Sometimes these false signs are the result of human deception, but more often these are the result the action of fallen angels. (Most false apparitions and messages come from fallen angels.)
So then, how can the faithful tell the difference between a statue that miraculously weeps tears or blood, and one which is a false sign? One way is to examine the messages associated with the claimed private revelation, if the messages are false, then so are the signs. Now sometimes these false signs may be very convincing. But then it is like an audience being entertained by a highly-skilled magician; you might not be able to figure out how each and every trick is done, but you still know that it is a trick. False messages mean false signs. If the messages are contrary to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, then even great signs and wonders should leave true faithful souls unimpressed and unconvinced.
Another way is to examine the way that the sign is presented. False signs and wonders tend to be presented in an overly-dramatic, attention-seeking, exaggerated manner, that is, in a manner which is incompatible with the subtle wisdom of God and the humility of the Virgin Mary. The case of a statue of Mary associated with the false private revelation to Julia Kim is very instructive in this regard. Her statue does not merely weep tears or weep blood:
1. blood from the eyes does not flow gently from the corners of the eyes, like true tears
2. blood also reportedly flows from the nose of the statue
3. mucous reportedly flows from the nose of the statue
4. sweat reportedly is exuded from the statue
5. blood reportedly spurts from the mouth of the statue
6. the messages explain the blood flow from the mouth of the statue by claiming that Mary is vomiting blood and screaming until her throat bleeds
7. there are claimed signs of water from a spring turning into breast milk
8. the messages portray Mary as if she were asking people to drink from the milk of her breasts
9. there was even a statue of Jesus with water reportedly flowing from between its toes
Notice that these features of Julia Kim's statue are unlike any of the true miracles known throughout the history of the Church. Instead of a statue of the Virgin Mary shedding a modest amount of tears of blood as a teaching miracle, we are presented with a statue that has blood flowing from the eyes and nose, and spurting from the mouth. Instead of a lesson about the true and deep sorrow of Mary over sin, we are told (supposedly by Mary) that she is vomiting blood at our sins and screaming until her throat bleeds. Does this sound like the meek and humble Mother of God to you?
The additional alleged signs of mucous and sweat coming from the statue are also unlike any known true private revelation. True miracles of this kind would be teaching miracles. But what lesson is learned by mucous and blood coming from the nose of a statue of Mary? Or what lesson is learned by a statue exuding sweat, or by water flowing from between the toes of a statue? There is no lesson. It is merely an attempt to draw attention to the signs themselves, for their own sake. Such signs are lacking in modesty and humility, so they cannot be from the modest and humble Virgin Mary.
As for the alleged sign of water turning into breast milk, this again is unlike any sign or miracle in the history of the Church. There have been many Saints and Blesseds who have received miraculous signs from God. But water turning into the breast milk of the Virgin Mary is not found among them. The whole idea is offensive to Christian modesty. And it would be unnatural for an adult human being to drink any woman's breast milk. The idea that God would perform a miracle to turn water into breast milk is absurd. The lesson taught by this claimed miracle is false, therefore the claimed miracle is false. Yet the messages of Julia Kim repeatedly portray the Virgin Mary as if she were asking people to drink her breast milk.
The following is a selection of some of the messages to Julia Kim on this subject. There are other messages on this same topic, but I will spare you from them. I will briefly comment on these messages.
January 1, 1988
The Blessed Mother's statue shed blood from her eyes and nose from about 10:15 a.m.
May 8, 1990
At Julio's pressing words, I looked at the Blessed Mother's statue and saw her shedding tears of blood profusely. She also had much blood under her nose. It was about 11:20 p.m. She continued shedding tears of blood until about 1:20 a.m.
July 2, 1995
Chong-Won Kang, Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Korea:
What he saw was tears on the Blessed Mother's statue outside the Chapel. I was very amazed and looked closely at the Blessed Mother's face. She indeed was shedding tears from her eyes, mucous from her nostrils, and sweat from her face.
The blood from the eyes, as is clear from the pictures of the statue on Julia Kim's official website, does not flow like tears from the corners of the eye, but seems to drop from the eyes in other places.
http://www.najumary.org/img/messages/1213-8.jpg
Also, a statue with a supposedly miraculous bloody nose does not make any theological or spiritual sense. The claim is made that mucous miraculously flowed from the nose of the statue. False signs often try to imitate true miracles, but they do not have the same wisdom underlying the sign, so they end up presenting what is foolish, rather than what is wise, an empty sign, rather than a teaching miracle. These false signs are merely an attempt to do as many startling and attention-getting things with the statue as possible.
October 19, 1986
Today, the Blessed Mother [i.e. her statue] shed copious amounts of dense tears of blood.
October 29, 1986
The Blessed Mother's statue looked so miserable with lots of blood and tears on her face. I had never seen her looking so miserable.
October 29, 1986
After the Blessed Mother finished speaking, the Pastor came with another priest and asked me to wipe the tears of blood from the Blessed Mother's statue. I felt so sad, but wiped the tears of blood from the statue beginning from the face down to the feet, contemplating the Blessed Mother's words that we should practice obedience.
October 14, 1989
After the blessing, we went to the Chapel and saw that the Blessed Mother had shed tears of blood copiously, making the cloth under the statue very wet.
The sheer volume of tears and blood and other fluids coming from the statue is another indication that this sign is false. Often this statue is described as being covered in blood and fluids from the face down to the feet. The Virgin Mary is meek and humble, but these signs are not. The Virgin Mary partakes of the subtle and profound wisdom of God. But these signs are neither subtle, nor wise. Also, the Virgin Mary in Heaven may truly be said to be deeply sorrowful over our sins, but she cannot truly be said to be miserable. For despite our sins, Mary is now always with God in Heaven, seeing God as He truly is. She cannot be miserable.
November 5, 1986
Mary: Do you see the blood flowing out of my throat? God the Father's just anger is overflowing. Because I love you all, I am holding on to you all even to the extent of vomiting blood . . . in order to save even one more soul that is failing.
March 4, 2006
Julia Kim: On March 4, 2006, First Saturday, at about 7:30 p.m., when we were entering the vinyl chapel on the Blessed Mother's Mountain, carrying her statue which was exuding much fragrant oil, blood suddenly spurted out of her mouth.
November 24, 1994
Mary: My Heart is burning so much that I am throwing up blood, because I wish to spread my voice to the world through my daughter in this urgent time, but this is being blocked because of narrow-minded insistence on habitual ways by human thinking. I cannot wait any longer, because a total disaster is possible due to the schemes of the Freemasons.
February 16, 2003
Jesus: Make haste to wake up from sleep, rush to Me through My Mother, and make strenuous efforts so that all the children in the world may practice the messages of love that My Mother and I have been screaming to them until Our throats start bleeding and be saved.
February 3, 1994
Mary: How blind and deaf they are and how stubbornly they are refusing to follow me! I have been screaming until my throat bleeds, asking them to repent quickly before the cup of God's wrath, which is already filled, starts overflowing.
October 31, 1995
How numerous are the clergy who do not defend truth but keep silent for fear and remain as spectators because of face-saving and the eyes of others, even when they see errors and despite my messages of love that I have been screaming (to you) until my throat bleeds!
July 13, 1997
(What I want is) that my messages of love, which I have been screaming to you until my throat begins bleeding and which I have been pleading with you (to accept) shedding tears and tears of blood and squeezing fragrant oil out of all of my body, be accepted by the Church as soon as possible; that numerous herds of sheep that have been scattered return; and that Masses be celebrated in the Basilica of the Mary's Ark of Salvation.
December 31, 2005
If you do not listen carefully to my pleas of tears and tears of blood and my screams that I make with the voice of love until my throat starts bleeding, giving you love by squeezing my whole body, and compromise with this world filled with pride and poison, God's response will be stern, and the flames of disaster, burning with justice, will fall again on various places.
The Jesus and Mary described in the Gospels do not speak or act in the way that these messages portray them. Jesus does not scream until his throat bleeds. The Virgin Mary would not express her love by saying that she was vomiting blood. The lack of peacefulness and wisdom of such a saying is in direct contrast to the true qualities of the Mother of God. The Virgin Mary would not express the burning of her heart by saying that she is throwing up blood. Notice how 'Mary' seems frustrated and angry and indignant; she complains so loudly that she screams until her throat bleeds. Is this the Virgin Mary that you know from the Gospels and from the teaching of the Church? The Mary that I know is not at all like the Mary of these messages. These messages say the words 'messages of love,' but in truth they are no such thing.
June 30, 2002
[statue of Jesus on the Cross]
I wiped Jesus' tears and sweat with cotton and collected His sweat flowing down to His toes in a small bottle. When a man saw this and said, "Isn't this plain water?" the tears and sweat suddenly stopped flowing down. Instead, water began flowing from between the toes. This water kept flowing down, even though I wiped it repeatedly.
Since it is already clear that these signs of fluids coming from statues is not a true miracle from God, how are these false signs accomplished? Such signs are produced by fallen angels, who, like all angels, have a natural ability to interact with the natural world. The exact way that they accomplish this is unimportant; even if you do not know how a skillful magician does a particular trick, you can still know that it is a trick. Toe water is not a miraculous sign from God.
This next alleged miraculous sign is very offensive to Christian modesty, but it must be mentioned so that the full measure of the perversity of these messages and claimed signs can be known.
June 2005
On the first day in Naju, we entered the Chapel, smelling a strong fragrance of roses. We also saw that the Blessed Mother's milk had come down on the Chapel floor. Everyone in the pilgrimage group wept, realizing that the Blessed Mother had been waiting for the boy.
I asked the boy's mother to collect the Blessed Mother's miraculous water. I first filled my bottle with water, and, then, the boy's mother filled her bottle with water. When her bottle came full, the water in the bottle was not clear but milky. First, we wondered if some polluted water came out of the spring, but soon realized that it was the Mother's milk. The boy's mother and I were so surprised and trembled wildly. I said to the boy's mother, "Make haste to give it to your son. The Blessed Mother is giving her milk to your son. He will be healed." A while later, Julia came and embraced the boy. She rubbed his head and kissed it. Immediately, the boy, who had not been able to speak, made the Sign of the Cross and said, "Alleluia!"
The first claim of this message is that breast milk came down from the statue onto the floor of a Chapel, miraculously. Does this seem like a sign from God to you? Why would God miraculously produce breast milk from a statue, and why would He then let it fall to the floor? Next they go to a spring that is called miraculous (but it is just a spring of water). When they collect the water into a bottle, it turns milky. They then claim that God has turned water into the Mother of God's breast milk. This claim is offensive because a mother's breast milk is reserved only for her infant children. Neither God nor Mary would permit such an offense.
Finally, the claim is made that this boy would be healed. We are not told any details about his illness. (This is a common tactic used by false private revelation when claiming miraculous healings.) The claim is made that he had not been able to speak, but perhaps he was able to say a word or a few words. (Even severely physically handicapped persons can often speak to a limited extent.) He then says only one word. We are not directly told that he was now healed; we are not given any kind of update of his condition. It is an empty claim.
Sept. 2, 2000
Jemma Kang, from Samdeok Parish Church in Taegu City
I got some Water from the Springs at that time…. Next day she found that color of water changed milk-like color…. In addition, I tasted it tasty exactly mother's milk-like….
Oct 4, 1990
Mary: Suck the spiritual milk from my breast that is flowing out like a spring….
In the first quote above, we are told that someone actually tasted this water changed into milk. The claim is made that it tasted like breast milk. And note the words of the message, supposedly from Mary. The true Virgin Mary would not speak in such a crass and worldly manner. Nor would God change water into Mary's breast milk for someone to taste. There would be no spiritual purpose to such an alleged miracle, and it offends against the proper order of nature, created by God, wherein a mother's breast milk is solely for her infants to drink. The above message pretends as if this has some kind of profound symbolic meaning, yet the alleged miracle is literal; someone claims that they drank this milk. Finally, there is no wisdom attached to the claimed miracle; it is an empty symbol.
Conclusion
This set of claimed miracles does not resemble the miracles known to the Church over the last 2,000 years. Although weeping images or statues of the Virgin Mary are known to the faithful, this set of claimed miracles is very different. The weeping is not merely tears or tears of blood, but copious amounts of tears, blood, mucous, sweat, oil, water, and even breast milk. These claimed signs are ostentatious and attention-seeking, but they lack true wisdom; these are not teaching miracles. The character of these alleged signs is diametrically opposed to the meek and humble character of the Virgin Mary. And the lack of meaning behind these exaggerated signs is not indicative of the subtle and profound wisdom of God. Finally, the alleged sign of breast milk is so offensive to Christian modesty and the natural order that it cannot possibly be anything other than a false sign; it is impossible for such an offense against God to come from Mary or from God.
by Ronald L. Conte Jr.
December 10, 2006
