The Story of the Apparition of Our Lady in 1958...
to a peasant Thaíme Chamusse Maculuve (also called Munjengane)...
in Maculuva, in the Zavala District of Inhambana Province in Mozambique
The year was 1958.
In the month of January, on the 26th, a Friday...
a strange star, tearing the sky from west to east was seen by many people in the region of Maculuva and throughout the District of Zavala. The impression left by the star was, that it had fallen into the Indian Ocean, after having caused a great earthquake.
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During the time that followed...
the appearance of the strange star was widely commented on, in that region and beyond.
A week after the vision of the star, also on a Friday, February 2nd 1958, around 7:30pm in the evening, in Maculuve, the Glory of God appeared in an apparition of five figures: Our Lady the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with Baby Jesus, and three black Angels.
The man chosen to witness the apparition was Thaíme Chamusse Maculuva...
better known as Munjengane.
He was a simple peasant...
resident of the village of Maculuva...
brother of the Chief of Lands of Maculuve, who devoted himself to traditional medicine, making consultations, and administering traditional medication. He was married and the father of two children, a boy and a girl.
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Days before the vision...
Munjengane had quarreled with his wife...
who had taken refuge in her parents' house. On February 2nd, Munjengane decided to follow his wife to make peace with her. He managed to convince her to return to the house, however she had decided to do so only the next day.
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It was under these circumstances...
that Munjengane decided to return alone to his house...
on the night of February 2nd, 1958.
And behold, at 7:30pm, already close (about 300 meters) from his house...
he met this strange entourage: the Blessed Virgin Mary, with Her Baby, and three black Angels.
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The Blessed Virgin was seated...
on a kind of mat or white cloth [kleed]...
between two small trees, locally known as mneve and mtondo.
About 6 meters away, the 3 black Angels were seated...
in individual chairs, in a very solemn [plechtig] setting.
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Munjengane, from the moment he glimpsed the scenery...
felt that the objects linked to his healerism, hanging from his body...
danced and detached from his body, then disappeared.
Munjengane then asked: who are you that blocks my way?
Nobody answered.
He repeated the question.
He repeated the question twice more, getting no answer.
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He then decided to salute gently...
to which the entourage responded with reciprocal salute.
Despite the night, the place was mysteriously lit.
Following local custom, he knelt to greet the strange entourage.
Dialogue Between Munjengane and the Virgin Mary:
Munjengane:
We're fine, there have just been a lot of strange deaths that have worried us.
Our Lady (a Black Angel assisting as interpreter):
Be silent! See us? Do you think we're dead? The mortal is you, whose body is different from ours.
And thus began the conversation of the century, between Our Lady, who spoke in a strange language, interpreted into Chi-Txopi by one of the black Angels, with the seer Munjengane kneeling, as a sign of respect.
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Our Lady: What did you see that was admirable in this land?
Munjengane: We saw a star that crossed the sky and fell into the water.
Our Lady: That was a sign from heaven. It announced this phenomenon, announced Our Visit.
Munjengane: It could only be something from Heaven...
Our Lady: Did you study?
Munjengane: No, I did not.
Our Lady: Blessed be you! Blessed be you! Blessed be you...
for the Message that we are going to entrust to you!
Munjengane was silent.
Our Lady: Do you pray?
Munjengane: No, I don't pray.
Our Lady: You must come here every day, in the morning and at sunset, to pray in this place.
Munjengane: How can I do it, if I don't know how to pray?
Our Lady: We will teach you how to pray.
Your prayer must be like this, it must be this:
Txizimu Chiku Nzumani,
M'Kulukumba a hawa Mafuni.
Amen.
God in Heaven,
the Sovereign Lord on Earth.
Amen.
Munjengane thanked for the lesson...
prostrating himself.
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Our Lady: How many children do you have?
Munjengane: I have 2 children: a boy and a girl...
named José Banganhane Taímo Maculuve and Maliane Taímo Maculuve.
Our Lady: We are messengers from Heaven. We came to bring an important message.
It has been enough for the people to be cheated and exploited – God says.
Power is no longer to be bought.
Munjengane was silent.
Our Lady: I order you, Munjengane...
to go and tell all the authorities, white and black, what happened.
Saying that you were with us, and conveying them correctly the message I leave you:
´Enough of cheating and colonizing the people.
The end of colonization and exploitation is near.
Power must no longer be bought, and the people...
must have the right to self-determination.
This place will be a Sanctuary for all races and all faiths.
Everyone should come and pray here, in this place.
This place will be a kind of Church for all,
for all the children of God.
Here the name of God
and of His Son, Jesus of Nazareth,
born in Bethlehem, Redeemer of áll humanity,
will be invoked strongly.
This will be the Church of Jesus,
of Jehovah Almighty:
and behold, I will come to reign
over all peoples.´
Munjengane bowed to the weight of the responsibility given to him...
and replied: No one will believe me.
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One of the Angels plucked a leaf from the snowy tree.
Then the Blessed Virgin replied:
Our Lady: Whoever does not believe in you, will disbelieve me.
It will be like that leaf. He will be uprooted and die.
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Munjengane shudders and is silent.
Our Lady: Your children, after you, will be witnesses of what happened, and the meeting you had with us. And to serve as a witness, we will write on your back the message addressed to the Government. This will be indisputable proof that you were with us. But we warn you, that we will only give the power to decipher such a message to a single human being. We invite you to take off your shirt.
Munjengane obeys, gets up, takes off his shirt and approaches.
An Angel stood up and wrote the message on Munjengane's back.
Munjengane later recounted as having felt that the Angel wrote two lines.
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Finishing the dialogue, a kind of spacecraft descended to the place.
Our Lady entered it through a staircase.
Each of the 3 Angels folded his chair and entered the vessel as well.
It disappeared, and the darkness of night returned to the spot.
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It was all done.
In the town of Maculuva, the Glory of God for humanity had been manifested...
and a man carried a written message on his back.
Attitudes of the Colonial Authorities:
Colonial authorities were unable to decipher the message.
The man with special powers, called by the authorities to decipher the message, was a white, Portuguese doctor. His name was Acácio Ramos, a doctor from Zavala and Inharrime, residing in Inhambane. The Message remained the property of the colonial authorities, who never released it.
However, as a consequence, and to silence the Messenger whom God had chosen, they arrested him, tortured and even murdered him. The intention of the colonial authorities was to silence God and deny Mozambicans their identity.
And so, the Miracle of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin to this place was never made public. The Message written by the Blessed Virgin remained the secret of the colonial authorities. The settlers never thought that Maculuva could be a Sanctuary equal to, or parallel to, the Apparition of Our Lady in Fátima, in Cova de Iria, to 3 little shepherds, Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta.
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According to the will manifested by the Blessed Virgin and the black Angels, the place of Her Apparition is a Sanctuary where a community of believers preserves [bewaart] the spirit of worship to the Celestial God Who is Sovereign Lord of the Universe, and by Whom all the authorities that govern this Country are constituted.
Every year, on February 2nd, a huge crowd of faithful from different denominations, including nationals and foreigners from different corners of the world, make pilgrimages in the place, in adoration of God and in gratitude for the Apparition of the Virgin, praying for divine blessings.
Despite the consummation [voleinding] of the Will manifested by the Blessed Virgin, the place and the mystery of Her Apparition remain unknown, which, since 1975, have been constituted by God to govern the destinies of Mozambique and its people. To date, only one Provincial Governor and one District Administrator have visited the site.
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