Kibeho: Apparitions, Messages, Pilgrimage, Prayers

In 1981 in Kibeho, the Virgin Mary appeared to three young schoolgirls in succession at a religious institution. While Rwanda had enjoyed relative peace for several years, hatred persisted between the Hutu and Tutsi communities, the country’s two ethnic groups. The Virgin brought a message of peace and called for the conversion of hearts, but she also prophesied the terrible massacre of Tutsis in 1994, which claimed nearly one million lives.

History of the Apparitions

The Benebikira congregation, Daughters of the Virgin Mary, hosted about a hundred girls at their school. On November 28, 1981, Alphonsine Mumureke, a student, claimed to have seen a vision of a woman "of incomparable beauty," who introduced herself as the "Mother of the Word". These claims were initially dismissed. Boarders, teachers, and nuns thought she was seeking attention or had lost her mind. However, the apparition recurred, both publicly and privately. The Virgin asked Alphonsine to pray sincerely and urged her to encourage her peers toward conversion and deeper faith. She described a woman "neither white nor black," wearing a veil, barefoot, and floating above the ground. Mocked and accused of lying, Alphonsine prayed for the Virgin to appear to others, hoping her community would believe if others witnessed it.

On January 12, 1982, the Virgin appeared to another girl, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka. Nathalie was deeply pious and serious, causing others to doubt their skepticism: how could she be deluded or lying?

Then, on March 2, 1982, Marie-Claire Mukangango became a visionary. The fact that Marie-Claire had criticized Alphonsine and tried to turn other students against her helped convince the community. Public opinion gradually shifted. News spread across the country, and people traveled far to meet the visionaries and witness their ecstasies. Many hoped for miracles or revelations. Public apparitions occurred in the school courtyard. On May 31, nearly 10,000 people gathered around the school, and a platform was built for the visionaries. Their conversations with the "invisible figure" were closely observed and recorded.

During an apparition in June 1982, the Virgin told Alphonsine she would return on August 15. Expecting miracles, a large crowd assembled at the platform. The Virgin arrived in tears, lamenting "the misfortunes of Her people." Alphonsine, Nathalie, and Marie-Claire then had terrifying visions. They wept, trembled, and ground their teeth. The Virgin showed them "decapitated heads," "a river of blood," "people killing each other," and abandoned corpses. They believed these horrors resulted from lack of faith and hypocrisy among believers. The crowd was deeply affected by this episode, marked by fear, panic, and sorrow.

A year later, the Virgin appeared again. In November 1983, She asked Alphonsine to build a chapel. Visions were sometimes accompanied by mystical journeys; Alphonsine and Nathalie claimed to have traveled to Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven.

After December 1983, only Alphonsine received visions of the Virgin, lasting until November 1989.

Note: Many others later claimed to be visionaries, but only the three girls were recognized by the Church.

Public devotion to Our Lady of Kibeho was approved by the Bishop of Butare in 1988. The cornerstone of a chapel was laid in November 1992.

After the Apparitions

The apparitions were officially recognized in June 2001.

All agree that the terrifying visions witnessed by the three young women on August 15, 1982, were prophetic of the Rwandan massacre in 1994 (which we will not detail here).

Marie Claire Mukangango became a teacher. Married to a Rwandan journalist, she lived in Kigali during the genocide. Both were among the hundreds of thousands killed.

Nathalie Mukamazimpaka left school to devote herself entirely to prayer. She fled Kibeho during the genocide to Bukavu, Congo, then Nairobi, Kenya. She returned to Kibeho after the war and still lives there.

Alphonsine Mumureke wished to enter religious life but was prevented. After her studies, she worked as a secretary for Catholic education in Butare, southern Rwanda. She fled Kibeho at the genocide’s start and was sheltered by an Ivorian-Congolese couple who took her to Congo then Côte d’Ivoire. There, she met her spiritual father, who encouraged her to study theology. Alphonsine eventually joined the Order of Saint Clare, taking vows with the Poor Clares in 2003. She took the name Alphonsine of the Glorious Cross.

Messages of Our Lady of Kibeho

The Virgin’s messages at Kibeho are summarized as follows:

• Call for conversion and sincere prayer

• Call for repentance

• Necessity of suffering for the world’s salvation

• Regular recitation of the Rosary

• Construction of a chapel

• Prayer for the Church

Miracles occurred at Kibeho, but none are officially recognized by the Church.

Pilgrimages to Kibeho

After the genocide, the sanctuary expanded and was inaugurated in 2003. Pilgrims now flock from across the globe. A larger church was completed in 2021. The site hosts over 500,000 pilgrims annually.

Local Bishop Mgr. Hakizimana declared Kibeho "a meeting place for seekers of God, a place of profound conversions, reparation for the sins of the world, and reconciliation; a rallying point for 'those who were scattered' and for all who cherish compassion and borderless brotherhood."

Prayers to Our Lady of Kibeho

First Prayer

"Lord our God,
we thank You for the blessings You ceaselessly bestow upon us,
and for Your infinite goodness in sending us the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word,
to lead us back to the right path shown by Jesus Christ, Your Son.
She asked us to convert,
to confess our sins, and to pray without hypocrisy.
Yet we disobeyed,
hardened our hearts, and this became the source of our misfortunes.
Therefore, Lord our God,
we implore You through Jesus Christ, Your Son: have mercy on us and forgive us.
Lord, have mercy on us (3 times, striking the breast)
And You, our Mother, Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word,
we thank You for fulfilling God’s mission,
for Your forbearance toward us amid suffering,
for shedding abundant tears
when You saw us rejecting the message You brought.
But from this moment,
we pledge to be faithful children
by doing all that the Lord tells us,
heeding the counsel You gave at Kibeho,
and nurturing love to become beautiful flowers
whose fragrance pleases all, everywhere.
Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word, pray for us!"

Second Prayer

"Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word, Mother of all who believe in Him and welcome Him into their lives, we stand before You to contemplate You.
We believe You are among us, like a mother among her children, even if our eyes cannot see You.
You, the sure path to Jesus our Savior, we bless You for the constant grace You pour upon us, especially since, in Your humility, You deigned to appear miraculously at Kibeho when our world needed it most.
Grant us the light and strength to heed Your call to convert, repent, and live by the Gospel of Your Son.
Teach us to pray without hypocrisy and to love one another as He loved us, so that, as You asked, we may be beautiful flowers spreading their fragrance everywhere and to all.
O Holy Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, teach us the value of the Cross in our lives, so that what is lacking in Christ’s sufferings we may complete in our flesh for the sake of His Mystical Body, the Church.
And when our earthly pilgrimage ends,
may we live eternally with You in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Pray to the Virgin Mary with Trust on Hozana...

• Since the Virgin strongly invites you to pray the Rosary, pray the Rosary with Saint Bernadette
• We also invite you to pray to Our Lady of Lourdes in this novena
  or this novena to comfort the sick