Dear Sinner1957,

Thanks for the question.

Questions about apparitions of our Blessed Mother, whether approved by the Church as safe for the faithful or not, fall outside the area of faith and morals that faithful Catholics are bound to believe, so answers to questions like yours fall purely into the area of theological and personal opinion.

You said:

• When the Virgin Mary has appeared in various apparitions did she appear in her human body, or was she just a spirit?
  

There is nothing recorded in history that implies that she did not appear in her glorious, resurrected body, like we will hopefully some day.

You said:

• Is it correct to say, that God spoke to her, through her spirit, to the children or to the ones she appeared to, to relay His messages?

No, it would not be correct to say that God spoke through her spirit but that God probably spoke through her glorious, resurrected body.

Because all baptized Christians are In Christ and those that have crossed the Heavenly goal line into Heaven, like Mary, are one with Jesus in mind and will, the body and spirit of Mary, are one with the Body and Spirit of Jesus. That said, it was Mary's body, not Jesus', at these apparitions.

I hope this helps,

Mike

Hi, Mike —

I can recommend a good article on Marian apparitions by Fr. Manfred Hauke, professor at the theology school at Lugano, Switzerland:

• Manfred Hauke: The prophetic role of Mary in apparitions
  

Among other things, it touches on the various types of apparitions and related mystical phenomena. In some cases, there is a vision experienced by one or a few observers but not by others. In some cases, there is a visible form seen by everyone present. So there is a variety of types, some with a more objective quality, some with a more subjective character.

In general, it's not possible to make a firm conclusion about whether an appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary would imply a true presence of her risen Body or only an appearance.

The Church does not consider post-apostolic apparitions as a matter of doctrine necessary for our salvation, so there will probably not be any need for the Church to make a positive pronouncement on this particular question.

I hope you'll find the article useful.

— Richard Chonak

Hi, Sinner —

Here's another thought to consider. With each apparition it seems that Mary takes on the physical appearance of the ethnicity of the people she appears to —

• at Guadalupe she appears as a native American
• in Europe she appears European
• in Japan she looks a little Asian, etc.

If she appears in her glorified body would this mean she changes her body at will ... as Jesus apparently did when disciples mistook Him for the Gardener in a post-resurrection appearance.

This point, of course, leads to the observation of the qualities of the resurrected body:

• Will the saved for all eternity be able to transform themselves at will into whatever they want to be at any given time?

Paul