May 12
Mother of God, Hrushiv, Drohobych, Lviv, Ukraine
In the Galician village of Hrushiv, an icon of the Mother of God hung on a pear tree, where a healing spring arose. On May 12, 1914, while mowing fields, twenty-two people saw the Virgin appear near the village church. Recent devotional sources say she predicted war, the rise of atheism in Russia, and 80 years of hardship for the Ukraine, which was still under Soviet rule 72 years later on April 26, 1986, when the Chernobyl nuclear power plant caught fire. A year and a day later, Marina Kizyn, 12, saw the Virgin above the chapel of Our Lady of the Pear. As word spread, people flocked to the site. To overcome the resistance of local authorities, believers turned to President Gorbachev, who authorized visits to the shrine. For a month thousands of pilgrims witnessed the Mother of God emerge from a light that enveloped the church. "Teach children to pray," she was heard to say. "Teach children to live in truth. Chernobyl is a sign for the whole world." The Virgin predicted the independence of the Ukraine (1991) but threatened that failure to repent and do God's will could result in World War III. The Catholic diocese holds a pilgrimage to Hrushiv on Mothers Day, the second Sunday in May.
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Also commemorated this date:
 | Notre Dame de Corsendonck, Oud-Turnhout, Antwerp, Belgium. Oratory dedicated, 1432. |
| Jungfrau Maria, Obermauerbach, Bayern, Germany (Virgin Mary). Weeping apparition, 1848. |
| Panna Maria Bolestná, Borovnice, Rychnov nad Knežnou, Královéhradecký, Czech Republic, Homole hill (Sorrowful Virgin Mary). Foundation stone of church laid, 1692. |
| Nostra Signora Ausiliatrice, Orco Feglino, Savona, Liguria, Italy (Our Lady the Helper). Festa commemorates apparition. |
| Beata Vergine delle Grazie, Faenza, Ravenna, Emilia Romagna, Italy. Chapel consecrated, 1420. Festa 2nd Sunday in May. |
| Madonna della Misericordia, Rimini, Emilia Romagna, Italy (Our Lady of Mercy). Festa commemorates apparition of 1850. |
| Our Lady of Lourdes, Tobetsu, Sapporo, Japan, Our Lady of the Lighthouse Trappist Monastery. New grotto blessed, 1989. |
| Virgen del Rosario, Talpa de Allende, Jalisco, Mexico. Fiesta commemorates 1923 coronation. |
| Matka Boza Laskawa, Lubaczów, Subcarpathia, Poland (Gracious Mother of God). Painting crowned, 1776, and again June 19, 1983. |
| Virgen de los Dolores, Alcolea de Tajo, Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain (Virgin of Sorrows) |
| Nuestra Seńora de Gracia, Biar, Alicante, Valencia, Spain. Pageant of Moros y Cristianos. |