Case file · Apparition / miracle
Our Lady of Lipa and the rose petals
In 1948 Carmelite postulant Teresita Castillo reported apparitions of 'Mary, Mediatrix of All Grace' at the Carmelite monastery in Lipa, Batangas, accompanied by showers of rose petals bearing images.
1948 CE · 13.94, 121.16 · status: disputed
The account
A commission of Filipino bishops declared the events non-supernatural in 1951. The case was reopened in 1991; in 2015 the Archbishop of Lipa declared it worthy of belief, but the Vatican overruled him in 2016.
The researched reading
Visions and rose-petal showers in a convent. Personal vision, devotion and possible staging explain it; the Church has rejected it twice.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A cultural story | 33% | Filipino Marian devotion and post-war hopes shaped the apparitions and their revival in the 1990s. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 30% | A young postulant’s visions within a closed convent, under strong religious expectation, fit personal visionary experience. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 30% | Petal showers inside a monastery are easily staged; the 1951 bishops’ commission declared the events non-supernatural, and the Vatican confirmed this in 2016. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 4% | Nothing was tested; there is little evidence to weigh. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 3% | No natural phenomenon would produce petals with images. |
Official position: A 1951 commission of Filipino bishops declared it non-supernatural; a 2015 local approval was overruled by the Vatican in 2016.