<Until the Apparition>
Mrs. Veronica Lueken, a mother of five grown children, lived as an ordinary housewife in New York City until June 1968 with her husband Arthur, a construction engineer, their daughter, and four sons. On the day Robert F. Kennedy, a political figure in the U.S., was assassinated in California, Mrs. Lueken was driving her husband to his workplace in Flushing, New York. The radio in the car appealed to everyone to pray for the critically injured senator. While praying, Mrs. Lueken experienced the scent of roses passing by.
Not long after, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (commonly known for her promise, "After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses from Heaven"), appeared in Mrs. Lueken's home, and her then 10-year-old son Raymond also witnessed the saint. Raymond tragically died from a gunshot wound on January 29, 1974, at the age of 15. His death deeply shocked and saddened Mrs. Lueken, who cherished him the most among her children. Following the apparition of Saint Thérèse, many other revelations began to be given to Mrs. Lueken.
One of the early ones occurred outside her New York home, where a massive cross appeared in the sky, which then faded and transformed into the face of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. Mrs. Lueken said she could see "even the spots where His beard sprouted on His chin." This happened while she was pushing a shopping cart down Springfield Boulevard.
The early revelations given to Mrs. Lueken seemed to prepare her for the apparitions of the Virgin Mary. In 1970, the Virgin Mary appeared to Mrs. Lueken and expressed her desire for a Rosary vigil to be held on the eves of major Catholic feast days in the square of the historic St. Robert Bellarmine Church in Bayside Hills, New York. The Virgin Mary wished for a small shrine to be built there, named "Our Lady of the Rosary, Help of All Mothers." She promised that if the vigils were faithfully conducted, regardless of weather or other adverse conditions, she would appear to Veronica Lueken during each vigil and deliver crucial heavenly messages for all on Earth.
The Virgin Mary also requested that the purpose of the vigils be to pray for Pope Paul VI and the clergy worldwide, and that all pilgrims attending the vigils recite the Rosary. These vigils began on June 18, 1970, and continued until August 3, 1995, when Veronica of the Cross concluded 25 years of prophecies and went to be with the Lord, having delivered hundreds of messages as a "Voice box" from Heaven.
The messages serve as wake-up calls. The Virgin Mary spoke of the general state of evil in the world, the state of corruption within the Catholic Church, the evil that has infiltrated even the Vatican, the suffering of the Pope, and the global need for atonement to the Eternal Father. The Virgin Mary warned of a terrible punishment, beyond our imagination, that humanity cannot avoid unless all offer reparation and return to God and His commandments.
In Lourdes, La Salette, Pontmain, Fatima, Borang, and many other places where the Virgin Mary appeared, she continues to call her earthly children to reparation and prayer in these messages. The Bayside messages also warn of the "Ball of Redemption," a fiery punishment that will consume three-quarters of humanity, possibly in the form of a comet colliding with Earth.
