Why do People Believe the Inauthentic Apparitions?

Many people long to be lead by an ideal being which is higher than humanity. They want to be assured of right choices and optimal life paths. Some of them are even willing to obtain such “ideal” advice from apparitions. They are pleased to have the opportunity to contact higher beings in the form of spirits. 

Besides having good intentions, people also show other feelings, like the desire to avoid troubles - thanks to information from apparitions - and to be perfectly informed with the help of a higher being. Many people are curious about new information. People also long to know the future and then they want to enlighten other people; they want to derive a feeling of satisfaction from having knowledge about further development. Some people take apparitions as sensational - they want to be on the scene and to boast about them. They experience the apparition with excitement; they are pleased to be living through something exceptional and to have the privilege of “being on the scene”. They have a presentiment that in this way they will get extraordinarily precious information that hardly anybody else has.

In the case that other people are present during the apparition, they see that the person having a vision is neither inventing anything nor playacting, that he is persuaded about the authenticity of what is just taking place. On top of that, the observer becomes firmly convinced by obtaining testimonies which are in conformity with the theological teachings of the Church. Often, he even acquires concrete information about such things as the development of the world or perils endangering humanity, which he is fascinated by and which take his critical judgment away from him and deepen his belief in the authenticity of the apparition. In case some discrepancies occur there, he tries to find an excuse for them or explain them. Subconsciously he tries to avoid the thought that the apparition could be inauthentic. With pleasure he informs his circle of acquaintances about the latest news given by the apparition; he becomes the centre of attention and feels he is of importance to others.

It is typical that even in the case of inauthentic apparitions a person usually prays more than before, but after some time rather superficially and concerns himself little with his conversion, especially in the sphere where he needs this most, but tends to concentrate on enlightening others and in connection with apparition experiences excitement, which sometimes even leads to tension. He is irritated if somebody does not accept the apparition and criticises its contents. Conversely, in the case of authentic apparitions, one loses one’s feeling of exceptional excitement, concentrating on the concrete fulfilment of the apparition’s calls, and peace deepens in his soul.