In November 1981, the Blessed Mother appeared to Alphonsine Mumureke.  Over the next few years, she also appeared to other students at a girls’ school in southwestern Rwanda, Kibeho College.

The Blessed Mother identified herself as Nyina wa Jambo (“Mother of the Word” in Kinyarwanda) or Umubyeyi W’Imana (“Mother of God”).  She asked everyone to pray to prevent a terrible war.  Many believe she was prophesying the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.

The three women reported going on ‘mystic voyages’ with the Virgin during their individual visions, which could last for hours. Inexplicably, the women seemed to acquire so much weight during their visions that they could not be lifted off the ground.

Four other people in Kibeho reported apparitions – one reportedly met Jesus in a beanfield.  These visions have not been approved by Rome.

The apparition was named “Our Lady of Sorrows” two years before the start of the Rwandan genocide in 1994.   Marie Claire Mukangango, one of the three young women receiving visions in the 1980s, was among those killed, together with her family, in a massacre in Kibeho, in April 1995.

The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, also called the Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows or the Seven Dolors Chaplet, originated in the Middle Ages, but gained new traction after the Marian apparitions at Kibeho, Rwanda.  The exact format may vary, but many people start the chaplet with an Act of Contrition and three Hail Marys in honor of the Blessed Mother’s tears.

Our Lady of Kibeho is celebrated on November 28.