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After only a few weeks of being at Akita, Sister Agnes witnessed the first miracle of the Virgin Mary statue. On June 12, 1973, a brilliant light shone around the chapel’s Tabernacle and an apparition like smoke or mist hovered in the air over the altar. Sister Agnes saw “a multitude of beings similar to Angels who surrounded the altar in adoration before the Host.”
She was also visited by an apparition she believed to be her guardian Angel, whom she described as having “a round face, an expression of sweetness . . . a person covered with a shining whiteness like snow.” The Angel prayed with Sister Agnes and offered her advice and guidance. The nun confided the miraculous events to the Catholic leader in the area, Bishop John Shojiro Ito, as well as the convent’s director, Reverend Teiji Yasuda.