Elisabeth Kindelmann (actual name: Károlyné Kindelmann, born Erzsébet Szántó, 1913-1985) was a Hungarian “mystic” who allegedly received revelations from Jesus and Mary.
The messages contain both heresy and unfulfilled prophecies, making it certain that they cannot be from God.
A thank you goes to the Hungarian blogger “Indignus Famulus” (invocabo.wordpress.com), for writing his series of articles. Many of his insights have been incorporated into this article.
The quotes from Mrs. Kindelmann are my own translation, and not taken from an English-language “Flame of Love” site.
A short history
Kindelmann wrote a diary from 1961 to 1981, in which she documented some events from her life and the “messages”. In this article, I am going to talk about the heresies, unfulfilled prophecies and other problems in this diary.
I am going to use the diary provided by the Hungarian “Flame of Love” organization here. The quotations are given not by page number, but by the numbering system employed in this edition of the diary.
The main message of the diary is somewhat hard to understand. “Mary” told Kindelmann that “I’m putting a beam of light in your hand. This is the Flame of Love of my Heart. Add your love to the Flame of Love of my Heart and pass it on, my little daughter” (I/38).
And: “My daughter, I ask you to make special atonement for My Holy Son on Thursday and Friday. The way of atonement should happen in families. The one hour that you devote to the atonement should be a time of devotion beginning with spiritual reading, full of devout concentration, or the Holy Rosary or some other form of prayer. Two or three persons should make the atonement. Wherever two or three of you are gathered, there is my Holy Son. At his request, begin with five times the sign of the cross, during which you offer yourselves to the Eternal Father through the Wounds of my Holy Son. You should end the atoning devotion in the same way. Make this prayer morning and evening, and also during the day, because it will bring you closer to the Eternal Father through my Holy Son, and your hearts will be filled with grace. Light the flame full of grace which I have given you from my Heart, heart by heart, throughout the whole country. This will be the miracle that will catch fire and blind Satan.” (I/39)
The “Flame of Love” spreads multiple devotions: a “Flame of Love” rosary, litany, and most importantly, a modified version of the Hail Mary.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
The background of the “Nihil obstat” for Kindelmann’s diary
Supporters of Kindelmann will point to the “Nihil obstat” given by Cardinal Péter Erdő, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, to Kindelmann’s book and that he approved the creation of the association in Hungary in 2009. (link)
This book was approved based on the theological analysis of the mariologist Dr. Zoltán Kovács. (Theological journal “Magyar Sion”, here) This analysis is extremely questionable. Firstly, he suggests that the most problematic passages be simply removed from the diary before publishing, instead of saying that those passages prove that the revelation can’t be real. Secondly, he tries to suggest that the errors in her “revelations” are the result of a lack of education, even though God is all-knowing and therefore can give an error-free revelation to the most uneducated person.
Heresy
Let’s go through some examples rapidly.
“Jesus”: “My daughter, I was a human being, too, and I had human qualities due to my human nature. I have faith, hope and charity, too.” (III/134)
As Indignus Famulus points out:
- Faith, hope and charity are theological virtues, not human qualities. Otherwise all human beings would believe.
- Jesus is, not was a human being.
- Jesus never had faith or hope. He was, due to the Hypostatic Union (union of His divine and human natures), always in the beatific vision.
“Mary”: “I need your strength, my soul is consumed by so much pain, for I must see the damnation of so many souls. And many of them get there against their will.” (I/64)
No one goes to hell against one’s will.
There is a statement, deleted from the diary by recommendation of Dr. Kovács. It is not clear whether the apparition said it, or Kindelmann herself, but it claims that “Our Lady, with her wonderful being, is the harmonious complementary person of the Trinity” (should have been III/127)
There is another, grave error in the messages, which was deleted from the diary as well. “Jesus” told Kindelmann on an occasion, when she couldn’t go the Mass due to illness: “[…] the right of transubstantiation is once and for all reserved by my Divinity […] I am transubstantiated in the first morsel of bread which you eat.” (should have been IV/23-26)
Unfulfilled prophecies
“Mary” told Kindelmann about her house in Pesthidegkút, a suburb of Budapest: “My little Carmelite girl! After Lourdes, this place will be the greatest shrine in the world. Write this down and give it to your confessor!” (here)
This prophecy should have been in the diary at III/199, but was deleted. It is preserved via the statement of Tibor Begyik, her secretary. Her family demolished the house in the 1980s.
Kindelmann allegedly received a revelation that she was to die on her 52nd birthday. (III/220) However, she died at the age of 72 (not on her birthday).
Ah yes, who doesn’t know the famous Marian shrines of the world: Lourdes, Pesthidegkút, Fátima… Come to think of it, where is the address of that shrine, anyway? Can’t seem to find it online…
Ridiculous messages
“On Thursday, was my strict fasting day /on bread and water only/. Jesus, seeing my anguished efforts, honored me with His sweet words, ‘You know, since we are both very tired, let’s eat something warm.’ I cooked some broth. After the warm soup I really felt better. As we ate, He expressed his kindness, in few words but many feelings: ‘We’re both invigorated now, aren’t we? Because I am suffering with you. Can you imagine that I am leaving you alone? No! I will never do that. Our inner self always sympathizes.” (III/147)
“While he was talking like this, I was taking out my modest lunch. On Thursday and Friday I fast on bread and water at the Lord’s request, and offer it for the twelve priests and for the atoning the Lord. And the Lord Jesus sat down with me in the Spirit and began to speak to me further. ‘Oh, how much this pleases me! It is so seldom that I have such an intimate feast. There are few sacrificial souls who faithfully keep my wishes in mind.’ And while we were eating our bread, He filled my soul with His intimate compassion, and breathed into my soul His full words with grace: ‘Let our inner self sympathizes, for then our hands will gather together.’ And so we continued to eat our bread, absorbed in each other’s thoughts […]” (II/5)
Flippant language
The “apparitions” often use very informal language, which appears to be completely inappropriate for divine revelation and absent from genuine apparitions. For example: “oh dear” (“ejnye”), “right?” (“ugye”), “You know what?” (“Tudod mit?”), “have a heartfelt chat” (“kitársalogni”), “No problem” (“Nem baj”).
“Oh dear, won’t you come to the next Holy Mass?” (I/100)
“Oh dear, my little Elizabeth, don’t you get everything you need from me?” (III/185)
“You know what, share half your heart!” (III/136)
“You know what? Let’s rest now, so you’ll have strength for the fight that awaits you.” (II/42)
“We can never have a heartfelt chat. That is your opinion too, my little girl, right?” (III/159)
“Never mind, my little Elizabeth, I will speak to you again.” (III/192)
Kindelmann sometimes doubted whether the messages were even real
She sometimes had onslaughts of self-doubt, which she claimed were “temptations”.
Some examples: “I cannot have peace of mind until I retract my terrible lies, but I cannot do it. I walk the path of pride.” (II/53); “And what if what I have written down and passed on is a lie?” (II/58); “I admit my falsehoods” (II/59)
And later: “my lies are proven facts” (III/210); “For this constant multitude of lies will lead me to damnation.” (III/232)
What does it say about the “revelations” if the “seer” herself has doubts whether they even happened?
An episode which explains a lot happened in November of 1962. The “apparition” told her to spread the message to different priests. She went to confession at a Marian shrine. The priest urged her to finish her confession quicker, obviously because many people were waiting in line. This little admonition upset her already. After confession time was over, she went to the priest again and finished her story. The priest mentioned the four cardinal virtues, emphasizing the importance of prudence. He talked to her about the discernment of spirits, telling her that there are three spirits: one from God, one from the devil and one from ourselves.
This priest hit a nerve and Kindelmann began to doubt the messages again. She decided that “there is no need for the cardinal virtues when transmitting the flame of love” (II/29) She also admitted that the mention of the discernment of spirits unsettled her. This episode of self-doubt ended when at Communion, the priest accidentally placed two hosts, which were stuck together, on her tongue. She interpreted this as a “miracle” and this put an end to her doubts.
Why it matters
Truth matters. If Catholics are perceived to be running after fake apparitions, the credibility of the entire Church suffers. Secondly, this chasing after messages is spiritually dangerous. The devil can easily deceive the faithful. Faithful Catholics are also tricked by these revelations into praying a falsified Hail Mary.
Let us pray for a new, holy pope, who will step up against the multitude of false messages, like Venerable Pius XII, who condemned the “apparitions” of Heroldsbach, and excommunicated the “seers”.
Our Lady, Help of Christians, pray for us!
Our Lady of Kibeho, pray for us!
A church in Kibeho, Rwanda. In Kibeho, the Virgin Mary appeared to three schoolgirls: Anathalie Mukamazimpaka, Alphonsine Mumureke and Marie-Claire Mukangango, starting in 1981. The apparitions were approved by the local bishop and the Vatican. The author of this page has already written an article about Kibeho. Sadly, this true apparition doesn’t have nearly as much attention in Catholic circles as many false messages like Kindelmann’s. Photo by Laeliza23 on Wikimedia Commons under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 license, here.
Resources
Articles by Indignus Famulus (Hungarian)
A […] és a nihil obstat (The […] and the Nihil obstat)
Láng, de nem szeretet (Flame, but not love)
Téves próféciák, hiányzó erények (Erroneous prophecies, missing virtues)
A Szeretetláng Mozgalom közleményéről (On the announcement of the Flame of Love Movement)
Materiális vagy formális? (Material or formal [heresy]?)
Árasztott kegyelmi hatás (Diffused effects of grace)