In the past 150 years there have been thousands of reported appearances of the Virgin Mary , usually to children. The visions warn of disaster and call to prayer. The Pope, a keen visitor to the shrines where the visions are commemorated, has declared 1987-88 a Marian year. Many women in the Church are troubled by the cult: they say it has gone hand in hand in the Christian tradition with the subjection of women and the fear of sexuality. Yet it remains magnetic. The Virgin Mother still draws thousands of sick and despairing to her shrines in search of wholeness and hope.