Judiel Nieva also known as Angel dela Vega, is a Filipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 trans woman

Trans woman

A trans woman is a male-to-female transsexual or transgender person and the term trans woman is preferred by some individuals over various medical terms. Other non-medical terms include t-girl, tg-girl and ts-girl...

 notable for her claims of seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary in Agoo

Agoo, La Union

Agoo is a 1st class municipality in the province of La Union, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 57,952 people in 9,945 households....

, La Union

La Unión

La Union or La Unión may refer to:-Colombia:*La Unión, Antioquia*La Unión, Nariño*La Unión, Sucre*La Unión, Valle del Cauca-Peru:*La Unión Province, Peru...

, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 from 1989 until 1993 in what was then labeled as the "Miracle of Agoo".

Early life

Nieva is the seventh of eight children. Her parents Pedro and Julia sold goods out of two stalls which they operated in the local market. Even as a young child, Nieva was believed to have special powers and was sought out as a healer.

Marian visions

Nieva claimed to have begun seeing visions of the Virgin Mary in 1987 when she was only 10 years old. On March 31, 1989, she reported that the first of several public apparitions, in which she claimed to have seen a bright light, then heard voices and the sounds of trumpets while angels descended from heaven towards him singing “Allelulia” and “Salve Regina

Salve Regina

The "Salve Regina", also known as the Hail Holy Queen, is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at Compline in the time from the Saturday before Trinity...

”. The Holy Family

Holy Family

The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph.The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family...

 next appeared on a cloud, St. Joseph holding a shepherd’s staff and the Virgin Mary sitting on a rock holding the baby Jesus on her lap. Other "miraculous" events associated with Nieva included a Host

Sacramental bread

Sacramental bread, sometimes called the lamb, altar bread, host or simply Communion bread, is the bread which is used in the Christian ritual of the Eucharist.-Eastern Catholic and Orthodox:...

 turning into actual flesh and blood, messages reportedly coming from the Virgin Mary, images of the Virgin Mary "weeping" tears of blood and a "dancing" sun.

Initial reactions

The public was initially inclined to believe Nieva's claims. On March 6, 1993, during a "manifestation" on "Apparition Hill", an estimated one million people gathered to witness a "visitation" from the Virgin Mary. Numerous government officials, media personalities and even a Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 attested to the veracity of these events.

Declaration as non-supernatural

In 1993, a theological commission established by Bishop Salvador Lazo condemned the aforementioned events as Constat de Non Supernaturalitate (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, "clearly evident to be not supernatural"). Accounts reported in the news media regarding the financial corruption of the discredited seer's family and her own transsexualism

Transsexualism

Transsexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender...

 were seen as proof of this finding.

Acting career

In 2003, Nieva, who now calls herself by the screen name

Stage name

A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

"Angel dela Vega", starred in a film entitled "Siklo". In the film, she plays a woman who falls in love with her neighbor.

External links

• Image of Angel dela Vega in Boracay