This is a question that should be answered with reference to similar phenomena. We might likewise ask: did Jesus appear to St. Margaret Mary or St. Faustina Kowalska?  This kind of question cannot be answered with the same certainty that we have when we say Jesus rose from the dead. The claim of the resurrection of Jesus is based on the scriptural accounts. It is part of the “public” revelation and has a level of authority and certainty that transcends any claim of private revelation such as we have in the case of these two saints – even when these private revelations have been approved by the Church.

But we have three criteria we can turn to in these matters: does the witness seem reliable? Is the revelation associated with the encounter compatible with the public revelation recorded in Scripture? Has the Church deemed it “worthy of belief?” If the answer to these three questions is “Yes”, then we have good reason to affirm that the claim of a private revelation is authentic. Other factors such as our own experience can provide us with certainty.

As it pertains to the revelation reported by Mother Eugenia, as we shall see, it is theologically compatible with the public revelation and it received the highest form of recognition possible for a private revelation, the approval of the local bishop (more on this below). Mother Eugenia herself led a remarkable life:

Despite only having one year of formal schooling she was able to enter the  the Congregation of Our Lady of the Apostles at the age of 20 in October 1927.  She was 24 when God the Father appeared to her.   Three years after the alleged manifestation in 1932, she was elected Superior General of the Congregation at the age of just  27 on 7th August 1935.   

The fruits of the grace of the message and her unity to the Father were immediately manifest.  She was head of the congregation for  12 years and in that time   opened over 70 centres in remote Africa and Asia, and Europe. It was she who discovered the First medicine for the cure of leprosy, extracting it from the seed of a tropical plant. Yet, in all of these  and other incredible achievements she never sought any acclamation from anyone and was pleased to see others acknowledged before her. There are many testimonies of how she exuded holiness and there were miraculous healings that occurred through her intercession whilst she was alive and also following her death on August 10th 1990.1 

In later life she was persecuted by jealous nuns and unscrupulous ecclesiastics. But she had a powerful protector in Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, secretary of the Holy Office from 1959 to 1966 and then pro-prefect until 1968 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Such persecution was only to be expected for those whom God chooses. A good example is Padre Pio who was silenced, slandered and harassed for most of his public life.

The claim of the revelation made to Mother Eugenia also conforms with the prior pattern of private revelations made by the divine Persons where the revelation confirms what is found in the public revelation.

On all these counts, and on the basis of our own personal experience of the Father, we can affirm the authenticity of the appearance of God the Father to Mother Eugenia.

End Notes1https://www.lovethefather.com/