The Spirit of Medjugorje Online

THE 25TH DAY OF EACH MONTH, THE BLESSED VIRGIN GIVES A MESSAGE TO THE VISIONARY MARIJA, THAT IS TO BE GIVEN TO THE WORLD.

Dear children! In this time of grace I call you to take the cross of my beloved Son Jesus in your hands and to meditate on His passion and death. May your suffering be united in His suffering and love will win, because He who is love gave Himself out of love to save each of you. Pray, pray, pray until love and peace begin to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

The Divine Mercy image above hangs in a little chapel in Mother’s Village in Medjugorje. Jesus told St. Faustina: “I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over [its] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory” (St. Faustina’s Diary, #48).

R&R in Medjugorje

By Kelly Ferrell

I was not raised in a religious family; no one went to church. When I was in my teens, my mom took an interest in the Catholic Church and was attending catechism, and I wanted to do the same. So a few months after my mom was confirmed, I began catechism classes. I don't know why it was Catholicism I was attracted to, although, I do have an interesting memory from my childhood. Before I ever became Catholic, I remember that as a child, I would take a slice of white bread and pull off the crust and smash the bread until it was really thin. Then I would eat it in a circle until it was the size of a communion wafer. I did this slice after slice after slice. And then I would pretend as though I was receiving communion and eat each "wafer." I find it interesting that I had this fascination, not having been exposed to Catholicism except for maybe on TV or Catholic neighbors.

Long story short, I fell away from the Church after only a year or two. After my brief stint in Catholicism, I slowly became immersed in New Age Spirituality – or New Age Gnosticism to be more specific. I was so knee deep into it, fully believing it, and extremely stubborn and defensive about it – no one could sway my beliefs. I had issues with the Church and began seeing "structured religion" as limiting and man-made. I believed I was into "something greater" that not everyone was so blessed to see.

During my days when I was a teenage Catholic, I had learned about Medjugorje and was fascinated by it – probably more for the mystical aspects than for the spiritual messages being sent. So, I had always wanted to go to see what Medjugorje was all about, but never seriously thought it would ever be possible.

One day I surfed the web, curious to find out where Medjugorje and the visionaries were these days. Was everything still happening? I found the Medjugorje web and sent a short email to Steve Shawl, asking questions. He responded quickly and I continued sending questions. My curiosity became stronger and stronger about it... One day he said, "Our Lady would like you to have something," and he mailed me a rosary from Medjugorje. I was extremely moved by it and thrilled, to say the least! After receiving the rosary, I felt certain that I would try to make a pilgrimage there as soon as possible. I scheduled to travel there in June of 2001. I was so excited to be going. I'm sure everyone has wondered, at one time or another, why they are being called to Medjugorje. Steve said he thought I was possibly being called back to the Catholic Church! I was very uncomfortable about that statement and felt very defensive. There's no way Mary is calling me there to become Catholic again! That would be like taking steps backwards! I was convinced I was going there to be patted on the back because I was one of the few to truly understand the bigger picture because of my gnostic belief system. I was being rewarded. And I had no interest in becoming Catholic again.

So, I went to Medjugorje, and at first was very uncomfortable. I spoke to people who often said, “Praise Jesus” or “Hallelulia!” or who go to Mass EVERY DAY! I really felt like I was on a journey with a bunch of religious fanatics, Catholic no less, and I was very worried that they were going to force their faith on me. So my defenses were very high, and I seriously started wondering what I was doing there. Part of me wanted to go home, and I hadn't even been there a full day.

Then I had an incredible conversation with a friend from the IIPG (International Internet Prayer Group) who walked with me on Mt. Krizevac. Basically, I had a little debate with her about Catholic beliefs (why confess to priests, etc.). What swayed me was her absolute passion in her words. Her faith was so strong that, by the time we made it to the bottom of the hill, I couldn't wait to go to Confession for the first time in eight or ten years!

I went to Confession and cried. I confessed with rosary in hand at the very moment when the crowds grow quiet because Our Lady is appearing to Vicka for her daily apparition. So, I felt particularly close to Mary during my Confession. After Confession, I had my first Communion since my teens (at Croatian Mass). After Communion, my friends pointed up to the sky and I saw the Miracle of the Sun! I was so happy!

From that day on, it seemed as though that New Age belief system I had heavily guarded for years FLIPPED ON ITS HEAD! My heart was opened and I didn't feel threatened by the idea of maybe being wrong and rediscovering the Catholic faith. It's amazing to think that a strongly held belief system that you've developed over eight years could be completely wiped away in a matter of days. I'm still amazed when I think about it. It all started with that conversation on Mt. Krizevac, and my friend who did the talking is now forever known to me as my "Medju-Guardian Angel."

I'd like to share one more story during my first trip to Medjugorje. Since I was first introduced to Medjugorje, I was fascinated with the visionaries, and always dreamed I'd meet one of them. But I thought those chances were even more impossible than the chances of one day traveling to Medjugorje.

I had such an incredible time in Medjugorje, with no regrets, but I never personally met a visionary. I didn't pray for the chance either, because I never thought it was even possible – until the day before our last evening in Medjugorje. I took a walk with my new friend who happened to know where Vicka was staying and she said, “Maybe because you didn't come here asking for anything in particular, maybe your gift from Our Lady would be to meet Vicka.” After talking to her and being so convinced she could introduce me to her by inviting me over for dinner, I was so thrilled! I prayed for that wish to come true that night! We prayed together about it, and I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to it!

Upon arriving that evening, I learned that Vicka was tired after returning from a long trip and would not be down for dinner. I was completely heartbroken! I was so near to tears! I was sad, angry, disappointed! I had looked so forward to it! I felt like a dirty trick was played on me and it seemed to tarnish how I felt about the whole trip.

Evening came and everyone was off to Croatian Mass. I heard that Vicka may be down after her apparition with Our Lady (which takes place during the Rosary, which is said before Croatian Mass). I found myself in a dilemma. If I stay and do not go to Mass, I bet I could meet Vicka. But if I stay, I'll miss Mass and miss receiving Communion. My Medju-Guardian Angel instilled in me how truly important (beyond our comprehension) it is for us to receive the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus in Communion, so I knew I just had to go.

As I look back, I almost see it as though it was a test. Maybe it was a test to see if I go to Mass because I know I should and it would please Our Lady. Or should I stay to meet Vicka because I want to? Medjugorje is not about the visionaries, but about the messages of Our Lady and about becoming closer to Jesus. So, what do you think Our Lady would have preferred I choose? I'm happy to say I think I passed the test and pleased Our Lady because I chose to receive Communion rather than meet Vicka. But my heart was still broken. In fact, I was so sad and angry that I prayed angrily to Mary. I had built myself up for the moment, and when it didn't happen, I felt so sorry for myself – especially during the moment when Vicka was having her daily apparition. I was at St. James Church and in my head I was speaking to Mary saying with tears trickling down my cheek, “How could you do this to me? You've broken my heart! I was so looking forward to this one little wish. Why did you let me down? I want so badly to return home and be able to tell everyone what a marvelous time I had. But how can I say anything good about the trip when the last memory I have is that of being completely heartbroken and forgotten? I thought prayers are answered. I didn't ask for anything special on the trip. And I didn't think I was asking much." I was really hurt and wasn't afraid to show it to Our Lady.

So after Mass, I didn't feel like hanging around, as I usually would, to visit with everyone. I just wanted to go back to the pansion. I went back with my roommate, and as we walked up the driveway to the back door of the home, to my AMAZEMENT – there sat Vicka! She was sitting on the back porch of the home I was staying at! It felt almost as if, instead of me coming to her – she was sent to me!

It was quite the way to end the trip. I told Vicka I loved her, and she became so excited and she wrapped her arms around me and gave me hugs and kisses! I was on Cloud 9! Our Lady really came through.

To me Medjugorje means R&R – not Rest & Relaxation, but Rescue & Recovery! I can't wait to return there!

Editor’s note: Kelly lives in Chicago, IL

One Single Mass Per Year

By Sr. Emmanuel

Many are still unaware of a magnificent and astonishing element in Medjugorje’s history. It is a joy for me to share this with you today, because it is directly linked to Divine Mercy Sunday!

The Turks ruled the country for more than four centuries (1463-1873). Now during this period of time, the Christians were submitted to terrible persecution and forced to convert to Islam. In fact, according to the Papal visitor, Peter Masarecchi, by 1624, 40-50,000 Croat Catholics were forced to convert to Islam in the central part of Bosnia. (This explains the presence of Muslims in the country, who are in fact “ex-Christians” according to their roots).

The government at that time did not allow Catholics to celebrate the Mass, so a sort of secret Christian life grew that was similar to the secret life of the first Christians who celebrated Mass in the Catacombs of Rome (also similar to the lives of Christians in modern day China). The Bosnian government did, however, make one concession: Christians were granted permission to celebrate one Mass per year, only one, in a predetermined place, in the middle of nowhere, far from any city. The date of this Mass was predetermined too – the first Sunday after Easter, the same date that Jesus would later choose as the Feast of the Divine Mercy, according to the revelations of Saint Faustina Kowalska. The Christians, who were so fervent in this era, did not hesitate to go by foot to this chosen place in the thousands, walking for days and through the night in all weather, facing dangers along the way, in order to be able to live this Mass and “see Jesus” present in the Host at least once in the year. This pilgrimage was, for them, the source of their strength, their hope, their joy, and their light in the night of persecution.

We know that there is method in God’s ideas! We will only see in Heaven the whole tapestry that He weaves in the world in His Divine Providence, and how strongly we are connected to one another through the Communion of Saints! Only then will we discover how certain events, which appear to be new to us, are in fact deeply rooted in the past, in the heart of several generations of believers who have prayed and paid the price, who have even spilled their blood for their faith. It happens that sometimes God reveals a little of His mysterious designs and illuminates a surprising continuity in His choices.

So this place, blessed by the annual Mass for these thousands of suffering Christians, was none other than the rocky countryside of Medjugorje, in the exact spot where the cemetery of Kovacica is now, (where Father Slavko is buried)!! It is found just a few meters away from St. James, where thousands of pilgrims gather again today!

No wonder then to see rivers of graces flowing on this village! Isn't our God truly amazing?

Children of Medjugorje, April 15, 2012 report

Picture of St. Faustina in the Divine Mercy shrine in Surmanci (parish of Medjugorje)

Our Lady Speaks about the Elderly

The following is an excerpt from a talk by Fr. Slavko Barbaric on 4/26/86.

"Dear children, today I invite you to pray. Dear children, you forget that you are all important. The elderly are especially important in the family. Urge them to pray. Let young people be an example to others by their lives, and let them give witness to Jesus. Dear children, I beseech you, begin to change through prayer and you will know then what you need to do. Thank you for having responded to my call" (Our Lady, 4/24/86).

In this message we have an example: "The elderly are especially important in the family." Guided by this message, I often ask myself and I ask you, too, when did we last tell some elderly person in the corner in our home, or in the family, “You are very important!”? Perhaps because we have never said this, they have lost every desire in life, and all joy in it. Many of them have lived in the belief that someone is of value if they work, and after retiring, they lose the meaning of living. They lose joy, and they feel of no importance.

Look at how Our Lady is educating us, how She wants to open our eyes to each other's needs. From my words, perhaps from the words of a young person, depend the parents’ joy; and from the words of a parent depend the children's lives. So you see how important we are to each other; the life of another person can really depend on me, on you. If we discover these values, life will change and perhaps we will have a new chance to discover and realize the nonsense of our fights, our hate, our envy, of our being closed and looking just for something for ourselves.

Our Lady said for the elderly people, "Urge them to pray." These words must be understood in connection with the last words of this message, “Begin to change through prayer and you will know then what you will need to do." Through this message, prayer is once again a way to discover that I am important, that you are, that each one of us is. Through prayer we can discover what we must do.

We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.” ~ St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (our patron saint this year)

Questions and Answers with Mirjana

The following is an excerpt from a question and answer session given by Mirjana in her house during May of 2008. We thank Judy Pellatt of the UK for transcribing it and sharing it with us.

Q: Does the Blessed Mother talk to you? Can you ask Her questions? Does She respond? Do you converse back and forth?

A: Our conversation is always led by Her. I feel within myself what I may or may not ask Her. She doesn’t have to be the one to tell me, “That’s not a question to ask me.” I just feel it within myself. I usually ask for really serious cases, like the sick people in the families and I get the answer. But at the same time, those people who were present at the apparition who asked with their own heart, with an open heart, they also get the answer – but not through me, because we are all the same before Our Lady. I’ll give you two examples.

A girl during the apparition was kneeling next to me and she was really crying so painfully during the prayer, and she cried even after the apparition. I didn’t know who she was or why was she crying. After the apparition, as always, I wrote the message and then I left. And after about a month, they told me that girl had cancer with metastases all over her body, but after she went back from Medjugorje for the analysis, everything was gone. So it was her – herself who was asking Our Lady. I didn’t even know what was going on with her.

At the same time, a young priest knocked on the door of my home after an apparition. He said, “I came to see what was happening. What did you talk [say] to me after the apparition? You were telling me something, but I did not understand it because I’m Italian.” I was looking at him [in a] very strange way. I don’t speak with anybody after the apparition. I just write the message because I have such an intensive pain within myself. I’m just yearning for my own room for silence of prayer. I said, “It wasn’t me.” He looked at me for a few seconds, and then he turned and started leaving, departing in tears. I said, “Father, what has happened? May I help you?” He said “No, I understand everything now. The one who was talking to me was our Heavenly Mother and She said to me, ‘Convert, my son.’”

Q: You stress the importance of the Rosary in the family. I would like to know if you can give us an example of how you pray the Rosary with your own children.

A: Mostly in the evening, when everything calms down a little bit, we always say one Rosary together. Somehow it’s so beautiful, with love. Normal! (laughter). I don’t know what other word to use because since they were born they were praying with us. Of course, as infants, they did not pray, but they were present. And so as they grew up, that was something so normal for them. For example, the older daughter, Maria, she always accepted that with the heart. And there’s another example. You know as a parish we climb the Apparition Hill on every Sunday. Our late Fr. Slavko who passed away on the Cross Hill [Mountain], was leading the Rosary. Me, Marko and Maria, who was only three years old – we climbed the hill. And Fr. Slavko is my husband’s uncle. Just out of joke you know, he gave the microphone to Maria and said, “Will you pray?” Only three years old, Maria said, “Do you want me to lead the prayer in Croatian or Italian?” (laughter). He said, “It’s the same, you know – doesn’t matter, just pray“ – (laughter) because she surprised him.

And it was a little harder with the younger one, Veronica. She was always trying to find some excuses. I think that sounds familiar to you with your kids. “I have to go to the toilet, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty. You just go on and pray. I’ll be back.” And always with a smile, we would say to her, “No problem – you go on – we will wait for you” (laughter). But when she was about six or seven, she was the one who would ask from us to pray. So, thanks be to God, we succeeded so far to make it that way up to now. (Mirjana then repeated in English, “up to now” (laughter). What I can do now? I can place them in Our Lady’s hands and I can pray for them.

Mirjana in prayer before an apparition

The visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo had daily apparitions from June 24, 1981 to December 25, 1982. During the last daily apparition, Our Lady gave her the 10th secret, and told her that she would appear to her every year on March 18.
"Dear children! I call you to, with complete trust and joy, bless the name of the Lord and, day by day, to give Him thanks from the heart for His great love. My Son, through that love which He showed by the Cross, gave you the possibility to be forgiven for everything; so that you do not have to be ashamed or to hide, and out of fear not to open the door of your heart to my Son. To the contrary, my children, reconcile with the Heavenly Father so that you may be able to come to love yourselves as my Son loves you. When you come to love yourselves, you will also love others; in them you will see
my Son and recognize the greatness of His love. Live in faith! Through me, my Son is preparing you for the works which He desires to do through you – works through which He desires to be glorified. Give Him thanks. Especially thank Him for the shepherds - for your intercessors in the reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. I am thanking you, my children. Thank you."

Message of March 2, 2013 to Mirjana:

"Dear children! Anew, in a motherly way, I am calling you not to be of a hard heart. Do not shut your eyes to the warnings which the Heavenly Father sends to you out of love. Do you love Him above all else? Do you repent for having often forgotten that the Heavenly Father, out of His great love, sent His Son to redeem us by the Cross? Do you repent for not yet having accepted the message? My children, do not resist the love of my Son. Do not resist hope and peace. Along with your prayer and fasting, by His cross, my Son will cast away the darkness that wants to surround you and come to rule over you. He will give you the strength for a new life. Living it according to my Son, you will be a blessing and a hope to all those sinners who wander in the darkness of sin. My children, keep vigil. I, as a mother, am keeping vigil with you. I am especially praying and watching over those whom my Son called to be light-bearers and carriers of hope for you – for your shepherds. Thank you."

Pope Blessed Medjugorje from the Air

By Jakob Marschner on Feb. 12, 2013

“Medjugorje never saw Pope John Paul II, but still then the Pope got to see Medjugorje. It took some creativity but also allowed him to see and bless the village on more than one occasion,” the Polish priest Fr. Adamus Slawek told an Italian prayer group on October 19 last year.

According to the priest’s testimony, quoted by the Facebook page Per Maria – Medjugorje e Diakonia, the Pope blessed Medjugorje from the air whenever he got the opportunity to fly over the place. Fr. Slawek says that the Pope told him this personally, during a private lunch at the Vatican.

“I also go to Medjugorje, but do you know how I go there? When I am flying East, I always ask for the airplane to pass over Medjugorje. I see the Madonna there, from above, and bless Medjugorje,” Pope John Paul II said, according to Fr. Adamus Slawek. The priest further tells that, by the time of this lunch, he had not yet been to Medjugorje, but that the Pope strongly urged him to go there.

“Then he says: ‘Well, go! Because I cannot. It is true that, as the Pope, I could go, but it is only that the Church must be careful. When I was a Bishop and Padre Pio was alive, I went to see him even if the Church had not spoken. I went because I was more free,’ ” Fr. Adamus Slawek quotes the Pope from their meeting.

“Now I am on a pedestal, and everyone is looking at me. This is why I have to be more cautious,” Pope John Paul II added, according to the Polish priest.

www.medjugorjetoday.tv

Pope Francis

By June Klins

As soon as I found out the identity of our new pope, I looked in Denis Nolan’s book, Medjugorje and the Church, to see if he was on the list of cardinals and bishops who had been to Medjugorje. When I did not see his name, I immediately went to the list of cardinals and bishops who had not been there, but who had “noticed the good fruits of Medjugorje.” There he was! I was ecstatic! Cathy Nolan, from MaryTV, later added in her daily reflection that he was also mentioned on page 91. I quickly turned to that page and read the words, which were in a gray box for emphasis: “Cardinal Bergoglio ‘was very happy when I told him that I was going to Medjugorje.’ ~ Archbishop Emilio Ognenovich.”

Three days later, Sr. Emmanuel wrote in her Children of Medjugorje newsletter: “Only a few days before leaving for Rome to join the conclave, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (our dear Pope!) gave his approval for Ivan to receive the

apparition at Luna Park [in Buenos Aires]. According to Ivan, during the apparition, the Blessed Mother prayed at length in Aramaic – Her mother tongue – over each priest present, and She gave this message: ‘Dear children! Today I invite you to open yourself to prayer. You are living a time in which God gives you great blessings and you don't know how to take advantage of it. You are preoccupied by lots of things except your soul and your spiritual life. Wake up from this tired world, awaken your soul from its sleep and say to God with all your strength, 'Yes!' Decide for holiness and conversion. Dear children, I am with you and I am calling you with all my soul to the perfection and the holiness of your soul and of all what you do. Thank you for having responded to my call today.' At Luna Park, which was packed, Ivan said that the Gospa is shedding tears of blood for Her children who have been killed by abortion.”

Sr. Emmanuel further noted that last year, the future pope welcomed the Franciscan priest Fr. Danko Perutina, a Franciscan priest from Medjugorje, during his mission to Argentina. She also noted that for the past three years Cardinal Bergoglio’s confessor has been a Franciscan from Herzegovina, and that the cardinal had welcomed the former pastor of St. James in Medjugorje, Fr. Jozo Zovko, while on a mission in Argentina in the late 1990s.

The Croatian newspaper, Slobodna Dalmacija, reported Fr. Jozo’s words as he recalled his visit to Argentina and time spent with the future pope: “We hung out together and talked about everything in Buenos Aires. He was interested in everything. We prayed together, and at the end, he asked me for a blessing. I touched one fine and good man. He’s a good choice for the Church that is getting better, and there is no better person than Francis to rebuild the Church. The gift of Pope Francis to the Church is the fruit of grace during this time. He dares to talk about our failures.

“The new Pope has called for prayer and his first move was presenting Our Lady with a bouquet of flowers [at the Basilica of St. Mary Major]. There is a man who, like Mary at Cana, sees and feels and knows where to go. We need such people who are deeply rooted in prayer. He holds a rosary in his hand and draws on the Gospel. It is the key that opens all closed doors, and the Pope is showing us the way.”

One of our subscribers who lives in Argentina, Jeane Marie Peyon, wrote to me, “We are so proud!!! I have attended several of his Masses, since he used to visit parishes and celebrate Mass. Cardinal Bergoglio had to suffer the pressures and even contempt of government, but is a man of great faith and great humility. We should continue praying fervently for His Holiness Francisco the prayer to Saint Michel Archangel to protect Him from the attacks of Satan.”

Jeanne Marie was responding to a suggestion made by one of our other subscribers – to pray the St. Michael prayer daily for the protection of our beloved Pope Francis. She pointed out that it takes less than a minute to pray and is very powerful. Bl. Pope John Paul II said, in 1994, “I ask everyone not to forget it [the St. Michael prayer] and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world.” Can you spare a minute a day to pray for Pope Francis and our Church?