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! Today I call you to the 'good'. Be carriers of peace and goodness in this world. Pray that God may give you the strength so that hope and pride may always reign in your heart and life because you are God's children and carriers of His hope to this world that is without joy in the heart, and is without a future, because it does not have its heart open to God who is your salvation. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Our Lady told the visionaries that Her real birth date was August 5. Happy birthday to Our Lady! Scroll down to the story entitled "Our Lady of Cross Mountain" to read about this pencil drawing of Our Lady

Our Lady Speaks of Pride

By Cathy Nolan

I must admit that this message is difficult to read in English in its present form. There has been quite a discussion on line about what Our Lady means, especially about the word pride. For the English speaking, the word pride generally refers to the deadly sin of pride. And so we cringe a little when we read the word in Our Lady's message. My first reaction was to look at the other languages to see if there was a differentword we could use. There was no other word. Then, thanks for Ana Shawl and others, the situation was cleared up.

Ana wrote:

“ I have been getting so many emails regarding Our Lady's last message in regards to her using the word pride so I just wanted to clear something up.

“ In Our Lady's message, she is telling us that she wants us to take pride in what we are doing and that is a good thing. To be proud you are living Our Lady's messages and take pride in that fact, hold your head up high and don't shy away from living them and showing goodness. Have a healthy pride. She is not talking about being a proud person. That is different. Having pride in doing something for God is completely different than being a proud type of person or being full of pride or prideful. There is a healthy thing when you take pride in doing something, you are showing that you love what you are doing in this way.

“There are two meanings for pride in Croatian. One is oholost and the other is ponos. Our Lady used ponos which means to hold your head up high and not shy away but do something with love and confidence. Oholost, also translates as pride but that is not the one Our Lady used. Oholost means pride in the sense that you are full of yourself, as in self-importance and that's not the one Our Lady means. She means a healthy pride as in taking pride in something and especially in Our Lady and her messages which is of course the good kind:-)

“I hope this helps. If you know of someone who is wondering about that word in Our Lady's message, please let them know.”

Thank you, Ana, for helping us to understand the message. It helps to know that there are two words for pride in Croatian. If we insert your explanation into the message it reads something like this:

"Pray that God may give you the strength so that hope and pride [loving confidence and joy in God] may always reign in your heart and life because you are God's children and carriers of His hope to this world..."

It is a wonderful idea, to have a deep confidence that we are God's children and that we can carry His hope into the world. What a beautiful idea! It reminds me of the hundreds of athletes who paraded into the Olympic Stadium in London last weekend, amidst hundreds of flaming torches and fireworks. They were all holding their heads high! They were proud to be part of the Olympics, representing their countries in the Olympic Games. You could see the ponos flowing out of their eyes like light!

But we have something infinitely more important and wonderful to be ponos about! We are truly children of God, children of Light itself, children of Mercy and Love. We have been chosen to represent the Lord in the battle arena for souls, through our prayer, sacrifice and mercy. And we are very proud to be chosen for such a battle. We can enter the arena with our heads held high, our hearts aflame with love, and our eyes sparkling with joy, because we are God's children and He is with us. He is going to love the world through us! He is going to reveal Himself to His lost children through our "yes" to Him. He is going to triumph!

Mother Mary is proud of us! She is delighted that we are responding to her call. She wants us to realize how precious and amazing it is that we are God children. She wants us to be confident in this reality. Through Jesus, we have been adopted into the family of God and we are really special!

“Our Lady of Cross Mountain”

By June Klins

This past June, I was blessed to travel to Medjugorje on pilgrimage. It had been six years since I had been to that holy village. I had some interesting experiences, and I videoed most of the talks. I hope in future issues to be sharing all of this with you. I will share a couple of my experiences in this issue.

On June 18, our group climbed Cross Mountain around 6 A.M. because of the intense midday heat they had been experiencing there at the time. Although Ana, our group leader, cautioned us to not go down the mountain alone, I had done it a number of times before, and was not worried. I had wanted to take my time so I could journal and take pictures. Most of the group went down the back way anyway, and I wanted to come down by way of the Stations of the Cross.

I took my time coming down and, after I passed the Third Station, I heard music coming from St. James Church. I looked at my watch and it was 11:10 AM, so I realized the music was from the Italian Mass, which starts at 11:00 A.M. at St. James during the week. The music was as awesome as the view was breathtaking.

As I continued down the mountain, I noticed to my right a man sitting in an alcove with a pencil-drawing of Our Lady. I think he wanted me to buy it, but I did not think I could carry it, since I had a walking stick in one hand and a rosary in the other. I would not want to crush it in my backpack. I liked the picture, though, and thought it would make a good cover photo, so I asked him if I could give him some money – to take a picture of the drawing as well as a picture of himself with the drawing. He seemed to understand English, as he shook his head yes. I took the photos and then gave him a small amount of money. He started to give me the picture, then, and it touched me so much that I began to cry. He tried to console me, saying, “No, no.” Then he touched up some parts of the picture, rolled it up, put a rubber band around it, and handed it to me. I was so moved by this, that I forgot my walking stick – which actually did not belong to me, but to our pansion owners, who lent them to pilgrims. “Seniora,” the man called. I went back and got my stick, and was on my way.

I don’t know what the man titled his drawing but, as for me, I will call it “Our Lady of Cross Mountain.”

Black and White, Dark and Light

By June Klins

As my roommate, Chris, and I sat on the benches near the Risen Jesus statue behind St. James Church in Medjugorje on June 13, we noticed a mean-looking black dog walk into the area. Although I did not see this, others reported seeing the dog jump up and grab a box that a lady had in her lap. He reportedly clamped his teeth into it and would not let go. Then he left. Soon afterwards, a friendly-looking white dog came into the same area. Chris whispered to me regarding the contrast of the two dogs.

When I finished praying the Rosary, I took some pictures of the Risen Jesus statue. It was approaching 9:30 P.M. and was dark by then. The first picture came out with many “orbs” around the Risen Jesus. Our guide later told us that visionary Vicka says that those “orbs” are angels. I took another picture less than a minute later, and it came out with a bright blue sky looking like daylight! Chris and I were flabbergasted at these pictures. We left the area and headed towards the back of the church to get a seat for the Adoration service which was to start at 10 P.M.

When we got over to the church, we met some members of our pilgrimage group. Chris told me to show them the pictures I had just taken. They got all excited and told me to show them to another group member, named Mary Jane, because she had gotten the same exact result when she took pictures of the Risen Jesus around the same time. First she got a picture with the orbs, and then she got the daylight picture! This proved to all of us that it was not a malfunction of our individual cameras.

Soon it was time for the Adoration service to begin. This has always been my very favorite part of the Medjugorje experience – praising Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with people from all over the world. The peace is indescribable.

We were not there for very long when, suddenly, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, that the black dog from earlier ran by me, down the aisle between the benches. Right after the black dog ran the white dog. All of a sudden, you could hear fierce growling, and people who had been kneeling in the aisles began screaming and jumping out of the way. So much for peace! I had been kneeling and was forced to jump back onto the bench as people jumped back into my space. Then just as quickly as it started, it seemed to stop.

It was peaceful again, but not for long. Pretty soon there was a very loud shrieking that was utterly un-human. It did not take long to realize there was a possessed person nearby. It was very unsettling, and I would presume that after hearing that, there was not a soul there who would not believe in the existence of the devil. I felt very sorry for this possessed person. I prayed and prayed for him. The shrieking went on, and on and on. It seemed to go on almost the whole hour. I never looked at my watch, so I don’t know. It did finally stop towards the end of the holy hour.

Later, some members of our group told us that they were in the vicinity of this possessed person, and that there were many priests gathered around him praying. At the end, they took this person and stood him in front of the Monstrance, and moved him each time the priest blessed an area with the Monstrance. One of our group members remembered seeing this person inside the church before Adoration. People were praying over him in front of the statue of Our Lady. I can only guess that this person’s family brought him to Medjugorje to be healed. Praised be Jesus that he seemed to be healed.

When I returned from my pilgrimage, I began to reflect upon all of the events of that evening. I realized that in my six days in Medjugorje after that night, I never saw the black dog again, even though I did see the friendly white dog several times! And when I told a subscriber named Cathy about my incredible photos, she suggested that the meaning of the photos was that “light will follow the darkness!” At the time, it had not occurred to me to connect the dogs, the photos and the possessed person. But then it all came together when I read a powerful message Our Lady gave on March 14, 1985. If we would all heed this message, then we can help hasten the promise Our Lady made in Fatima – the promise hinted at by the white dog, the daylight photo, and the healed man: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”

"Dear children! In your life you have all experienced light and darkness. God grants to every person to recognize good and evil. I am calling you to the light which you should carry to all the people who are in darkness. People who are in darkness daily come into your homes. Dear children, give them the light! Thank you for having responded to my call."(3/14/85)

Oh Yes, God Exists

By June Klins

It was our fourth day in Medjugorje, June 15, when we got the word that we were being invited to the special apparition of Our Lady to Ivan on Apparition Hill at 10 P.M. Although my roommate wanted to climb the hill again like she did two days before, her feet were swollen from the heat, and she was concerned about descending the hill in the dark. She planned to stand at the bottom of the hill or near the Blue Cross, which is still part of the mountain, so she would be blessed by Our Lady when She appeared. Although I wanted to climb the hill, I did not want my roommate to stay by herself in the dark, so I promised to stay with her.

We took a cab over to Apparition Hill with two other members of our group – a nun and her nephew. They were determined to make the climb and wanted us to join them. As we exited the cab, we ran into another member of our group who had decided not to climb. She stayed with my roommate, and I was able to make the climb! What were the odds, with the thousands of people, that she would be right there when our cab pulled up?

Despite the large crowd, everyone I encountered on the climb was respectful and reverent. As the nun and her nephew approached the location of Our Lady’s statue, it was like the Red Sea parted to let them through. As for me, I found a jagged rock to sit on near a Franciscan friar.

The sun was beginning to set, and the view looking down at Medjugorje and up at the other mountains was nothing less than spectacular. Then Ivan’s prayer group began to sing. It seemed to be truly a little piece of Heaven on earth. Only the jagged rock I was sitting on reminded me that I was not quite in Heaven yet.

After about a half hour or so, we began to pray the Rosary. I always love praying with people from all over the world.

That is what Heaven will be like. At 10:00, there was silence, and Ivan had his apparition. During this time I gave my heart to Our Lady and asked Her to intercede for all the intentions people at home had given me, including my own intentions. It was not until after the apparition was over, and people began to stand up, that I saw Ivan, and realized how close I had been to him during the apparition – about 40 feet away or so.

Then someone read the message Ivan had received – first in Croatian, then in Italian, and finally in English. Tears welled up in my eyes when I heard the second sentence of the message: “I have come to tell you that God exists.” I felt as if Our Lady were talking directly to me – because one of my intentions was that Our Lady help me to promote the book I published called I Have Come to Tell the World that God Exists!!!

As I descended the mountain, millions of stars were visible in the sky. The Big Dipper was right above. I remembered that the Big Dipper was called a “compass in the sky,” because one could use it to find the North Star. I smiled as I thought about Our Lady also being a “Compass in the Sky,” as She points us to the real Star, Her Son Jesus!

The next day we went to the Castle to hear Patrick Latta’s powerful testimony [a coming attraction in a future issue]. Patrick spoke about the message to Ivan the night before. He said that it had been over 30 years since Our Lady said that She has come to tell us that God exists!

What were the odds that I would be on that mountain about 40 feet away from the visionary when She would give that message??? Oh yes, God exists, and so does His Mother!

Editor’s note: The book, I Have Come to Tell the World that God Exists, can be ordered from any bookstore or online. It is also available as an e-book as well.

The Italian Mamma

By Sr. Emmanuel

The foreign priests who hear Confession in Medjugorje sometimes come across unusual situations. One of them told this story: As he was waiting in a Confessional that read "Français" on the outside, an Italian lady came in, knelt down, and started talking to him in speedy Italian. Not understanding anything, he told her, in French, to go instead to an Italian priest in a Confessional with the sign "Italiano" on the outside, because he simply did not understand what she was telling him. But the mamma ignored the priest's advice and continued her Confession, telling him many things very fast. Silently, the priest asked Jesus for help: what could he do? According to Church teaching, the Confession is not actually valid if one of the two persons does not understand anything.

Just at that moment, an incredible thing happened. The priest started to see, like in a movie unfolding before his eyes, all that the woman told him in Italian, and he could understand everything! But the story does not end there. In fact, as the priest answered the woman, he found himself speaking perfect Italian, a language that he never learned and did not know! This event left him deeply touched. He added that, when he hears Confession in Medjugorje, he is able to remain several hours at a time without getting tired or hungry.

God frequently encourages His children to make a good Confession by giving overwhelming signs of His presence. However the most astonishing aspect of this Sacrament resides in the fact that two sinners meet together to celebrate the infinite mercy of God! One of them has received the power to forgive sins and the other one humbly comes to him and puts his misery in the light. Behold, in the human poverty of this encounter between the confessor and the penitent, the very Blood of the Savior starts flowing, purifying the soul of the faithful in a degree far beyond what he can understand, and then the great miracle happens.

"I invite you to go to Confession once a month," the Blessed Mother tells us. "For there is no one on earth that would not need a monthly Confession. Monthly Confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West." Of course, Our Lady means a sincere Confession. St. Padre Pio, who could read souls, would not hear the Confession of someone who would come to him without repenting from his sins.

Children of Medjugorje, www.childrenofmedjugorje.ocm June 2012 report

Making a Difference in Bosnia

By June Klins

When I was in Medjugorje in June, I heard about a special lady named Janet Leff, who lived in Medjugorje for nine years or so, making a difference in the lives of many poor people in the area. After I returned from my pilgrimage, I did some research on Janet and learned that she was a retired medical social worker and "addiction specialist" originally from Cleveland, Ohio.

One website, www.medjugorjecalls.org, tried to sum up Janet’s work: “Janet tries to bring medical supplies to the local clinics; clothes and diapers etc., to the home for unwed mothers; wheelchairs to the disabled; wood to the cold and destitute; rides to the doctors and to the clinics; food to the hungry.” The website noted that if you could travel with Janet to the Gypsy Campgrounds or to the Muslim sectors of Mostar, you could watch her in action explaining to the minimally educated women about medicine and how your body functions, since many of those in her classes do not have the slightest idea of birthing or where babies come from!

The website further stated that Janet's specialty is in 'cracking through' the obstacles placed by bureaucrats in local and other governments there and in the health sector. The website said, “There is some government help for the disabled here – the average seems to be less than 50 KM a month (about $32), and few government workers want to take on the added work of increasing the rolls. They might even find their jobs in jeopardy if they are eager to help. Native social workers are scarce. When Janet is steered to someone in need, she grabs a translator and goes out to do the interviews and then points that person in the right direction and with the proper documentation.”

Sadly, Janet had to return to Ohio in April of this year, because of poor health. But, although Janet is not in Medjugorje right now, her work continues through others. One of those people is a man named Joseph, originally from Seattle, Washington. Joseph did not want to give us his last name, because he said it is God who should get the glory, not him. Joseph told us that he used to bring groups to Medjugorje from 1987 through 2003. He said that one year he came to Medjugorje to pray for Our Lady’s intentions, and while he was there he met Janet Leff. He started working with her, and has now lived in Medjugorje for the past eight years, “doing all kinds of stuff.”

Joseph told us many stories and gave examples of the various kinds of work they do. He said that it does not make any difference what religion the people are – Catholic, Muslim, Serb – they help anyone. Joseph mentioned twice that the English-speaking pilgrims of the world are extremely generous. Joseph said there was a little girl who had seven holes in her heart. She lived in a garbage dump in Mostar with her three siblings. Her father had been killed in a car accident when her mother was pregnant with her, and they think the stress caused the holes in the girl’s heart. The girl was sent to the U.S. for an operation, thanks to generous donors. She is three years-old now.

“We’re involved in everything,” Joseph said. “I just got back from giving firewood to two ladies. My feet are wet. They have no water. There’s a stream down the way, so I was standing in the stream filling up water jugs. They have no electric, no toilet. They’re in their 80s. I call them ‘my girlfriends.’ We just check up and make sure everything is OK.” Joseph said that these ladies were blessed that their house did not sustain any damage in the winter, like many other buildings did, because of the unusual amount of snowfall ( over four feet) in February.

Joseph said their work is connected to an organization out of England. He said they do not operate out of the U.S., because they would have to file a whole new chapter. He said when people are looking for him to give him donations of clothing and other supplies, they just ask for “Joseph with the white beard,” and that someone in Medjugorje will know how to contact him. He said there is a retired couple from Florida who also helps.

“Janet Leff really ran everything,” Joseph continued. “She now has lung cancer and spinal cancer. At this time, it’s not looking good. She’s in good spirits. She fought cancer twice here while doing all these projects. She’s dearly missed here. She got me involved. I had no intentions of doing any of this stuff…You have no idea of the projects and stuff that have been done. You get away from Medjugorje and it’s not the ‘Ritz.’ Many people have no bathrooms.”

Joseph said they also work in conjunction with other organizations, such as Nazareth House in Mostar, where handicapped people are taught how to work, so they can make a living. He said that it used to be that if you had a handicapped child in Bosnia, your neighbor never knew it, because the handicapped were locked in their rooms. Now they are finding out that there are things they can do to be productive in life, just like in this country.

Joseph said that they help families in many ways. He said that one time Janet filmed a lady who had cancer and was told to abort her baby. This woman said she would rather die than lose her child. The child was later born completely healthy, and then they sent the mother to Zagreb for cancer surgery and she is doing fine. They were living in a barn with no windows, and then a man donated money so they could convert their barn into a nice home. And someone recently donated so they could put bedrooms upstairs for the children.

Joseph said they were in the midst of putting a new roof on the home of a Serbian family that was not welcomed when they moved back home after the war. Janet had bought them a truck, and now they are producing crops. When they found out that the wife had been to school for nursing, but had never completed her internship, they paid for her to go to Mostar every day by bus to complete her internship. Now she works in the heart unit in Mostar.

“So, it’s helping families to get that one step that they need,” Joseph continued. “We can always help people who need help every day, but the ones who can come out and help themselves and live – those are the people we really enjoy helping.” Joseph said that Janet had a saying when working with families: “I have no money. You pray. We pray. God gives.” Joseph admits that his faith has increased immensely to see how money can just show up “by accident.” At this point, our pilgrimage spiritual advisor, Fr. Bill Kiel, gently corrected Joseph and said “by Providence.”

Joseph then relayed a story regarding “Providence.” He said that when he was still bringing groups over to Medjugorje, a particular pilgrim had 10 boxes of sweaters she brought with her. He said it was a real “headache” to drag all those boxes through the different airports, and when they entered Croatia, they had more problems when the customs office wanted them to pay a tax on all the sweaters. The pilgrim wanted them to go to the drug rehabilitation community, Cenacolo. When they finally got the sweaters to Cenacolo, the recipients exclaimed, “We’ve been praying two years to have sweaters!”

Editor’s note: Joseph will be coming home to the U.S. in November, for surgery, but if you are going to Medjugorje before that time and would like to give him a donation of any type – food, clothing, supplies, medicine, or money – please contact Debbie at debp126@hotmail.com.

Estimated 100,000 Guested Anniversary

By Jakob Marschner on June 26, 2012

“About 100,000 faithful from all parts of Europe and the world came to the 31st anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugorje,” the Croatian news agency Dnevnik reports.

“During the whole day, by some estimates, Medjugorje and Bijakovici have been visited by more than 100,000 pilgrims, with home in Hercegovina, thousands of them from Bosnia and Croatia, and to England, USA, Portugal, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Romania, Switzerland, Uganda, Slovakia, China, France, Slovenia, Korea,” local news portal Brotnjo Info writes.

“Many have come organized, in buses, cars, and on bikes, and a large number have come on foot from places in Hercegovina” writes Brotnjo Info.

“It is hot, hot, hot over here, but that is not stopping the people from climbing Cross Mountain early in the morning ,or climbing Apparition Hill,” visionary Ivan Dragicevic’s U.S. tour coordinator Ana Shawl tells the members of IIPG, the online arm of Ivan’s prayer group.

Throughout the day, Masses were said in 15 languages. Presided over by Fr. Ivan Sesar, the Provincial of the Franciscan Order in Hercegovina, the evening Mass at 7 P.M.was concelebrated by 162 priests.

www.medjugorjetoday.tv

Spending Time with Ivan on the Anniversary

By Cathy Nolan

"Dear children! With great hope in the heart, also today I call you to prayer. If you pray, little children, you are with me and you are seeking the will of my Son and are living it. Be open and live prayer and, at every moment, may it be for you the savor and joy of your soul. I am with you and I intercede for all of you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call." (June 25, 2012 Anniversary Message)

Our Lady gave us a beautiful gift on the 31st Anniversary. She gave us the gift of great hope in the heart! My heart leapt with joy when I heard those words! Great hope! Great hope! Thank you, dear Mother, for giving us your great hope. We need it so badly.

Yesterday (Tuesday, June 26) was another wonderful day for me and for our whole Mary TV crew. Let me pick up with some of what happened on the evening of June 25, the Anniversary. We, who are staying with Ivan this week, have been able to attend his apparitions in his chapel each evening. It is a tremendous privilege, and something to be treasured. We were told that on the Anniversary, Ivan would be having his apparition somewhere else, and so we would not be able to attend. But, on Monday afternoon, we were told that plans had changed and Ivan would be in his chapel for the apparition, and we were invited to attend! What an honor and surprise to be able to be with Ivan for the 31st Anniversary apparition.

We were not able to take pictures, so I have nothing to show you, but [my husband] Denis was able to see Ivan's face from where he knelt, and he said that he has never seen Ivan so filled with joy and radiant. Ivan, himself, told us that Our Lady came very joyful and happy, dressed in a golden dress, and that the major portion of the apparition was a private conversation between them. Our Lady and Ivan spoke of their memories of the first days. How much love passes between them! It is extraordinary!

Then we walked down to the church for the evening Mass…so many people from all over the world! Praying with them is like being in Heaven.

Later, Monday night, at 10:00 P.M., Our Lady appeared to Ivan on Apparition Hill. I could not climb. But there were thousands of people on the hill…

At 6:00 P.M. [the next day] it was back up to Ivan's for the Rosary and apparition. I feel so blessed to have been with Our Lady these days.

After this, Ivan took our group on a little walk in his neighborhood, to show us the important spots associated with the first day of the apparitions, 31 years ago. We saw his parents’ house, which stands just a few houses down from Ivan's present house. They still live there. He explained how there were really not roads in 1981 – just paths. He showed us where he had been playing with his friends, and where he met Vicka and Ivanka and Mirjana, when they were running from the apparition site, full of excitement and fear. He showed us where he first saw Our Lady, and explained how he felt. The fear was overwhelming. He had never heard of an apparition. So he ran home and locked himself in his room, and didn't come out until the next day. It was so nice to hear the story of the first day again.

One interesting question was asked. A pilgrim asked Ivan if he could explain what the crown of stars really looks like. Ivan responded that the crown looks like real stars, but they are stars of light, not physical things. They form a circle over Our Lady's head, but not really close to Her head. It looks almost like a halo. He said it looks similar to the crown of stars on the statue in his chapel, in shape. Wouldn't you love to see it?! [See photo above.]

Editor’s note: A new program, called “Fruits of Medjugorje” is being aired every Monday and Thursday night at 8:00 P.M. on www.marytv.tv. The program will stay in the archives for one week after the show is aired.

Thoughts on the Assumption – August 15

The following is from the book Devotion to Our Lady by Fr. Stefano Manelli: It is especially on the Marian feasts and Saturdays that Our Lady is generous in delivering souls from Purgatory. St. Peter Damian, St. Ildefonse and St. Frances of Rome assure us that it is on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary … that a great number of souls leave Purgatory in a joyful procession that adds a new glory for the heavenly Queen.

Many Feasts of the Assumption ago, I was attending Mass and the priest was telling all of us why this feast day is so special to him. He asked us if we could possibly imagine how excited and happy Jesus must have been on the day

when, after a long separation, His Beloved Mother was assumed into Heaven. How He must have literally pulled Her right off the cloud and into His arms with such joy! And so this priest always calls the Feast of the Assumption, the "Feast of the Big Hug," in honor of Jesus and Mother Mary's long-awaited reunion!!!! ~ Jane Peterson (subscriber)

St. Anthony of Padua, in his sermon on the Assumption, said: "Our Mary, the Mother of Christ, was both a Martha and a Mary. She was a Martha because She wrapped up the Child in swaddling clothes, laid Him in a manger, nursed Him from a breast full of heavenly nourishment, fled with Him into Egypt and returned with Him therefrom. But She was also a Mary, because, like the other sister of Lazarus, sitting at the feet of Jesus, ‘She kept all these things in Her heart.’"