The Spirit of Medjugorje Online

ON 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! With great joy in my heart I thank you for all the prayers that, in these days, you offered for my intentions. Know, little children, that you will not regret it, neither nor your children. God will reward you with great graces and you will earn eternal life. I am near you and thank all those who, through these years, have accepted my messages, have poured them into their life and decided for holiness and peace. Thank you for having responded to my call."

In war, people learn to fear and to hate. Sometimes those who are actively fighting are motivated by survival, by protecting the innocent, but in a most frightening way by revenge. That Jesus tells us, “Love your enemies” is not a popular teaching.

Instruments of mass destruction are minor threats compared to the festering growth of hatred, of revenge for past national robberies of century-old wars.

And Mary, with the support of many mothers who think that the advantages of winning a war are pointless victories that are paid for by their sons and daughters, calls us to pray for peace. She repeats, “Pray, pray, pray.” And She warns that people are not taking seriously Her requests or the forthcoming devastation that the world faces.

Television brings us closer to the events of terrorism and war more than people of past centuries have been. We hear the cries of men and women whose relatives have been killed, whose homes have been destroyed. We see pictures of the wounded and the dying. In frustration, we wonder, “How can we explain this madness?” “When will it ever stop?” The wars of the mid-east have been going on for thousands of years.

And Mary pleads with us for the offering of our hardships, for the daily Rosary, for dedication to Her heart and the heart of Christ.

There is an interesting scene in 2 Kings where Naaman, a powerful general but a leprous man, comes to the prophet Elisha, asking to be cured. The preparations for the hoped-for miracle were spectacular. But Elisha did not even come out of his hut to deal with Naaman. He just sent word, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan River, and you will be cured.”

Naaman was indignant. He started to leave in angry disappointment. One of his servants said, “If he asked you to do something tremendous, you would have done it. Why not trust him and do it?” Naaman went and bathed and was cured.

Mary says that in these simple things we will bring peace. How can we walk away and let their madness continue?

On Prayer

This time I would like to ask you to pray for all those involved in health care. Lately all three of us here at the Monastery have had loved ones who have been very ill. It has become clear to us - and doctors will tell one this - that alone there are sicknesses they cannot solve. They need God’s help. They need our prayers. Medicine has become a high-tech complicated reality these days, with the suing of doctors adding to hesitation and higher cost. Those who care for the sick need our prayers. Let us pray to Our Lady, Health of the Sick, for them.
You can contact Brother Craig at his Community’s web-site at www.monksofadoration.org

Ivanka & her husband with pilgrims

Question and Answer Session with Ivanka

The following questions were asked by a group of pilgrims visiting Ivanka on August 6, 2001. We thank Mark

DiCarlo of Michigan for videotaping this session with Ivanka.

Q: Is Ivanka tired of all of us coming here?

A: I am not tired. Just imagine, for 20 years Our Lady has been repeating to pray, to fast, to live the Christian life, so that I am not tired. I don’t have permission to be tired!

Q: A lot of people who come to Medjugorje expect to see visions, to see Mary, and they feel disappointed if they don’t. What would you say to them?

A: You do not look for miracles outside yourself. The only thing you must do is to clean your heart, and when you do that, you will be able to see and find miracles in your life. The one who looks around doesn’t pray.

Q: Is there any message Our Lady gave to the people of the United States or to the Church?

A: For Our Lady there is no Herzegovinans, no Americans, no Croats. We are all the same Church. And because She is a mother, She loves all Her children the same.

Q: Are we getting close to the time when the secrets will be revealed?

A: Every day we are getting closer and closer.

Q: In one of the apparitions was Our Lady holding the Child Jesus?

A: The first day, and also for Christmas, 1983 and 1984 Our Lady came with the Baby.

Q: Can you describe?

A: It’s a spiritual feeling. For eyes it is gorgeous, so beautiful, but also it is more beautiful the feelings you get in your heart.

Q: What color eyes does Our Lady have?

A: Blue

Q: Is Our Lady ever upset about the way people come to Medjugorje, irreverent?

A: Medjugorje is open to all people. I met so many people who came here who did not have any respect for themselves, nor the Church, nor other people, and they came here maybe out of curiosity, but they went home changed. So Medjugorje is open to all people.

Q: Can Ivanka remember every single message?

A: Everything that needs to be written is written down, so the main messages I write everything down.

Q: How long will Ivanka have her annual apparitions?

A: Till the end of my life I will have the annual apparitions. At the beginning they asked us to ask how long She would appear to us and She asked us if we were already tired of Her. That was the only time we dared to ask. We never asked again.

Q: How do you explain to people that without the priesthood there would be no sacraments?

A: We must pray to God for priests. We see where the young people are going today and we need to pray to have first a lot of peace in our hearts. Pray, pray, and pray, is all Our Lady says. And everything is going to be fine if we stay together with God, and the only way to stay is with prayer. We, all people, are the same – when everything goes well in our life then we forget about God. When we get a little cross, then we start to pray. God is always close to us, but we have to open our hearts.

Fr. Jozo

Reflection on Our Lady’s Message

By Fr. Jozo Zovko, OFM

“Dear children! Also today I call you to have more trust in me and my Son. He has conquered by His death and resurrection and, through me, calls you to be a part of His joy. You do not see God, little children, but if you pray you will feel His nearness. I am with you and intercede before God for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (April 25, 2006)

Trust is such an important dimension in our human and Christian life. A child must have trust in his parents and those around him. They speak the truth to him and he accepts everything with trust. This has an essential influence on him and his formation. A student must have trust in his teacher and his knowledge. He leans on the teacher’s knowledge, accepting it as his own. A believer must have trust in his priest and Catechist, in his spiritual director, that they are telling him the truth and are transmitting the faith to him from their experience and the experience of their Church. A person who is sick must have trust in his doctor and his diagnosis and therapy. A guest in a restaurant must have trust in the kitchen and in the food that he is served. Our entire life is permeated with, and leans on, trust. When trust in someone or something is lost, then the entire relationship with that person or movement sinks.

Unfortunately, this happens very often. The sick lose trust in the medicine and the doctors because they do not give them the desired results. Everyone can break the trust which needs to be built and invested in. For this reason every educator, parent, priest and doctor must daily grow and invest maximally in their education and knowledge.

Our Lady, the Queen of Peace, asks for more trust in Her and in Her risen Son Jesus. Why? At this time, the enemy has moved the hearts of many to write false articles, to confuse the hearts of the faithful and sadden the souls of the uninformed. Every day Satan finds a way and a means to sow his weeds. While pilgrims come to Medjugorje with full trust in the Queen of Peace, to meet Her and to enthusiastically accept and live Her messages, the enemy speaks ill, attacks in print and at various occasions and presentations. Our Lady desires for us not to be shaken by any gossip or misinterpretation. Our Lady desires for us to have trust in Her and in Her messages so that the graces that flow through Her into millions of hearts do not become blocked by a barrier of mistrust.

How much anguish and pain did Thomas the Apostle, cause his community. He did not believe their experience. He rejected their witness. Although Jesus continued to contact him, he was as an unbeliever. For this reason, Jesus comes through the closed door before everyone to console them. He calls Thomas, who is present, to look at Him, to touch Him and to place his hands into His wounds. All of this helped Thomas but it also helped the Apostles. In fact, they were all healed. Trust was born and renewed and Thomas confessed, “You are my God and my Lord.” Jesus, however, did not praise this declaration as a virtue. To the contrary, he taught his followers for all times that “blessed are those who do not see but believe” – who believe Jesus, their community and the Church.

For 25 years certain individuals have rejected the experience of the Church. They do not accept the fruit nor value it. They have the courage to stand up against the messages which are fundamental references of Christianity and faith: The call to daily prayer together, the call to live the Eucharist and to celebrate Sunday as the “Lord’s Day,” the call to daily living of the Word of God and the call to sacrifice, confession and penance as the way of conversion. Where does the audacity come to devalue conversions that we are witnesses of? These are wondrous changes of life at the level experienced by the apostle Paul, before and in Damascus.

People have lost trust because of gossip and casting of shadows on the visionaries by proclaiming them as manipulators. We are all witnesses of these six visionaries and their difficult and responsible journey before God, the Church and millions of pilgrims. They are not deceivers who run away from the place of events, from the battle-field with such powerful godlessness of our time. Instead, with fasting, vigils, prayers, sacrifices and their personal witness, they always show the way to new pilgrims.

We are grateful for the perseverance of so many priests who accompany their pilgrims and gather their precious experiences of immeasurable graces and gifts which Our Lady gives to them. We are grateful to, and in awe of, the priests in Medjugorje who in humility serve the millions of needy hearts which desire to remove ‘the old person’ in the Sacrament of Confession. We are grateful to them for making the daily Mass and Liturgy solemn – a real Feast.

The Queen of Peace desires to tell us not to give in to gossip and lies and not to be disturbed by the propaganda of the enemy. Instead, She desires for us to have a simple trust in Her graces and plans, in Her messages and fruit that, until now, She has given to Her people. Those who have converted do not permit us to place the messages and the Queen of Peace in discussion. All those who were healed from incurable illnesses do not permit us to doubt in the apparitions and the Queen of Peace. All of the graces that changed millions of hearts do not permit us to debate about the writings of the unbelievers.

How are we to stop the spreading of mistrust? Only with fasting and prayer. The enemy shakes before a Christian who fasts and prays and the dust that he raises is blown away by the wind. Fear not. All of that is a sign that we are on the right way – Jesus’ way, Our Lady’s way.

My Dear chosen brothers and sisters, do not only have more trust but a complete trust in the Mother and Jesus. As always, let us enthusiastically respond to the call. Let us cling to the messages that through the Mother, we may be a part of His joy and peace. We pray and that is why we feel God. We pray and that is why we meet our God who guarantees to us “Wherever there are two or more of you gathered in my name, there I will be.” Dear Jesus, each time we have felt your Divine nearness and love. Thank you.

Kravice Falls

By Peace Pilgrim

Mother Mary exhorts us at least ten times in Her messages to go into nature, including these passages:

"Find peace in nature and you will discover God the Creator Whom you will be able to give thanks to for all creatures; then you will find joy in your heart." ~ Mother Mary, July 25, 2001

"Go into nature and look how nature is awakening and it will be a help to you to open your hearts to the love of God, the Creator." ~ Mother Mary, April 25, 1993

Before we left for Medjugorje, I learned about the existence of beautiful waterfalls nearby, on the other side of Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain). I put this at the top of my TO DO list.

I am a country girl at heart, and exposure to crowds for extended periods wear me out. The day came to take up Mary's invitation to find peace in nature. When I Peace Pilgrim near Kravice Falls mentioned the falls and our desire to visit them to Ana

Shawl, our tour director, she quickly arranged for a taxi to take us to them and back. Our first sight of the falls took our breaths away. They are stunning!

Almost immediately, the restorative effect of the negative ions produced by the falling water took effect. We felt uplifted, body and soul.

With the river that runs from the falls as the backdrop, a personable young man entertained us with his fishing. With just a simple pole and line in hand, he pulled up fish after fish, each with a triumphant smile that went from ear to ear. Within a half hour, he had a tubful of fish, plenty for dinner that night and the next.

The summer's midday heat is searing in the Balkans. But no matter, as the water was invitingly cool. My husband plunged into the deep depths of the aqua pool beneath the falls, while I more gingerly waded the shallows of the pool, fed by freshets off to the side. The coolness of that mountain water was bracing and revivifying.

In the afternoon, under the shade of the covered patio, we basked in the mist of the waterfalls and read to our hearts' content. I read St. Augustine's CONFESSIONS, while my husband delved into Father Slavko's PRAY WITH THE HEART. Between pages, we peacefully and completely lost ourselves to contemplative reverie, as we dreamily gazed at the bounty of natural and verdant beauty that surrounded us. Between chapters, we watched nuns dressed in their habits strolling along the banks, ice cream cones in hand. We enjoyed women walking with parasols and families picnicking on the riverbank, just like "the olden days." We were delighted by the antics of ducks at the shoreline.

It was a day well spent in Bosnia-Hercegovina in this natural oasis. And just as Mary promised, we found our hearts opening and we drew closer to God. We felt at peace, grateful and joyful, all at the same time. She delivers...

Perhaps, by vicariously enjoying our day in pictures, you will be inspired to seek out these falls -- and Mary and Jesus in nature -- on your next trip or your first trip there.

Editor’s note: Peace Pilgrim is from Cerritos, CA. More photos of the falls can be seen at http://hwneye.fotopages.com/?entry=184888

Angels Over the Vineyards

By Cathy Karem

It was a beautiful fall evening in September, 2005. Father Donald Calloway, the spiritual director for another group from the US, walked into Pansion Nada, where he and his group were staying and where I always stay when coming to Medjugorje. I was sitting at a table having a cup of coffee after awaiting my husband’s phone call from the States.

Fr. Calloway looked at me and said, “Excuse me, could you please come outside with me for a minute?” I said, “Sure, Father.” I didn’t know why or what, but I followed him out the front door to the driveway, which is located right across the street from the vineyards, and to the right of Mount Krizevac. He pointed up into the sky and he said, “ What do you see?” I looked and I gasped, “Oh my gosh, Father. There’s angels!” they were going around in a circle in the sky. It looked like they were playing chase! All of a sudden a huge bolt of lightening and a big thunder boom struck the sky and everyone who had started gathering for this heavenly spectacle gasped with awe.

The angels kept chasing one another in a circular motion and we then noticed inside the big circle of angels was a smaller circle of baby angels chasing one another. After what seemed about 10 minutes or so, another huge bolt of lightening lit up the sky and a huge boom of thunder clapped. That was number two. We all screamed with excitement again! Priests and pilgrims were running out of their rooms and were gathering to see this Fr. Calloway at the Notre Dame conference

2004beautiful heavenly display. Everyone was “ooohing” and “awing” and saying, “Wow! Look at these angels!!!” These precious little heavenly creatures were having a great time playing “Catch me if you can” over the vineyards.

Now, after what seemed to be another 10 minutes had gone by, the third and biggest bolt of lightening struck. It seemed to cover the entire sky. You could see the whole village of Bikavici. The thunder bolt was so loud it seemed to shake the earth!

Everyone was so excited! And with that, the angels were gone! The sky went black and everybody was silent. You could have heard a pin drop. It seemed like the heavens opened up and they were called back to the Heavenly Court.

Why? How??? I kept asking myself. I remembered that Ivan had called us to the Blue Cross for a message and apparition of the Blessed Mother this night and I couldn’t go on this particular evening because I had to wait for my husband’s phone call from the States. As a rule, I would never have missed Her call to the Blue Cross, but I knew, after having missed my husband’s call the previous night, that our Blessed Mother would want me to be considerate and be there this time for my husband’s phone call. When I go to Medjugorje I usually stay a month, so I knew that in all probability that the Blessed Mother would call us again to the Blue Cross, and I would go then.

Boy am I glad that I listened to my heart and that I had awaited his phone call !

Our Blessed Mother has called me to come to Medjugorje many times, and I have been very blessed and privileged to have been able to answer Her call. I have seen the Miracle of the Sun many times, my rosaries have turned gold, and many other beautiful miracles have happened, but never in all my days had I seen a visual miracle of heavenly creatures like these angels!

Our Blessed Mother gives us so many blessings and miracles from Her Son Jesus, but they don’t always hit us like streaks of lightening and bolts of thunder. But this was definitely a gift and all I can say is that miracles do

happen and they come in many shapes and forms, but we must open our hearts to receive them.

This beautiful place called Medjugorje is truly a precious and indescribable gift to the world. How God loves us so much to have sent His Heavenly Queen, our Heavenly Mother all these years to help us through our lives. This place called Medjugorje has truly marked me and millions of other people. Mary’s presence is there! And you can feel Her wrap Her loving arms around you.

I must add something very important to this story… THANK YOU, Blessed Mother and Jesus for loving me!

Editor’s note: Cathy is from Louisville, Kentucky.

Mirjana’s Message, May 2, 2006

"Dear Children, I am coming to you as a mother. I am coming with an open heart full of love for you, my children. Cleanse your hearts from everything that prevents you from receiving me; from recognizing the love of my Son. Through you, my heart desires to win – desires to triumph. Open your hearts; I will lead you to this. Thank you!"

Stromboli Day

By June Klins

I am employed as a math tutor at an all boys’ Catholic high school. One day in May, I had an opening in my schedule, and since I knew the freshmen had some very difficult homework, I went to the study hall and invited 3 students to come and get some help with their homework. These three students I invited are usually conscientious students, so I was very surprised when they did not show. Towards the end of the period, the math teacher across the hall was allowing students to start their homework, and one of the students asked to come over to me for help during that time. When he walked in, he said, “It feels so good to be back here.” (He could not be scheduled regularly that quarter.) Later, the teacher who had the three boys for study hall came to me and told me that the reason the three boys did not come was that it was “Stromboli Day” at lunch. She asked them what that had to do with math. They said that if they came to my room, it would take them longer to get to the cafeteria and they would not be first in line for the stromboli.

Later, as I began to reflect on this whole situation, it came to me that all of us adults who are in Our Lady’s school are not unlike those students at times. Just as I wanted to give these students my help, Our Lady wants to give us Her help and Our Lord wants to give us many, many blessings and graces. He is waiting for us at Mass and Adoration and in the confessional, etc. But we are busy people. We have places to go and people to see, television to watch, internet to surf, etc. Like these students, do we say, “No, thanks.”? How rejected Jesus and Mary must feel, just as I did.

During this year of the 25^th anniversary, we should examine ourselves. Our Lady comes as a teacher to guide us on the path to Eternal Salvation. Are we accepting of Her maternal guidance and do we say, like the student who was appreciative, “It feels so good to be back here. “?

Or do we say, “Not now, Blessed Mother, it is Stromboli Day.”?

No Hoax in Medjugorje

By Slavenka Jelavic

There is a great article in the Croatian daily newspaper "Vecernji List" about scientific studies on the visionaries in Medjugorje. In short: Prof. Dr. Henry Joyeux says that what visionaries experience in ecstasy- in the moment when they see Our Lady- is not any kind of hoax. " I encourage many people to go to Medjugorje: those who were healthy and sick, believers and unbelievers, scientists and non-scientists, young who look for their way in life, drug addicts... All of them came back touched with that place and atmosphere which it radiates... In history there is no phenomena which was studied so much, but Medjugorje. Scientists, doctors, psychiatrists, neuropsychiatrists, psychologists, theologians from Italy, France, Slovenia using the most sophisticated instruments and various methods were checking the visionaries and all tests have shown that the visionaries do not manipulate."

The last tests were done on June 25, 2005. None of the tests showed that there was a hoax in Medjugorje. The studies were done in 1981, 1982, 1983,1984, 1985, 1998, and 2005. If you can read Croatian you can find this on www.vecernji-list.hr today's newspaper (5/28), pages 12 and 13.

"... many Italian experts made conclusion that there were no elements which would lead towards doubts that the visionaries are not telling the truth.”

Slavenka

Editor’s note: Slavenka is a very popular guide in Medjugorje. She often translates for the visionaries also.

Never Underestimate Our Lady’s Power!

By Tim Melody

In our neighborhood we have "group" mailboxes. This means that there is a box with several mailboxes every 6-9 houses or so, and they all lock, and we all get keys to our own box.
One day we forgot to get the mail. That same night every mailbox in our neighborhood was broken into. (Mail provides many valuable things for thieves, such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, social security
numbers, not to mention checks, etc.). My wife found out from a neighbor the next morning and went to check our box. She came back and said "Well, God was protecting us. Every other box was broken into except for ours."
Guess what was in our mail? . . .” The Spirit of Medjugorje.” Never underestimate Our Lady's Power!

Editor’s note: Tim lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.