Recent news pictures show the people of war-torn Lebanon and Israel yearning for peace.  So many have casualties among survivors; so many came back to find their homes destroyed.    Their faces seem to express a scriptural lament. “Peace.”  Peace.”  But there is no peace.

   And in the heart of all this, Mary wants us to treasure the words of Jesus, “Come to Me and I will give you peace.”  “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

   Unless there is a change of heart worldwide, a period of peace would lead to a consumer orgy beyond anything we have seen in history.  Modern technology makes possible an acquisition and hoarding that would leave billions trying to find in the “things” of the earth a reason for being.

   Mary’s prayer and Her request for our prayer asks us to pray for the peace of Christ. That peace is not simply a cessation of terrorism and war.  It is the breath of the Spirit that penetrates all hearts and relationships.

 

 

 

A woman has been helping us lately. She is deaf. She reads lips very well. Others cannot walk or must use a cane. Some people are blind or nearly so. Some have other disabilities that make their lives difficult, that makes them suffer physically and maybe also emotionally. Perhaps they get tired and weary. Perhaps their patience is tried. Doing little things may be greatly difficult. This time I am asking you to pray for people with disabilities: the people whom you know and all those throughout the world. That would be a beautiful and helpful thing to do.
 You can contact Brother Craig through his community's website www.monksofadoration.org

 

Fr. Jozo’s Meditation on the August Message

 

  "Dear children! Also today I call you to pray, pray, pray. Only in prayer will you be near to me and my Son and you will see how short this life is. In your heart a desire for Heaven will be born. Joy will begin to rule in your heart and prayer will begin to flow like a river. In your words there will only be thanksgiving to God for having created you and the desire for holiness will become a reality for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."           

    Beloved, I am happy to meditate with you on yet another message from Our Lady. I am happy that we have heard and understood this message in the spirit that the Queen of Peace transmits it to us. In the first place, this message pertains to us. Namely, the call to prayer is one which we must not and cannot forget. This call is our program which Our Lady has been emphasizing from the very beginning. It is as important as the light that illuminates things for our eyes to be able to see them.  Things exist but we do not see them without the light. A life illuminated with prayer is recognizable. A cross illuminated with prayer is a grace. A problem illuminated with prayer can be solved and a way out can always be found.      

    Above all else, the important experience in prayer is the experience of the nearness of God and of the Blessed Virgin. Prayer leads us to a wondrous environment in which the soul breathes the grace-filled presence of God. Nothing is as important for our health, for the balance of our soul and body and for our peace, as prayer and the experience of God's nearness and the nearness of the Blessed Virgin. This is because prayer is our strength, our Christian nature, our call and our way - and this is the way of holiness. However, our most frequent problem is taking things for granted, even what is holy. Opening the Bible, taking the rosary in our hand, making the sign of the Cross, or praying a blessing at mealtime, becomes a routine so that we do not feel the power truly present in the Bible, and the grace that is real in the Rosary and in the sign of the Cross. The Queen of Peace does not permit prayer to become a habit, a routine, or even an obligation. She desires for prayer to be a fruitful life of grace. This is because only in prayer and through prayer we become close to Our Lady and to Jesus. Then the wondrous fruits of prayer are nearness with God and the certainty that we are protected from every evil. Prayer makes us cognizant that the power of our enemy is stopped by Her strength. Being aware that Our Lady's heel crushes the head of evil, we become secure in Her nearness. Then the evil spirits, and his servants such as fortune tellers, diviners, astrologers, clairvoyants and the like, do not disturb us because we are in God's nearness. That positive  strength of the grace of God's nearness makes us happy, balanced and secure.  Therefore, all is in prayer and all is accomplished through prayer.       

    Prayer draws us close to the Mother. She is our consolation and our security on the way. She is powerful and loves, therefore She never abandons, forgets or loses us. When we pray, we feel that our entire life is immersed in prayer and thus powerfully feel the grace of Our Lady's presence and nearness. Prayer becomes revealed to us as the shortest way to joy, peace and salvation. It shows itself to be our most fruitful life. Through prayer, Our Lady leads us to Jesus and in that unity is all fullness. From that ocean flows a river of joy, full of peace and every blessing.      

    At this time, when so many have forgotten that they have a  soul and are responsible for their life (as the Mother wisely teaches us in Her message of last month) Our Lady again reminds us that only in prayer will we be  near to Her and Her Son and see how short this life is. The wise men of old said that it is only a passage across a bridge. No one builds a house on a bridge since the bridge is not meant for that purpose.      

   This earthly life has been abused in many families and hearts. Some use and take it only for pleasure and entertainment. Others have destroyed their lives with selfishness and made them fruitless. Still others, by their way of life and false careers, have built a house on sand that certainly collapses in every storm and trial. Without prayer and God's grace, we cannot come to know the value of life on this earth - the life in which we build our eternity. This is why the Mother calls us to start to pray even today, because what our eternity will be like depends on today and now. The desire for Heaven and eternity is not an empty wish or a fantasy built in the clouds. It is a reality founded in our very nature - to be immortal and to live happily forever. That faith and grace are inherent to our nature, whereas we are created in God's image. God is immortal and eternal, and we desire to be with Him in this divine life given to us. That desire is a fruit of deep prayer and a mystical union with God; the God Whom we adore, love, trust and follow.      

    The joy that fills the heart is not produced by material or intellectual values; it is God alone Who can fulfill us and make us happy. As Saint Augustine said, "My heart is restless until it finds its rest in Him." This truth remains permanent for every heart and at all times, even for my heart, in my time and for my contemporaries. If I am joyful and my joy is God and in God, then my heart truly becomes a source of song, thanksgiving, prayer and the giving of glory and honor to my Lord. This is the reality which the world can never understand without prayer. This is our reality. It is our treasure.

      

Be With You”

Part I

By Marge Lee

   On Friday, August 11^th, I received the August issue of “The Spirit of Medjugorje.” That evening, when I read June Klins’ article entitled “Sharing the Tears,” I was very touched by it regarding a huge bronze Risen Jesus statue in Medjugorje which is dripping liquid from the knee. The liquid was tested and found to be human tears!  Prayer cloths are being sold to wipe the tears, and be touched to persons for healing and miracles, which have already happened. While reading all this, the Lord gave me a very strong urge to call June the next morning to send me a cloth for Fred, who was in ICU on life support and near death. 

   When I talked to June on Saturday, she only had one cloth left of the 25 she lends out. She said it was due to be sent out the previous day, but she had forgotten to do it, which is very unusual for her. She said it was “providential” and said, “Now I know why!”  June said it was also providential that her mailman had not come yet that day and that she was even home to get the call, as she had previously made plans, but had cancelled. She sent the prayer cloth out immediately. 

   As soon as I was done talking to June, I was going to call Peggy, Fred’s wife, but she called me first. (That was no coincidence.) She wanted me to know that Fred had just taken a turn for the good and that he could hear and understand her and opened his eyes. Praise God!  It seemed that just the intention of sending him the prayer cloth was helping.  Thanks be to God! 

   As soon as I hung up with Peggy, June called again to tell me the strange experience she had just had. She said that when we had hung up the first time, and went into the other room, she found a bird in her house.  She had no idea how it got in. She wondered if it was a sign from God regarding the prayer cloth. I told her that I felt it was something with the Holy Spirit.  June later told me that she felt the bird had some connection to Medjugorje, so she found a picture of the type of bird on the internet and emailed the picture to some people who frequent Medjugorje. She asked them if that was the kind of bird in Medjugorje that stops chirping during the apparitions. All the people agreed that it was.

   On August 15, the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, (again, no coincidence) I received the prayer cloth with the tears of Jesus. I went to the hospital to see Fred. He was quite alert and active. I squeezed his hand and put the prayer cloth in it, and he kissed it and held it while I prayed over him.  He mouthed the Our Father  with me. Just four days prior, he was near death and Peggy was told that if he remained so on Saturday morning, they would disconnect him; but, look what happened!!!! He’s now been sent to another city for more advanced treatment. My, how the Lord works.

    On August 17, the Lord let me know that He wanted me to make some more prayer cloths and proceeded to tell me how. I was told to purchase white, 100% cotton cloth (men’s handkerchiefs work well). They were to be washed without fabric softener. Then they were to be folded square and a gold metallic cross put on a corner. (I ironed them first and then used a gold metallic marker to make the cross.) Then the original prayer cloth from Medjugorje was to be held in my left hand and the hankie in my right hand, and touch them together while praying the Our Father* and then making the sign of the cross.  Each one was to be done individually. Then I was to put them in plastic (bags) and have a priest bless them.

   I prepared 72 prayer cloths, and while praying with each, I was looking at my precious statue of Jesus with a blessed candle lit.  The Lord let me know that these prayer cloths would be as powerful, and blessings as great, as the Medjugorje prayer cloth with the tears of Jesus.  June told me that the priest who was the spiritual adviser of their pilgrimage to Medjugorje had told them the same thing – that one need not touch each of the cloths to the tears – that cloths touched to one which was touched to the tears would have the same blessings.

   The Lord added that anyone can make these cloths, following His instructions, and touching them only to an original Medjugorje cloth. If you use handkerchiefs they should not be cut and should not be left in a car indefinitely. 

   My pastor blessed all 72 of the cloths and asked for one for his mother. I shared them with many. I sent a package of four of them to a dear friend. When my friend received the package, she said that before she even opened it, the Divine Power of God was so terrific that it went through her body.  What a gift and blessing from our God! 

Editor’s note: Marge is from Venice, Florida. Please read on for a related story.

 

 

* “If we want to pray well, we must live the Lord’s Prayer every morning in a way that really touches us.  The Our Father is enough to pray for the whole world, because He is Our Father, because in two words, we can embrace the whole world, both friends and enemies, as the sun shines on all both good and bad.”

                                                                                                                                     Fr. Tomislav Vlasic

 

“Peace Be With You”

Part II

By June Klins

   In our August issue I wrote about the “prayer cloth library” we established to share the prayer cloths which wiped the liquid (tested and found to be human tears) weeping from the knee of the Risen Jesus statue in Medjugorje. The response has been great and an exercise in the virtue of patience for those who have been on the waiting list to borrow a cloth. I thought I would share a few of the comments we have gotten from all the beautiful letters we have been receiving from people. The recurring theme I noticed in the letters we received was “peace.”  One woman wrote, “I have felt spiritually at peace as never before.”  Another said, “I felt so much comfort when I said my prayers with the cloth. Can I borrow it again some day?”

    The faith of one lady who went from town to town praying with people with the prayer cloth really touched me.  She said, “It brought me closer to Our Lord, and also gave me an awareness how much He truly loves us…I went from house to house.  I wanted everyone to touch a part of Heaven, and if they didn’t have the faith to understand or believe, I asked for them…I made sure to them it was not a magical cloth, but a sacred sign…It was a spiritual week’s journey for me and brought me back to Medjugorje.”

   One couple was so moved that they sent a large donation to purchase more cloths so others could experience what they experienced. They said, “The cloth came to us during a difficult time.  It brought us comfort and peace.”  I phoned this couple and explained that we are unable to obtain more original cloths because we are not going back to Medjugorje in the near future. I told them about how Marge Lee (previous story) made others from the original cloth.  They told me that we could use their donation to buy hankies and make them as Marge did.

   After reading all these letters about the peace that people experienced, it came to me that the tears coming from the statue of the Risen Jesus could be “tears of peace.”  After Jesus rose from the dead, when He appeared to the apostles He said, “Peace be with you” three times (John 20:19-26). Our Lady calls Herself at Medjugorje “The Queen of Peace.”  It all fits together. Marge later told me that a few days after she sent me the previous story, Fred came down with pneumonia and was not able to fight it off.  We were disappointed that his “miracle” was so short-lived. However, during the precious weeks he had received as a gift of the cloth, his wife was able to accept his death and was at peace with it.  So the cloth was, in fact, also her miracle!

   Marge sent me one of the cloths she made, and I carried it in my purse. One day after Mass a lady asked to borrow a cloth for her niece who had been hospitalized for 4 months with many complications and little hope of recovery. Since I did not have an original, I explained to her about the ones Marge made and offered it to her. We continued to talk and then she told me that when I handed her the cloth that she felt a power go right through her body, which is exactly the same thing Marge’s friend had said. She said it was a good feeling, a kind of strength she didn’t normally have, and was on the verge of tears. Precisely- the tears of Jesus, the gift of tears. What is interesting is that neither my friend nor Marge’s friend even touched the cloth itself and still felt the peace.

   My friend later told me that she took the cloth to the hospital and prayed as her niece held it. The next day her niece said that she was able to eat solid food for the first time in 4 months. Soon after, her niece was transferred to a rehabilitation unit to learn to walk again!  Praise God!

   After I heard this testimony I purchased some hankies and made some more prayer cloths per Marge’s instructions from the Lord. I took them to Msgr. Peterson, our spiritual adviser, and told him the story. He blessed them and told me to suggest to Marge that she write up her testimony. Praise God she did!

   We will continue to lend out the Medjugorje prayer cloths. If you would like to borrow an original for your own use or to make more of these as Marge did, send a SELF-ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE AND YOUR PHONE NUMBER. We only have 25 originals and we cannot guarantee that these will be received quickly. You might want to say a prayer for the people who have the cloths that they return them in a timely manner so others might benefit too. No requests will be honored without the stamped envelope and phone number. We ask that you keep it no longer than three days. (When we told people they could have it a week, many people kept it longer.)

    We have a limited number of the ones we made, using the generous donation we received.  If you would like one of those to keep, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope and indicate that you would like to keep one. The postage on these is $.52 because they are thicker than the originals. Because of the limited number, we are restricting this offer to our subscribers only, and one per family. Please do not send any money for them. They cannot be purchased. They are a gift from God who says, “My peace I give to you.” 

Editor’s note:  New prayer cloths can only be made from the original cloths from Medjugorje that were touched to the tears. At the top of the next page is the prayer that we send with the prayer cloths.

 

“Peace, Peace, Peace, and only Peace!”  (Our Lady of Medjugorje, June 26, 1981)

OUR LADY’S PRAYER FOR THE SICK

Our Lady dictated the following prayer to Jelena, one of the locutionists from Medjugorje:

O my God, this sick person here before You has come to ask You what he desires and what he believes to be the most important thing for himself.
Grant, O God, that these words enter into his heart: “It is important to be healthy in the soul!”

Lord , may Your Holy Will be done unto him in everything. If You wish that he be healed, may he be given health. But if Your Will is different, may he continue to bear this cross.
I pray to You also for us who intercede for him. Purify our hearts so as to make us worthy of Your Holy Mercy to be given through us.
Protect him and relieve his sufferings. May Your Holy Will be done unto him. Through him may Your Holy Name be revealed. Help him to bear his cross with courage.
(Pray the Glory Be prayer three times)

Rosary

By Lauren Caggeso

 

   My nana, Catherine Vinski, has always been very influential in my life. Growing up, whenever I was confronted with a difficult situation, all I needed to do was ask myself, "What would Nana do?”  The answer was always simple...what did her faith tell her. Her strong Catholic faith has been the backbone of her family for many decades.  Everyone who meets her leaves with a sense of peace. She truly reflects Jesus' love to everyone. We have always said that she reminded us of Pope John Paul II, especially her face when praying. Knit in concentration, she reflects "pray from the heart" to me.

   My nana's parents came over to America from Croatia early in the century. Praying was always central to her life. The older I get, the more I am aware of her "making all day a prayer"- something  I continuously work towards. In the morning, she always says her “Croatian Rosary.”  I was intrigued by this recently and told her I would like to learn this prayer. I was in Medjugorje in 2000, and recalled the recitation of the Rosary in Croatian and have always wanted to learn. On one particular visit last year we finally took the time to sit down and learn the prayer.  I figured we were going to be learning the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be, but that was not the case. I sat on the couch with pen and paper ready to write the Croatian and the English words down.  My nana had not said the translation to English for probably over 60 years (so if they are actually a little off I apologize). We took some time to try to figure out what each word meant. The prayers turned out not to be the ones I thought they would be at all. What she taught me was more similar to the Divine Mercy Chaplet given to St. Faustina.  I was surprised! She always had called it her “Croatian Rosary,” but it was probably more of a chaplet. The interesting part of this is that my nana learned this prayer in grade school. She was born in 1922, so that would mean late 20's, early 30's. The prayer is said on rosary beads and is as follows:

 

Our Father beads:

Vecni Oce, prikazuem Ti predragucijenu Krv                      Great God, I am offering you the precious Blood

Isusa Krista, kao zadovolstinu  zasvoje grehe i za of Jesus Christ, in atonement for my sins and for

potrebe svete crkve                                                             the benefit of the Holy Mother Church.

 

Hail Mary beads.

Isuse Blaga i ponizna srec- ucini srec moje po                    Adorable Jesus, make my heart like unto Thine.

srcu Svome

 

Glory Be beads:

Slaltko certsa Marino budi spasenje moje                            Sweetheart of Mary, be my salvation

 

   I cannot wait to pass down this devotion to my family someday.  When I say this beautiful prayer, I am taken to another place.  This place lies somewhere between Medjugorje, Heaven and my nana's living room.

Editor’s note:  Lauren lives in Cambridge Springs, PA, with her husband Dominic and baby Anthony. Lauren makes rosaries from dried rose petals and also family rosaries (with all the family names on them with alphabet beads). You can contact her at Laurencaggeso@yahoo.com.

My Souvenir from Medjugorje

By Rachael Ann Marie Moffatt

 

   In Medjugorje there is a place called the Cenacolo  One day Mom and I went there to get souvenirs but the gift shop was closed.  We went back the next day but it was closed again.  When we were walking home there was a rosary on the ground.  There was no one around so we took it back to where we were staying.  One of the ladies saw that the links on it were gold.  I was jumping up and down with excitement!  That day we climbed a mountain called Cross Mountain and on the back of the rosary there was a symbol of Cross Mountain.  The next day we went back to Cenacolo and it was open and we bought our gifts.  On the way back my Mom asked me where we found the rosary. I said, “Right there,” and she said, “That is where Mary was seen for the first time by Ivan!”  I was so happy.  I knew I was never going to forget this experience.

Editor’s note:  9 year old Rachael lives in Poquoson, VA and is in the fourth grade.  She traveled to Medjugorje in July with her mother and grandmother, where they stayed with Ivan and his family.  This was Rachael’s second trip to Medjugorje. The rosary she found is pictured on the cover.

 

 

Questions and Answers with Jakov, 6/21/06

 We will publish more of the questions and answers from this talk in future issues.

 

Q:  What are the prayers Jakov says with his family?

A:  I pray all prayers with my family, all the prayers Our Lady has asked us to pray.  Of course we pray the prayer of the Holy Rosary. We also pray the prayer of 7 Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s, Glory Be’s.  And there is also another prayer we say with our hearts, and this prayer is true conversation with God.  And you see that prayer is not just Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.  It’s not just that. But prayer is conversation with God, our conversation with our Father, conversation with our Mother.  So we have to open ourselves towards our Mother.  We have to talk to her, and you see we have been told so many times, “Tell Our Lady we love Her.”  But, all of you can say this to Our Lady because Our Lady spends time with all of us.  She listens to all of us.  She is the Mother of all of us. 

 

“Wedding Rosary”

    A very old tradition in Mexico, which is making a comeback, is the “Wedding Rosary.”  It is made up of three 5 - decade rosaries.  They are put together like a vest, without the "tails,” which are blessed along with the rings at the wedding.  At the wedding, when the bride and groom are before the priest, the bride slips one arm into one outer rosary, the groom into the other outer rosary. The middle rosary is in the back of the couple, and they are joined tightly together "in the rosary."  At the reception or home, the bride unhooks the 3 rosaries from each other, and attaches the "tails."  Then the couple presents each mother with a rosary, and asks them to use this rosary to pray for their new marriage. The third rosary, the couple keeps for their own devotions.

   Marija, who owns the store called “Glory” near Apparition Hill has put her personal touch on the “Wedding Rosary” by putting 2 rosaries together, made of miraculous medals, which meet at the centerpiece and the two become one before the crucifix. The adjacent picture does not do this rosary justice! 

 

My Laugh on Fast Day 

By Susan Sisler

 

  When the temptation to break your fast begins, close your eyes, and ask Mary or Jesus for help with your fast. You will be surprised how quickly the help arrives and how much better you will feel if you complete your fast.
   One time on a fast day, I was on my way home from town around 10:00 PM.  I drove through a Wendy's drive-thru, asked for a salad with no dressing  (thinking it wouldn't be too bad if I just ate a small salad with no dressing) and the girl in the window said they just sold their last salad and were out!  I smiled, almost laughed out loud and said thank you and drove home! I know Mary and Jesus were smiling too!
Editor’s note:  Susan is from Meherrin, VA.

 

Thanks to Barb Haller, Bernard Gallagher and Diana Stillwell for their photos in this issue.