The Spirit of Medjugorje

"Dear children! In this time of the grace of expectation, I desire to call you to prayer for Advent to be prayer of the family. In a special way, little children whom I tenderly embrace, I encourage you to prayer for peace in the world; for peace to prevail over peacelessness and hatred. Thank you for having responded to my call. (With Ecclesiastical approval)"

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My Medjugorje Miracle Was Right On Time

By Annemarie Harrington-Tenney

      I first learned about a place called Medjugorje when I was in college. It was then that my parents told me that the Blessed Mother was appearing to several children in communist Yugoslavia. The thought that the Blessed Mother was appearing on earth in my lifetime was absolutely fascinating to me. I yearned to learn more about Her appearances and asked many questions. However, my fascination quickly turned into absolute disbelief, when my parents announced that they were planning to travel halfway around the world to this communist country in order to experience an apparition...ARE THEY TOTALLY CRAZY?
     Upon my parents' return from Medjugorje, I saw a visible change in them. They were now eager to share their experiences of the spinning sun and their rosaries turning to gold with everyone and anyone they met. My parents were on fire and filled with love for the Blessed Mother and Jesus. I remember thinking, "I want what they've got." So, I found myself praying to Our Lady that one day I, too, could experience Medjugorje and have my life changed as well. After I said this prayer, I knew that one day I would be given the opportunity to see and experience Medjugorje for myself, but I would have to leave the "when" up to our Blessed Mother.
     Fast forward 30 years later, when I was finally invited by Our Lady to go to Medjugorje. By this time in my life, I was a wife and a mother of two college students who had very busy schedules. I thought, "How was I going to find the time to go NOW in my life?" However, when the Blessed Mother calls you to go, you need to trust that Her timing is perfect. It also helps that since She is our Mother, She continued to gently, but persistently, nudge me with the constant thoughts of Medjugorje!
     So, it was on one snowy day in January 2018 when I was at Adoration that I finally answered Her call, well sort of.... You see I wanted to make sure Our Lady was actually calling me to go, so I remember praying specifically that if I ran into June Klins, had the opportunity to speak with her about this calling AND she was able to give me information on how to get there, THEN I would consider going. However, I quickly added to my prayer by saying I wanted my entire family to go, especially my non-Catholic husband and my busy children, AND if Our Lady could invite a few of our friends to make it more fun for everyone, THEN I would go. Nothing like placing a bunch of stipulations on the Blessed Mother's call, right?!
     Well, I am happy to say that when the Blessed Mother wants you to go to Medjugorje, then none of these stipulations can stop Her! Guess who walked into Adoration that day? Yes, it was June Klins! Guess who walked out of Adoration with me and talked to me about Medjugorje? Yes, it was June Klins! Guess who provided me with information on a tour going to Medjugorje? Yes, it was June Klins! Much to my surprise, the first part of my prayer had been answered and I hadn't even left Adoration yet!

Annemarie and her husband, Brian, at Tihaljina

     Although I was amazed at the quick pace Our Lady had worked to provide me with the necessary information that day, I truly doubted that my family and friends would be able to go halfway around the world to Medjugorje with me. Yes, you may have guessed that the Blessed Mother did all the work again by opening the hearts of my family and friends to Her call, so within a few weeks we were all planning our trip to Medjugorje. However, to say that my husband was excited to go would be a total lie. He was extremely skeptical that the Blessed Mother was truly appearing on earth and that he would witness miracles, but he was going - if only for my sake - but he was going!! I believe that getting everyone to go to Medjugorje, especially my husband, was our first Medjugorje miracle.
     For five days prior to our departure and during our travel, I experienced a horrible migraine. I honestly thought my head was going to explode from the constant pain. I was unable to eat, sleep or pray due to the pain. When we finally arrived in Medjugorje, I approached our Spiritual Director, Fr. Bill Kiel, to ask him for prayer. Some of you may remember Fr. Bill, since he was the Spiritual Advisor for this Medjugorje newsletter [prior to his death in 2019] and that he had the beautiful gift of healing. So, at the time, I expected him to pray with me for a healing, but instead, he informed me that I needed to sit down for dinner and he quickly added that he would "pray for me." About 20 minutes later, while we were eating dinner, Fr. Bill asked me if I was feeling better, and to my surprise, my headache was completely gone and I was enjoying dinner for the first time in days! This was my second Medjugorje miracle.
     Our Lady continued to bless us throughout our pilgrimage by our witnessing of many miracles such as the weeping Risen Jesus statue, the spinning sun, the disappearance of the cross on Cross Mountain, the mystical scent of roses on Apparition Hill, the changing of Our Lady's eyes on a statue in Tihaljina, etc. I consider these Medjugorje miracles number three, four, five, six and seven.
     However, one of our greatest miracles, our eighth Medjugorje miracle occurred three years later on April 4, 2021 when my husband became Catholic, and received all of his sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass!
     Medjugorje is all about conversions of heart. What greater miracle can you experience than a change of heart and committing your life to Jesus through our Catholic faith? During those three years after Medjugorje, my husband's heart was changing. He prayed the Rosary daily, began to attend weekly Mass, became enrolled in the Brown Scapular and willingly went through the RCIA program to become Catholic.
     As I look back on my 30 years waiting to experience Medjugorje, some would say that I had to wait a lifetime to go; however I would beg to differ because my Medjugorje miracles were right on time!
     Editor's note: Annemarie traveled to Medjugorje with Den Todaro. Den's next pilgrimage to Medjugorje will be June 10-20. For more information, you can call Den at 724-837-7434.