Medjugorje
“Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!”
-St. John Paul II
“In Medjugorje Our Lady is coming in a very powerful way…
It is impossible not to see here the Lord our God. Impossible!… In all our churches throughout the world, it should be as it is here in Medjugorje!”
Bishop Domenico Pecile,
Vicar of St John Lateran Basilica, the Pope’s Cathedral in Rome
The parish of Medjugorje is on fire with Sacramental Life. It is what every parish desires to be! It has a 2-3 hour program of prayer every day, and more confessions take place here than any other place in the world – as well as an untold number of vocations, conversions and healings! How beneficial it would be for both parishioners and priests to know about and journey to this “phenomenon”!
(Word used by Archbishop Hoser to describe Medjugorje, as the Papal Visitor, whom Pope Francis has sent to live in Medjugorje indefinitely as his official representative since 2018.)
What is Medjugorje?
Medjugorje is a village in Bosnia Herzegovina – across the Adriatic Sea from Italy, – where tens of millions have visited here since 1981. It has been reported consistently and undeniably, for 42 years, that Mary, the Mother of Jesus has been coming here every day to call people to conversion and prayer.
Vatican Commission’s Findings
The International Investigative Commission on Medjugorje, presided over by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, was established by Pope Benedict XVI. This Vatican Commission studied the alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje for 4 years, from 2010-2014 and drew these conclusions:
- This study, confirmed by Archbishop Hoser below, determined overwhelmingly to recognize as supernatural the first seven appearances
- The commission also reportedly recommended Medjugorje to be designated as a pontifical shrine.
- Pope Francis commented on the study, saying:
- “The ‘real core’ of the commission’s report is ‘the spiritual fact, the pastoral fact’ that thousands of pilgrims go to Medjugorje and are converted. ‘For this there is no magic wand; this spiritual-pastoral fact cannot be denied.'”
St. John Paul II and Medjugorje
“Today the world has lost the supernatural. Many people sought it and found it in Medjugorje through prayer, fasting, and through confession.”
-St. John Paul II
St. John Paul II: Medjugorje was an Answer to His Prayers
In Mirjana’s book, My Heart Will Triumph, she shares about her time with Pope John Paul II, saying that St. John Paul II always believed Medjugorje was an answer to his prayers! Here are excerpts of the Holy Father’s words in their conversation:
…”I know all about Medjugorje I’ve followed the messages from the beginning. Please, tell me what it’s like for you when Our Lady appears.”
“Take good care of Medjugorje, Mirjana. Medjugorje is the hope for the entire world.”
“If I were not the pope, I would have gone to Medjugorje a long time ago.”
She writes: “I will never forget the love that radiated from the Holy Father. What I felt with him is similar to what I feel when I am with Our Lady, and looking into his eyes was just like looking into hers.”
Later, a priest told me that the pope had been interested in Medjugorje from the very beginning, because right before the apparitions started, he had been praying for Our Lady to appear again on Earth. Saying that while he was recovering from the assassination attempt, which took place on May 13, 1981 – the anniversary of the 1st apparition of Fatima, he was inspired to read the secrets of Fatima for the first time. In Fatima, Mary came to give us a rescue plan from the errors of atheistic communism through praying the:
- Daily rosary and offering sacrifices,
- Consecration to her Immaculate Heart
- First Saturday devotions
As the threat of Marxist atheism grows ever stronger, she tirelessly continues to ask us to respond to these same calls today: to live lives of constant prayer, sacrifice and consecration – so that, in the end – God’s plan may be fulfilled and that, in the end, her Immaculate Heart will Triumph.
After reading the secrets, it is said John Paul II prayed:
“I cannot do it all alone, Mother. In Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland and so many other communist countries, people cannot freely practice their faith. I need your help, dear Mother.”
According to this priest, when the pope heard that Our Lady had appeared in a tiny village in a communist country, he immediately thought Medjugorje had to be an answer to his prayers.
[John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981 – the reported Marian Apparitions in Medjugorje began on June 24, 1981 – just a little over a month later.]
“Medjugorje is a continuation, an extension of Fatima. Our Lady is appearing in communist countries primarily because of problems that originate in Russia.”
-St. John Paul II
Pope John Paul II was convinced that Mary was not only instrumental in saving his own life from a trained assassin on May 13, 1981, (the feast of the first apparition in Fatima), but that she has continued to come daily to save us from satan who is waging a terrible war against the world [think of Pope Leo XIII’s vision of Satan being let loose upon us in these last 100 years], saying:
“Christ will conquer through her, because He wants the Church’s victories now and in the future to be linked to her.” (John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 114)
Scientists Confirm Visionaries Testimonies
One of the most persuasive reasons for believing the visionaries’ accounts is the extensive scientific tests that have been done on the visionaries that confirm their testimonies.
These tests included blasting ninety decibels (equivalent to a loud explosion) into the ears of the alleged visionaries during an apparition -which, to any normal person would have been excruciating and caused deafness – however, the visionaries showed no response,
When touched with an algometer, an instrument that causes a skin burn to register response to pain, again, the visionaries had no reaction.
When 1000 watt light bulbs where placed before the seers’ eyes no blinking occurred – the pupils dilated, but the brain waves showed no change. Like the other results reported, this is scientifically inexplicable.
The tests also showed the seers’ eyes simultaneously looked at precisely the same spot, (as well as knelt down) within one-fifth of a second of each other, and gazed simultaneous upwards at the end of the vision. Two of the visionaries had no eye movements or blinking whatsoever during the apparition (lasting anywhere from 3-45 minutes).
All visionaries’ voices became inaudible during the alleged apparitions– although the movements and muscles associated with speech remained functioning.
Also, notably, in the decades of scientific research done on the reported visionaries, scientists have never have been able to discount the reported visionary’s testimonies nor these inexplicable findings.
Medjugorje Messages
Holy Mass
Scripture
Confession
Rosary
Fasting
What if God really is sending someone from heaven to convert our hearts?
If the apparitions are true, it isn’t without reason that God is sending his Mother to us and so it must be of tremendous importance.
The reason can be found in Mary’s reported messages, which urge people to be converted. The following reported messages express the urgency of Our Mother’s call:
Our Mother’s Messages ARE AT THE HEART of Medjugorje
“I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God”.
“… The only thing that I would want to tell you is to be converted. Make that known to all my children as quickly as possible. No pain, no suffering is too great to me in order to save you. I will pray to my Son not to punish the world; but I beseech you, be converted. You cannot imagine what is going to happen nor what the Eternal Father will send to earth. That is why you must be converted! Renounce everything. Do penance. Express my acknowledgement to all my children who have prayed and fasted. I carry all this to my Divine Son in order to obtain an alleviation of His justice against the sins of mankind. I thank the people who have prayed and fasted. Persevere and help me to convert the world.” 1040
Holy Mass
“Dear children! God wants to make you holy. … He is inviting you to
complete surrender. Let Holy Mass be your life…” April 25, 1988
“Mass is the greatest prayer of God. You will never be able to understand its greatness. That is why you must be perfect and humble at Mass, and you should prepare yourselves for it.” (1983)
“I wish to call you to a living of the Holy Mass. There are many of you who have sensed the beauty of the Holy Mass, but there are also those who come unwillingly. …Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass. Therefore, consciously live the Holy Mass and let your coming to it be a joyful one. Come to it with love and make the Mass your own.” April 3, 1986
Scripture
Usually Our Lady comes to the visionaries happy and joyful.
On one occasion, while talking about the Bible, She was crying.
Our Lady said: “You have forgotten the Bible.”
“Dear children!
Today I call on you to read the Bible every day in your homes and let it be in a visible place so as always to encourage you to read it and to pray.
Thank you for having responded
to my call.” October 18, 1984
“Every family must pray family prayers and read the Bible.” (February 14, 1985)
Confession
Monthly Confession
“Make your peace with God and among yourselves.
For that, it is necessary to believe, to pray, to fast, and to go to confession.” June 26, 1981
“Pray, pray! It is necessary to believe firmly, to go to confession regularly, and, likewise, to receive Holy Communion. It is the only salvation.” (February 10, 1982)
“Whoever has done very much evil during his life can go straight to Heaven if he confesses, is sorry for what he has done, and receives Communion at the end of his life.” (July 24, 1982)
“Monthly confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West. One must convey this message to the West.” (August 6, 1982)
“Do not go to confession through habit, to remain the same after that. No, it is not good. Confession should give an impulse to your faith. It should stimulate you and bring you closer to Jesus. If confession does not mean anything for you, really, you will be converted with great difficulty.” November 7, 1983
Rosary
Daily Prayer (Rosary)
“I am calling you to be people of prayer. Pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and a meeting with the Most High. He will transform your hearts and you will become people of love and peace.
Do not forget, little children, that Satan is strong and wants to draw you away from prayer. You, do not forget that prayer is the secret key of meeting with God. That is why I am with you to lead you. Do not give up on prayer.” August 25, 2017
“In this peaceless world full of threats, your hands, apostles of my love, should be extended in prayer and mercy. And to me, my children, give the gift of the rosary, the roses which I love so much. My roses are your prayers pronounced with the heart and not only recited with the lips. My roses are your acts of prayer, faith and love.
When my Son was little, he said to me that my children would be numerous and that they would bring me many roses. I did not comprehend Him. Now I know that you are those children who are bringing me roses when, above all, you love my Son, when you pray with the heart, when you help the poorest.
… apostles of my love, pray for those who do not know how to love, for those who do not love you, for those who have done evil to you, for those who have not come to know the love of my Son. …remember, to pray means to love and to forgive. ” Dec. 2, 2017
Fasting
Fasting on Wednesday and Fridays
“…Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can
suspend the natural laws of nature.” July 21, 1982
“Dear children! Today I call you to renew prayer and fasting with even greater enthusiasm until prayer becomes a joy for you. Little children, the one who prays is not afraid of the future and the one who fasts is not afraid of evil.
Once again, I repeat to you: only through prayer and fasting also wars can be stopped – wars of your unbelief and fear for the future. I am with you and am teaching you little children: your peace and hope are in God. That is why draw closer to God and put Him
in the first place in your life.
Thank you for having responded to my call.” January 25, 2001
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