Dear children! I am calling you because I need you. I need hearts ready for immeasurable love, hearts that are not burdened by vanity, hearts that are ready to love as my Son loved,that are ready to sacrifice themselves as my Son sacrificed Himself. I need you. In order to come with me, forgive yourselves, forgive others and adore my Son. Adore Him also for those who have not come to know Him, those who do not love Him. Therefore, I need you; therefore, I call you. Thank you.
Message to Mirjana on 2 June 2009
Dear Children, My love seeks your complete and unconditional love, which will not leave you the same as you are, instead it will change you and teach you to trust in my Son. My children, with my love I am saving you and making you true witnesses of the goodness of my Son. Therefore, my children, do not be afraid to witness love in the name of my Son. Thank you.
As Our Lady was leaving, Mirjana saw a cross and the Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns. The crown was also around the cross at the level of the two branches. ( from Children of Medjugorje Newsletter June 2009).
28th Anniversary of Our Lady's Apparitions in Medjugorje 25th June 2009
Details of meetings marking the 28th Anniversary can be found on the Events Page of this website.
Message to Mirjana, 2 May 2009, with Fr Tutto's Reflections
Dear Children, Already for a long time I am giving you my motherly heart and offering my Son to you. You are rejecting me. You are permitting sin to overcome you more and more. You are permitting it to master you and to take away your power of discernment. My poor children, look around you and look at the signs of the times. Do you think that you can do without God's blessing? Do not permit darkness to envelop you. From the depth of your heart cry out for my Son. His name disperses even the greatest darkness. I will be with you, you just call me: 'Here we are Mother, lead us.' Thank you.
Those who are reading Mirjana's message are wondering about to whom Our Lady is addressing this very serious message. It should be known that Our Lady and Mirjana are praying for unbelievers on the second day of each month. Unbelievers are not only pagans who have never been baptised and people of non-Christian religions, but also the many lapsed Christians. Sadly, the number of lapsed Christians is growing rapidly in our secularised and godless world, and that is precisely the reason why God sent his Mother, our Mother, into our world as the Queen of Peace and Prophets to call all God's children to accept Jesus, the Redeemer, the King of Peace, and to live by His gospel. Our Lady's very first message given at Medjugorje on 26th June 1981 confirms the above statement: I wish to be with you to convert and reconcile the whole world.
However, Our Lady needs the help of all her believing children, as she often mentioned in her monthly messages through Marija Pavlovic. In order to be able to help Our Lady in her mission to the world, we have to walk on the path of holiness by living her messages as she asked us on 25th April 1994:
Dear Children, today, I invite all of you to decide to pray for my intention. Little children, I invite all of you to help me realize my plan through this parish. Now, in a special way, little children, I invite you to decide to go the way of holiness. Only then will you be close to me. I love you and want to lead you all with me to paradise. But, if you do not pray and if you are not humble and obedient to the messages I am giving you, I cannot help you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
The message given to Mirjana may remind us as well that if we are not living by Our Lady's messages and if we are following the ways of the world, we are permitting sin to overcome us more and more, leading us to ultimate perdition. Our Lady reminds all her children about the signs of the times which we should recognise if we read and pray the Sacred Scripture, as she stated in her message on 25th August 1993:
Dear Children, I want you to understand that I am your Mother, that I want to help you and call you to prayer. Only by prayer can you understand and accept my messages and practice them in your life. Read Sacred Scripture, live it, and pray to understand the signs of the time. This is a special time. Therefore, I am with you to draw you close to my heart and the Heart of my Son Jesus. Dear little children, I want you to be children of the light and not of darkness. Therefore, live what I am telling you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
What are the signs of the timers which should warn all people on earth and should help them to seek God's help to live in peace, without fear? The signs are manifold: natural disasters like earthquakes and floods, and man-made afflictions like tribal wars, terrorism, persecution of Christians, breakdown of families, lack of moral education of children, juvenile killings, etc. I dare not think of what might happen to the world if evil-minded people should get hold of a nuclear bomb.
There is an important task for all of us who are listening to Our Lady's messages and are willing to become instruments in her hands in helping her and Jesus to dispel darkness in our world. This task is to join Our Lady and Mirjana by praying in our families or prayer-groups, especially on the second day of every month, for unbelievers and lapsed Christians that they may turn to Jesus, the Light of the world, the King of Peace.
Father Danko's No 5.retreat talk early 2009 at Emmaus Retreat Centre.
CONVERSION
Who is converted and in what way ? The one who has not converted, has to, if not your families will call me.
There is no man in this world who does not want to be happy, that is the basic task of our being. There is only one way to be happy and that is to be converted. Jesus started his public ministry with the call to convert and believe in the Gospel. It means to leave the old way behind and start anew. We should not be afraid of it because we get everything. Something has to be lost, we lose sin and gain Heaven. Jesus says whoever wants to follow me let him take up his cross daily and follow me. God has planned for us to be happy, heaven is here for those who are on the side of God. There are so many signs of conversion in the Bible.
There is the example of the prodigal son. There are two sons, the older and the younger. The younger son says to his father, give me what belongs to me. This could also mean I wish you were dead. The younger son is inexperienced. He takes all his inheritance goes to a faraway land. That is the equivalent of distant from God. If you have money you always have always have false friends.
There is the story of two men who became good friends and went out for a pint of beer. One asked the other if you had 5 TVs would you give one to me ? Of course, was the reply. They went on drinking and the first one asked, if you had 5 cans would you give one to me ? Of course, was the reply again. Then he asked, if you had 5 T shirts would you give one to Me ? This time the answer was no. Why ? because I have 5 T shirts. He was willing to make promises with something he did not have.
The younger son was eating what the pigs were eating. He came to his senses and thought I am suffering. I will get up and go back to my father. This is when conversion happened. The father did not forget his son, every morning he looked out for his son and was concerned for him. One day the servants came out ands said to him his son had come back. The father is overjoyed and is going to slaughter the calf and give the son a ring, sandals with a staff. Today that would mean a fancy house, a car, a mobile phone, £100,000. We would probably react to the returning son , I told you so. The son is embraced by his father who says I am not worthy to be your son, I will be your servant. It is harder to be a son because then you have responsibility. The older son asks the servants about the feast. He is told that his brother who was lost has come back. Then this son is envious but the father tells him, all I have is yours. It is hard because the father does not want to lose either son. The ending is open ended; we are not told whether the elder son comes to the feast.
There is a big danger we priests and those who regularly attend Mass should not be envious of those who convert. After the fall of communism in 1991 and communists started coming to Church, there was a bit of an attitude from those who were there all the time, that is my seat. They were resented for taking the hosts if there were not enough. We have to accept everyone. The sinners who convert are dear to God and there was great rejoicing over lost sheep. That is why Our Lady said on the 9th January, you are on the wrong way.
I was blessing some houses and I had thirty children with me to show me where they were. In one of the houses I told them the story of the lost sheep. I asked one boy what did the shepherd do when he found the lost sheep. He answered, he must have slaughtered it. I said, no, he brought it back to where it belonged. In the story of the prodigal son which character did things not go well for, it was the calf. Every conversion demands a sacrifice. The mercy of the Father cannot come to fullness if we not come to our senses. St Augustine said, O happy sin that has brought me to You. God allows us anxiety because it brings us to Him, we may only see this thirty years later.
A great example of conversion is St Paul. He was one of the strongest of persecutors of Christians, then he heard the Lord say, why are you persecuting me? He was struck blind for days and his name was changed from Saul to Paul. A change of name in the Bible means a change of a way of life and that is a conversion. Abraham was another example, his name was changed from Abram. Paul also met God and after that nothing was the same. It is important that conversion is a continuing process.
We should never judge others. There is a story of a young family who came from a village to live in the city. The woman looked out of the window and saw her neighbour putting washing on the line and the washing looked dirty. She called her husband to have a look and did this for about three to four days. One day she looked again and saw the washing was clean. She called her husband again and he told her, this morning I cleaned the windows of our house. The moral is very clear; whenever we are judging others there is so much to work on our own lives.
Turn your back on sin and your face to God. One man cannot change another, only God can do that. Pray every day for your own conversion. We can all become better, do good deeds, and belong to God. It is a process. The one who prays every day is being converted everyday, without prayer there is no life. Prayer is like a big tube through which God sends his grace earth. Our Lady recommends the Rosary. It is so powerful, as we meditate on the life of Jesus we belong to God more and more. Talk No 3 from Father Danko can be found in the Editors in Box on this website Talk No.4:Continuation on the subject of sin and how to avoid it: How does sin enter our lives ? That is a question that is bothering every human being. Why did Eve take that apple ? One of our Professors asked, Eve, Eve why were you so foolish ? Why did she not say to the snake: you try it first and then we will see what will happen.
We know when God is creating he first creates big things and then the smaller things. First he created heaven, then the sun, moon, and stars. Then he created the earth and the seas, then there were trees and the most beautiful carpet in the world, the grass. Then he created animals, birds, crocodiles, cats, tigers, giraffe, and then different animals in the sea, fish. At the peak of creation he created Adam, our father. Adam had a great time in the garden of Eden, but after some time Adam became sad. God said to Adam, you will fall asleep for a while, when you wake up you will see something beautiful. God uses a rib of Adam, out of which he created Eve. When Adam saw Eve he fell in love with her. All went well until the snake arrives. Eve makes her first mistake, she talks to the snake, because every time when I come close to evil I will fall down. That is why you should distance yourself from the source of evil. The snake offers the apple to Eve, she takes a bite, and swallows it. She gave the apple to Adam, he bit a bigger part of the apple and did not chew it well enough and swallowed it straightaway, a piece of it became stuck, that is why we have the adam apple, which women do not have. Their eyes opened and they realised they were naked. They became ashamed and hid themselves. God is the first one who looked for them. God always comes first, He came in his Son, Jesus. He sent to us the Blessed Virgin Mary.
God is always the first one who is offering his hand and he is asking Adam, where are you ? Adam said, I am hiding because I am naked. God asked him did you eat from the tree that I asked you not to eat from. Adam replied he did, but it is not my fault, Eve is the one at fault, she persuaded me to do it. While there were two of use living in paradise we had no problems. Then God asks Eve why did she do it ? Eve replied, it was not her fault, it was the fault of the snake, he made me do it. The God turns to the snake, the snake looks around for another animal to blame, but there were none there, so then the snake is to be blamed. That mistake from the first pages of the Bible is being repeated even today. It is not my fault, instead it is my neighbour, my wife, my husband, the Bishop, the Pope, always we blame someone else. It is very difficult to admit our own mistakes, but without doing so, a man cannot make any progress, and then God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden. The desire of the human heart is to go back to the place from which we were expelled, the Garden of Eden, before the fall, and that is unity with God.
You know that there are light and heavy sins. How do we commit sins ? By our thoughts, words, actions, and what we fail to do. What does it mean to commit sin in your thoughts ? When we are thinking about evil things, although we many not have realised it, such as being envious or proud. With words when we speak badly of others or seek revenge, those things we fail to do when we were supposed to. That is why this life is an increasing battle, in the first case a battle against sin. That is why Medjugorje is called the greatest confessional box in the world. Remember that you have to confess all your sins. There is nothing as beautiful as a clear conscience.
There is no place in the world where people go to confession as much as they do in Medjugorje, that is the sign of the greatest fruit of Medjugorje. In some confessionals in Western Europe they keep their cleaning tools. Some confessionals in Germany are next to the place where people can sit and talk. Some people come to just talk and talk to the priest, but you have to confess your sins. Whoever relaxes can be straight away trapped by Satan, that is why we have to fight all the time. In this battle we must not fall asleep. Jesus said to the disciples, stay awake, and they went to sleep.
Sin is contagious. Some passengers are in a small boat on a pleasure trip, one of them says he wants to make as small hole in the bottom of their boat to watch the water go by. The others tried to stop him, but he said this is my seat, I can make this hole. They said, if you do this we will all sink, so they held him back and stopped him. It is the same with our sin and our holiness. If we commit heavy sins a person cannot say, that is something that affects only me, that is mine, I do not care, because it makes the surrounding air contagious. Holiness as well is all around us and is affected by these sins when they happen. To fight against mortal sin you have to first hate it, secondly we have to reveal the source of sin, what is provoking us to commit that sin, thirdly we must avoid situations which may make us commit that sin. Fourthly we must confess and fifthly pray to God to help us in that situation.
The Life of Christ open air play at Wintershall Surrey from 23rd June to 28th June 2009. For details please go to the Events Page on this website.
Message to Mirjana, 2 April 2009
Dear Children, The love of God is in my words. My children, that is the love which desires to turn you to justice and truth. That is the love which desires to save you from delusion. And what about you, my children? Your hearts remain closed; they are hard and do not respond to my calls. They are insincere. With a motherly love I am praying for you, because I desire for all of you to resurrect in my Son. Thank you.
Extract No 3 Father Danko's retreat talks early 2009 at Emmaus Retreat Centre
Father Dank Perutina OFM from the Parish of St James in Medjugorje (1 Feb-2 Jan 2009)
On the subject of sin:
We will now talk about something that is very easy to talk about, it is sin. We all have an experience of sin. We have all committed sins. May be there those who have never committed a sin, at least they say so, but they are not listed as Saints in the calendar of the Church at least until they die. There those who have a false conscience. There is no man who does not commit sin. Someone wrote on a wall, God is dead, and the signature was Nietzsche. Someone else came afterwards and crossed the word, God out, and then wrote, Nietzsche is dead, and God is in charge. Throughout history there have been people who have tried to live their lives as if God did not exist. The opinion of modern man is that he wants to be free, he wants to decide about his own life, about everything and without any limits, even without God. They live their lives having the opinion that they are depending only on themselves and no one else.
We see it cannot be that way, and we can see that this is a consequence of sin. When sin is committed we are divided from God. Whenever you commit a sin the unity with God is broken. There is a story about a crazy spider who built a web at the top of a cherry tree, but he could not find any food up there, because it was quite high for the flies to fly. He decided to put his web a little bit lower, into the bushes. He was trying to make his web in the bushes all day long. In the evening he became tired and went to sleep. In the morning he wanted to check that the web was alright and that the lines were correctly ordered since he could not see any food over there. The lines were perfectly arranged. One line was going upwards and it bothered him a lot and he cut that line and he, the spider and the web fell into the mud. Every time when we break that connection with God we fall down into the mud, into the sin.
In September 1984, Our Lady says: You are asking why so many prayers ? Look around you,dear children and you will see that sin has started to rule the world. In February 1987 Our Lady says: I want each one of you to be happy, but in sin no one can be happy. In September 1991, Our Lady says: Today in a special way I invite you to prayer and renunciation. For now as never before Satan wants to show to the world his shameful face by which he wants to seduce as many people as possible on to the way of death and sin.
We are created out of love and we are created for love. Our problems start when we are far away from that love and that is always sin, since sin brings us to the point of division. A man who is heavy in sin, he is like in a shell and God cannot come to him if he cannot open himself to God. That is why confession is important. So how do we know whether we committed a sin? Who says this to us? There is such a beautiful organ in the human body, and that organ never sleeps, its name is conscience. We can say that conscience is in the heart. It is the depth of a human being where the human is a human. If a man lives a good life, lives according to the commandments then his conscience is spreading. It is beautiful. You can see it in the face of that person. When one has heavy sin, then he is like a hedgehog, getting smaller and smaller and getting angry. He blames everyone around himself and is nervous and angry about everything. I believe you have met people of this kind. Whenever you see them you want to cross the road and go far from because they radiate something negative. Whenever you speak to those people they straightaway talking about someone else. You fee like being in the darkness with them. Those are people having heavy sins. They see problems everywhere and in other people, and the problem is with themselves. The golden rule of spirituality is that if you have problems with a certain person the problem is not within that other person, the problem is always within you. I know what you think, and that is what I think too, that it is not true. You can say: Oh Father, if you only knew that person, you would understand.
First of all we have to sort things out between us and God. One of the golden rules of spirituality is: dont look backwards. You drive a car driving towards London because your home is in London, but then actually you are reversing and you are going in a completely different direction, to Brighton. And then you are trying to do your best to drive, but you are driving backwards, reversing. You think , whats happening ? My car is directed towards London, but still I am going to Brighton, you are reversing driving backwards. It is forbidden to look back. We look at what happened ten years ago, fifty years ago, and think, My God, how could I do that ? Leave that. God is not interested in that. God is not interested in our sins, God is interested in our hearts. The only question posed when we get to Heaven is: were you mine or not ? We have to say, yes, to that question. I was fighting, I was falling down, I was repenting, but I was always on your side. He will say: Come over here. He will not check in detail all about our sins. We are really fortunate that it will not be a human being waiting for us. ( To be continued: The origins of sin, forgiveness, temptation, avoiding sin).
Annual message to Mirjana, 18 March 2009
Dear Children, Today I call you to look into your hearts sincerely and for a long time. What will you see in them? Where is my Son in them and where is the desire to follow me to him? My children, may this time of renunciation be a time when you will ask yourself: 'What does my God desire of me personally? What am I to do?' Pray, fast and have a heart full of mercy. Do not forget your shepherds. Pray that they may not get lost, that they may remain in my Son so as to be good shepherds to their flock.
Message to Mirjana, 2 March 2009
Dear Children, I am here among you. I am looking into your wounded and restless hearts. You have become lost, my children. Your wounds from sin are becoming greater and greater and are distancing you all the more from the real truth. You are seeking hope and consolation in the wrong places, while I am offering to you sincere devotion which is nurtured by love, sacrifice and truth. I am giving you my Son.
Message to Mirjana, 2 February2009
Dear Children, with a motherly heart, today I desire to remind you of, to draw your attention to, God's immeasurable love and the patience which ensues from it. Your Father is sending me and is waiting. He is waiting for your open hearts to be ready for his works. He is waiting for your hearts to be united in Christian love and mercy in the spirit of my Son. Do not lose time, children, because you are not its masters. Thank you.
Message to Mirjana, 2 January 2008
Dear Children, While great heavenly grace is being lavished upon you, your hearts remain hard and without response. My children, why do you not give me your hearts completely? I only desire to put in them peace and salvation with my Son. With my Son your soul will be directed to noble goals and you will never get lost. Even in greatest darkness you will find the way. My children decide for a new life with the name of my Son on your lips. Thank you.
NEW BOOK TITLE
What is happening in Medjugorje ? by James Mulligan (London: Dusty Sandals Press Limited, 2008)
Available on Amazon, or from Bernard Ellis at: Spring House, Spring Bottom Lane, Bletchingley, Surrey, RH1 QZ (GBP 12.00 plus p&p GBP 2.50 per copy).
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Message to Mirjana, 2 December 2008
Dear Children, In this holy time of joyful expectation God has chosen you, the little ones, to realise his great intentions. My children, be humble. Through your humility, with his wisdom, God will make of your souls a chosen home. You will illuminate it with good works and thus, with an open heart, you will welcome the birth of my Son in all of his generous love. Thank you, dear children.
See new articles by Mgr George Tutto and Fr John McCaffery OFM on the Features page.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MEDJUGORJE ?
Just out is a new book by a Parish Priest in East London, setting out to untangle fact from fiction. Father Mulligan provides an informative account of the early days of the alleged apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje and the events which have followed. This includes stories of remarkable returns to the faith of many who had fallen away for years, members within the local community have been reconciled, spiritual fervour has revived within the parish, reminiscent of scenes in the Acts of the Apostles; pilgrims have experienced life-changing spiritual experiences. There were severe persecutions under the Communists who ruled in the then Yugoslavia. Medjugorje: What is Happening? recounts the subsequent unfolding of events at the shrine and details the Church investigations into the phenomenon which resulted in the Declaration of Zadar in 1991 ( currently the official Church position) by which pilgrims are free to visit Medjugorje while the claims of apparitions are investigated. Father James reminds us that it is not the practice of the Church to rule favourably on apparition claims while they are happening.
The reader will find much to enjoy in this book, not least the dozens of colour photographs that illustrate it, including some truly captivating photos of the scenes in the early days of Medjugorje. (One intriguing photo is of the Croatian national soccer champion team, Dinamo Zagreb, praying before the statue of Our Lady on Apparition Hill.) If you are just curious,you will find many of your questions answered and much to puzzle and ponder over.
Medjugorje is growing by the day. Over 50,000 priests,including bishops and cardinals have been on pilgrimage there. There appears to be incontrovertible evidence that John Paul II believed in its authenticity and, as Father Mulligan points out, the foremost Marian scholar of our time, Mgr Rene Laurentin, and one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, the late Hans Urs von Balthasar, have both stated their belief in its authenticity. Pope Benedict XVI? Who knows? Rumour has it that he was there twice (incognito) in 1986 as Cardinal Ratzinger. He has not publicly said anything so far, for or against but his recent warm blessing of an Argentine bishop who announced to him that he was on his way to Medjugorje indicates at least no overt opposition.
Copies of the book can be obtained from:
Bernard Ellis - Spring House, Spring Bottom Lane, Bletchingley, Surrey, RH1 QZ
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Message to Mirjana, 2 November 2008
Dear Children, Today I call you to a complete union with God. Your body is on earth, but I ask you for your soul to be all the more often in God's nearness. You will achieve this through prayer, prayer with an open heart. In that way you will thank God for the immeasurable goodness which He gives to you through me and, with a sincere heart, you will receive the obligation to treat the souls whom you meet with equal goodness. Thank you, my children.
Our Lady added: With the heart I pray to God to give strength and love to your shepherds to help you in this and to lead you.
Message to Mirjana, 2 October 2008
Dear Children, again I call you to faith. My motherly heart desires for your heart to be open, so that it could say to your heart: believe. My children, only faith will give you strength in life's trials. It will renew your soul and open the ways of hope. I am with you. I gather you around me because I desire to help you, so that you can help your neighbours to discover faith, which is the only joy and happiness of life. Thank you.
Apparitions of the BVM: Between history, faith and theology was the theme of the 22nd mariologic congress, which was held in Lourdes from September 4 to 8, 2008.
The most famous experts in theology, history of art, literature and ethnology from all over the world gathered together, and among them also the members of the Croatian section of the Croatian Mariologic Institute of the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Zagreb. During the morning, the Congress worked in plenary sessions, and in the afternoon in 15 language sections, among which also the Croatian section. Two lectures treated the theme of Medjugorje: The Medjugorje apparitions and the universal Church, position of the Church dignitaries (Edo Pericic), and The Medjugorje apparitions and theology (Adalbert Rebic). Croatian theologians, whether in favour of Medjugorje or fervently critical towards it, speak positively about what is presently happening in Medjugorje. The fruits of the Medjugorje phenomenon are not disputable. Medjugorje is already now at the level of Fatima and Lourdes, says Dr. Adalbert Rebic. The apparitions and the visionaries have to wait the main problem is in the fact that the local bishop is reserved towards this phenomenon, and we should neither neglect the fact that the visionaries are still quite young, explains Rebic and adds that everything that is presently happening in Medjugorje is in conformity with the Church teachings, not only recognised but even recommended by the Church, and that the Bishops Conference already recognised these fruits. Dr. Ivan Karic, a theologian who also participated in the congress, underlines that Medjugorje has de facto already become a shrine. But the Vatican, because of a certain lack of clarity, has not yet recognised the authenticity of apparitions. He adds that the destiny of Medjugorje depends very much on the position of the local bishop. Another theologian, Dr. Mato Zovkic, considers that Medjugorje can go on even with the restraint connected with the apparitions and the visionaries. He considers that the phenomenon of Medjugorje is unusual, because of the important number of the apparitions which last an exceptionally long time. It is impossible to give an official position as long as the apparitions are still happening.
Message to Mirjana, 2 September 2008
Dear Children, Today, with my motherly heart, I call you gathered around me to love your neighbour. My children, stop. Look in the eyes of your brother and see Jesus, my Son. If you see joy, rejoice with him. If there is pain in the eyes of your brother, with your tenderness and goodness, cast it away, because without love you are lost. Only love is effective; it works miracles. Love will give you unity in my Son and the victory of my heart. Therefore, my children, love.
Message to Mirjana, 2 August 2008
Dear Children, In my coming to you, here among you, the greatness of God is reflected and the way with God to eternal joy is opening. Do not feel weak, alone or abandoned. Along with faith, prayer and love climb to the hill of salvation. May the Mass, the most exalted and most powerful act of your prayer, be the centre of your spiritual life. Believe and love, my children. Those whom my Son chose and called will help you in this as well. To you and to them especially, I give my motherly blessing. Thank you.
Message to Mirjana, 2 July 2008
Dear Children, With motherly love I desire to encourage you to love your neighbour. May my Son be the source of that love. He, who could have done everything by force, chose love and gave an example to you. Also today, through me, God expresses immeasurable goodness to you and you, children, are obliged to respond to it. With equal goodness and generosity behave towards the souls whom you meet. May your love convert them. In that way my Son and his love will resurrect in you. Thank you.
Our Lady added: Your shepherds should be in your hearts and your prayers.
Message to Mirjana on 2nd June 2008
Dear Children, I am with you by the grace of God, to make you great, great in faith and love, all of you! You whose heart has been hard as a stone by sin and guilt, but you devout souls, I desire to illuminate with a new light. Pray that my prayer may meet open hearts that I may be able to illuminate them with the strength of faith and open the ways of love and hope. Be persevering. I will be with you.
Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti - Witness in London on 10th May - the Vigil of Pentecost at the Church of St Mary and St Michael London E1
Marija is one of the six Medjugorje visionaries - please go to the Features page on this website to read a summary of her inspiring testimony. A full version of her talk can also be obtained on a CD, details for which are also on the Features page.
Message to Mirjana, 2nd April 2008
Dear Children, Also today, as I am with you in the great love of God, I desire to ask you: Are you with me? Is your heart open for me? Do you permit me to purify and prepare it for my Son? My children, you are chosen because, in your time, the great grace of God descended on earth. Do not hesitate to accept it. Thank you.
Our Lady's message to Mirjana Dragicevic - Soldo on 18th March 2008
Dear Children, today I extend my hands towards you. Do not be afraid to accept them. They desire to give you love and peace and to help you in salvation. Therefore my children receive them. Fill my heart with joy and I will lead you towards holiness. The way on which I lead you is difficult and full of temptations and falls. I will be with you and my hands will hold you. Be persevering so that, at the end of the way,we can all together,in joy and love,hold the hands of my Son. Come with me; fear not. Thank you.
Mirjana is one of six visionaries in Medjugorje, who have been receiving messages from Our Lady since 24th June 1981. Mary is urging us all to turn back to God, to pray for peace,reconciliation,and conversion of the heart.
Message to Mirjana, 2 March 2008
Dear Children, I implore you, especially at this Lenten time, to respond to the goodness of God because He chose you and sent me among you. Be purified of sins and in Jesus, my Son, recognise the sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the entire world. May He be the meaning of your life and may your life become service to the divine love of my Son. Thank you my children!
Our Lady's Message to Mirjana - February 2, 2008
Dear Children, I am with you. As a mother, I am gathering you, because I desire to erase from your hearts what I see now. Accept the love of my Son and erase fear, pain, suffering and disappointment from your heart. I have chosen you in a special way to be a light of the love of my Son. Thank you.
Message to Mirjana, 2 Jan. 2008
Dear Children, With all the strength of my heart, I love you and give myself to you. As a mother fights for her children, I pray for you and fight for you. I ask you not to be afraid to open yourselves, so as to be able to love with the heart and give yourselves to others. The more that you do this with the heart, the more you will receive and the better you will understand my Son and His gift to you. May everyone recognize you through the love of my Son and through me. Thank you.
Annual message given to Jakov, December 25, 2007
Dear Children, Today, in a special way I call you to become open to God and for each of your hearts today to become a place of the birth of Jesus. Little children, through all this time that God permits me to be with you, I desire to lead you to the joy of your life. Little children, the only true joy of your life is God. Therefore, dear children, do not seek joy in things of this earth but open your hearts and accept God. Little children, everything passes, only God remains in your heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.
JAKOV COLO (Visionary) speaks on CONVERSION
...those who say that the messages are always the same, those are the people who do not live the messages of Our Lady. - Jakov Colo October 12, 2007, in Medjugorje
Jakov giving his testimony to the pilgrims. Day after day, year after year, these visionaries, instructed by Our Lady, have cheerfully continued to speak Our Lady's words to those who visit Medjugorje.
I am going to share with you the most important things about the apparitions of Our Lady. What is even more important, I am going to share with you the main messages of Our Lady.
When the apparitions got started here in Medjugorje, I was ten. I am the youngest visionary amongst six of us. I had the same life, like every other child in the village. I was with my friends. I was playing with them. I lived a very simple faith, the faith of one child, and the faith which I was told about by my parents. I knew that God existed, that Our Lady existed, and I was always praying. Sometimes I had to pray, but you know, I had to pray but I did not really want to pray. I attended Holy Mass, and sometimes I could not wait for Holy Mass to end. It was very hard for me to sit for one hour in the church. I had never thought about the apparitions. I had not known that the apparitions were possible. This was my life before the apparitions a simple life.
Then my life changed completely. On the 25th of June, 1981, I received this great gift from God, and that gift was to see Our Lady. I can recall these first moments with Our Lady, when we found ourselves on Apparition Hill and when I saw the eyes of Our Lady for the first time. I saw this enormous love coming out of Her. Then I felt the same love in my heart and I felt so much love, protected. In that moment, there are not really any words that can describe that moment. When you see Our Lady, only your heart can talk. At that moment, my heart told me, -I hope this moment will never end- because that was the most beautiful moment in my life. I had never experienced anything like that in my life. In the same moment, I understood in my heart, that a new life had started for me. I always say that I received a great gift, and that gift is to see Our Lady. But at the same moment, I received an even greater gift. This is the gift that Our Lady desires to give us all, that through Her we get to know Jesus Christ. Our Lady wants to lead us all towards Jesus and that is why She comes over here and the apparitions have been going on for 26 years. I know that is strange for some people, and many people ask themselves, why so long, why so many messages. Many people say the messages are always the same. We always ask ourselves why, but we should say something else. We need to say thank you. We need to give thanks to God for the gift that He gave to us because we are not able to comprehend what a great grace we have received – that God has been sending Our Lady for 26 years. If each one of us today opens our hearts, then each one of us will be able to understand why He sends His Mother. And that is very simple. Our Lady is a mother. She loves Her children. She wants to bring Her children to peace and to joy, and that peace and joy can only be found through Jesus Christ. That is why Our Lady comes over here, that is why She gives us Her messages. Her messages are only the way to get to know Jesus Christ. And those who say that the messages are always the same, those are people who do not live the messages of Our Lady. If we accept all the messages She gives to us, if we live these messages, then we will be able to understand that Her messages are the strength for our lives. And at the same moment, they are the answer for everything that we ask.
These are the messages of peace because Our Lady came as the Queen of Peace. The message of prayer, fasting, Holy Mass, and conversion. I know that there are many messages, like it was at the very beginning for me as well. I first asked myself whether I would be able to accept these messages because these messages were new messages for me as well. You see, I had never prayed before fifteen decades of the Rosary every day. I had never fasted twice a week. I had not known what the word conversion meant, and why to pray for peace. But Our Lady says, and She teaches us, and She said here in Medjugorje, -Dear children! It is enough that you open your hearts and I will do everything else. This is the first thing we must do in Medjugorje. And in a special way, you pilgrims who come here to Medjugorje, you need to start this pilgrimage. But how? With pure hearts and that means the sacrament of Confession, Reconciliation. If we do not have clean, pure hearts, how are we going to be able to accept these messages? We will not be able to reach anything. So the first thing we must do is go to Confession, and then we have to surrender ourselves completely to God. I can recall pretty well from the beginning of the apparitions, I said so many times to God, I want to live Her messages. I want to feel these messages in my heart. I am ready to accept these messages, but You please help me. Then slowly I started understanding. I understood that prayer was not difficult for me any more. On the contrary, I felt good. I felt joy. I started feeling peace in my heart. It was not difficult for me to attend Holy Mass. I started understanding Holy Mass. Holy Mass became the center of my life. And this is what all of us can reach.
Our Lady invites us to pray. Our Lady invites us to pray the Holy Rosary. She invites us to renew the prayer of the Holy Rosary. Our Lady always says, pray with your hearts. Feel peace and joy of the prayer. Make the prayer the peace and joy of your life. Nobody is able to pray if he feels that he must pray. All our hearts must feel a need for prayer. Prayer must become our food. Our Lady said also that prayer is the answer for everything you ask. In a special way, Our Lady invites us to pray in our families. She says to place God in the very first place in your lives and find the time for God in your families. If God lives and exists in our families, then we possess everything. We have peace in our families. We have love. We have joy. Then we will be able to talk to our children, and television is not going to bring up our children. Unfortunately this is what is happening all over the world. We have forgotten to talk to our children. Parents have great responsibility before their children. Let us recall what the late Fr. Slavko used to say. From the very beginning of the lives of our children, we need to place the rules of faith in their hearts. And even if they distance themselves from God one day, they are always going to come back. The little we gave them stays forever in their hearts.
These pilgrims are intent on listening to Jakov's words. For some it may be their only time of hearing the witness of the visionaries. All leave changed within their hearts.
Our Lady says fast, Wednesdays and Fridays. Today is what day? (the crowd answered Friday) How many of you have started fasting? (Very few pilgrims raised their hands and Jakov responded) Unfortunate! Many people ask why fasting is so important. It is important because Our Lady says fast. But there is something greater. Our Lady says, Dear children! With prayer and fasting, you can reach everything. You can even stop wars. That is why fasting is important. I am bothered so many times because we always ask something from God. God give me this and that, and we always want this immediately, at that moment when we really ask for that like we blackmail God. And then, if something we ask for does not come. I am hearing people say that I have been praying for one year and nothing is happening. Time with God is not our time. We must pray always. We must have firm faith, not only to remember God when we need Him. God must always be in the first place in our lives. If God is really standing in the first place in our lives, then we will be able to understand. We must not ask many questions. Who can know us better but God? Who can know better what we need in this moment but Him? The only thing we have to do is to pray and to believe in Him.
In our lives, it happens that we get sick. We go and see the doctor. He gives us a prescription, then we go to the pharmacy, and then we heal ourselves with medication. You see Our Lady gives us prescriptions how to become better. Are we doing this? Are we healing ourselves with this medication She gives to all of us? On the contrary, many people do not do this. We go around and we ask, What are we to do? But we truly know what we are to do. God is everything in our lives. If we have God, then we have everything. Then we can say we have a life because the only life we really have is a life with God. And talking about fasting, when we fast, we do fasting out of love and in silence. All people should not know that we are fasting today. Maybe many of you did not raise your hands because you did not want other people to know that you are fasting. When you come here to Medjugorje, why do you come here? I know that it is not to see us visionaries in the first place because we are human the same way you are. The greatest gift that you can receive here in Medjugorje is your conversion. We can change our lives here. We can start the new life, the new life with God. And what is even more important, we need to take this gift back to our homes. I believe your true pilgrimage starts when you go back to your homes. There you can see what you have received here. How do we tell somebody to fast if we have not started fasting ourselves? This is the place where we have to start living the messages of Our Lady. Our Lady says all of you should become my apostles. But how to become an apostle of Our Lady? It is very easy to talk, and when we talk we are very good. But we have to talk to other people with our example, with our lives whether we accepted Her messages. That is the true example we give to others. Other people should recognize God within us and how God acts through us.
Our Lady says pray for peace. The first thing She asks is to pray for peace in our hearts. If we do not have peace in our hearts, we cannot get to God. If we do not have God, how are we going to accept the messages and everything that is given to us here? So the first thing we should have is peace in our hearts. We know how much peace todays world needs. If Our Lady says that with prayer and fasting, we can reach everything, we can even stop wars, the only thing that remains within us is to open our hearts and to start praying. God will do everything else. Thank you very much. (With thanks to the website - Mej.com)
PRAYING THE ROSARY ACHIEVES HOLINESS
Cardinal Bertone Promotes Rosary in Peru AUG. 30, 2007 (Zenit.org).-
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told seminarians in Peru that their task is holiness, and that one of the ways to achieve it is by praying the rosary.The Secretary of State said this Wednesday when visiting an archdiocesan seminary in Peru.He recommended the rosary saying that, "in praying it, we follow His Holiness Benedict XVI, who recites it with frequency each morning and uses it to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ."The Salesian cardinal assured the seminarians that he would tell the Pope of their encounter.
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Scientific examination of the Medjugorje Visionaries in Ecstasy
A brief summary of this scientific report can be found on the Features page of this website.
The Rosary - an act of love
Click on the Features Page for a reminder:
A quick look at what Pope John Paul II said in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae(2002), on the method used by God, as he communicates with us, at the same time 'respecting our human nature and its vital rhythms'.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RECITE THE ROSARY?
You can read some reflections from Father Slavko by going to the features page on this website. They are taken from his meditation on how to recite the rosary in order to deepen how we pray.
This extract and others from different sources is the start of similar commentaries on the power of the rosary.
