Category: News & Information

False documents were created by the communists to suppress Medjugorje

Medjugorje: Documents show how communist government repressed visionaries
Date: 2011-09-08 18:44:31
September 8, 2011. (Romereports.com)

New documents have been revealed showing how the communist regime of Yugoslavia tried to suppress the movement behind the apparitions of Medjugorje.

In the book “The Mystery of Medjugorje,” the Croatian journalist Žarko Ivković explains how the government would spy, blackmail, and even threaten Church officials, particularly the Franciscan friar Jozo Zovko, who was the spiritual director of the visionaries.

The journalist Ivković uncovered these documents by researching through the archives of the powerful secret state security service called the SDB.

State authorities considered the apparitions an instrument to be used against the government of Yugoslavia. Evidence shows how the State used wiretapping, blackmail, and created false dossiers against members of the Church and to stop followers of the apparitions.

During this time period, Bishop Zanic was a leading critic of the apparitions and according to the book was influenced by these false documents created by the government.

The documents will now be studied by the Vatican commission assigned to investigate the apparitions of Medjugorje, which was created by Benedict XVI in 2010.

News & Information

Local Medjugorje bishop still doesn’t believe in Medjugorje, or any Marian apparitions, as he and the visionaries are brought before the Vatican commission

Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez

The Medjugorje visionaries began meeting with the seventeen-member Vatican commission set up to investigate the apparitions, in March, 2010. Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez was the first of the seers to be called and questioned. The Bosnian newspaper Otvoreno has talked to Ivanka’s husband, Rajko Elez, who said, while interviewed over the telephone, that he was sorry that he could not say a word about what his wife was doing in Rome, during the time of her interview, because everything related to the topic is subject to an oath with likenesses to the seal of confession.

Yet a few hints of how the interview went heave leaked out. According to several Croatian news media, the well-respected Rome-based newspaper Il Messaggero has learned that visionary Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez made a good impression during her three hour audience before the commission on a day around June 10th. The article from Il Messaggero, the most read daily newspaper in Rome and central Italy, reported that the “visionary Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez gave detailed and convincing answers to the questions of the committee.”

Vicka Ivankovic

“Ivanka told what was happening to her and how the Virgin Mary is appearing to her every year on June 25, on the day the Virgin Mary first appeared to the visionary exactly 30 years ago”, the paper said.

According to the Croatian online media dalje.com, Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic will be the next visionary to testify before the commission. This runs contrary to a recent report from the Catholic news service Spirit Daily and The Medjugorje Newsletter by Weible Columns, which report that Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo is next in line to be summoned to Rome.

Mirjana Soldo

Weible Column’s Medjugorje Newsletter reports that the commission has already held two sessions at which the local bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric and Fr. Ivan Sesar, Provincial of the Franciscan Herzegovina province were questioned, among others.

According to Liam Prendergast, the leader of National Medjugorje Council of Ireland, the Bishop Peric personally told him about his lack of belief in apparitions in general. It happened during a meeting on October 9th 1998 in the episcopal palace in Mostar. This information has been captured in a sworn statement about the meeting, now made public by MaryTV.

Liam Prendergast's signed statement

In the statement, Prendergast tells that he visited the bishop together with Fr. John Chisholm, an Irish priest, who served six years in Medjugorje, was held in high esteem by Medjugorje pilgrims, many of whom were convinced after going to confession to him that he has the gift of reading souls. Fr. Chishom has connections at the top of the Vatican, along with a CV which includes three PhDs.

Fr. John Chisholm

“During the talks,” writes Prendergast, “the Bishop denied any supernatural events occurring in Medjugorje. Fr. Chisholm referred to supernatural events at Lourdes and Fatima but the Bishop did not accept this and said he did not believe in any apparitions. When pressed on the Lourdes apparitions, he stated, ‘I believe what I am required to believe, that is the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that was issued four years before Bernadette’s alleged apparitions.’”

Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar

According to Liam Prendergast, Bishop Peric also said that he wants Medjugorje done away with:

“[Fr. John Chisholm] asked if there was any solution to the Hercegovina case [the war between the Bishop of Mostar and the Franciscans – over parishes, etc.]. The Bishop’s reply was: ‘The solution is that the Franciscans must submit and Medjugorje must be abolished.’ These words are clearly printed on my mind.”

The Bishop also told Prendergast that he has never met any of the Medjugorje visionaries:

“During our interview the Bishop completely discredited the visionaries of Medjugorje. He admitted that he had never met or spoken to any one of the six of them. This was a complete shock to me, to think that he, as the shepherd responsible for the salvation of their souls had never spoken to or tried to counsel them, since he took office five years previously,” Liam Prendergast tells.

“The foregoing facts are all true and quite clear in my recollection,” Prendergast ends his statement.

In his notes of introduction to the statement, MaryTV President and long-time Medjugorje documentarist, Denis Nolan, informs that all of the above is known by the Vatican:

“Several days after their meeting Fr. Chisholm (…) met with a high ranking Cardinal in the Curia, who told him, after he had relayed all that had transpired during that meeting, “Everything you have just told me is already known in Rome!”

Without believing in Marian apparitions like Lourdes and Fatima, it is currently impossible for the local bishop to believe in the apparitions of Medjugorje. No wonder “Rome Reports” would be telling us Pope Benedict XVI wants to make a new diocese for Medjugorje, taking it out of Bishop Peric’s diocese and giving it a new bishop with Makarska as the episcopal seat. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLcq0nzcSPA&feature=player_embedded).

Primary source: www.medjugorjetoday.tv

News & Information

Fatima Visionary Saw and Confirmed the Apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje

The three seers at Fatima: Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta

As the Vatican continues its international Commission investigating the ongoing apparitions of Medjugorje, under the leadership of Cardinal Camillo Ruini and the CDF, the Holy See should not ignore an important, but little known, fact about these Marian apparitions. They were confirmed as being authentic by the main visionary of Fatima, Sister Lucia dos Santos, who not only confirmed but also reported experiencing apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje in the convent.

According to Sister Lucia’s own nephew, Father Salinho — a Salesian priest who lives in Portugal — Sister Lucia continued receiving visions of the Virgin Mary long after 1917, and some of these apparitions of the Virgin spoke to Sister Lucia of the Madonna’s continued work in Medjugorje. This report of Father Salinho’s was documented by the French author Sister Emmanuel Maillard in her book Medjugorje, Triumph of the Heart! (Queenship, 2004), a revised edition of Sister Emmanuel’s earlier popular work, Medjugorje: the 90s. Pope John Paul II met with Sister Emmanuel, was given a copy of her earlier book, and therefore this knowledge – between Fatima’s main visionary and the apparitions in Medjugorje – may not have been foreign to the Vatican.

This is a very important revelation, for one of the things that the Church looks for, in evaluating apparitions, is coherence between Mary’s apparitions. Fatima and Medjugorje already have an immense amount in common; from the miracle of the dancing sun that has been recorded at each location – once in Fatima and numerous times in Medjugorje – to references to Mary’s Immaculate Heart in the devotion of both Fatima and Medjugorje, to the spiritual program of daily prayer – especially the Rosary – Mass, fasting, and penance for the salvation of sinners at each site; to incredibly similar depictions of visions of the afterlife, particularly of hell, which were given to both the Fatima and Medjugorje seers by their apparition. The coherence is evident. Now there is even a report from a Catholic priest and a family member of Fatima’s main visionary, that Sister Lucia herself experienced apparitions of Our Lady speaking about her work in Medjugorje; and, therefore, Sister Lucia reportedly confirmed the apparitions of Medjugorje through her own private revelations of the Virgin.

This revelation also places doubt onto many theories that Medjugorje critics have advocated, perhaps most notoriously Donal Anthony Foley, the British author who – in his book, Understanding Medjugorje – lionizes the apparitions of Fatima while (quite literally) demonizing the apparitions of Medjugorje, portraying the two apparition sites as having nothing in common. Well, if Foley and likeminded critics believe in the authenticity of Sister Lucia’s visions, then it becomes difficult to doubt that the Madonna is not appearing in Medjugorje since Sister Lucia herself confirmed this very fact, after being told so by her apparitional experience of the Virgin Mary. This report by Sister Lucia’s nephew has, unfortunately, not been circulated widely. But it shows that Pope John Paul II was not alone in the conviction that Medjugorje completes Fatima, and that the two sites share the same spiritual source: the Mother of God.

Interestingly, from Monsignor Slawomir Oder’s recent book on Pope John Paul II, Why He Is a Saint, we received confirmation that the Pope considered Medjugorje the fulfillment of Fatima, explaining in 1984: “Medjugorje is the continuation of Fatima, it’s the completion of Fatima.” Now we see that this conviction of the Pope’s was not simply a personal opinion, for even Fatima’s own visionary, Lucia dos Santos, proclaimed the same, that the same Virgin who appeared to her in Fatima continued appearing to her in the convent, and told Sister Lucia of her – the Virgin’s – continual work in Medjugorje.

It is noteworthy, in stressing this connection, that Sister Lucia and Pope John Paul II maintained a lifelong friendship. One wonders whether they ever discussed together Our Lady’s presence in Medjugorje, as both held the conviction that the Virgin of Fatima continued her work in the Bosnian village. Though we could never know for sure, since both parties have passed away, this would not be an impossibility, since John Paul II proclaimed that Medjugorje is the continuation and completion of Fatima in 1984, while he met with Sister Lucia only two years earlier, when the pope was in Fatima on May 13, 1982, to thank the Virgin for saving his life from an assassination attempt. This was the same day that Our Lady of Medjugorje told the visionaries in Yugoslavia: “His enemies tried to kill him, but I have protected him.”

What is interesting about Lucia’s visionary experiences of the Madonna is the fact that they did not end while she was a little girl. It is true that the last apparition in the Cova da Iria fields nearby Fatima, resulting in the miracle of the dancing sun that was witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people, did conclude on October 13, 1917. However, even after the conclusion of these public apparitions, Sister Lucia continued receiving private revelations of the Virgin Mary as a nun in her cell. The same Virgin Mary that came to her as a little girl in Fatima continued appearing to Lucia as a grown woman in the convent. The apparitions lasted late into Lucia’s life, even after the Madonna reportedly began appearing in Medjugorje to six Croatian youths in 1981.

Lucia dos Santos was the only remaining visionary of Fatima who lived through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Shortly after the apparitions of Fatima began to three shepherd children in 1917, two of the children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto – brother and sister – passed away. Francisco died of bronchial pneumonia in 1919, while Jacinta developed a serious case of pleurisy and died in a Lisbon hospital a year later. Francisco was two months away from turning eleven, and Jacinta was only a month away from celebrating her tenth birthday. It was Lucia who lived onto old age.

She became a cloistered nun, making her perpetual vows on October 3, 1934 under the name Sister Maria das Dores – Mary of Sorrows – at the Institute of the Sisters of St. Dorothy in the convent of Tuy, Spain. Later Lucia would return to Portugal and become a Discalced Carmelite on May 31, 1949, taking the name Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart at the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra. Sister Lucia died in the convent at the age of 97 on February 13, 2005.

By Daniel Klimek

From ministryvalues.com

News & Information

Medjugorje visionary Vicka suffered a painful injury, as thousands poured into Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of the apparitions. But she suffers with joy.

To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the apparitions, 282 priests, (according to the official Medjugorje website,) and thousands of pilgrims gathered in Medjugorje for spectacular international Mass.

As with past anniversary celebrations, the visionaries gathered together to celebrate in unison with the pilgrims. Noticeably absent this year was the visionary Vicka. According to a well-known local guide, Miki Musa, Vicka received an accidental injury from a pilgrim who pulled at her hand, causing her to suffer terrible pain in her arm. Vicka had just recently resumed speaking to pilgrims from her grandmother’s porch, at Christmastime in December of 2010, after being absent for almost a year, due to a serious and painful back injury.

Yet Vicka never appears like she’s in pain. She smiles through her suffering, because she has discovered the secret of the saints—joy in suffering, which sets her heart on fire.

From the beginning of the apparitions, Vicka entered into pain. As a paragraph from medjugorje.com states, regarding an incident that happened during the late 1980’s . . .

“Our Lady, on a surprise visit, took Vicka and Jakov with Her to visit Heaven, Purgatory and hell. Vicka was moved to great compassion for the souls in Purgatory. Vicka asked Our Lady if there was something she could do to help them, if she could offer herself for their expiation. Our Lady accepted her offer when She was certain Vicka understood the seriousness of what she was asking. Shortly afterwards, a mysterious illness afflicted Vicka, causing her to suffer from extremely painful headaches and high fevers that were so severe, she would often fall into comas. Often during these episodes, she was semi-conscious and obviously suffering, though she always would awaken a few minutes before Our Lady’s apparition each evening and appear smiling and happy. At one point, her mother begged Vicka to ask Our Lady to cure her, but Vicka responded that if her mother knew how much good her suffering was doing for the poor souls, she would not ask this of her. In January 1988, Our Lady told Vicka her suffering would soon come to an end, giving her the exact date her illness would disappear, though she was to tell the date to no one with the exception of her confessor. The commission investigating the apparitions was given the date in a sealed envelope. On September 25, 1988, the headaches and symptoms disappeared, never to return. Members of the commission, upon opening the envelope, discovered the same date therein.”

Vicka believes that all suffering is for someone, and this gives her great confidence that her suffering is of great value to God. As part an interview, which is given in full on www.marytv.tv, Vicka shared with Father Livio Fanzaga on Radio Maria in Italy, her views on suffering:

PADRE LIVIO – Well, I had another thought about it. […] Seeing as how you were asked by the Madonna to pray for the sick, maybe the Madonna wants you to be like a living message of how to be patient in accepting all this suffering that you’ve been through.

VICKA – For sure, suffering cannot be explained, suffering can only be lived in one’s own heart. When the Lord gives us a suffering, a cross, pain, this is really a big gift that God gives. We often think, how can sickness be a gift? But it’s a big gift! Only God knows why he gives this gift and only He knows the reason for when He takes it back. It is only up to us how we are ready to accept this gift. The Madonna told us that many times when this gift come to us we always ask a thousand questions, and she says stop asking questions. It is enough to say, “I Thank you God for this gift, that you still have something that you want to give to me, I am ready to receive it. I ask only your strength and courage so that I may carry on”. And also the Madonna has already told us, “you don’t know how great is the value of your suffering in the eyes of God”. I am telling you what I am able to through my own suffering… my suffering is a gift…. I am not saying that we are always 100% ready to embrace suffering but I have a great desire, a great joy to suffer something for the Madonna and for Jesus. There is nothing that I wouldn’t willingly suffer for them. The Madonna can say to me, “Vicka, do this, do that”, and I await with all my heart, with open arms. Because I want to respond to that to all the good that the Madonna has given to me, and with what little is mine suffering I can respond with this to her love. And so I say to you, dear listeners, when you are suffering, and today there are different kinds of suffering: there is the suffering that God gives and there is the suffering that we make for ourselves and these are two different things, they don’t have the same value. We must try to accept that which the Lord wants and we must give thanks and when one gives thanks for this great gift, then graces and fruits and everything come sooner. And then we can’t say “I’m suffering, I’m in pain”, God knows this: accept it, don’t talk about it. One who is still able to speak isn’t suffering. Suffering is to be lived in our soul and in our hearts.

PADRE LIVIO – I seem to recall that on several occasions the Madonna spoke about smiling though one is suffering.

VICKA – Certainly, and this too is really beautiful. Because when you smile in your suffering it’s because you have accepted it and you belong totally to God and afterwards you don’t perceive the suffering anymore but you will feel joy; because you suffer with joy there is no tension, there is nothing that tires you, you feel very happy. But that joy doesn’t come from anything outside, it comes from within you, from your heart. And you feel an urge, every day it becomes stronger, and you don’t feel the heaviness anymore. I don’t feel any heaviness, I feel a joy so great that I want to do more for the Madonna, to suffer more, and you feel the suffering but there is a great happiness, there is love, because you suffer, you bear the suffering with love.

Let us pray for Vicka, who is suffering now, although her glowing smile would never betray it.

News & Information

Medjugorje 30th Anniversary Novena to Our Lady The Queen of Peace

More than any other request, for thirty years now, Our Lady of Medjugorje has been asking us to pray. Among the thousands of messages she has given the world, reminding us of this, here are just a couple:

“Little children, renew prayer in your families and heaven will reign in your heart.”

“Little children, pray, pray, pray, because prayer is the foundation of your peace.”

Please join people across the world in this special novena, which is being offered in thanksgiving for 30 years of Our Lady appearing in Medjugorje. The novena starts on June 15, and finishes on June 23, with a closing Peace March in Medjugorje on June 24, followed by the 30th Anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions on June 25.

The following is a direct link to the novena, which you may wish to print out: http://www.medjugorje.org/anniversarynovena.htm. Or below is the entire novena, should you wish to pray it by reading it here.

Thank you, dear Mother, for your sweet guidance and your peace, which is even sweeter. May these novena prayers help you glorify your presence in Medjugorje and help conform the world to your Son.

30th Anniversary Novena to Our Lady The Queen of Peace

1st day: We pray for the Visionaries

(See end for prayers)
1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them: “thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high.” (Lk 24,44-49)

“Dear children! Today I thank you for living and witnessing to my messages with your life. Little children, be strong and pray so that prayer may give you strength and joy. Only in this way will each of you be mine and I will lead you on the way of salvation. Little children, pray and with your life bear witness to my presence here. May each day be a joyful witness for you of God’s love. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1999)

“Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.” (2559)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: Lord, You call all Christians to be real witnesses of Your life and of Your love. Today, we thank You in a special way for the visionaries and for their mission in witnessing to the messages of the Queen of Peace. We present to You all of their needs. We pray for each one of them personally, that You may be near them, so that they may grow unceasingly in the experience of Your strength. We pray that You guide them to a deeper and more humble prayer in further witnessing to the presence of Our Lady in Medjugorje. Amen.

2nd day: We pray for all Priests who Minister at the Sanctuary

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” (Jn 14,12-14)

“Dear children! Today I am with you in a special way and I bring you my motherly blessing of peace. I pray for you and I intercede for you before God, so that you may comprehend that each of you is a carrier of peace. You cannot have peace if your heart is not at peace with God. That is why, little children, pray, pray, pray, because prayer is the foundation of your peace. Open your heart and give time to God so that He will be your friend. When true friendship with God is realized, no storm can destroy it. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1997)

“If you knew the gift of God!” The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him. “You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Paradoxically our prayer of petition is a response to the plea of the living God: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water!” Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God. (2560 2561)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: Lord, You are the only source of life, the only One who can quench our thirst for love and friendship. We thank You for Your humility in working through a simple man, a priest, giving Yourself to Your people in Holy Mass, in the Sacraments, in Benedictions… Today, we invoke in a special way Your blessing on all priests who minister at the Sanctuary of the Queen of Peace. May they further discover the power of faith through which You grant them whatever they ask of You. May they also become true carriers of peace, fruits of their deeply felt friendship with You. Amen.

3rd day: We pray for all Parishioners

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so also I love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete.” (Jn 15,5-8)

“Dear children! Today I thank you for all the sacrifices you have offered me these days. Little children, I invite you to open yourselves to me and to decide for conversion. Your hearts, little children, are still not completely open to me and therefore, I invite you again to open to prayer so that in prayer the Holy Spirit will help you, that your hearts become of flesh and not of stone. Little children, thank you for having responded to my call and for having decided to walk with me toward holiness.” (Message, June 25, 1996)

Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures, it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain. (2562)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: Thank You, Lord, for Your love, thank You for the call to remain with the heart in Your love and to bear much fruit. Thank You for having chosen this parish in a special way, by giving it to Your Mother, the Queen of Peace, with the mission to call the world to peace and reconciliation, to conversion through the renewal of fasting and prayer… Thank You for the openness of each heart, which knew how to receive Her, and allowed Her to make each of them a visible sign for those who come here. Today we pray to You, o Lord: make this parish an even greater sign of the Kingdom of God, and help the parishioners to become joyful and holy fruits of the presence of Our Lady. Amen.

4th day: We pray for all Leaders in the Church

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8,12)

“Dear Children! Today I am happy to see you in such great numbers, that you have responded and have come to live my messages. I invite you, little children, to be my joyful carriers of peace in this troubled world. Pray for peace so that as soon as possible a time of peace, which my heart waits impatiently for, may reign. I am near to you, little children, and intercede for every one of you before the Most High. I bless you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1995)

The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place “to which I withdraw.” The heart is our hidden centre, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant. (2563)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: Thank You, O Lord, for giving us the Church as Mother and Spouse, to lead us in our earthly life on a path of light towards You. Thank You, because in the Church we are all brothers and sisters, and members of one Mystical Body. Today we pray for those who lead the Church: may they unceasingly renew within themselves their covenant with You, the One and Only True Head, so as to become faithful and joyful carriers of peace and truth in this troubled world. Amen.

5th day: We pray for all Pilgrims who already came to Medjugorje

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mk 8,34-38)

“Dear children! Today I am happy, even if in my heart there is still a little sadness for all those who have started on this path and then have left it. My presence here is to take you on a new path, the path to salvation. This is why I call you, day after day to conversion. But if you do not pray, you cannot say that you are on the way to being converted. I pray for you and I intercede to God for peace; first peace in your hearts and also peace around you, so that God may be your peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1992)

Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man. (2564)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: Our lives, O Lord, are in Your hands. You alone know what we need to be saved. Thank You for teaching us this here in Medjugorje for 30 years through Your Mother, who came to lead us on the way of salvation. Bless and strengthen all those who have started to walk on the way of conversion and prayer here in Medjugorje. Strengthen their faith, their hope and their charity and never let them betray their covenant with You. Amen.

6th day: We pray for all Pilgrims who will come to Medjugorje

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

At that time Jesus said: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Mt 11,25-30)

“Dear children! Today I also rejoice at your presence here. I bless you with my motherly blessing and intercede for each one of you before God. I call you anew to live my messages and to put them into life and practice. I am with you and bless all of you day by day. Dear children, these are special times and, therefore, I am with you to love and protect you; to protect your hearts from Satan and to bring you all closer to the heart of my Son, Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1993)

In the New Covenant, prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Kingdom is “the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human spirit.” Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ’s love. (2565)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: We have not chosen You, O Lord, but You have chosen us. You alone know all the little ones who will receive the grace of the revelation of Your love through Your Mother, here in Medjugorje. We pray for all pilgrims who will come to Medjugorje: protect their hearts from all satanic attacks and open their hearts to all inspirations coming from Your Heart and from the Heart of Mary. Amen.

7th day: We pray for all the Medjugorje Prayer Groups and Centres in the Whole World

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow is the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Mt 7,12-14)

“Dear children! I am calling you to that love which is loyal and pleasing to God. Little children, love bears everything bitter and difficult for the sake of Jesus who is love. Therefore, dear children, pray that God come to your aid, not however according to your desire, but according to His love. Surrender yourself to God so that He may hear you, console you and forgive everything inside you which is a hindrance on the way of love. In this way God can move your life, and you will grow in love. Dear children, glorify God with a hymn of love so that God’s love may be able to grow in you day by day to its fullness. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1988)

In prayer the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified humanity, through which and in which our filial prayer unites us in the Church with the Mother of Jesus. Mary gave her consent in faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has extended to the brothers and sisters of her Son “who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties.” Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she “shows the way” (hodigitria), and is herself “the Sign” of the way, according to the traditional iconography of East and West. (2673 2674)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: Love is the sign of recognition to Your disciples, O Lord. We thank You for every response of love given through service and gifts to others. We pray for all members of the Medjugorje Prayer Groups and Centres in the whole world. Together with Your Mother, may they more courageously and resolutely, within their families and wherever they live, always show this narrow way, the only one that leads to You. Help them to grow day by day in the fullness of Your Love. Amen.

8th day: We pray for the realization of all fruits and Messages of Medjugorje

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

Jesus said to his disciples: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come towards the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” (Jn 3,16-21)

“Dear children! Today, on this great day, which you have given to me, I desire to bless all of you and to say: these days while I am with you are days of grace. I desire to teach you and help you to walk the way of holiness. There are many people who do not desire to understand my messages and to accept with seriousness what I am saying. But you I therefore call and ask that by your lives and by your daily living you witness my presence. If you pray, God will help you to discover the true reason for my coming. Therefore, little children, pray and read the Sacred Scriptures so that through my coming you discover the message in Sacred Scripture for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25,1991)

Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope. (2679)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: We thank You, O Father, for having given us Your Son and His Mother, so that none of those who believe in them and listen to them may be lost. Thank You for caring for each person and, in Your mercy, for condemning no one. We pray today for all that Our Lady has prayed for here in Medjugorje, and for every grace that has been poured out here into the world. May it bring the fruit of holiness and serve You in Your plan of salvation. Amen.
9th day: We pray for the Intentions of the Queen of Peace

1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace
2. Veni Creator Spiritus
3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

Texts for Meditation

At that time Jesus said: “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” (Jn 17,24-26)

“Dear children! Today I thank you and I want to invite you all to God’s peace. I want each one of you to experience in your heart that peace which God gives. I want to bless you all today. I am blessing you with God’s blessing and I beseech you, dear children, to follow and to live my way. I love you, dear children, and so not even counting the number of times, I go on calling you and I thank you for all that you are doing for my intentions. I beg you, help me to present you to God and to save you. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (Message, June 25, 1987)

Mary’s prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Father’s plan of loving kindness: at the Annunciation, for Christ’s conception; at Pentecost, for the formation of the Church, his Body. In the faith of his humble handmaid, the Gift of God found the acceptance he had awaited from the beginning of time. She whom the Almighty made “full of grace” responds by offering her whole being: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word.” “Fiat”: this is Christian prayer: to be wholly God’s, because he is wholly ours. (2617)

4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Concluding prayer: We thank You, O Father, for the gift of prayer which allows us to touch Your heart; prayer in which You give Yourself entirely to us and in which You teach us to give ourselves entirely to You. We pray today for all intentions of the Queen of Peace and for all that is necessary so that the whole world, through Mary, may enter into Your glory, the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Prayers
Prayer to the Queen of Peace
Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother, Queen of Peace!
You came to us to lead us to God.
Obtain for us the grace not only to say:
“Be it done to me according to Your will!”, but to live it, as You did.Into Your hands we put our hands, so that You may lead us to Him amidst these afflictions and woes. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Creed, 7 Our Father’s, 7 Hail Mary’s, 7 Glory Be’s…

Veni Creator Spiritus – Come Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit, Creator, come
best gift of God above,
the living spring, the living fire,
sweet unction and true love.

Thou Who are called the Paraclete,
from Thy bright heavenly throne,
come, take possession of our souls,
and make them all Thine own.

Thou who are sevenfold in Thy grace,
finger of God’s right hand,
His promise, teaching little ones
to speak and understand.

O guide our minds with Thy blest light,
with love our hearts inflame;
and with Thy strength, which never decays,
confirm our mortal frame.

Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring,
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Thy sacred wing.

Through Thee may we the Father know,
through Thee the eternal Son,
and Thee the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One.

All glory to the Father be,
with his co-equal Son:
the same to Thee, great Paraclete,
while endless ages run. Amen.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.

– Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
– And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray: God, who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Litany of the Blessed Virgin

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God, our heavenly Father, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, ………………………… pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of Virgins,
Mother of Christ,
Mother of Divine Grace,
Mother, most pure,
Mother most chaste,
Mother inviolate,
Mother most undefiled,
Mother most amiable,
Mother most admirable,
Mother of good counsel,
Mother of our Creator,
Mother of our Saviour,
Mother of the Church,
Our Mother,
Virgin most prudent,
Virgin most venerable,
Virgin most renowned,
Virgin most powerful,
Virgin most merciful,
Virgin most faithful,
Mirror of justice,
Seat of wisdom,
Cause of our joy,
Spiritual vessel,
Vessel of Honour,
Singular vessel of devotion,
Mystical rose,
Tower of David,
Tower of ivory,
House of gold,
Ark of the covenant,
Gate of Heaven,
Morning Star,
Health of the sick,
Refuge of sinners,
Comforter of the afflicted,
Help of Christians,
Queen of angels,
Queen of patriarchs,
Queen of prophets,
Queen of martyrs,
Queen of confessors,
Queen of virgins,
Queen of all saints,
Queen conceived without sin,
Queen assumed into Heaven,
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
Queen of the families,
Queen of peace,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord!

Pray for us, o holy Mother of God,
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!
Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Hail Holy Queen

Hail! Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, O most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary! Pray for us O Holy Mother of God that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

The Medjugorje Hymn

To the Mother and Queen of Peace

Click Here for .mp3 –

We come to you, dearest Mother,
from all quarters, from all nations;
bringing to you all our troubles
ardent wishes, aspirations.

Look upon us and console us,
lay your gentle hands upon us;
intercede with Jesus for us,
Mother of Peace, do pray for us.

All the faithful look up to you,
you the lodestar of salvation;
cleanse, embrace us, we pray to you,
bless all in the congregation.

Bijakovo, Medjugorje,
little hamlets spread the story,
bearing witness to your beauty
to your name and to your glory.

For all your love, dearest Mother
all the wonders that we have seen,
we give to you solemn promise
to be better than we have been.

News & Information

Conclusive proof that Pope John Paul II believed in Medjugorje

The postulant for the cause of Pope John Paul II–postulant meaning the person submitting accurate information regarding Pope John Paul II to justify his sainthood, has stated, with due research, the following information regarding the former pope’s personal stance regarding the apparitions in Medjugorje. The postulant, or postulator, as he is called, is Monsignor Slawomir Oder of Poland, and he references John Paul’s words regarding Medjugorje in his book, Why He is a Saint. This should put to rest any doubts that people may have regarding Pope John Paul II’s opinion of the apparitions.

Monsignor Slawomir writes: “His devoted love for Mary only grew and flourished when the connection between the third secret of Fatima and the assassination attempt of May 1981 became clear. In connection with the dramatic event, extrajudicial sources confirm, John Paul II also saw a link with the apparitions of the Queen of Peace in Medjugorje, in the former Yugoslavia, which began at the end of June of the same year. The Pope spoke of it in very favorable terms and said, ‘To say that nothing is happening at Medjugorje means denying the living and praying testimony of thousands of people who have been there.'”

Monsignor Slawomir continues: “Although [John Paul II] never took an official position on these apparitions, in private Pope Wojtyła did not conceal his own belief. To Monsignor Murilo Sebastião Ramos Krieger, archbishop of Florianopolis in Brazil, who was going for the fourth time on a pilgrimage, he confirmed, ‘Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world.’ In 1987, during a short conversation, Karol Wojtyła confided to the seer Mirjana Dragičević: ‘If I weren’t Pope, I would already been in Medjugorje confessing.’ This intention finds confirmation in the testimony of Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek, archbishop emeritus of Prague, who heard him say that, if he weren’t Pope, he would have liked to go to Medjugorje to help with the pilgrimages.”

John Paul’s postulator goes on to cite further testimony from the bishop of San Angelo, Texas, who offered the quote from the Pope about the testimony of thousands.

Monsignor Slawomir also says John Paul II sent Slovakian Archbishop Pavel Hnilica, “one of the prelates who was closest to the pontiff,” incognito to Medjugorje. Slawomir quotes the letters John Paul II sent to Polish friends Marek and Zofia Skwarnicki, referring positively to the apparitions. “I too go there every day in prayer,” the Pope wrote. “I am united with all who are praying there and who receive the call to prayer from there.”

News & Information

Medjugorje visionary, Mirjana Dragicevic, answers pilgrims’ questions

“Our Lady says that we cannot consider ourselves as true believers, if we do not see Jesus Christ in every single person we meet.”

The following is from a transcript of a question and answer session, given by Mirjana in the Oasis of Peace in Medjugorje, on October, 3, 2009.

Mirjana: We will start our meeting with one Hail Mary. Queen of Peace, Pray for us.

We have gathered so that you may ask whatever you may be interested in. Anything that can help you to understand Medjugorje, and if I know, I will be so glad to respond to you because I desire with my entire heart that you may understand what Our Lady desires from us. The first thing is, she invited you. She needs apostles. That’s why feel free to ask anything that can help you.

Q: Yesterday’s message was very serious and very sad. Can you elaborate a little bit?

[The message was: “Dear Children, as I look at you, my heart seizes with pain. Where are you going my children Have you sunk so deeply into sin that you do not know how to stop yourselves?You justify yourselves with sin and live according to it. Kneel down beneath the Cross and look at my Son. He conquered sin and died so that you, my children, may live. Permit me to help you not to die but to live with my Son forever. Thank you!”]

Message was very sad, and you were lucky because you did not have a chance to see the expression on Our Lady’s face, so that your heart breaks. Because she is mother, and as she said in one of her messages, she desires to bring all of us as the most beautiful bouquet of flowers to her Son. Once she realizes that we do not see, we do not understand that, she is the way she was yesterday. Talking about her message, I have no right to comment on the message because I received it the same way you did. Same like you, I also have to reflect on message in order to understand what it tells me. But I would like to ask you one thing. Yesterday when I talked with some people about message, most people said “When shall this world change, when shall the world understand?” But no one said, “When shall I understand? When shall I change myself?” I am only asking from all of you to start from ourselves to see where we make mistake and what we can change. Once we change, it will be easier to change others, not always put the blame on others. We should start with ourselves.

Q: She said her heart was seizing?

I also say that my heart seizes when I see her so sad. Our Lady had a very sad expression on her face, filled with pain because she was looking at us and we know what she was able to see within us.

Q: Do you always see her or sometimes just hear her voice?

On the second of every month, I have normal apparition. I can hear her, and I can see her.

Q: There are groups around saying we can go to heaven through other religions. How does Jesus see that? How does Mary see that?

When Our Lady asked me to pray for unbelievers, then my question was, “Who are unbelievers?” and she said, “All those who do not feel church as home and God as their Father.” If you look at Our Lady’s messages further, Holy Mass is in the first place, and then Confession, Communion, etc., which is part of the Holy Catholic Church. But is not me who is supposed to decide. I can only repeat what Our Lady says. Very often she would say we can possess anything in this world, but if we do not have peace we have nothing. And the only true peace is the one my Son gives.

Q: How can I be a true apostle to others?

If you live Our Lady’s messages, and if you follow her, it means you are walking up to Jesus. And then your life will be story. Others will see in you what they are looking for, because Our Lady doesn’t want us to preach. I’m not talking about priests here (points to a row of priests and laughs), but she would like from us to talk with our own life, so that every unbeliever can see that something within ourselves. What did I mean about that? Let me give you a cute example from a very little thing.

I was here at evening Mass in Medjugorje. I couldn’t sit down, and I have a problem with my back. I noticed a little space in one of those benches, and I sat down. But all around were Italians (laughter), and all of them started yelling at me, “Stand up! That is our bench. We were first one to come, etc.” I stood up and kept quiet. Later a lady who recognized me was passing by, and then after that they wanted to give me the whole bench to sit. But why am I saying this?

Imagine if I were an unbeliever, and for the first time I desire to enter into a Catholic church to see what is that all about. And Catholics, who say they know the love of God welcome me in that way. Would I ever enter again there? And whose responsibility would that be? That is what Our Lady says, that we have a great responsibility. Only love. That is the answer to everything. Our Lady says that we cannot consider ourselves as true believers, if we do not see Jesus Christ in every single person we meet. That is the hardest thing, but we have to reach that point.

Q; Have you received a message from Our Lady about forces fighting wars?

That is already question you are supposed to ask from a priest, because I am just a visionary, and I can only say what Our Lady says to me. I do not know anything else. I as a visionary also ask help from a priest, because I am just like you.

Q: Has the question been asked?

No.

Q: Isn’t it selfish to just petition for ourselves to change?

I do not pray for myself. I pray for my family, but I only say, “My family in your hands.” I just say, “We in your hands because You (God) know what is the best for us,” when I pray. I pray the most for unbelievers because that is where we all are.

Q: When we are trying to change ourselves according to our Mother’s messages, what about the little nagging self doubts we have?

My personal opinion, we can always do better, we can always be better people, we can always pray better, and we grow in that. I always recommend to everybody, do not waste your time judging yourself in your own prayer. Pray and God will help you. Sometimes you just feel like you prayed great, sometimes not, but Our Lady always offers her hand as Mother, and she will always raise you up. Do not forget, God is love, and He loves you and He knows you, and it is important that you desire to come closer to Him, and He will help you.

Q: I have a hard time saying the rosary. Would you help us to know when you are praying the rosary, are you supposed to think of the words? My mind wanders while I’m doing that.

Our Lady asks from us to pray with heart. I understand that to mean that every word that comes out of my mouth would pass through my heart first. So, if I say, “Hail Mary,” then I truly with heart greet Mary. “Full of grace,” that I may feel within myself how much grace Our Lady gives me and to everyone. It is never a repetition for me, because I always feel some new, different things when I pray “Hail Mary.” For example, when I reflect on Our Lady was assumed into heaven, I think about her. I talk with her. I ask her about how she felt, all that she thought. I do not see her, I do not hear her, but just with heart. Try that. If your thoughts still wander, put the rosary aside and talk with Our Lady, and tell her why is that so, what is a burden, why you can’t be still and pray. Whatever you have in your heart, give it to her.

Q: When Jesus said, “Many are called but few are chosen,” I’m not quite sure what He meant by that.

Mirjana smiled and said, We could talk this whole afternoon about what He meant. I like to talk a lot, but if we start this topic now we will never end! You said it. Many are called, few are chosen. What do you think why that is so, because Jesus said that to me and to you, so everyone has his own opinion about it. Even here, everyone is invited, but how many will understand and how many of them will become true apostles? I do not know.

Q: What did Our Lady mean when she said this is a time of grace?

Isn’t this a great grace? This immense love of God to send us His mother for so many years, to understand and to take the right path. Doesn’t that show how much God loves us?

Q: Have you or any of the other visionaries ever met with the Holy Father?

It was me. Others were jealous. (laughter) I was in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican with all other pilgrims. I was with an Italian priest. So Pope was walking by, and he was blessing. He blessed me and just passed by. The priest with me said, “Holy Father, this is Mirjana from Medjugorje,” and he came back and blessed me again. Then he left. And I said to priest, most likely he thought just I just need a double blessing (laughter). In the afternoon, we received a note to go to Castelgondolfo, close to Rome, the next day. And me and him were alone together, and among other things he said to me, “I know everything, I have been following everything. Ask pilgrims to pray for my intentions. Keep Medjugorje because Medjugorje is the hope for the entire world.”

A priest told me that from the very beginning, Pope was very fond of Medjugorje, because two months before the apparitions in Medjugorje started, Pope was praying to Our Lady to come again on earth. He said I cannot do it all alone because Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland etc., all communist, I cannot do it on my own. I need you. And later he heard that in Yugoslavia, communist country, in a little village, Our Lady appeared and he said that is response to my prayers.

Q: Mirjana, how beautiful is Our Mother?

That is not only superficial beauty that you see from outside. That is something that is radiating out of her. As children, we asked Our Lady a childish question. We said, “How come that you are so beautiful?” She said “I am beautiful because I love.” And she said, “My children, if you want to be that beautiful, then love.” At that time when that apparition happened, Jakov was only nine and a half years old. So when Our Lady left, he said, “I think that she wasn’t saying the truth.” We all said, “How can you dare to say that our heavenly Mother is not saying the truth?” He said, “Yes, but look at us visionaries. Some of us can love until the end of our lives, but we’ll never be as beautiful as she said,” because he did not understand what kind of beauty Our Lady was speaking about. But even today he doesn’t understand many things. (laughter)

Q: Before Our Lady comes, do you have dream or some other feelings?

I never dream of Our Lady, never. Usually that is something that you get excited about during the day, that’s what you dream, but I never dreamed of Our Lady. I always prepare myself the day before by fasting and prayer, and night before apparition, I spend in prayer. So then I cannot dream! I don’t think of anything else, because it is impossible. I just desire to pray, because only that way I will have peace, and only that way I am capable to wait until tomorrow to come. I think it is all God’s help, because without God’s help, we would not be able to live a normal life. Let me give you an example. I’m a mother, and I have two daughters, and as every normal mother, I would give my life for them, but when I am with Our Lady, my daughters do not exist. There is only great desire that she would take me with her. You can only try to imagine what a pain it is when Our Lady leaves. I simply do not even have strength to keep a pencil or pen in my hand. Thanks be to God for Miki, he writes it down, and I just go straight to my room to pray. Then I pray for one hour, two or three, depends. And through this prayer, God gives me the strength to understand, and to go forward.

Q: When you say you pray, is it always the rosary or talking?

It is rosary, seven Our Fathers, talking, but I always pray rosary of St. Anthony, because he is my dearest saint (lots of people went “Ahh”), because St. Anthony is the only saint that you can make deals with (laughter), “You do that for me and I’ll do that for you.”

Q. Mirjana, how come you didn’t become a nun?

At the very beginning when we were children, we asked Our Lady, what do you desire from us, from our life? She said whatever you feel in your heart. If you decide to be priest or nun, I desire that it is visible that I was with you. And if you decide to have families, I desire that you try your best to be an example to the other families. And that is all she ever said about my personal life. Everybody asks me that. Then I read about Bernadette to see what happened to her. She didn’t want at all to become a nun, but they forced her to. But we live in a different time now, and so we were not forced to.

Q: What does Our Lady says abut division in families? (question not completely audible)

I believe that Our Lady doesn’t have to talk about it, because if you keep the vow before God…Here, when we get married in the church, we put our right hand on the Cross so that God may help me, so there’s no divorce. If it’s good, then thanks be to God. If not, then just take your cross, because you cannot be only partially Catholic. You are or you are not. Saddest thing is we Catholics try to justify things that cannot be justified. We are or we are not. We follow Jesus or we do not follow him.

Q: What is it like for you to be present at another visionary’s apparition, for example, Jakov at Christmas?

I never, that would be too painful knowing what he is looking at and I cannot. While he is having apparition for example, I will pray in my room and (anyway) he would be teasing me afterwards! (laughter)

Q: So divorce is not acceptable?

Of course. Husband can leave wife and wife can leave husband, but she is his wife, and he is her husband. If my husband for example leaves me, I would not be able to look for another husband, because he is my husband before God. What God binds once, only He can separate. I cannot force my husband to be with me but even if he leaves, he still remains my husband.

Q: And annulment?

Pointing to a row of priests Mirjana says, “Here is the priests!” (laughter). I am not planning to divorce, that’s why I am not interested in annulments. I know that if you did not tell about some illness you may have, or if you do not want to have children, it could be an excuse. Then Church will give you an annulment, if that’s the case, as far as I’ve heard, but I never questioned too much about it. After a pause and with a broad grin she added: But if I get interested in that, then I will ask (laughter).

Q: Do your children know what is happening and how do they react to all of that?

They are 18 and 15 years old, and they know very well what’s happening. Me and Marko always tried to bring them closer to God, ever since they were born. We thought if they have a sense of God’s love, they will understand the apparitions. Then we explained to them that from time to time Our Lady chooses some people, not because they are the best, but because in that moment, she needs such people. And they look at me as a normal person. We all ..(inaudible) ..only God. That is the way they …(inaudible)..When I talked about responsibility of parents, our children look at our own life. Some example of my older daughter Maria. When she was about two years old, I did not talk to her about apparitions, because I thought she is too young to understand. But one day while she was playing with her friend in the room, I was watching over. Then I heard this other girl say, “You know my mum drives a car.” My daughter Maria remained quiet for a moment and said, “A big deal, my mum talks to Our Lady every day.” So without even saying a word, she understood.

Q: Emotionally speaking, if you had to use one word to describe how you feel when you in the presence of the Mother of God, what word would you use?

That is heaven. They ask me did I see heaven and I say I did not see heaven, but to be with Our Lady is to be in heaven. They ask me, “Did you touch her, did she touch you?” I never even felt a need to do that, because when she is looking at you, she is embracing you and kissing you. You simply feel you don’t want it ever to stop. The greatest love on earth, beside love for God, is love for your children. Imagine when you do not even think about your children. You forget that they exist. Only Our Lady so she may look at you. I think that would be like in heaven.

Q: What lesson are we supposed to learn from fasting?

Again, I can just tell you my own personal opinion. When I’m fasting, I’m proving to myself that I am the boss of my own body and that I can do for God anything I want. That nothing can stop me. And with this fasting, I’m showing to God that with this little, I am ready to do even more, if that is what He desires. Through fasting, my prayer is stronger. I feel closer to Him. Again, that’s just my own personal feelings.

Q: Has Our Lady said anything about Garabandal?

Only about Fatima. She said, “What I have started in Fatima I will finish in Medjugorje. My heart will triumph.” I cannot go into details. That’s the only apparition she mentioned, aside from Medjugorje.

Q: Some of you visionaries have public apparitions, and some of you have private. Does Our Lady give that to you as a choice?

There is no private apparitions, because Our Lady doesn’t come (just) to me or Jakov or Maria, she comes to the entire world. Let’s take Ivan as an example. He has the apparitions in the Chapel, and then not everybody can fit in, so he does like one day for priests, one day for families, one day for sick people, so that everyone can more or less fit in. I never had any private apparitions. I do not even know what it means.

Q: Is there conflict with the Bishop here? What is that about?

The greatest authority is Pope, and the way Pope says, everybody should obey. The latest commission we had here in Medjugorje was before the war, that was when the war started, that was when the Bishops’ conference of ex-Yugoslavia said that pilgrims are allowed to come to Medjugorje, that priests will accept them and they will provide masses for them, confessions etc. But decision about whether Medjugorje is authentic or not, that will take time. The latest thing is that Medjugorje simply went outside the frame of our Diocese and that it will go into hands of Vatican.

Q: Is it like a suffering for Mary to come on the earth, for us not to be converted?

It’s not painful. She is mother. You are young, most likely you are not married? (questioner replies, “No”) Once you have your own children, no matter what they do, you will run after them and try to help them because that is mother. Same as with Our Lady.

Q: On your last daily apparition, I read that you had a long conversation with Our Lady about heaven?

We were talking about secrets. That was my last daily apparition, that is when Our Lady gave me that last secret, and then she explained that I wasn’t to have her daily apparitions anymore. And she explained to me the way I’m going to have them now (from then onwards), and on that apparition, Christmas 1982, we did not talk about heaven. On one occasion, I asked Our Lady, “How come God is love, and He loves us so much, and He put some people for eternity in hell?” She said it is not God who decided that. It is people who decided to go there. I do not think I talked about anything else with Our Lady. Maybe you read about Marija or Vicka.

Q: This question concerned a marriage partner being an unbeliever. The actual question, although just audible, was posed by someone whose English was not clear.

I think you forgot, I am just a visionary. It’s usually like (this) that husband is unbeliever. That is why God put her husband in her way, so he is her responsibility. She needs to help him to come to know God and God’s love, not through criticizing, judging or forcing, but simply through her love, her example, and her prayer. That is the only way.

Q: Did Our Lady ever share with you about what is the more terrible sin?

She didn’t talk with me what is greater or lesser sin, but only what we should do to avoid sin. And she didn’t tell me about which sin is more or less. What comes to my mind right now, for me personally, the greatest sin is not to have love towards your neighbour. Because when you have love for your neighbour, you will not kill, you will not steal, you will not deceive. You will not do anything bad because you will have love within you. That is what I personally think.

Q: How did you convince your family to follow you?

I lived with my parents in Sarajevo, and I came to spend summer vacation here. I’m always kidding with visionaries when I say Our Lady was waiting for me to come (laughter). So when apparitions started, my aunt called my mum by phone, and she didn’t know how to tell that to her. My mother thought that I am in hospital, that I’m dying but my aunt said, “No, its not about that! She just says that she sees Our Lady.” My mother said, “Is she normal to you?” (laughter). My aunt said, “She looks the same like before.” Then mum said, “There must be something happening with her.” They came right away from Sarajevo. Who knows you the best? Your parents. So they were with me from the beginning. They helped me. As I told you, I was not from here. I was forced to go back to Sarajevo right away, and then I had hardest time. Because here, all around we have Catholics and Croats. In Sarajevo very few Catholics, most are Muslims or Orthodox. It wasn’t my choice to go back to Sarajevo. As we lived in Sarajevo, every single day, police was in our home. It was terrible time for years, and my father just told me, “You just go on, say the truth, be not afraid, God will help us.” And that is how it truly was. God helped us, but it wasn’t easy. There was only me, my mother, father and brother, and everybody else separated from us, because it wasn’t good to be with us in communism. I was only fifteen years old, and I was state enemy, and then out of fear, no one wants to be close to you.

Q: Why do you think the Virgin Mary chose you as a visionary?

Can’t you see? (laughter). I’ve been talking for an hour, and you ask me that question! (laughter). Mirjana said in English I’m joking, I’m joking.”

If you desire to be an example to unbeliever, if you desire to show that you have faith, that we have love, then you have to smile. You have to joke, you have to show that you have God. If you’re always worried, nervous, serious, then an unbeliever will say, “She’s not any different to me. Why would I change?” That’s why I prefer to joke. Why did Our Lady choose me? On one occasion, we asked her, why six of us, because we were the same as every other child here. All she said was because I need you six the way you are. And all six of us are different individuals. Only Our Lady could put us together. I always remember words of late Fr Slavko, a priest who passed away on the Cross Hill. He was my husband’s uncle. He was coming to our home all the time. One day he came very upset, and I said “What happened, what made you angry?” He said, “How can you ask me something like that, for if I were Our Lady, I would never choose six of you. For me the greatest sign that Our Lady is truly present here is the fact that she chose six of you.” Because poor Fr Slavko, for six months he tried to gather six of us together at same time. He didn’t make it!

Q: What has Our Lady said about purgatory?

Our Lady is asking from us to put in our daily prayers the souls in purgatory and to offer Masses for them, not to go to the rectory, not to pay for the Mass, but to be present during that Holy Mass and to pray during that Holy Mass.

Q: Does Our Lady ever discuss war?

Q: Why are we not allowed to know the secrets until a certain time?

That is God’s will. I never think about secrets. I don’t even think about it, because it is dear God who keeps the secrets and His will be done. For example this morning, I spoke to Italians. Maybe you saw there was thousands of them! (laughter). Any every question they asked started with why, why, why, why this, why that, waving their hands. Then I said to them, “You know why Our Lady did not appear in Italy, but in Croatia?” And they said again, “Why?” (laughter). I said, “If she appeared in Italy, she would run away after third day (laughter), because it would always be ‘Why, why, why?’” Whatever she said, we just accepted it the way it is. I never said, “Why,” because whatever Our Lady says, that is for our good, and it is not up to me to ask why.

Q: Our Lady gave you her autobiography?

Vicka.

Q: When will that be shared with us?

Mirjana just smiled and replied, Ask Vicka.

Q: What can you do to help people who live different lifestyles to change their lives?

I would just pray for them. I put them in God’s hands, and I pray for them, because I feel sorry for them, because they simply go against the nature, and nature was created by God, so that it means you go against God. Everything what you are doing with your heart will help. It’s important that you doing with your heart. It’s beautiful that you are worried for them so much. That means that you love your neighbour, and I’m glad that there is no judgment in your words, only love. And that is what Our Lady desires from us, not to judge but to love them and to pray for them.

Q: Has your husband ever doubted your word?

He would not remain alive if he doubted (laughter). My husband comes from a Catholic family. He’s Fr Slavko’s nephew. The two of us grew up together. We know each other from birth. He said when the apparitions started, as soon as they told me that you are involved, I believed immediately. Because we know each other from birth. I was a good girl! (laughter) Let me give you an example. In Sarajevo, we Catholic children would secretly go to the catechism. It would always be one mother who would take four or five of us. I was about six years old. My mum told me, “If someone along the way stops you and ask where are you going, tell them that we are going to have an ice-cream or something else.” And one particular day, my teacher who was communist, was walking by and she asked me, “Where have you been ?” I was supposed to lie to her. I looked at her and said “I truly have no idea where I have been.” (laughter). I couldn’t say I was shopping or buying an ice-cream or something, so the best way was to say I didn’t know.

We will finish now. We’ll finish with “Hail Mary,” and we have so many priests with us, they didn’t help me so much with questions, (laughter) but they can still give us blessing.

News & Information

Author Michael Brown shares his mystical experiences in Medjugorje

The Medjugorje visionaries in the early days of the Marian apparitions

In a recent article posted on Spirit Daily, author Michael Brown shares the plethora of mystical phenomena he has personally encountered in Medjugorje. These experiences brought him into a deeper and richer phase of Catholicism and spurred him to move away from his work in secular journalism and devote his writing to the Catholic realm. Click here to read his article.

Mr. Brown will be leading a pilgrimage June 6 to June 15, 2011, hosted by Trinity Pilgrimages, which will include a talk by him and questions and answers with the visionary Mirjana. Click here for further information.

News & Information

The third secret of Medjugorje already revealed: the permanent sign

Apparition Hill where Our Lady first appeared in 1981

The Third Secret

The Virgin Mary will give ten secrets to the visionaries of Medjugorje and within their lifetimes, these will be revealed to the world. Three of the visionaries, Mirjana, Ivanka, and Jakov have all ten secrets and no longer see Our Lady daily. Marija, Vicka, and Ivan have nine secrets.

The third secret will be a lasting sign, spontaneously appearing on Apparition Hill, where the six visionaries experienced their first apparition. The sign will be permanent, indestructible, and beautiful, something that has never before been on the earth, and those who do not believe in God will not be able to say it is of human origin.

A webcam has been placed in Medjugorje to show this area of Apparition Hill around the clock to viewers on the internet, and part of the reason behind this endeavor is to allow people to see the permanent sign as soon as it appears. During the day, once can see pilgrims climbing and descending Apparition Hill. When there is a nighttime apparition at the place where a statue of Mary now stands, one can see the flashlights of pilgrims as they negotiate the rocky trails. See http://www.medjugorjevideo.com/webcam/bigcam.html.

The following interviews are selected and adapted from Medjugorje.com. In their own words, some of the Medjugorje visionaries explain what they can about the third secret:

Ivan

Martin Sheen, during the interviews for his Medjugorje documentary, “The Lasting Sign,” asked Ivan the following question:

Martin Sheen: “So many people have heard of the prediction of a sign that will occur evidently here in Medjugorje that will confirm that these apparitions have, in fact, been taking place with you and your friends and the Holy Mother. Any ideas of what this sign might be?”

Ivan: “We know the sign and when it will be and what it will be. It will be on the place of the apparitions, where Our Lady appeared for the first time, and all the rest is a secret.”

Mirjana

Question: “Mirjana, what, if anything, are you permitted to tell us about the Ten Secrets?”

Mirjana: “The first two secrets come as advance warnings for the whole world and as proof that the Blessed Mother is here in Medjugorje.”

Question: “And the third secret?”

Mirjana: “The third secret will be a visible sign at Medjugorje – permanent, indestructible, and beautiful.”

Sunrise on Apparition Hill

Marija

Question: “For clarification purposes, the great sign for all non-believers, will it take place on Apparition Mountain behind us or where will it take place?”

Marija: “Our Lady told us that She will leave the sign on the Hill of the Apparitions.

Question: “Is there anything you can tell us about the sign the Blessed Mother has promised to leave us?”

Marija: “It will be a visible sign for all the unbelievers to see. But, for those that already believe, they do not need a sign.”

Question: “You and the other visionaries have indicated that there will be advanced signs [signs preceding the great sign] in many places in the world to warn the world. When will these advanced signs begin?”

Marija: “There are signs in many places in the world now. Many people see luminary signs. Many experience personal healings, both physical and spiritual, and also psychological. Many have private signs. People have come here from all over the world. Often they have or have had extraordinary signs in their lives.”

Question: “Will all people on earth believe in God, in the Blessed Mother when the permanent sign occurs?”

Marija: “The Blessed Mother has said that those who are still alive when the permanent sign comes will witness many conversions among the people because of the sign, but She also says blessed are those who do not see but who believe.”

Question: “Mirjana told me that there will still be some unbelievers even when the permanent sign comes.”

Marija: “The Blessed Mother has said there will always be Judases.”

Question: “Vicka told me that there is great urgency in the Blessed Mother’s call to immediate conversion. She said that for those who only marginally believe, who choose to wait for the great sign to believe, it will be too late. Do you know why it will be too late for them?”

Marija: “This is a time of great grace and mercy. Now is the time to listen to these messages and to change our lives. Those who do will never be able to thank God enough.”

Jakov

Question: “Do you know when the permanent sign is coming, Jakov?”

Jakov: “Yes. When the permanent sign comes, people will come here from all over the world in even larger numbers. Many more will believe.”

Question: “Will all people believe because of the permanent sign, Jakov?”

Jakov: “The Blessed Mother said that there will still be some who will not believe even after the permanent sign comes.”

Question: “Do you know what the permanent sign is, Jakov?”

Jakov: “Yes.”

Question: “Can you tell us anything about it?”

Jakov: “It will be something that has never been on the earth before.”

Question: “Jakov, why will some still not believe?”

Jakov: “They will not put themselves in a position to be converted.”

News & Information / Testimonies / Videos & Pictures

Medjugorje visionary Vicka on Irish television

On February 18th, 2011, Medjugorje visionary Vicka Ivankovic was a guest of the Late Late Show on Irish television (RTE1), with host Ryan Tubridy and Italian translator Manuella Spinelli. Vicka told the story of the moments leading up to her first apparition of Our Lady, and how she first thought that the other seers had lost it when they told her they were seeing the Mother of God. She spoke of the gift of her own suffering, and how Our Lady wants us to focus more on developing the inner beauty of our souls—to focus on love, and not so much on our outer beauty. She shared how Our Lady took her and the visionary Jacov to heaven and what she saw there and spoke briefly about the third Medjugorje secret. Throughout the interview, Vicka beamed her characteristically radiant smile, giving testimony to the love within her and her desire to share it with the world.

Click on video below to view.

Category: News & Information

False documents were created by the communists to suppress Medjugorje

Local Medjugorje bishop still doesn’t believe in Medjugorje, or any Marian apparitions, as he and the visionaries are brought before the Vatican commission

Fatima Visionary Saw and Confirmed the Apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje

Medjugorje visionary Vicka suffered a painful injury, as thousands poured into Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of the apparitions. But she suffers with joy.

Medjugorje 30th Anniversary Novena to Our Lady The Queen of Peace

1st day: We pray for the Visionaries

2nd day: We pray for all Priests who Minister at the Sanctuary

3rd day: We pray for all Parishioners

4th day: We pray for all Leaders in the Church

5th day: We pray for all Pilgrims who already came to Medjugorje

6th day: We pray for all Pilgrims who will come to Medjugorje

7th day: We pray for all the Medjugorje Prayer Groups and Centres in the Whole World

8th day: We pray for the realization of all fruits and Messages of Medjugorje

Conclusive proof that Pope John Paul II believed in Medjugorje

Medjugorje visionary, Mirjana Dragicevic, answers pilgrims’ questions

Author Michael Brown shares his mystical experiences in Medjugorje

The third secret of Medjugorje already revealed: the permanent sign

The Third Secret

Ivan

Mirjana

Marija

Jakov

Medjugorje visionary Vicka on Irish television

MEDJUGORJE MIRACLES

Share This Page

A Catholic Best Seller . . .

Author's websites and book orders

Medjugorje messages

The Church’s Stance on Medjugorje

Videos & Pictures

Testimonies

Most popular posts