THE MEDJUGORJE WITNESS

Just over a month ago in a post on April 6, 2025, I made a brief mention of the time my mother was blessed with seeing the Holy Face of Jesus miraculously appear on the wall of the church she attended (shorts 17).

 

More recently, there was an interesting report on the Spirit Daily website (May 12, 2025) about a Eucharistic miracle where the face of Christ appeared on a sacred host in a Kerala church some 12 years ago.

 

The name of the church where the Eucharistic miracle took place is Christ the King, the same name of the church in Donegal where my mother witnessed the miraculous image of the Holy Face – Teach Pobail Chríost Rí

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Stefan, a Scot, was a lapsed Catholic, and for many years his life “became endless darkness as a result of self-centred fulfilment.”

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In desperation he started turning back to God who, “appeared deaf to my prayers, before answering in dramatic fashion.

 

“The summer of 1985 saw me on holiday in Dubrovnik, waiting for three days to join up with some friends. I was bored on my own, and whilst considering how to amuse myself, the words of a Sunday Times article from a couple of years back were put into my mind: ‘Medjugorje – people are going there and being changed’.

 

“I caught a bus to Medjugorje that day. Apart from the vibrancy and charged atmosphere of the place, what completely penetrated my heart was the intense and visible expression of faith being shown by the local people as they worshiped – this patent and tangible sincerity, in effect, triggered the start of my conversion experience. And with all these things came great joy and

willingness to do anything for God.”

 

Whilst it is reported that some pilgrims assert supernatural experiences at, or after returning from Medjugorje, Stefan’s experience, and many like him, was effected by normal and visible means, through human example and inspiration.

 

Stefan’s life continued its dramatic course when on 13 October, 2001, he was ordained an Augustinian priest. In his words, “God is amazing!”

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Dear Children! Today also I invite you to prayer, now as never before when my plan has begun to be realized. Satan is strong and wants to sweep away my plans of peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, I call all of you, dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to self-renunciation for nine days so that, with your help, everything that I desire to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima, may be fulfilled. I call you, dear children, to now grasp the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I want to save all souls and present them to God. Therefore, let us pray that everything I have begun be fully realized. Thank you for having responded to my call.

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Medjugorje message, August 25, 1991

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“Never mind if you haven’t kept your word, or if you have fallen lower than yesterday. If you despise yourself and tell Me so in sorrow, you needn’t be afraid to believe that you are in My heart. This heart so great and good, so little like the hearts of men.

 

“I am compassion, not malice. I carried you as a mother when I carried My cross. Then you can imagine what tenderness I feel when I hear you telling Me of your shortcomings, what eagerness to forgive you...

 

“Oh, the tenderness of a Saviour – who could ever fathom it? Who could even hear about it without being scandalised?

 

“So from time to time, be glad to be counted as nothing; to look at all you lack, at the good that you failed to do; to see yourself in the faults that you didn’t want to commit but committed after all. You may be sure you don’t see them all. I alone know the number and the weight of them. And yet, I love you. I am Love. Don’t offend me by being afraid and running away. That’s what hurts love. 

 

“Enter into My immensity like a little child who joyously seeks to drink and sleep on a mother’s breast. Rest. Take strength for yourself. Take joy. Everything is in Me. For you.

 

“Renew your trust and come back to your humble path ever nearer to Me. You know that your spiritual house is not firmly built and that its only foundations are in Me. When it topples down, I take the debris and build a new temple more beautiful than the last because you have humbled yourself. Think of this; it will help you to take pleasure in humiliations. Wasn’t I Myself intimately acquainted with humiliation during My entire life on earth? I – God. What company My child!

 

“You see, what pains love is indifference, apathy, stagnation. When it comes to Me many people act as if I were still dead. But My child, I am still alive and I’m near them, in them, waiting for them to talk to Me, to smile at Me. Waiting for their heart to beat a little for Me.

 

“I require so little, am so readily pleased. I only ask to be invited and I look after the banquet.”

 

• Reproduced from the book: He and I (Meditations by Gabrielle Bossis, Éditions Médiaspaul

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For his first trip outside the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV chose to visit the Shrine of the Mother of Good Counsel in Genazzano, just outside Rome.

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The shrine has been run by the Augustinians since 1200.

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• More details about the Pope’s visit to Genazzano at the Vatican News website.

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I first became acquainted with Fr Brendan O’Malley many decades ago when he served as a curate for the church I attended.

 

My memory of him was as a gentle and sympathetic priest, particularly as I was going through a very difficult period in my personal life at the time, and I found him approachable and accommodating.

 

Sometime later he moved to another city in the diocese and I never heard of Fr Brendan again until many years later when I was told he was not well and had retired and returned to Ireland.

 

One time before I was due to travel to Medjugorje with a large group of pilgrims, two of the accompanying priests had to withdraw. I spent the next few weeks trying to replace them, without success.

 

With just over a week to departure I telephoned Tony, another pilgrim, and mentioned that I was struggling to find a priest, and Fr Brendan’s name came up. “But he’s in Ireland,” I said. “Not anymore,” came the reply and with it Fr Brendan’s telephone number. I still wasn’t certain whether it was the same priest.

 

“Give me a day or two to think about it,” he said when I rang him. It WAS the same Fr Brendan! A day later he came back with his answer: “Yes” – his “Fiat” – and I could sense Our Lady replying. “Thank you for responding to my call.”

 

Fr Brendan was a revelation on pilgrimage. Despite his infirmities he blossomed through the week. Our Lady blessed him from day one and it was evident for all to see. Even he was surprised by the transformation, as he said in his letter: “Is this really me?”

 

I am often aware of how Our Lady puts people together for a purpose (ultimately for the glory of God). I did not ever expect to be reunited with Fr Brendan again after such a long time. And in another sense, I don’t suppose he ever expected the ‘broken instrument’,  as he describes himself, ever to be put together again in such a wonderful and fulfilling way.

 

Such are the joys and graces of Medjugorje, where brokenness is mended, where the weak become strong, where sinners are reconciled with God and each other, where hurts are healed, where we are truly set free, where God’s peace really does reign, and Our Lady gently bestows amazing graces on all who visit. Her call is to everyone...

 

• Dear Bernard, Where do I start? Perhaps a very sincere thank you for the wonderful invitation to accompany your group to Medjugorje.

I had my doubts to begin with, wondering if I would be able to cope with the journey and the heat. But Our Lady saw me through.

 

It was such a revelation to me, about myself and the faith of so many people, young and not so young. When I got back home I was tired, but felt so renewed and affirmed. I just could not believe that God and Our Lady could use this broken instrument in so many ways. I kept wondering: ‘Is this really me?’ as the Lord enabled me to find words to speak to so many different people and address their problems.

 

I am now facing, once again, the reality of daily life and am trying, with Our Lady’s help to build on what she gave me in Medjugorje.

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I look forward to the reunion and with God’s help further pilgrimages.

 

Many, many thanks. I have received so much from the pilgrimage. You are all in my daily prayers and I hope to offer Mass weekly for all the group and all those who celebrated Confession with me.

 

Yours sincerely, Fr Brendan O’Malley

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Dear children! Also today I call you to pray, pray, pray. Little children, when you pray you are close to God and He gives you the desire for eternity. This is a time when you can speak more about God and do more for God. Therefore, little children, do not resist but permit Him to lead you, to change you and to enter into your life. Do not forget that you are travellers on the way toward eternity. Therefore, little children, permit God to lead you as a shepherd leads his flock. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje message, November 25, 2006

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I attended midday Mass this morning at a parish church served by Augustinian Friars.

 

The congregation was larger than usual as it was a healing mass. People were invited by two priests to come forward and be anointed with holy oils, on the forehead and both hands.

 

The main celebrant preached on the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (9 : 31-42), and Peter’s healing of a paralytic who had been bedridden for eight years, followed by the account of Peter raising the dead Tabitha back to life.

 

At the end of Mass I met two friends of mine, a husband and wife. Their life has not been easy. They had three sons, two of whom had died in their formative years, one as a teenager. Their third son, although ill for some time, died unexpectedly last Tuesday.

 

In the year 390 Adeodatus, the son of Augustine and an unknown woman, died before reaching his eighteenth birthday.

 

• In baptism we have died with Christ, and we have risen to new life in him, because we believed in the powerful God who raised him from the dead, alleluia. (Entrance Antiphon)

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The pectoral cross worn by Pope Leo XIV on the day of his election carries a powerful message of episcopal holiness. Embedded within it are fragments of bone from St Augustine and his mother Saint Monica.

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• More information at this Vatican website link.

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You listen to all who pray to You. And You answer them all. You answer clearly, but not all hear You clearly.

 

All ask what they want, but do not always hear the answer they want.

 

Your best servants are those who are not so much concerned to hear from You what they will, as to will what they hear from You.

 

St Augustine of Hippo

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The emblem and motto of the Augustinian Order symbolises the basis of Augustinian spirituality.

 

The latin motto translates as: One mind and one heart intent upon God.

 

The emblem is composed of three parts:

 

The open book is the symbol of St Augustine’s own conversion to Christianity and the scriptures. It also represents quest for wisdom.

 

The flaming heart symbolises Augustine’s love for God and his fellow humans.

 

The arrow represents the Spirit of God piercing our hearts, calling us to continue growth in faith, home and love.

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“…help each other to build bridges – with dialogue, with encounter, uniting all of us to be one people always in peace.”

 

Pope Leo XIV

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Dear children! God permits me to be with you and to lead you  on the way of peace, so that through personal peace,  you build peace in the world. I am with you and intercede for you before my Son Jesus, that he may give you a strong faith and hope in a better future, which I desire to build up with you. You be courageous and do not be afraid, because God is with you. Thank you for having responded to my call.

 

Medjugorje message, August 2022

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