THE MEDJUGORJE WITNESS

This notice was published on the Medjugorje parish website yesterday:

“Parish of St. James the Apostle of Medjugorje and the Information Center Mir Medjugorje hereby inform the media and the interested public that audiovisual recording and photography for daily or political purposes or any other purposes incompatible with spiritual purposes is prohibited in all prayer areas of the parish. Information Center Mir Medjugorje is the holder of the exclusive right to record audiovisual works and photographs in all prayer areas of the parish, which is why for audiovisual recording and photography for spiritual purposes it is necessary to obtain prior approval of the Information Center Mir Medjugorje, Gospin trg 1, Medjugorje, e-mail:  mir@medjugorje.hr.”

Cardinal Vinko Puljić celebrated Holy Mass in Medjugorje today, concelebrating with Archbishop Also Cavalli, the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the Parish of Medjugorje, and Fr Miljenko Šteka, Provincial of the Herzegovina Franciscan Province, along with Medjugorje Pastor Fr Marinko Šakota and other priests. Details at this link.

Dear children! I am listening to your cry and prayers for peace. For years, Satan has been fighting for war. That is why God sent me among you to guide you on the way of holiness, because humanity is at a crossroad. I am calling you to return to God and to God’s commandments that it may be good for you on earth, and that you may come out of this crisis into which you have entered because you are not listening to God who loves you and desires to save you and lead you to a new life. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Pope Francis—united to all the Bishops and Catholic faithful around the world—will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary today, the feast of the Annunciation. The official translation of the Act of Consecration is at this link.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States at the State Secretariat of the Holy See, visited Medjugorje this morning.

Details at this link.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21

Bosnia's tripartite Presidency members, Zeljko Komsic, Sefik Dzaferovic, and Milorad Dodik met today with Msgr Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See.

Komsic, Dzaferovic, and Dodik thanked the archbishop for the “material, spiritual and political help and support” that the Holy See has been providing to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the past 30 years, and for advocating inter-religious dialogue, tolerance, and equality of members of all faiths.

They also discussed the current political situation in the country, its EU accession path, and the demographic situation in Bosnian society.

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At the end of the meeting, everybody agreed that the relations between Bosnia and the Vatican are “extremely good and friendly,” although there is still room to “additionally strengthen and intensify” them, Bosnia’s collective Presidency said in a statement after the meeting.

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Archbishop Gallagher, whose department is the Holy See’s equivalent of a foreign ministry, is currently on a four-day visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina and will visit three Catholic bishopric seats – in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, and Mostar – where he will join believers celebrating Mass at local cathedrals. He will visit Medjugorje on Sunday morning. source: N1 Sarajevo

Dear children, With a motherly love I am calling you to – full of strength, faith and trust – look towards my Son. Keep opening your hearts to him and do not be afraid, because my Son is the light of the world and in him is peace and hope. That is why, anew, anew I am calling you to pray for those of my children who have not come to know the love of my Son. So that my Son, with his light of love and hope, may illuminate also their hearts; and you, my children, that he may strengthen and give you peace and hope. I am with you. Thank you.

Vatican News reports that Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States at the Vatican has set out on a four-day trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina today and will visit Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Mostar, Usival AND Medjugorje.

The Vatican has expressed concern in recent months that tensions between ethno-religious groups in Bosnia-Herzegovina could flare up again. Archbishop Gallagher will hold political talks in Sarajevo and at church services will focus on peace and reconciliation themes.

He is scheduled to arrive in Medjugorje on Sunday morning where he will meet with Msgr Aldo Cavalli, recently appointed Apostolic Visitator with a special role for the parish, and Fr Miljenko Šteko, Provincial of the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina. Archbishop Gallagher’s visit to Medjugorje will be short and he will leave at noon for Split from where he will fly back to Rome.

Today marks the 88th anniversary of the completion of the construction of the cross on Križevac and the celebration of the first Eucharist on the hill. Further details at this link.

The 27th International Spiritual Retreat for Organisers of Pilgrimages, Leaders of Peace Centres and Leaders of Medjugorje Prayer and Charity Groups is currently taking place in Medjugorje (14 to 18 March). The theme of the five-day programme led by the parish priest Fr Marinko Šakota is: “Learn from me and you will find peace” (Matthew 11:28-30). Programme details can be found at this link.

Dear children! In your life you have all experienced light and darkness. God grants to every person to recognise good and evil. I am calling you to the light which you should carry to all the people who are in darkness. People who are in darkness daily come into your homes. Dear children, give them the light! Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje Message , March 14, 1985

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• Vladimir Putin was born on the Feast of the Holy Rosary, October 7, formerly known as Our Lady of Victory.

A very wise Irish priest who accompanied a pilgrimage group to Medjugorje stood up at dinner one evening and asked for everyone’s attention. He had sensed there was conflict within the group; people were complaining, sniping, gossiping, getting angry and out of sorts with themselves and each other. (Yes, this kind of behaviour can happen on pilgrimages). The priest was very brief in his address to the group. He simply invited everyone to pray the Lord’s prayer and to take every word to heart.

Since then, I have never forgotten the power of this prayer to bring the peace of Jesus into any situtation that is disturbing. Disappointment and a sense of injustice can lead to anger and resentment, but we are called to forgive each others failures and mistakes. Even when others seemingly fail to carry out the the will of the Father, we too fail if we ‘dig in’ and choose not to forgive.

The greatest gift we all possess if the ability to forgive. We can choose to use it sparingly, we can multiply it over and over again, or we can bury it. We are blessed with the freedom to choose and the devil isn’t slow to push the choices he would want us to make.

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48,  Jerusalem Bible

The father of the prodigal son wasn’t in the least bit interested in hearing where his younger son had strayed or got blown, this way and that; just happy to see his son return home from his wandering in the wilderness. He set no condition for his boy to enter the house, nor for the elder sibling. It was the father’s desire that both sons should enter his house, their home.

When war rages, parents want their sons and daughters to return home from battle in one piece. That is their prayer. As the war continues and they see that some kids don’t make it back, the prayer changes and becomes less conditional: “Just bring them home… crippled or not, wounded or not, maimed or not, alcoholic or not, priest or not; we just want our kids to come back, and we will accept and still love them whatever condition they are in.”

Unlike Thomas who insisted that Jesus show his wounds, the father in the parable of the two sons had no need to make demands in this way. The younger son suffered “because of his own poor choices and habits”. The elder sibling suffered because he was unable to love his brother in the way that the father loved both sons. Yet neither son was rejected by their father.

Be strong in prayer and with the cross in your hands pray that evil may not use you and may not conquer in you.

part Medjugorje Message, March 25, 2015

Our Lady once presented the seer Marija Pavolic with a vision of a dark cross. It happened on Podbrdo on the third day of the Medjugorje phenomenon, June 26, 1981, the feast day of the Sacred Heart. Marija was ahead of the group making its way down the hill after they had met with Our Lady. Suddenly she felt herself pushed to the side of the hill at the place known locally as ‘Lokventina’ and Our Lady appeared to her again, this time in front of a dark cross. The Virgin’s expression was sad and she said: “Peace, peace, peace! Let there be peace between God and man. Let peace be restored.” Ever since then, the spot on what is now known as Apparition Hill has been marked with a large wooden cross.

Approximately 120 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women with children, arrived in Medjugorje over the weekend. Currently, there are about 200 Ukrainian refugees in the town accommodated in local hotels and guest houses. Upon their arrival in Medjugorje, the refugees are tested for coronavirus and registered with the Red Cross. On Sunday a Mass was said in Ukrainian and the local faithful joined the Ukrainians in praying for peace.

Gospel Acclamation

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man –
It is the Lord who speaks –
but in the turning back of a wicked man
who changes his ways to win life.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Dear children! Today also I invite you to prayer. Only by prayer and fasting can war be stopped. Therefore, my dear little children, pray and by your life give witness that you are mine and that you belong to me, because Satan wishes in these turbulent days to seduce as many souls as possible. Therefore, I invite you to decide for God and He will protect you and show you what you should do and which path to take. I invite all those who have said “yes” to me to renew their consecration to my Son Jesus and to his Heart, and to me, so we can take you more intensely as instruments of peace in this unpeaceful world. Medjugorje is a sign to all of you and a call to pray and live the days of grace that God is giving you. Therefore, dear children, accept the call to prayer with seriousness. I am with you and your suffering is also mine. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje Message, April 25, 1992

Dear children! I am with you and we pray together. Help me with prayer, little children, that Satan may not prevail. His power of death, hatred and fear has visited the earth. Therefore, little children, return to God and to prayer, to fasting and renunciation, for all those who are downtrodden, poor and have no voice in this world without God. Little children, if you do not return to God and his commandments, you do not have a future. That is why he sent me to you to guide you. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Matthew 5:9

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Peace, peace, peace! Be reconciled! Only peace. Make your peace with God and among yourselves. For that, it is necessary to believe, to pray, to fast, and to go to confession. Medjugorje message to Marija Pavlovic, June 26, 1981

At today’s General Audience at the Vatican, Pope Francis appealed to those “with political responsibility to examine their consciences seriously before God, who is the God of peace and not of war, who is the Father of all, not just of some, who wants us to be brothers and not enemies.” He has also invited everyone to make March 2, Ash Wednesday, a day of Fasting for Peace: “Believers must devote themselves intensely to prayer and fasting. May the Queen of Peace preserve the world from the madness of war.”

Members of the Italian community in Medjugorje recently undertook a wonderful ‘corporal’ act of mercy by restoring the Tyrolean crucifix that stands close to the statue of Our Lady on Apparition Hill. It meant the wooden corpus had to be removed from the cross and taken indoors to be cleaned and repaired. When the work was completed the restored corpus was wrapped in a shroud and prayerfully carried by members of the Italian Community back to its location on Apparition Hill. You can watch the very moving ascent on YouTube at this link.

Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, appointed by Pope Francis last November as an apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, arrived in the parish last Friday on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The parish website has published a lengthy interview with the Archbishop at this link.

Gemma Galgani was only 25 years old when she died of TB on Holy Saturday, 1903. The Italian mystic was canonized on May 2, 1940. This stained-glass window of St Gemma is located in the Oasis of Peace chapel, Medjugorje, next to the family home of the visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti. In this photograph the window appears to be suspended in mid-air, but in reality the effect is produced by a reflection projected onto another window. I never realised at the time when I took this photo its significance as a ‘floating’ image. I later discovered that one of St Gemma’s attributes was being able to levitate, or float above the ground.

Our Lady’s generosity knows no bounds, but on her feast days she shares many special graces. Should we desire to offer her a gift today, we could respond as she requested in one of her message: GIVE ME ALL YOUR FEELINGS AND PROBLEMS! I wish to comfort you in all your trials (June 20, 1985). Imagine, over the 40 years of claimed apparitions at Medjugorje, how many pilgrims have knelt beneath the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in St James’ church, sharing their feelings and problems and receiving comfort.

Dear children! Today I am calling you to return to personal prayer. Little children, do not forget that satan is strong and that he wants to attract all the more souls to himself. That is why, you be vigilant in prayer and resolute in the good. I am with you and am blessing all of you with my motherly blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.

How often our lives and our hearts are broken, sliced and separated into pieces of pain because of sin. Yet our fragmented failings, our shattered souls, all the irregular bits and scraps in our lives, the sharp and blunt stones which we hurl to hurt each other and so ourselves, are all seen and gathered by the Maker who, with loving care and patience, crafts a new creation, a miraculous mosaic of beautiful brokenness. (bg)

Having listened to the king they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Matthew 2 : 9-11

Whatever condition or circumstance in life I find myself in or wake up to today, I know that God loves me. His love for me is greater than all my sins. He wants me to know and truly understand this, no matter what distance I may have placed between myself and his love which reaches beyond all knowledge.

“While he was still a long way off, his father saw his son and was moved wth pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly.” (Luke 15:20)

Step by step, stone by stone, Mother of God lead us home.
Prayer by prayer, bead by bead, Mother of God intercede.
Joy by joy, light by light, Mother of God, star so bright.
Cross by cross, grace by grace, Mother of God, we embrace.
Step by step, stone by stone, Mother of God lead us home.

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BG 2011

• Change your hearts so that a NEW SPIRIT from God can take its place in your hearts... Pray daily for souls in Purgatory for by doing this you obtain NEW INTERCESSORS... Pray especially at this time and experience the joy of meeting with the NEW-BORN JESUS...I call on all of you in the NEW YEAR to live the messages I am giving you... I want you to start living a NEW LIFE as of today... In prayer you shall realise a NEW WAY of joy... Live a NEW LIFE without destroying all that God produces in you... My presence here is to take you on a NEW PATH, the path of salvation... I am with you to teach and lead you to a NEW LIFE of conversion and renunciation... I call you all to build a NEW WORLD of peace with me through prayer... This NEW TIME is the time of grace... I call you to renew my messages even more, with NEW ENTHUSIASM... Decide for a NEW BEGINNING, a beginning of sincere love of God... I love you and call you to a NEW LIFE of conversion... Pray, little children, confess and begin a NEW LIFE in grace... I am preparing you for the NEW TIMES... A NEW WORLD of peace is possible...

* Revelation 21:5

• About 3,500 pilgrims from Ukraine will spend this Christmas in Medjugorje. They travelled for several days with their priests to make the 1500 mile journey to Medjugorje, even havng to wait an incredible 13 hours until they were able to cross one of the borders. The pilgrims are accompanied by about 100 priests and expressed their gratitude to the parish and the parishioners who received them this Christmas. They arrive with different personal intentions and also to pray for peace in Ukraine and an end to the pandemic.

• Toward the end of her life on Christmas Eve 1252, St Clare was upset that her illness was keeping her from Mass in the new Basilica of St Francis. Suddenly, she was blessed with a vision of the Mass on her wall, both hearing and seeing it miraculously from several miles away. Because of this vision, she has been pronounced the patron saint of television and the patron of sore eyes. Source

• “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from the outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean [...] for it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge...” (Matthew 7 : 15, 30-31)

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Aldo Cavalli as a new Apostolic Visitor to the Parish of Medjugorje, for an indefinite period and ad nutum Sanctae Sedis. Archbishop Cavalli was previously Apostolic Nuncio to the Netherlands. He succeeds Archbishop Henryk Hoser, who died on 13 August in Warsaw at the age of 78, and who had held this post since 2018. The 75-year-old Archbishop Cavalli was born in Muggianico di Lecco, Lombardy, in October 1946, to a family of bakers. He was ordained a priest in Bergamo in 1971.