Medjugorje
One
Medjugorje
Teresa and I were just in Medjugorje where for the first time in the 43 years that Our Lady is reported to be appearing in Medjugorje She asked everyone to join at 10 pm to pray for nine straight days.
Teresa and I walked up Apparition Hill in Medjugorje and knelt down and began praying the Rosary as thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people came streaming up the jagged rock mountain to kneel down and pray with Our Lady. Then around 11:30 each night Our Lady would appear, and the entire mountain would immediately fall silent!
Why did Our Lady ask for this Novena of Rosaries? I think she revealed why in her message on the last night of the novena, June 25th, in which she said, “Dear children! I rejoice with you and thank God for permitting me to be with you, to lead you and love you. Little children, peace is in danger and the family is under attack. I am calling you, little children: return to prayer in the family. Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place and read it every day. Love God above all that it may be good for you on earth…”
The reported apparitions of Mary, the Mother of God, to six visionaries in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina, began June 24th, 1981, and continue to this very day.
To understand the Church’s current position on Medjugorje you need to know three things: first, according to the new 2024 rules on private revelation, the Vatican or local bishop will no longer declare with certainty the supernatural nature of an event. Instead, they may issue a nihil obstat which means nothing hinders the faithful from devotion to or pilgrimage to a place. Second, the Ruini Commission established by Pope Benedict XVI voted overwhelmingly in 2017 to recognize as real and supernatural the first seven apparitions of Medjugorje. Third, in 2019, the Vatican officially authorized pilgrimage to Medjugorje and designated the parish church of St. James in Medjugorje a pontifical shrine under the oversight of the Vatican.
John Paul II commented to the Archbishop of Slovakia, Pavel Hnilca, “Medjugorje is the continuation of Fatima, it is the completion of Fatima.” (Slovimir Oder, Why He is a Saint p. 169)
Two
The Essence of the Message of Our Lady at Medjugorje is Conversion
The problem in the world is that we have forgotten God and we are destroying ourselves. So, what does a mother do when she sees her children in grave danger? She comes to rescue them!
On June 16, 1983, Our Lady said, “I have come to tell the world: God is truth. He exists. In him is true happiness and abundance of life. I present myself here as the Queen of Peace to tell the world that peace is necessary for the salvation of the world. In God is found true joy from which true peace flows.”
Our Mother comes begging us to be Converted and Return to God.
“Be Converted!” Our Lady tells us, “It will be too late when the sign comes. Beforehand, several warnings will be given to the world. Have people hurry to be converted. I need your prayers and your penance…The only thing that I would want to tell you is be converted. Make that known to all my children as quickly as possible. No pain, no suffering is too great to me to save you…You cannot imagine what is going to happen nor what the Eternal Father will send to earth. That is why you must be converted.”
However, Our Lady always says, “My children, do not be afraid because I am the Queen of Peace.”
Three
Mary comes to remind us of the weapon God has given us against our Goliath, five “stones” to overcome evil in our lives
The first stone is the Holy Mass. Our Lady says, “Let Mass be your life.” And, “May the Mass, the most exalted and most powerful act of prayer, be the center of your spiritual life.” (August 2, 2008)
The second stone is Prayer. “Dear children!” Our Lady says, “Today I am calling you to be people of prayer. Pray until prayer becomes a joy for you and a meeting with the Most High. He will transform your hearts and you will become people of love and peace. Do not forget, little children, that Satan is strong and wants to draw you away from prayer. Do not forget that prayer is the secret key of meeting with God. That is why I am with you to lead you. Do not give up on prayer.”
She calls us to pray the Rosary every day. And to Pray with the Heart, that is, don’t let the Rosary be a rote saying of words as your mind wanders. Make the Rosary a real meditation on the Word of God. That is the reason for the third stone, to read and meditate on the Word of God, the Bible every day.
The fourth stone is the Sacrament of Confession. “Dear children! In the great love of God, I come to you today to lead you on the way of humility and meekness. The first station on that way, my children, is confession. Reject your pride and kneel down before my Son.”(July 2, 2007)
“Monthly Confessions will be a remedy for the church in the west… whole sections of the Church could be cured if the believers would go to Confession once a month.”
The fifth stone is fasting. Our Lady asks for a bread and water fast on Wednesdays and Fridays. But Our Lady accepts alternatives. I think we need to fast from the two things that keep us from daily prayer and more frequent reception of the Eucharist. Those two things are busyness that comes from overcommitment that wipes us out and then we think we need to veg out with entertainment. Fast from these, cut them down, and cut them out.
Four
The Ten Secrets
At Medjugorje, Our Lady is to give each of the Visionaries ten secrets to be revealed to the world. Mirjana, Jakov, and Ivanka have received all ten secrets. Marija, Vicka, and Ivan have received nine secrets. Our Lady still appears to them at 6:40 pm every day wherever they are.
The first two secrets are warnings that invite conversion before it is too late. The third secret is a sign of hope, a supernatural, permanent, and indestructible sign on Apparition Hill where she first appeared.
Each of the ten secrets will be revealed to the world in this way: ten days before the date of the event foretold in the secret, Mirjana is to tell the priest that has already been chosen what will happen and when. Mirjana and the priest are to pray and fast for seven days. Then, three days before the event, the priest will reveal the secret to the world.
The only thing Mirjana will say about the secrets is this, “Our Lady is planning to change the world. She did not come to announce our destruction; she came to save us, and with her Son, she will triumph over evil.”
Mirjana emphasized, “If the heart of our mother will triumph, then we don’t need to be afraid of anything. It is only important to put our life in her hands and not to think about the secrets. We should think about the messages and what she has asked us to do, so that we can help her Immaculate Heart to triumph.”
Five
What is the purpose of the Secrets?
If we consider the ten secrets of Medjugorje in the context of the messages of Our Lady at Fatima, Akita, and Kibeho then the secrets seem to allude to a dramatic worldwide purification.
What is the purpose of the purification and why warn the world ahead of time? It is not a punishment. God does not punish mankind. God leaves mankind free to do good or evil. Good choices result in good consequences collectively. Evil choices cause evil consequences worldwide: wars, famine, natural disasters, and persecution are all ultimately the result of evil.
The purpose of the message of purification or chastisement is two-fold. It is a call to conversion before it is too late and it is a call for action so that we will do all that we can to help Jesus and Mary rescue souls and change the tide of world events and bring peace, peace in souls, peace in the family, peace in the world.
The future is not irrevocably set. We can change world events and help save souls if we answer the call of Our Lady by taking up the five stones.
Make the Holy Mass the most important thing in your life.
Pray the Rosary every day.
Read the Word of God every day.
Go to Confession once a month.
Fast, especially from those things that keep you from God.