Testimony of Colleen Willard, healed in Medjugorje

Colleen suffered from an inoperable brain tumor that affected her pituitary gland and all of her fine and gross motor skills. She had rickets, her thyroid had completely dried up to the size of a raisin, she had MS, lupus, fibromyalgia and nine other painful and deadly illnesses. She could no longer climb the stairs to her bedroom or prayer room, she could not go to the bathroom without assistance, and to only touch her skin caused unimaginable pain... She visited Medjugorje and was miraculously cured.

New Medjugorje web site launched in Ireland

A new Medjugorje web site was launched in Ireland last week. MIR.IE came to life when the National Medjugorje Council of Ireland held its annual retreat at Knock Shrine. Fr Danko Perutina from Medjugorje, a guest speaker at the retreat, assisted with the official launch.

Advent

ADVENT... A four-week season of joyful expectation.

As we wait in “joyful expectation” for the birth of Jesus during this four-week season of Advent, Our Blessed Mother also waits in expectation for our response to her call. In her latest message to Marija (see post below) she makes four separate but related requests. They are requests we have heard previously from Our Lady, there is a ‘familiarity’ about them. They are for the her ‘family’, her children. But they can also be understood in the sense of how we apply ourself to the needs of own individual families.

1. Renew prayer in families.
2. Prepare with joy
3. Have hearts that are pure and pleasing
4. Be extended hands

Renew prayer in families...
For some families, Christmas can present a difficult challenge. Relationships are often tested. It is known that many couples decide on separation and divorce after Christmas. This is why prayer is so important.

Prepare with joy...
As we approach Christmas I don’t think anyone really wants to be miserable, like the cold-hearted character Ebenezar Scooge featured in the Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol. But there will some who may be not looking forward to Christmas because of personal loss or tragedy in their family. We can support and include these people in our own family prayers.

Have hearts that are pure and pleasing...
A call to confession, to reconcile with God and each other. In this way love is allowed to flow into hearts through God’s grace. And perhaps it may be the need to reconcile with a family member that is the greatest.

Be my extended hands...
Christmas is usually the time when those without are helped the most. It is a time when generous donations are given to charities. But there is another category of need that can remain unnoticed or neglected – the people who lack in faith and hope. Maybe there is a family member that we can relate to on this front, and perhaps this is where Our Lady would wish us to express her love and encouragement, for us to be her extended hands and so reach out to those closest to us who have yet to come to know the love of God in their heart. By witnessing to our own faith at this time of year we become like the shepherds returning from the manager, witnessing and giving glory to God for all they had seen and heard. We are asked to share our faith with those who have become lost and have none.

Our Lady’s November message to Marija

Dear children! In this time of grace I call you all to renew prayer in your families. Prepare yourselves with joy for the coming of Jesus. Little children, may your hearts be pure and pleasing, so that love and warmth may flow through you into every heart that is far from His love. Little children, be my extended hands, hands of love for all those who have become lost, who have no more faith and hope. Thank you for having responded to my call. November 25, 2009

The Miraculous Mosaic

The Miraculous Medal and Medjugorje

Today is the Feast of the Miraculous Medal. The medal has an association with Medjugorje. Twenty years ago today, November 27, 1989, Our Lady said to the visionary Marija:

These days, I want you to pray in a special way for the salvation of souls. Today is the feast day of the miraculous medal, and I want that you pray, in a special way, for the salvation of those people who are carrying this miraculous medal. I want you to spread the devotion and carrying of this medal, so that more souls may be saved, and that you pray in a special way.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.

On November 27 1830 at 5:30 pm, during meditation, St Catherine Labouré saw at the present location of the Virgin of the Globe (Rue de Bac) a vision of the Blessed Virgin. She was standing on a globe holding in her hands a small golden globe, her feet crushing a serpent. Coming from the open hands of the Blessed Virgin were beautiful rays of light. At that same moment Catherine heard a voice saying: “These rays are symbols of graces that Mary obtains for people.” Then an oval formed around the vision and Catherine saw emblazoned in a semi-circle this invocation written in gold letters, and until then unknown: “O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to you”. Then the oval turned and Catherine saw on the reverse side, the letter M surmounted with a little cross and below it the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Catherine then heard these words: “Have a medal made as this. Those who wear it with confidence will receive great graces.”

• further information about the Miraculous Medal and St Catherine Labouré can be found at the official website of the Chapel of the Rue de Bac.

Marked by Medjugorje...

Check out other Medjugorje video clips from the list in the right hand column.

November message to Mirjana

music by Figli del Divino Amore

Offer every sacrifice with love...

Fr Slavko anniversary

Fr Slavko Barbaric • Born: March 11, 1946 • Died: November 24, 2000

I rejoice with you and I desire to tell you that your brother Slavko has been born into heaven and intercedes for you.
part message, November 25, 2000

Cardinal Vinko Puljić speaks on Medjugorje...

Cardinal Vinko Puljić has commented on the events of Medjugorje during a visit to Rome this week. In an interview with Zenit, the Sarajevo Archbishop said that what is happening in Medjugorje is the responsibility of the Bishop of Mostar, Monsignor Ratko Peric, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF).

As head of the Bosnia & Herzegovinia bishops’ conference he added, “We look forward to suggestions and proposals on how to accompany this phenomenon, and I think the Holy See wants us to work in this area.”

The cardinal also said that he expected that the Holy See will give indications on Confession and Eucharistic celebrations, and then added “and maybe even set up a Committee to follow the phenomenon by recording contents of the apparitions and messages, in view that there are over 30,000.”

The cardinal also recognised that Medjugorje continues to attract thousands of pilgrims and acknowledged that the fruit of prayer has resulted in many conversions and vocations to the priesthood and religious. “Praying is not a sin,” he said “Where a man prays with faith, God gives the rewards of his grace.”

He continued: “Praying in Marian shrines is part of the identity of the Catholic faithful. Throughout history our people have been found in various shrines in the region, seeking comfort, light and hope, and the Madonna is a sign for our faith.”

••••••

SHRINE PROCESS UNDERWAY?

We can see from the above report that the Holy See is not closing the door on Medjugorje – far from it. If anything, the comments by cardinal Puljić suggest that the process of shrine-making is underway. Why would he express a view about shrines in his own country if the subject of Medjugorje as a shrine was not on the agenda?

There is another pointer: the reference by the cardinal that he expected the Holy See will give indications on Confession and Eucharistic celebrations. This is in line with the dictate of Canon Law:

Can. 1234 §1. At shrines the means of salvation are to be supplied more abundantly to the faithful by the diligent proclamation of the word of God, the suitable promotion of liturgical life especially through the celebration of the Eucharist and of penance, and the cultivation of approved forms of popular piety.

Last month an average of 5,000 communions were distributed every day!

The message of peace...

As Jesus drew near Jerusalem and came in sight of the city he shed tears over it and said, “If you in your turn, had only understood on this day the message of peace! But, alas, it is hidden from your eyes! Yes, a time is coming when your enemies will raise fortifications all round you, when they will encircle you and hem you in from every side; they will dash you and your children inside your walls to the ground; they will leave no stone standing on another within you – and all because you did not recognise your opportunity when God offered it!” Luke 19:41-44

Dear Children! Today I invite all of you who have heard my message of peace to realise it with seriousness and with love in your life. There are many who think that they are doing a lot by talking about the messages, but do not live them. Dear children, I invite you to life and to change all the negative in you, so that it all turns into the positive and life. Dear children, I am with you and I desire to help each of you to live and by living, to witness the Good News. I am here, dear children, to help you and to lead you to heaven, and in heaven is the joy through which you can already live heaven now. Thank you for having responded to my call! May 25, 1991

BBC to show Medjugorje documentary

BBC TV Northern Ireland is presenting an hour-long documentary about Medjugorje at 9.00pm next Monday, November 23. It will also be available on BBC iplayer for seven days.

The programme is titled Pilgrims and focuses on a group of Irish pilgrims and their week-long visit to Medjugorje.

Here’s the programme preview from the BBC website.

Every year around 25,000 people from Northern Ireland travel to the unlikely destination of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the small town of Medjugorje. But sun, sand and silly souvenirs are not high on the list of priorities for these holiday makers, rather they are searching for spiritual enlightenment; for a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and for cures for everything from addiction and loneliness to cancer.

The new hour-long documentary, Pilgrims, on BBC One Northern Ireland on Monday, November 23 at 9pm, looks into these issues of faith and spirituality as it follows a group of pilgrims from Northern Ireland as they make their way to the world-renowned shrine in the small town of Medjugorje.

While Mary is reported to have appeared for a short time in Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal and Knock in Ireland, it is said that she appears on a daily basis in the town of Medjugorje.

‘Our Lady of Medjugorje’ was first reported to have appeared on June 24, 1981 to six Herzegovinian Croat children, who claim to have since experienced daily visions. It is said that the apparition told the children that she would impart 10 secrets onto each of them.

Three of the visionaries have now claimed to have received their 10 secrets and the visions have reduced to once a year. The remaining three visionaries say they have yet to receive their final secret and their visions continue to appear every day.

One of these visionaries, and perhaps the best known, is Vicka Ivankovic. Vicka was the eldest of the children to have first experienced the vision back in 1981, aged 16 at the time, and everyday she continues to receive messages and pass them on to the many pilgrims who gather daily at her doorstep.

But while many believers flock to Medjugorje in the hope of witnessing an apparition or being touched in someway by the divine, others are not so convinced by the claims of the six visionaries.

The Catholic Church has never officially recognised Medjugorje as a site of true apparitions and in their earlier days of their sighting, the visionaries were even chased and arrested by militia in an effort to make them retract their claims, but each of them has continued to stick to their story.

Scientific tests on the visionaries, commissioned by the Franciscans to examine the validity of their claims, have only indicated the six of them completely believe what they say they witnessed.

This documentary features a rare interview with Vicka and with Father Jozo Zovko, the priest who took the children under his wing despite how the Catholic Church or Communist Regime felt about their claims.

But it also meets the people from Northern Ireland for whom, regardless of any naysayers, Medjugorje has had a profound impact on their life.

Reggie Donnelly from Belfast has been organising trips to Medjugorje since the late 1980s and has said his visits to Medjugorje have strengthened his faith. Éadaoin Mac Rory, a mother of six from Ballymena prayed for a solution to her situation, which she believes was answered. Belfast man Emmanuel Strong now visits Medjugorje as much as he can since his mother died there on a pilgrimage and he says that he is thankful that she passed away there. David Parkes, from Dublin, had been suffering from Crohn’s Disease and says he had been given two weeks to live by his doctor but was cured on his visit to Medjugorje. Liam Stewart from Londonderry says he was cured of his addiction to drink and drugs by visiting the town. And Bernadette McDonagh and Theresa McLaughlin from Bangor both claim to have seen an apparition of Mary on this latest visit.

But Pilgrims is not an investigation into the supernatural appearance; nor is it about investigating the claims of the visionaries or the people who claim to have had life changing experiences in Medjugorje. Rather, this insightful documentary takes a non-judgmental look how far some people believe their faith can take them and how, regardless of the detractors around them, some people can be so devoted to what they believe is the divine that they truly believe it can help them in times of poor health, troubles and loneliness.

Pilgrims Producer Eamonn Devlin says: “Pilgrims is a film about faith; it is not a test of it. The people who set off on their journey to Medjugorje are searching for something, something that other aspects of life cannot give them. From the moment they arrive in the village you can see a change in them, a peace of mind; a happiness that was not present in Belfast International Airport. Perhaps they have found what they are searching for, or possibly a little bit nearer to fi nding it?

“Medjugorje is an experience way beyond comprehension: often magical and strangely fascinating it takes you to a place where, for those who believe, anything is possible. This for me is a good place. Whether Mary is appearing, the sick are being healed, the sun is dancing in the sky or you even believe in God is completely irrelevant. You take from Medjugorje what you want from it – even if that is to decide you don’t believe in it!”

Pilgrims in narrated by acclaimed actor Bernard Hill and co-directed by Eamonn Devlin and Gerard Stratton from Triplevision Productions for BBC Northern Ireland.

The Cross and the Crucifix

Just recently the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a ban on the display of crucifixes and crosses in Italian public schools.

This video is my response.

Please circulate it as far and as wide as possible, especially in Italy.

If you live in Europe then consider sending a copy to your MEP through this link or as an MP4 file which can be downloaded from YouTube.

By means of the cross God is glorified through every person. part message, November 29, 1984

Cardinal’s visit to Medjugorje confirmed

The visit of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn to Medjugorje next month has been confirmed by his personal secretary, Fr Johannes Fürnkranz.

It’s the first ever visit to Medjugorje by the Archbishop of Vienna and although considered a “private” occasion, his plans are to be there from December 8 (feast of the Immaculate Conception) until January 4.

Another European cardinal made a “private” first visit to Medjugorje some 18 months ago.

Island Girl

More images from Medjugorje with music by the Irish band Altan.
• You can get a bigger picture by using the zoom feature on your web browser (command and + symbol), or go full screen by clicking on the square-shape button at the base of the video frame.

Gospa majka moja...

The music accompanying this selection of images is by Michael Baru and appears on his excellent tribute album to Our Lady of Medjugorje, Clothed with the Sun. Details of Michael’s music can be found at cdbaby.com

Gospa majka moja... composer visits Medjugorje

Visiting Medjugorje recently was Dr Johannes Mikl, a cardiologist from Austria, and composer of the popular song “Gospa, majka moja”.

In an interview for Mir Medjugorje radio station, Dr Mikl said how he first heard about Medjugorje in 1983 and soon afterwards visited with two of his friends.

He added: “Medjugorje means a lot to me, I need to come here at least once a year to find strength in my faith, and feel the love of Jesus and Mary. This is where I purify my heart, where I make a new start in my life. Always, when I return back home, I feel I have received strength from Jesus and Mary.”

• source: www.medjugorje.hr

THE ORIGIN OF GOSPA MAJKA MOJA

In her wonderful book about the early days of the apparitions, Mirjana Stanislava Vasilj-Zuccarini reveals in Our Lady’s Call from Medjugorje how the Medjugorje anthem, Gospa Majka Moja, came to be written.

In the early days of the apparitions five young students from Austria arrived in Medjugorje. They were offered lodgings in my cousin Miljenko’s house and they made friends with his five children, as well as with their neighbours Jelena and Marijana Vasilj (the locutionists). One of them was a medical student, Janez Mikl, a Slovenian by origin, and he managed to communicate with the locals in Slovenian.

On the sixth day of their stay, two of them went to Mostar and the other three went to Krizevac with the Vasilj children. On coming from the hill, the police stopped them and asked them for tax receipts for their board and lodgings (This was customary at the time of the communists). They admitted that they did not have any, and because they refused to say with whom they were staying, the police took them to to Citluk police station.

The police station was disorderly and noisy: the TV was on full blast; several telephones were ringing simultaneously and the room was full of cigarette smoke. Janez did not let the police know that he spoke Slovenian and that he understood what they were saying. The three young men were aware that the authorities were always suspicious and on alert, eager to catch anyone organising any form of revolution. In spite of the rather serious situation in which they found themselves, all three of them felt no worry. Instead, they felt safe and protected.

The police ordered them to leave Yugoslavia within the next 24 hours and they were forbidden to enter the country for at least three years. Jelena, Marijana and the other children prayed for them all the time they were being questioned in Citluk.

When young Janez got back to Vienna, he testified that he had experienced a re-birth of his old true faith at Medjugorje through reciting the Rosary and through fasting. He was sad because he could not return to that blessed land and, inspired, he wrote the song: Dear Lady, My Mother, Queen of Peace...

Gospa, Majka moja, Kraljica mira
Gospa, Majka moja, Kraljica mira
Gospa, Majka moja, Gospa, Majka moja, Ti
Gospa, Majka moja, Gospa, Majka moja, Ti

• Adapted from the book (published in 14 langueages): Our Lady’s call from Medjugorje, by Mirjana Stanislava Vasilj-Zuccarini. ISBN 88-8424-099-9

• Monies raised from the sale of this book are donated to the Mothers Village in Medjugorje.

Ave Maria

• The voices featured on this clip are those of the Medjugorje Queen of Peace Choir. This track, along with 18 others by the Choir, are on a CD titled: Ave Maria. The Medjugorje parish youth choir, Little Doves of Peace, is also featured on the CD which is packaged with a beautiful booklet of photographs and lyrics. It will make a wonderful Christmas gift and is available from the Franciscan shop next to St James’ church in Medjugorje.

• You can get a bigger picture by using the zoom feature on your web browser (command and + symbol), or go full screen by clicking on the square-shape button at the base of the video frame.

Cardinal Schonborn to visit Medjugorje

It is reported that the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Cristoph Schonborn is to make a visit to Medjugorje.

source: blessedmotherschildren.com

The Austrian cardinal recently met with the Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti when she visited and gave witness at St Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna last month. Later in September Cardinal Schonborn spoke positively about Medjugorje at a retreat for priests in Ars, France, saying that in Medjugorje priests are overwhelmed by their experience of Confession.

Ivanka’s visit to Knock Shrine cancelled

The visit of Medjugorje visionary Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez to Knock Shrine on November 28 has been cancelled. She had been invited by the National Medjugorje Council of Ireland to attend its annual prayer day held at Ireland’s National Marian Shrine.

Daily Communions at Medjugorje

Can. 1234 §1. At shrines the means of salvation are to be supplied more abundantly to the faithful by the diligent proclamation of the word of God, the suitable promotion of liturgical life especially through the celebration of the Eucharist and of penance, and the cultivation of approved forms of popular piety.

FACT... last month in Medjugorje, an average of 5,000 communions were distributed each day. The daily average for the year so far is 4,173.

I wonder how many other small parish churches around the world distribute such a high number of communions every day?

Medjugorje is Sacramental!

Medjugorje... heartbeat of the world

Medjugorje is not just the little village where we are right now. You can take and help Medjugorje wherever you live this message – wherever you carry the message of Our Lady.
Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez, speaking with pilgrims in Medjugorje,
November 9, 2009

Dear children! You are the ones responsible for the messages. The source of grace is here, but you, dear children, are the vessels which transport the gifts. Therefore, dear children, I am calling you to do your job with responsibility. Each one shall be responsible according to his own ability. Dear children, I am calling you to give the gifts to others with love, and not to keep them for yourselves. Thank you for having responded to my call. May 8, 1986

eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month

Do not forget that you are passing like a flower in a field, which is visible from afar but disappears in a moment. Little children, leave a sign of goodness and love wherever you pass and God will bless you with an abundance of his blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call. part message, January 25, 2007

The three theological virtues…

The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. book of Wisdom 3 : 1

In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love. Corinthians 13 : 13

FAITH... Dear children; Again I call you to faith. My motherly heart desires for your heart to be open, so that it could say to your heart: believe. My children, only faith will give you strength in life’s trials. It will renew your soul and open the ways of hope. I am with you. I gather you around me because I desire to help you, so that you can help your neighbours to discover faith, which is the only joy and happiness of life. Thank you. October 2, 2008

HOPE... Dear children! Also today I call you, in this time of grace, to pray for little Jesus to be born in your heart. May he, who is peace itself, give peace to the entire world through you. Therefore, little children, pray without ceasing for this turbulent world without hope, so that you may become witnesses of peace for all. May hope begin to flow through your hearts as a river of grace. Thank you for having responded to my call. November 25, 2008

LOVE... Little children, believe, pray and love, and God will be near you. He will give you the gift of all the graces you seek from Him. I am a gift to you, because, from day to day, God permits me to be with you and to love each of you with immeasurable love. Therefore, little children, in prayer and humility, open your hearts and be witnesses of my presence. Thank you for having responded to my call. October 25 2005

Words of wisdom...

• Feast of St Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church.

If it is the will of the great Lord,
the scholar will be filled with the spirit of understanding,
he will shower forth words of wisdom,
and in prayer give thanks to the Lord.
He will grow upright in purpose and learning,
he will ponder the Lord’s hidden mysteries.
He will display the instructions he has received,
taking his pride in the Law of the Lord’s covenant.
Ecclesiaticus 39 : 6-8

Dear children! In this holy time of joyful expectation, God has chosen you, the little ones, to realise his great intentions. My children, be humble. Through your humility, with his wisdom, God will make of your souls a chosen home. You will illuminate it with good works and thus, with an open heart, you will welcome the birth of my Son in all of his generous love. Thank you, dear children. December 2, 2008

Marija’s latest witness

November 2, 2009, in Medjugorje

• You can get a bigger picture by using the zoom feature on your web browser, or go full screen by clicking on the square-shape button at the base of the video frame.

Remembrance Sunday

• Poppies in Medjugorje

‘Poppy Day’ is commemorated each year,
at the 11th hour of the 11th day, of the 11th month.

† † †

There is a hill in England,
Green fields and a school I know,
Where the balls fly fast in summer,
And the whispering elm-trees grow,
A little hill, a dear hill,
And the playing fields below.

There is a hill in Flanders,
Heaped with a thousand slain,
Where the shells fly night and noontide
And the ghosts that died in vain,
A little hill, a hard hill
To the souls that died in pain.

There is a hill in Jewry,
Three crosses pierce the sky,
On the midmost He is dying
To save all those who die,
A little hill, a kind hill
To souls in jeopardy.

Everard Owen, Harrow, December, 1915

Mary’s response

Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with you...
My Son, Jesus Christ, wishes to bestow on you special graces through me...

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus...
As I bore Jesus in my womb, so also, dear children, do I wish to bear you unto holiness...

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now...
Every day I pray to my Son to forgive the sins of the world... I am His Mother, and I intercede for you with Him... all prayers go to Jesus...

...and at the hour of our death.
I am with you and intercede for you in front of God... I am with you and unceasingly I keep watch over every heart which is given to me...

• Our Lady’s words are taken from her Medjugorje messages dated:
May 17, 1984; March 25, 1990; November 3, 1981; December 31, 1981;
November 25, 1988; February 25, 1989.

Love listens...

Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. Mark 12 : 28-30

Dear children! No, you don’t know how to love and you don’t know how to listen with love to the words I am saying to you. Be conscious, my beloved, that I am your Mother and I have come on earth to teach you to listen out of love, to pray out of love and not compelled by the fact that you are carrying a cross. By means of the cross God is glorified through every person. Thank you for having responded to my call. November 29, 1984

Waiting.... for prayers

“...we saw Purgatory as a mist, as a cloud from where one hears the voices of the people who want our prayers. The Madonna explained to us that these people believed in God in some moments, but not in others. They have experienced and seen God and no longer have doubts that he exists. Now the greatest sadness for them is that they want to go to Paradise, but they must wait for our prayers. They can intercede for us but not for themselves.”
Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic

Filled with prayer...

At Cana, Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And after they filled them to the brim a miracle happened!

Recently, in her last message to Marija, Our Lady said, “May your hearts always be filled with prayer.”

We know that when the stone jars, the hard hearts, are filled with water, filled with prayer, then miracles happen. Jesus demonstrated this at the wedding at Cana.

Our Lady also promises that miracles will happen when our hearts are filled with prayer.

The rosary alone can work miracles in the world and in your lives. January 25, 1991

Open yourselves to God by means of prayer so the Holy Spirit may begin to work miracles in you and through you. May 25, 1993

Only when you open your hearts and pray will miracles happen. September 25, 1993

Little children, prayer works miracles. April 25, 2001

Pray, pray, pray, because prayer works miracles in human hearts and in the world. October 25, 2001

Little children, believe that by simple prayer miracles can be worked. Through your prayer you open your heart to God and He works miracles in your life. October 25, 2002

Purgatory and the Holy Souls

Like Jesus in the Gospels, Our Lady has rarely spoken about Purgatory or the Holy Souls in her messages from Medjugorje. It seems that her sights are set on one place only for her children, and she does not want to give any of us an excuse to settle for anything less than Heaven.

Below is the only ‘official’ message to the world where Our Lady speaks of the Holy Souls and Purgatory. It was given to the visionary Marija 23 years ago on November 6, 1986.

Dear children, Today I wish to call you to pray daily for the souls in purgatory. For every soul prayer and grace is necessary to reach God and the love of God. By doing this, dear children, you obtain new intercessors who will help you in life to realise that all the earthly things are not important for you, that only Heaven is that for which it is necessary to strive. Therefore, dear children, pray without ceasing that you may be able to help yourselves and the others to whom your prayers will bring joy. Thank you for having responded to my call.

• In her book, Marija and the Mother of God, Irish journalist Heather Parsons speaks with the visionary about Purgatory. Marija (pictured) confirms that Our Lady has shown her heaven, hell and purgatory.

Of purgatory Marija said: “I did not see any people in purgatory, but I could hear them crying and asking us to pray for them. Our Lady said that the suffering of these people was because they wanted to go to heaven, but could not unless they had our prayers to assist them. She said that when we prayed for them, we helped them towards heaven.

“I felt great sadness in purgatory, because I was allowed to understand that these people know that God exists, that heaven exists. They want to be with God, but it is not possible for them to be with Him, because their sins are still on their souls.

“Their cries are not because they are in physical pain, I understood, but because they are in spiritual pain, wishing to be with God. Every day they spend in Purgatory they understand more the situation they are in and the result of their own sins. And they learn the way to love God.

“Our Lady said that we should pray for the souls in purgatory, that our prayers will help them to reach heaven. And she said that we should tell others to pray for them. She said that when we pray for these souls they become our friends and they pray for us in return. And now I pray for all the souls in purgatory, not just those I know, but all souls.

“She told me a very beautiful thing too, that every Saturday she goes to purgatory to take many souls to heaven and that there is great joy in heaven when these souls meet with God.

“Sometimes people ask me if I would be afraid to go to purgatory, but no, I would not be afraid. I have decided to try to live in the way of holiness and I do this with God’s help. Little by little, in this way I grow and learn and understand more, and with God’s help I am beginning to see and understand how great his love is for us.”

UK 2009 Christmas stamps have religious theme

Britain’s Royal Mail yesterday issued a series of religious-themed stamps for Christmas. The stamps show the Madonna and Child, an Angel, Joseph, a Wise Man and a Shepherd (£1.35), and feature work of Pre-Raphaelite-inspired stained glass windows from churches around the UK by arists that include William Morris, Henry Holiday and Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

Designer Andrew Ross researched hundreds of photographs of stained glass windows before deciding upon the final set of images from the 19th century.

“We are extremely privileged to have access to such a rich history of beautiful stained glass designs in churches and other buildings around the UK,” said Julietta Edgar, Head of Special Stamps, Royal Mail.

“These precious images of the Nativity have a timeless appeal and are a wonderful way of telling the story of Christmas here and around the world.”

Three of the stamps (1st, 56p and £1.35) feature the work of the prolific artist and designer Henry Holiday who spent time at the studios of the artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones, designer of the Wise Man (90p) stamp.

The Angel with Mandolin stained glass window (2nd class) was designed by William Morris and manufactured by Morris & Co, the design firm formed in 1861 with Edward Burne Jones.

Sent by God...

A man came, sent by God. His name was John. He came as a witness, as a witness to speak for the light, so that everyone might believe through him. He was not the light, only a witness to speak for the light. John 1 : 6-8

John the Baptist said of himself: “I am, as Isaiah prophesised: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight path for the Lord.”

In her latest message to Mirjana, Our Lady reminds us that she is also sent by God, to call and lead us back to the straight path where we discover the love of the Lord. And, like John, Our Lady also points out the Lamb of God for us to follow and to come to know as the perfect and saving sacrifice that God, in his mercy, has given to the world.

Significantly, Mary first appeared at Medjugorje on June 24, 1981, a day when the Church celebrates the coming into the world of John the Baptist.

Throughout her 28 years of giving messages, Our Lady frequently reminds us that she is sent to us by God. She is a missionary who arrives carrying the Word of God, the true light that enlightens all mankind.

I have chosen this parish, one more dear to me than the others, in which I have gladly remained when the Almighty sent me... March 21, 1985

God has sent me among you so that I may help you... January 25, 1991

God sends me to help you and to guide you towards paradise, which is your goal… September 25, 1994

God, out of love for man, has sent me among you to show you the path of salvation, the path of love… April 25, 1995

God sends me to you out of love… April 25, 1997

His love shows itself also in present times because He sends me to call you upon the path of salvation… January 25, 1999

God sent me to lead you toward eternal life… October 25, 2006

That I am among you for so much of your time is love, because the Great Love sends me… March 2, 2007

Also in this difficult time God's love sends me to you… June 2, 2007

Dear children! God sent me among you out of love that I may lead you towards the way of salvation… October 25, 2007

…respond to God's goodness because He chose you and sent me among you… March 2, 2008

Medjugorje... the joy of angels

I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner. Luke 15 : 10

• It’s an unexpected truth to learn that here on earth each of us is capable of generating joy among God’s angels in heaven. Mostly we are conditioned to petition heaven to send joy to the world instead.

But in today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us exactly how this happens, how his angels are constantly rejoicing. I say constantly because Jesus says his angels rejoice over one repentant sinner. One!

If just one different person repents each minute of the day, that gives the angels 1,440 repentant souls to rejoice over daily. Not a lot, is it? But enough for the angels in heaven to receive perpetual joy!

And imagine how that joy intensifies as the number of repenting souls on earth increases.

So for the angels in heaven, what a wonderful source of joy Medjugorje must be – the confessional of the world!

Is he the last to be loved?

A couple of days ago, Our Lady, in her message to Mirjana, invited us to look into our hearts and see how much we love our Father in heaven. Then she asked: “Is he the last to be loved?”

In today’s Gospel (Luke 14 : 25-33) Jesus also makes it very clear where our priority for love should focus and that we should not allow ourselves to be possessed by ‘material goods’ or even to put our family in the first place ahead of him. “None of you can be my disciples unless he gives up all his possessions.” And, yes, he infers that to love Jesus and the Father ahead of our family and possessions is a cross to carry. “Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

Love cannot hurt your neighbour...

Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments. Romans 13 : 10

Dear children! With motherly love I desire to encourage you to love your neighbour. May my Son be the source of that love. He, who could have done everything by force, chose love and gave an example to you. Also today, through me, God expresses immeasurable goodness to you and, you children, are obliged to respond to it. With equal goodness and generosity behave towards the souls whom you meet. May your love convert them. In that way my Son and His love will resurrect in you. Thank you. July 2, 2008

What am I but just a heap of good intentions?

What am I but a heap of good intentions?
And to whom should I reach out if not to my Source?
Do I know anyone greater than God?
Have I another friend like Christ?
After so many proofs, how far have I advanced?
What is my response?
When will my love begin?
Do I feel how flickering and feeble it is?
When will I quicken it to a luminous, steady flame?
Do I think that someone else might have held the torch better?

“Change yourself, by patiently beginning over and over again.
Watch and pray.
You do pray, yes, but pray in another way,
seeing everything through Me,
full of confidence, with a sense of your poverty.
Then I’ll help you, My poor crippled child,
paralyzed by so many weaknesses from birth,
and you will travel along new paths.
You will leave behind your old slavish attachments,
for My yoke is gentle.
You will no longer be the one you serve;
Christ will be the One you serve.
What a difference!
And because you will serve Him and not another,
weaving Him into the very warp and woof of your day,
He will call you His bride,
He who was your servant.”

• Adapted from the book, HE AND I, by Gabrielle Bossis

Our Lady’s November message to Mirjana

Dear children, Also today I am among you to point you to the way that will help you to come to know God’s love, the love of God who permitted you to call him Father and to perceive him as Father. I ask of you to sincerely look into your hearts and to see how much you love him. Is he the last to be loved? Surrounded by material goods, how many times have you betrayed, denied and forgotten him? My children, do not deceive yourselves with worldly goods. Think of your soul because it is more important than the body; cleanse it. Invoke the Father, he is waiting for you. Come back to him. I am with you because he, in his mercy, sends me. Thank you. November 2, 2009

Invoke the Father, he is waiting for you...

Our Father in heaven, (Invoke the Father, he is waiting for you.)
may your name be held holy, (who permitted you to call him Father)
your kingdom come, (come to know God’s love)
your will be done, (have you betrayed, denied and forgotten him?)
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread. (do not deceive yourselves with worldly goods)
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive those who are in debt to us. (Think of your soul... cleanse it)
And do not put us to the test, (I am with you... he sends me)
but save us from the evil one. (Come back to him)
Matthew 6 : 9-13

All Souls Day

I am the resurrection, and the life, says the Lord. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies, he will live. Anyone who lives and believes in me, will not die forever. John 11 : 26

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!
Psalm 25 : 13-14

Hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Roman 5 : 5

Dear children! Also today I call you to pray for peace. Pray with the heart, little children, and do not lose hope because God loves His creatures. He desires to save you, one by one, through my coming here. I call you to the way of holiness. Pray, and in prayer you are open to God’s will; in this way, in everything you do, you realise God’s plan in you and through you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
March 25, 2003

Saintly love...

...In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them. In no one do we see this more clearly than in Mary.

The words addressed by the crucified Lord to his disciple—to John and through him to all disciples of Jesus: “Behold, your mother!” (Jn 19:27)—are fulfilled anew in every generation. Mary has truly become the Mother of all believers. Men and women of every time and place have recourse to her motherly kindness and her virginal purity and grace, in all their needs and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their moments of loneliness and their common endeavours. They constantly experience the gift of her goodness and the unfailing love which she pours out from the depths of her heart. The testimonials of gratitude, offered to her from every continent and culture, are a recognition of that pure love which is not self- seeking but simply benevolent....
Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est

Saintly flowers...

Dear children! I am with you and I rejoice today because the Most High has granted me to be with you and to teach you and to guide you on the path of perfection.

Little children, I wish you to be a beautiful bouquet of flowers which I wish to present to God for the day of All Saints. I invite you to open yourselves and to live, taking the saints as an example.

Mother Church has chosen them, that they may be an impulse for your daily life.

Thank you for having responded to my call October 25, 1994

I will spend my heaven doing good on earth. I will send a shower of roses.

St Thérèse, the Little Flower