Video of Cardinal Schönborn talk at Medjugorje

The talk gets underway after about eight minutes... be patient!
Rendition of “Gospa Mojka Moja” starts at 51:10.

Medjugorje...where Merciful Grace abounds

Why would cardinal Schönborn give an arranged talk in Medjugorje and speak specifically about the mercy of God at a place where Our Lady appears and speaks of a time of grace and of God’s mercy?

Does anyone sense that he may be qualifying Our Lady’s call and messages from Medjugorje as the Mercy of God – Divine Mercy?

Here is a man behind the team that produced the Catechism of the Catholic Church. He knows his stuff. He is a member of the CDF. He knows the politics of the hierarchy. He shrugs off the pretense of “privacy” and very publicly delivers a powerful teaching from St James church, for the world to hear and witness.

Really, he is doing exactly as Our Lady does in Medjugorje, pointing in the direction of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, recognising that Medjugorje is not about Our Lady but simply about the mercy of God in all of our lives; in the same way that Medjugorje is not about Fr Slavko, Fr Jozo or any of the Franciscan priests; in the same way that Medjugorje is not about Vicka, Marija, Mirjana, Ivanka, Jakov and Ivan; in the same way that Medjugorje is not about bishops, princes and popes.

The Medjugorje phenomenon is about God’s Mercy. Merciful Love.

Our time, as Our Lady keeps on reminding us in her messages, is truly a time of Grace. Merciful Grace!

Dear children! In this time of grace, when God has permitted me to be with you, little children, I call you anew to conversion. Work on the salvation of the world in a special way while I am with you. God is merciful and gives special graces, therefore, seek them through prayer. I am with you and do not leave you alone. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje message, May 25, 2008

Praised be Jesus and Mary!

On December 30, 2009, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna and a member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, gave a powerful, lengthy talk at St James Church in Medjugorje.

The cardinal’s talk revolved around the theme of God’s mercy, and he did not hesitate to praise Medjugorje.

His first words as he stepped to the podium were “Hvaljen Isus i Marija,” a Croatian phrase that means “Praised be Jesus and Mary.” This is a common greeting among the visionaries and Medjugorje villagers. The cardinal repeated it several times and urged the crowd to repeat it with him.

He went on to say, “When you look at a place like Medjugorje, you can see a superpower of mercy. Many merciful deeds were born here or they were supported here.”

During one poignant moment of his talk, cardinal Schönborn urged the crowd to stand and join him in singing the well-known Medjugorje song Gospa Majka Moja. He smiled warmly as he sang along.

Delving further into the topic of mercy, cardinal Schönborn said, “What a deep feeling of compassion there is in Jesus. Many deeds of mercy in the Church were born exactly in this way, like Mother Teresa, who couldn’t accept people dying in the street; or Mother Elvira, here in Medjugorje, the founder of Cenacolo Community. She couldn’t stand to see young people destroying their lives with drugs. What is this deep, profound emotion that we call compassion?”

While concluding his talk in Medjugorje, the cardinal said, “I believe that many experiences in the Church demonstrate something that is impossible from a human point of view.”

While some had expected the cardinal’s visit to Medjugorje to be private, he has instead surprised the town by being very visible. He has spent his time concelebrating Mass at St James Church, climbing Apparition Hill with visionary Marija Lunetti, praying in silence at Adoration, and, perhaps most notably, giving his talk today in the parish church with the Franciscan friars at his side.

• source: medjugorje-online.com

Cardinal Schönborn’s talk

Here are the ‘live’ audio tramsmissions of Cardinal Schonborn’s talk at St James church this afternoon. The talk was in Italian, translated into Croatian. Can anyone out there provide an English transcript? Please EMAIL me if you can help with this.
Cardinal Schönborn talk, part 1
Cardinal Schönborn talk, part 2

Medjugorje... a ‘superpower’ of Mercy

Dear children! I come to you as a Mother with gifts. I come with love and mercy. Dear children, mine is a big heart. In it, I desire all of your hearts, purified by fasting and prayer. I desire that, through love, our hearts may triumph together. I desire that through that triumph you may see the real Truth, the real Way and the real Life. I desire that you may see my Son. Thank you.
March 18, 2007

Dear children! Today I come to you with a motherly desire for you to give me your hearts. My children, do this with complete trust and without fear. In your hearts, I will put my Son and His mercy. Then, my children, you will look at the world around you with different eyes. You will see your neighbour. You will feel his pain and suffering. You will not turn your head away from those who suffer, because my Son turns His head away from those who do so. Children, do not hesitate. May 2, 2007

Dear children! I call you to prayer. By means of prayer, little children, you obtain joy and peace. Through prayer you are richer in the mercy of God. Therefore, little children, let prayer be the life of each one of you. Especially I call you to pray so that all those who are far away from God may be converted. Then our hearts shall be richer because God will rule in the hearts of all men. Therefore, little children, pray, pray, pray! Let prayers begin to rule in the whole world. Thank you for having responded to my call. August 25, 2009

Dear children! I want you to surrender your hearts to me so that I may take you on the way, which leads to the light and to eternal life. I do not want your hearts to wander in today's darkness. I will help you. I will be with you on this way of discovery of the love and the mercy of God. As a mother, I ask you to permit me to do this. Thank you for having responded to my call. March 18, 1999

Dear children! Today I call you to love and mercy. Give love to each other as your Father gives it to you. Be merciful – with the heart. Do good works, not permitting them to wait for you too long. Every mercy that comes from the heart brings you closer to my Son. March 18, 2001

Dear children, do not be of a hard heart towards the mercy of God, which has been pouring out upon you for so much of your time. In this special time of prayer, permit me to transform your hearts that you may help me to have my Son resurrect in all hearts, and that my heart may triumph. Thank you. April 2, 2007

Cardinal’s talk in St James confirmed

This morning, in Medjugorje, Cardinal Schönborn celebrated the 9am Mass for German-speaking pilgrims

At the end of the 10am Mass for English-speaking pilgrims, it was confirmed that the cardinal would speak in St James church this afternoon at 3pm.

This is instead of in the Yellow Hall as originally announced yesterday morning.

• picture shows the visionary Marija Pavlovic in conversation with cardinal Schönborn when they visited the Blue Cross yesterday.

Video... annual apparition to Jakov

An exclusive video of the apparition of Our Lady to the visionary Jakov on December 25, 2009, can be viewed at medjugorjevideo.com

Cardinal to make address in St James’ church

It is understood that Cardinal Schönborn will make an address in St James’ church tomorrow. The address will be in Italian, but simultaneous translation will be available via hand-held radio. It is not certain if this is in addition to the talk in the Yellow Hall announced this morning, or a change of venue instead.
(Scroll down for earlier announcement)

• Cardinal Schönborn joined other pilgrims today in spending time at the Blue Cross and praying on Apparition Hill. He was accompanied by the visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, (pictured standing directly in front of Our Lady’s statue).

Cardinal to speak at Medjugorje...

It was announced in Medjugorje today, at the conclusion of the 10.00am Mass for english-speaking pilgrims, that Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, and visiting Medjugorje for the first time, will give a talk in the Yellow Hall at Medjugorje on Wednesday afternoon, December 30.

It was also confirmed that the cardinal will be the main celebrant at Midnight Mass on New Year’s Eve, and at Mass on New Year’s Day.

Last night Fr Tomislav Pervan announced that the cardinal had arrived in Medjugorje that afternoon and had spent time in Adoration and then some time at the back of the church in prayer.

As he left the church, the cardinal is reported to have said: “Who could make these things up? Who could invent this thing? Man? No, this is not a human opera.”

Fr Tomislav then said that we should not forget that the cardinal had held an important position in preparing the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Schönborn is one of the most respected experts in the theology of the Christian East and is also a member of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).

• Cardinal Schönborn is pictured with some of the Franciscan priests at Medjugorje following his arrival in the parish yesterday.

Cardinal Schönborn in Medjugorje today

It is reported by medjugorje.net that Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, has arrived in Medjugorje today to celebrate the New Year and enjoy a few days of quiet prayer time. On his first visit to Medjugorje, the cardinal was greeted by Fr Petar Vlasic the pastor of St James, and met with other Franciscan friars including former pastor, Fr Tomislav Pervan (pictured above with the Cardinal when they met today).

Cardinal Schönborn shared that he plans to spend time with the Cenacolo Community and meet with Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, one of the six visionaries of Medjugorje. He intends to be available to hear confessions and will be celebrating midnight Mass at St James church on New Year’s Eve.

• picture by Mate, medjugorje.net

The gifts of blessings and peace...

• Can there be any greater gift given to men on earth than the peace of God and his blessing? Here, the late Fr Slavko Barbaric comments on the gifts of blessing and peace.

• In Hebrew the word ‘blessing’ also means a gift, a grace and a peace. In Greek and in Latin this has the significance of saying something good about someone else, or to act good toward someone else. Whoever blesses gives something, and he becomes a new person for someone. It is a new relationship.

When God blesses us, then we know that he loves us and that he is with us. When Mary brings us God’s blessing, then she is bringing us the same that God brings us through his blessing. When we bless one another, then we are giving something that we have received. So when it concerns blessing, it concerns a new relationship that in Paradise was lost by way of sin.

After God created man, he was first in a relationship of friendship with him, for God had given man everything, and man was ‘blessed’, but man committed a sin in acting disobedient toward God and he thereby lost this friendship. He lost this blessing and God tells the snake, satan, that he is ‘cursed’, but the effects of the sin, the curse, also came upon man. So man lost this friendship and could no longer stay in Paradise. A bad relationship, an adverse relationship came about between man and God, between man and man, but also between man and nature because all of nature also turned itself against man.

From the biblical tradition we know, for instance, that God blessed Abraham with a special blessing, telling him that through him all humanity will be blessed, and that God will be blessing all those whom he will be blessing; and he tells Abraham that he will become a blessing for all others. Noah, too, is blessed in a special way, and this blessing will be passed onto his sons so that they, too, may renew the world with a new spirit. When Mary went to Elizabeth, Elizabeth greets her as ‘blessed among women’, and when Zechariah opens his mouth he blesses God. In this blessing, we say, the eschatological dimension is to found, and this means that the one who blesses is preparing the way for the Messiah. This is because everyone who blesses is taking upon himself to bring goodness into his relationship toward God, toward himself, toward the others and toward nature, as God had planned it – all the relationships that had become lost due to sin.

St Paul, in the letter to Ephesus, says that all of us who are blessed by Jesus are blessed in a spiritual way. Jesus himself blesses the bread before he multiplies it, and also before he gave us the Eucharist, He blessed the bread, blessed the wine and prayed over them. Jesus blesses his Apostles before his Resurrection, as he also gave them the assignment to bless, as well as becoming a blessing for others. Every time when they healed the sick, spread God’s word, forgave sins, or expelled demons, all they did was bring about more blessings.

It is also so important to understand that all of us are blessed with God’s blessing and with Jesus' blessing, and that in this way we may also become a blessing for all others. It is especially important for us to know that we are freed of sins curses, and that we, as of now, may ourselves no longer curse. But it actually happens to us so very easily that we curse one another. A blessing is the way out of death into life, the way out of distress into peace, the way out of sorrow into joy, and the way out of darkness into light. Cursing means everything in the other direction. Whoever curses brings the others away from life into death, away from light into darkness, and away from community with someone into being isolated from someone.

Especially all parents must become conscious that they are blessed, and that they must also become a blessing for their children. When the parents love, when they live with one another in peace, when they reconcile, all this, one can say, is a fight for blessings and at the same time they will become a blessing for the children. How hard it is in families where no-one loves, where no-one has understanding for one another! One says that the curse is there and that they are cursed people who can no longer live in love, peace and trust with one another. Mary being with us, and all that she says and does, should really also become an example for us so that we may open ourselves to the blessing and that our acts may also become acts of blessing.

Peace is the very first fruit of Jesus’ blessing, because when he, through his Presence and through his miraculous power, speaks his blessing over us, all distress leaves us and peace comes to us. And because Jesus is so near to us throughout the Feast of Christmas, joy and love and the ability for us to forgive and to reconcile with one another is also near to us.

Why do we not have any peace? God did everything so that we may have peace, and Jesus came to us as peace and has blessed us with his Peace because he forgives us and he loves us. So we do not have this peace only because we do not open ourselves to it, and because we so easily seek peace on the wrong paths.

It can be said that because we want the simple peace, we listen to the wrong prophets. There is no such thing as a simple peace. Peace will only come when we really begin to engage ourselves to become good people and begin to fight against any pride, envy, and all dependencies. These are still the terrible fruits of the curse that is upon us, but the deep yearning for peace cannot be satisfied by any simple peace. That is why we can say, thank Heaven that the yearning for the true peace cannot be stilled and that we cannot, so to say, be tricked by any false peace simply because distress then still remains with us and, therefore, we eventually become consequential about it.

Someone who sinks into alcohol, into drugs, into an immoral way of life, into the lie, into the constant wish to gather more and more of the material world around himself will never find true peace, because our soul simply does not allow itself to be betrayed. That is why, in the deeper sense, man always remains one who yearns for true peace, and this goes for every human being and for all the world. From our own experience, we know of many people who have tried every imaginable way to acquire peace but who, at the end, have remained always discouraged and alone, and then finally they came around to opening themselves to true peace.

Here in Medjugorje, God, in this sense, really blessed because they have come and converted. The whole process of conversion begins at Confession when the Priest, in God's name, speaks the words of absolution and the person is freed from the curse of the sin, and the heart then opens itself to peace and joy.

Man will always yearn for true peace and will eventually also find God, and every time that we assist someone on his way to God, then we have become a blessing for him. At this time we have by now expressed so many good wishes and this is good, but to be able to bless and to become a blessing for others, words alone do not suffice. To be able to bless, one really needs all of the person – the word, the act, and all that we do. All our wishes can become truth only when we decide to accept and to open ourselves to this blessing and, in Mary's sense, to become a blessing for others.

Fr Slavko Barbaric OFM

Feast of the Holy Family

Dear children! I rejoice because of all of you who are on the way of holiness and I beseech you, by your own testimony help those who do not know how to live in holiness.

Therefore, dear children, let your family be a place where holiness is birthed.

Help everyone to live in holiness, but especially your own family.

Thank you for having responded to my call.

Medjugorje, July 21, 1986

Our Lady’s Christmas message to the world...

Our Lady’s Christmas message to Marija

Dear children! On this joyful day, I bring all of you before my Son, the King of Peace, that he may give you his peace and blessing. Little children, in love share that peace and blessing with others. Thank you for having responded to my call.
Medjugorje message, December 25, 2009

• The first pilgrims to be brought before the Lord at Christmas were the shepherds, and then the three men who traveled from the East. Rich or poor, all received the peace and blessing of Christ.

But Christmas, this occasion of Jesus coming into the world and our hearts, is not just one day in the year. It is perpetual.

For the millions of pilgrims who have made the journey to Medjugorje from the east or the west, from the north or the south, whatever place they are called from, they discover Christmas in Medjugorje. They discover the Mother of God, the Queen of Peace, waiting in a special way to bring before her Son all who seek the King of Peace, so as to receive his peace and blessing.

The peace and the blessings are tangible, actually experienced. Our Lady’s words are not empty promises. Pilgrims return home, just as the shepherds and the wise men did, praising and glorifying God for all that they have seen and heard and for the peace and blessings received.

Hail, holy Queen...
show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Our Lady’s annual message to Jakov

Dear children! All of this time in which God in a special way permits me to be with you, I desire to lead you on the way that leads to Jesus and to your salvation. My little children, you can find salvation only in God and therefore, especially on this day of grace with little Jesus in my arms, I call you to permit Jesus to be born in your hearts. Only with Jesus in your heart can you set out on the way of salvation and eternal life. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje, December 25, 2009

VISUAL PRESENTATION: Our Lady’s Christmas message to the world through Marija, December 25, 2009.

Immanuel... Our God is with us!

“The Lord is here. From this moment, God is truly God with us. No longer is he the distant God who can in some way be perceived from afar, in creation and in our own consciousness. He has entered the world. He is close to us.” Pope Benedict XVI.

A place for Jesus to dwell

Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
Samuel 2, 7 : 5

Pray, pray, pray for the conversion of your heart, so that Jesus may be born in you all and may dwell in you and come to reign over your entire being. part message to Jakov, December 25, 2001

The Visitation and The Magnificat

• images from Medjugorje. See Gospa2000 channel on YouTube.

New Medjugorje Website

The Information Centre, “Mir Medjugorje” has launched a new website which contains all of the relevant information appertaining to the “Medjugorje Phenomenon”. Although still in development, it is beautifully presented in English, German, French, Italian, Polish, Spanish and Croatian.

The old website is still up and running. Whether this will continue in its present format, I don’t know. Perhaps this move to a new site reflects the Mostar bishop’s recent attempts to separate the official side of the parish from that of Our Lady’s apparitions.

Absent from the new site are the commentaries on previous messages by Priests of the Medjugorje parish.

There is no reference to “shrine” or “Our Lady, Queen of Peace” in the masthead. Instead the phrases “Place of Prayer and Reconciliation” and “Medjugorje Phenomenon” are used.

I would say that this is the best and most comprehensive website on Medjugorje.

The LINK is http://medjugorje.s3.novenaweb.info/en/

Peace and Blessings...

Next post will be on Christmas Day when I intend to post a video clip version of Our Lady’s message given to the visionary Marija. December 25 is also the day when the Jakov receives his annual visitation from Our Lady.

I wish all visitors every peace and blessing that comes with the birth of Christ.

He will prepare the way before you...

• Third week of Advent, Thursday

Jesus said to the people: “I tell you, of all the children born of women, there is no greater than John: yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is. All the people who heard him, and the tax collectors too, acknowledged God’s plan by accepting baptism from John; but by refusing baptism from him the Pharisees and the lawyers had thwarted what God had in mind for them.” Luke 7 : 28-30

Dear children; I am coming, with my motherly love, to point out the way by which you are to set out, in order that you may be all the more like my Son; and by that, closer to and more pleasing to God. Do not refuse my love. Do not renounce salvation and eternal life for the sake of transience and frivolity of this life. I am among you to lead you and, as a mother, to caution you. Come with me. Medjugorje message, August 2, 2009

Thank you for responding to my call...

• Third week of Advent, Tuesday

A man had two sons. He went and said to the first, “My boy, you go and work in the vineyard today.” He answered, “I will not go,” but afterwards though better of it and went. The man then went and said the same thing to the second who answered, “Certainly, sir,” but did not go. Which of the two did the father’s will?
Matthew 21 : 28-31

Dear children! Today, I call you to become my witnesses by living the faith of your fathers. Little children, you seek signs and messages and do not see that, with every morning sunrise, God calls you to convert and to return to the way of truth and salvation. You speak much, little children, but you work little on your conversion. That is why, convert and start to live my messages, not with your words but with your life. In this way, little children, you will have the strength to decide for the true conversion of the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call. Medjugorje message, September 25, 1998

Lord, make me know your ways...

• Third week of Advent, Monday

The Lord is good and upright.
He shows the path to those who stray,
he guides the humble in the right path;
he teaches his way to the poor.

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

• The question put by Jesus to the chief priests and the elders – “John’s baptism: where did it come from, heaven or man?” – is also applicable in the present time.

Our Lady is appearing in Medjugorje, teaching and baptising with the Word of God. Her words and messages: are they from heaven or man?

We can respond as the scribes did and argue it out this way. If we say from heaven, then why do we refuse to believe? And if we say from man, we have the people and the fruits to contend with.

The chief priests and the scribes declined to give an answer to the question Jesus asked of them. They said: “We do not know.”

In 1991, the Church authorities responded with the same answer to the Medjugorje question. It declared: “We do not know.” (Zadar declaration 1991) – but not of course for the same reasons as the Jewish leaders.

In the meantime the Queen of Peace, Mother of the Church, continues to guide and teach her children through the Word of God.

In his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI gave this teaching about Mary and the Word of God

The Magnificat—a portrait, so to speak, of her soul—is entirely woven from threads of Holy Scripture, threads drawn from the Word of God. Here we see how completely at home Mary is with the Word of God, with ease she moves in and out of it. She speaks and thinks with the Word of God; the Word of God becomes her word, and her word issues from the Word of God. Here we see how her thoughts are attuned to the thoughts of God, how her will is one with the will of God. Since Mary is completely imbued with the Word of God, she is able to become the Mother of the Word Incarnate. (41)

Sing and shout for joy...

• Third Sunday of Advent

Sing and shout for joy, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord; I repeat, what I want is your happiness. Let your tolerance be evident to everyone: The Lord is very near. There is no need to worry; but if there is anything your need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and thoughts, in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 4-7

Dear children! Today I want to wrap you all in my mantle and lead you all along the way of conversion. Dear children, I beseech you, surrender to the Lord your entire past, all the evil that has accumulated in your hearts. I want each one of you to be happy, but in sin nobody can be happy. Therefore, dear children, pray, and in prayer you shall realise a new way of joy. Joy will manifest in your hearts and thus you shall be joyful witnesses of that which I and My Son want from each one of you. I am blessing you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
Medjugorje message, February 25, 1987

Recognising prophets...

As they came down from the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first? “True,” he replied; “Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him, but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.” The disciples understood that he had been speaking about John the Baptist. Matthew 17 : 10-13

• Our Lady, Queen of Prophets, has also come among us to see “that everything is once more as it should be.” Her message from Medjugorje is the Baptist’s message, the message of the prophet Isaiah, the message of all true servants of God: “Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”

In this time of joyful expectation we are called to prepare our hearts for the coming of the Lord, to repent of our sins, to reconcile with God and each other. Our Lady says:

… prepare yourselves for Christmas… prepare your hearts for these days when the Lord particularly desires to purify you from all the sins of your past… prepare for the coming of Jesus… prepare your hearts in a special way… through Holy Confession prepare your soul so that little Jesus can be born anew in your heart… prepare yourselves with joy…

For some, there is no pleasing...

Jesus spoke to the crowds: “What description can I find for this generation? It is like children shouting to each other as they sit in the market place: ‘We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance; we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t be mourners.’ For John came, neither eating or drinking and they say, ‘He is possessed.’ The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions.” Matthew 11 : 16-19

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. part message, November 25, 2009

Bless and seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to lead you at this time so that you may comprehend and live in the grace of this time. part message, May 25, 2001

I will help you...

I, the Lord, your God,
I am holding you by the right hand;
I tell you, “Do not be afraid,
I will help you.”
Isaiah 41 : 13

Dear children! Today I call you to prepare your hearts for these days when the Lord particularly desires to purify you from all the sins of your past. You, dear children, are not able by yourselves, therefore I am here to help you.
part message, December 4, 1986

Give your hand to me, your mother, and permit me to lead you.
part message, August 2, 2006

Come to me...

Young men may grow tired and weary, youths may stumble, but those who hope in the Lord renew their strength, they put out wings like eagles. Isaiah 40

Jesus exclaimed, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.”
Matthew 11 : 28-30

Dear children, I know that your are all tired, but you don't know how to surrender yourselves to me. During these days surrender yourselves completely to me! Thank your for having responded to my call.
part message, June 13, 1985

Dear Children! Today I invite you to fall in love with the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Adore Him, little children, in your Parishes and in this way you will be united with the entire world. Jesus will become your friend and you will not talk of Him like someone whom you barely know. Unity with Him will be a joy for you and you will become witnesses to the love of Jesus that He has for every creature. Little children, when you adore Jesus you are also close to me. Thank you for having responded to my call.
Medjugorje message, September 25, 1995

Apparition to Mirjana, December 2

Listening to Mary’s voice...

Dear Roman friends, and all of you who live in this city! While we are busy in daily activities, let us listen to Mary's voice. Let us hear her silent but pressing appeal. She says to each one of us: Where sin increased, grace can overflow, beginning precisely from your heart and your life! And the city will be more beautiful, more Christian, more human. Thank you, Holy Mother, for this your message of hope. Thank you for your silent but eloquent presence in the heart of our city. Immaculate Virgin, “Salus Populi Romani,” pray for us!
• from Benedict XVI’s address to the people of Rome when he visited the statue of the Immaculate Conception at the Spanish Steps yesterday, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Dear children! Today I invite you to comprehend your Christian vocation. Little children, I led and am leading you through this time of grace, that you may become conscious of your Christian vocation. Holy martyrs died witnessing: “I am a Christian and love God over everything.” Little children, today also I invite you to rejoice and be joyful Christians, responsible and conscious that God called you in a special way to be joyfully extended hands toward those who do not believe, and that through the example of your life, they may receive faith and love for God. Therefore, pray, pray, pray that your heart may open and be sensitive for the Word of God. Thank you for having responded to my call.
• Message of Our Lady of Medjugorje, November 25, 1997

Follow the Star...

• From Bendict XVI’s Angelus address today...
• Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Dear friends, what immense joy to have Mary Immaculate as Mother! Every time we experience our frailty and the suggestion of evil, we can turn to her, and our heart receives light and comfort.

Also in life's trials, in the storms that make faith and hope vacillate, we think that we are her children and that the roots of our existence sink in the infinite grace of God. The Church herself, even if exposed to the negative influences of the world, always finds in her the star to direct and follow the route indicated by Christ.

• full address: zenit.org

Hail Mary.... full of grace...

O Mary, Immaculate Virgin, we greet you and call upon you with the Angel’s words: “full of grace”, the most beautiful name that God himself has called you from eternity.

• From the prayer of Benedict XVI offered at the statue of the Immaculate Conception at the Spanish Steps in Rome, December 8, 2006.

Beautiful flowers...

Dear friends, the most beautiful flower that has sprung up from the word of God is the Virgin Mary. She is the first fruits of the Church, garden of God on earth. But, while Mary is the Immaculate One the Church has constant need of purifying herself, because sin infects all her members. In the Church there is always a struggle taking place between the desert and the garden, between the sin that parches the earth and the grace that waters it so that it produces abundant fruits of holiness. Let us therefore pray to the Mother of the Lord that she will help us, in this Advent season, to “straighten” our ways, letting ourselves be guided by the word of God.
Benedict XVI, speaking during his Angelus address yesterday.

Dear children! I invite you to open the door of your heart to Jesus as the flower opens itself to the sun. Jesus desires to fill your hearts with peace and joy. You cannot, little children, realise peace if your are not at peace with Jesus. Therefore, I invite you to confession so Jesus may be your truth and peace. So, little children, pray to have the strength to realise what I am telling you. I am with you and I love you. Thank you for having responded to my call.
Medjugorje message, January 25, 1995

• First reading of today’s Mass, Second week of Advent, Monday

Let the wilderness and the dry lands exult,
let the wasteland rejoice and bloom
let it bring forth flowers like the jonquil,
let it rejoice and sing for joy.
Isaiah 35 : 1

Preparing for the Day of Christ...

• From today’s Second Reading, Second Sunday of Advent...
My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always recognise what is best. This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ... Philippians 1 : 9-10

• From Our Lady’s message given to the seer Marija 11 days ago...
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. part message, November 25, 2009.

The signs remain at Medjugorje...

A voice cries in the wilderness;
prepare a way for the Lord,
make his paths straight.

Every time I pray for you all, I pray with joy, remembering how you helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present. I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes. God knows how much I miss you all, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you. My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always recognise what is best. This will help you become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1 : 3-6, 8-11

December Medjugorje message to Mirjana

At this time of preparation and joyful expectation I, as a mother, desire to point you to what is the most important, to your soul. Can my Son be born in it? Is it cleansed by love from lies, arrogance, hatred and malice? Above all else does your soul love God as your Father and does it love your fellow brother in Christ? I am pointing you to the way which will raise your soul to a complete union with my Son. I desire for my Son to be born in you. What a joy that would be for me as mother. Thank you. December 2, 2009

• So, within a week Our Lady has spoken twice, through different seers, about the necessity of repenting of our sins. She didn’t exactly use those words, but to Marija she emphasised: “May you hearts be pure and pleasing…” While this morning, to Mirjana, she asked if our soul is cleansed from lies, arrogance, hatred and malice.

She wasn’t asking us to point the finger at others. Neither was she referring to the state of the world. She was speaking to us as individuals. It was back to basics; back to her very first message of June 1981 when she echoed the message of the Baptist with her call to reconcile with God and each other.

The call will be repeated again this Sunday in the Gospel reading: We will hear once more the voice that cries in the wilderness: “Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.”

The opening prayer for the Second Sunday of Advent also serves as a reminder for us to purify and cleanse our souls: “God of power and mercy, open our hearts in welcome. Remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy, so that we may share his wisdom.”

• And on the same day that Our Lady asks if our soul is cleansed, Benedict XVI invites faithful to confession...

Vatican City, December 2, 2009 Zenit.org

Benedict XVI today encouraged the faithful -- and particularly priests – to trust in God’s goodness and approach the sacrament of confession.

The Pope spoke of this sacrament today as he concluded the general audience in St Peter’s Square. In his customary greeting to youth, the sick and newlyweds, he observed that today marks the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortation, Reconciliatio et paenitentia.

The document “called attention to the importance of the sacrament of penance in the life of the Church,” the Holy Father said. And he pointed to some “extraordinary apostles of the confessional, tireless dispensers of divine mercy: Sts. John Mary Vianney, Joseph Cafasso, Leopold Mandic, Pio of Pietrelcina."

Turning to youth, he expressed his hope that the witness of these saints would be an encouragement “to flee from sin and to plan your future as a generous service to God and neighbor.”

The Holy Father continued: “May it help you, dear sick people, to experience in suffering the mercy of Christ crucified. And may it solicit you, dear newlyweds, to create in the family a climate of faith and of mutual understanding.”

Finally, the Pontiff expressed his wish that these saints  – “assiduous and faithful ministers of divine forgiveness” – would be for priests especially and for all Christians “an invitation to always have confidence in God's goodness, approaching and celebrating with trust the sacrament of reconciliation.”