MARY, OUR MOTHER

   

January 19, 2011

 
Dear children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary! 

1 – On January 2, 2011, Mirjana received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross, surrounded by many pilgrims. After the apparition she shared with us the following message:

“Dear children! Today I call you to unity in Jesus, my Son. My Motherly Heart prays that you may comprehend that you are God’s family. Through the spiritual freedom of will, which the Heavenly Father has given you, you are called to become cognizant of the truth, the good or the evil. May prayer and fasting open your hearts and help you to discover the Heavenly Father through my Son. In discovering the Father, your life will be directed to carrying out of God’s will and the realization of God’s family, in the way that my Son desires. I will not leave you alone on this path. Thank you.”  

Mirjana said to Our Lady: “We have all come to you with our sufferings and crosses. Help us, we implore you!”  Then Our Lady extended Her hands towards us and said, “Open your hearts to me. Give your sufferings to me. The Mother will help.”  (Often, during her apparitions to the prayer group, Our Lady calls herself, "The Mother" instead of "Your Mother".  We can meditate a lot on these words!)




 2 – 50 reasons to be thankful.  At the end of the year, at our house, we have the tradition of writing a letter of thanksgiving to the Lord. The rule is to specify 50 precise events, 50 occasions when we pinpointed the love of the Lord, His favors and His help throughout the year. 
 Hearing about this tradition, some newcomers sometimes exclaim, “50 points!  I could never find so many!” The sad truth is that we are not used to thanking God, we are more eager to appeal to Him in our needs; sometimes we even take His gifts for granted. The Gospa reminds us of the importance of thanking the Father for the smallest and the biggest gifts He gives us.
Stop for a while! Sit at church or in your prayer nook at home and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, go over the year 2010.  You will find enough to fill up several pages! The fruit of thanksgiving is joy, as well as healing from bitterness! Those who want to send their letter to Medjugorje to be presented to the Blessed Mother may do so, (see PS1).  It is a wonderful present for her!


3 – At least 3 times 30 years! Chronologically, here are 3 major events to celebrate this year: 

-       30 years since Marthe Robin was born in Heaven (Feb. 6, 1981). She is a great French mystic whose cause for beatification is currently open. 

-       30 years since the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II at Saint Peter Square (May 13, 1981). And he will be beatified on May 1^st.

-       30 years of daily apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje (June 24, 1981).

In the First Covenant, we see that God gives much importance to anniversaries. The Jews are the people of memory, and God entrusted them with the mission to fervently commemorate the main events of salvation history. The great majority of Jewish and Christian holidays are anniversaries. On these occasions, God grants special graces, actually the same graces that He gave when the event took place! 

 

Even during her lifetime, Marthe Robin, would “travel” spiritually to those in despair and considering suicide. She would put them back on their feet. May her ardent prayer continue her work of compassion, in our time when too many young people choose death rather than life.

During his lifetime, John Paul II filled the world with the Light of Christ. Let us call for his fervent prayer! May he, more than ever, continue to attract men to the Living God and stop them from falling into the hands of the enemy! May he help us build a civilization of love and conquer the culture of death that is spreading so dangerously!

How about Medjugore?! What is the Blessed Mother preparing for her 30th Anniversary? She keeps it a surprise for us… For those who are still hesitating to come and see, this is the right time to make the move! Who knows if the daily apparitions are going to last beyond these 30 years!?


4 – Nado Cilic went back to the Father. This very dear friend left us suddenly a few days ago. Nado was quite a character in the village! His faith seemed to be built on rock. Born in one of the hamlets around Krizevac, he was brought up the hard way: as a child he walked several miles a day to go to school, in snow or in 100°F, without shoes, without even dreaming of one day owning a pair! God was the only true friend for these families, pressured by poverty and communism. Praying was as natural as breathing. It was these people who attracted the Blessed Mother’s comings, as she told the visionaries, “I chose this village because here I found true believers.” Within the core of his being, Nado knew God; he amazed everybody; his joy was never spoiled even though his small farm and work in the fields imposed hard labor on him. He never left the simplicity of his life when many others started building hotels and shops.


He kept his Christian traditions intact, never started his meals without praying and thanking God. Each Saturday, his wife sprinkled holy water and blessed salt around the house, because, in Medjugorje, the use of sacramentals offered by the Church has not been lost as it has in many of our countries!  Whenever someone blasphemed or cursed the name of God, or the Blessed Mother, it brought him so much suffering that he felt as if the insult was directed at him, and it brought him to tears.  He loved God with all his heart and he would use any free moment to read the Bible. He said, “I am going to read my book”.  He devoured it and memorized whole passages, from which he could draw great wisdom and also great charity. One day he realized that a big injustice was done to him and his wife. He could have acted against the people concerned and win the case. But he said, “Leave it this way! God sees! He will not let us starve”. Precious!

I am giving his testimony before the 30th anniversary, because we need to pray for the new generation of Medjugorje, the people born in convenience and material wealth and those who are facing great temptations. May the Lord protect them from evil and the viruses of modernism.  John Paul II has asked several people to “Protect Medjugorje!” with prayer.

Dearest Gospa, our beloved Queen, we unite our hearts and our voices to implore you: May your heavenly plan for Medjugorje be realized in its fullness! Take us as your special instruments!

                                                                                                                    Sister Emmanuel + 

(Translated from French)

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Nota Bene: Have you picked up your companion Saint for 2011?  The Saint who chose the “Children of Medjugorje” this year is Saint Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin.  May the Holy Spirit inspire in our hearts, as it did in Elizabeth’s womb, a joyful welcoming for the Hidden Child, Baby Jesus!  Click HERE to download your 2011 LIST OF COMPANION SAINTS if you haven’t done so already!

PS 1 – Please mail your letter at: "Reine de la Paix", BP 2157, F- 06103 Nice cedex, France.

PS 2 - Children of Medjugorje needs your support in order to continue our mission! Please consider supporting our ministry in prayer and, if possible, through financial contributions so that we may be able to continue spreading the messages of Our Lady to the English-speaking world.  If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to help support and sustain our work, please donate through this link on our secure online store or send an email to pray@childrenofmedjugorje.com. Your generosity is deeply appreciated!  THANK YOU!

PS 3 - Sister Emmanuel’s latest teachings –the Educational Series from St Malo- are AVAILABLE on both CD and DVD format!  Choose a single title or purchase all six:

            Take the Hand of Your Heavenly Mother
            Make Your Peace With God (about Confession)
            Embrace Suffering As Your Way to Joy
            Pray With Your Family: A Remedy for our World Today
            Responding to Our Lady's Call to Holiness
            Prayer Groups: Our Lady's School for Holiness

*Buy the DVD set and go on a virtual retreat with Sister Emmanuel, as experienced last fall at the Children of Medjugorje Summit Retreat in St Malo, Colorado!  As our New Year’s gift to you, order the complete set and take $20.11 off your order!  Just enter “2011” for the coupon code until the end of January!

PS 4- Good News for the English speaking! Since Nov. 27, 2010, one can follow the translation of the Evening program in English through Internet and live streaming video at: www.medjugorje.ie

PS 5- Take Medjugorje home! View the evening celebration live at: http://www.medjugorje.hr/fr/multimedia/tv-web/

PS 6 - Information to pass on: The parish of Medjugorje now requires to see the 'celebret' of the visiting priests, and to keep a copy. If they don’t have it, they won't be able to celebrate Mass nor hear Confessions. 

© 2011 Children of Medjugorje, Inc.
www.childrenofmedjugorje.com
PO Box 18430, Denver CO 80218, USA

© Children of Medjugorje 2011

Permission is given to spread the text of these reports under two conditions:

1) no words are changed, 2) “Children of Medjugorje” is cited along with our website:

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