News and Stories from Sister Emmanuel: December Report 2017

Medjugorje, December 12, 2017 Our Lady of Guadalupe! Dear Children of Medjugorje, praise be to Jesus and Mary! 1. On December 2, 2017, Mirjana received her monthly apparition in the dining room of her guest house, in the presence of a small number of people. After the apparition, she conveyed the message Our Lady gave us: "Dear children, I turn to you as your mother, the mother of the just, the mother of those who love and suffer, the mother of those who are holy. My children, you too can be holy - this depends on you. Those who are holy are those who immeasurably love the Heavenly Father, those who love Him above all. Therefore, my children, always strive to be better. If you strive to be good you can be holy even though you may not think so of yourselves. If you think that you are good, you are not humble, and arrogance distances you from holiness. In this peaceless world full of threats, your hands, apostles of my love, should be extended in prayer and mercy. "And to me, my children, give the gift of the rosary, the roses which I love so much. My roses are your prayers pronounced with the heart and not only recited with the lips. My roses are your acts of prayer, faith and love. When my Son was little, he said to me that my children would be numerous and that they would bring me many roses. I did not comprehend Him. Now I know that you are those children who are bringing me roses when, above all, you love my Son, when you pray with the heart, when you help the poorest. Those are my roses. That is the faith which makes everything in life be done through love, not knowing arrogance, and always ready to forgive; never judging, always striving to understand one's brother. "Therefore, apostles of my love, pray for those who do not know how to love, for those who do not love you, for those who have done evil to you, for those who have not come to know the love of my Son. My children, I ask this of you because, remember, to pray means to love and to forgive. Thank you." Apparition December 2nd, 2017 2. Odette Caught In the Ice on Podbrdo A few days ago, the parish of Medjugorje was shaken by a terrible event:  a French pilgrim was reported missing. Odette, an 84 year-old single woman, had come with a group from Nice to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Odette was working as a nanny for a large family whose mother had died. She is a simple person, full of common sense who has a deep faith in God's love. That Tuesday morning, on December 5th, the cold with its freezing temperatures fell upon the village. Odette climbed up the hill of Podbrdo and walked away from the normal path in order to explore the blessed place a little more. However, because of her poor eye sight she got lost. Instead of panicking she prudently decided to stay where she was in order to avoid anything worse happening. She thought that, on one side there was a pit, and on the other very high rocks.  But the day went by and no one came to her rescue. The cold became more bitter. To prevent herself from freezing, she moved around on the spot, constantly praying, and did not get discouraged. She was convinced that the Blessed Mother would send someone who would eventually find her. She told herself, 'Jesus was found in the Temple!' When the dark of the night finally fell on the hill, the temperature dropped to 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Odette did not want to lie down. She fought her tiredness and cold with all the little strength she had. She prayed and sang and thought of Jesus in His Passion. 'He too was thirsty on the cross, I can bear that too!' She thought. Then she lost her balance and fell on a stone.  She was hurt and thought, 'Jesus was flogged, I can endure that too!' She could no longer move her legs, yet her confidence was still not shaken! To make a long story short, it wasn't until the following evening that Odette was found again. She was immediately taken to the hospital in Citluk, where she was warmed up gradually and fully checked out. There was nothing wrong with her, not even a cold!! She was able to come back to Medjugorje where she resumed her pilgrimage with her group from Nice on her own two feet!  On Tuesday, we were told about her disappearance and everyone started praying. When the village heard the news, a wonderful chain of support and supplication was formed. I think that our guardian angels had never been solicited as much as they were during those hours of suspense!  We were asking them to warm her up, to give her drink and food in their own ways and keep her in good spirits. Because of the continuing sub-zero temperatures, some people thought she had already died from the cold and were asking the Lord to take her soul into Heaven. The angels heard our prayers! By nature she should have felt the cold more than others since she was not dressed for such an ordeal, yet she told us that she did not suffer from the cold!  After 36 hours, it was one of the 50 first-aid volunteers in Medjugorje, Joseph, a waiter at Viktor restaurant, who found her on Wednesday night at around 11pm. Odette cannot stop thanking him and all those who ardently prayed for her!   As for me, listening to Odette, I saw an extraordinary witness to the power of faith. She had a childlike faith that allowed her to hold fast without even being afraid!  "One must be confident," she said to me with disarming simplicity! "Our Lady would not abandon me!"  Praise God, France still has true believers! The extraordinary physical and moral protection Odette enjoyed reminds me of the experience of the great Russian writer, Alexander Ogorodnikov. He too, had to live through the "ordeal of freezing". How could he survive his imprisonment in Moscow when in 1986 he was thrown naked into a cell where the walls were covered with ice? The answer is simple and he himself gave witness to it: thousands of people were praying for him, and many had sent him their guardian angels. His torturers wanted him to freeze right there and thus rid the country of this embarrassing Christian. But God had another plan for Alexander: while trapped in the walls of ice, he could feel a mysterious heat and he knew that it came from the prayer of his supporters. He was finally freed and returned to his activities as a witness of Christ, (See PS 1). I could not say how many angels were sent to Odette. God only knows, but we saw their efficiency firsthand! Who among us does not have some people dear to us who are in great physical or moral difficulty? Send them your guardian angel! That angel will be an excellent missionary if you talk to him with faith and affection. Why not do the good that is in our power to do? Why live below our spiritual means and not use these very powerful friends? 3. A Virgin with Child  The Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico, and we call her Our Lady of Guadalupe. She is one of the few representations of Mary as pregnant. The black maternity belt around Mary's waist, and the jasmine flower over her womb were signs of motherhood to the Aztecs at the time. In addition, the nine golden flowers on her tunic symbolize life and truth. When viewed upside down, the flowers take the shape of hearts with arteries coming out, representing life that originates from God, clearly identifying for the Aztecs, this child to be born as the center of the universe. When she appeared, Our Lady wished that she be acknowledged as the "Mother of the True God". The fabric that bears the image, the Tilma, stays at a constant temperature which is that of a woman ready to give birth. This image is not imprinted on the fabric, rather it floats mysteriously above the fabric, as does the Shroud of Turin. Seeing this woman, who until then was completely unknown by the locals, displaying signs that belonged to their people, thousands of Aztecs asked to be baptized. 'She's one of us,' they thought.   For us too, she is one of us! So, why not offer her a nice gesture of affection and gratitude in these special days of Advent? Let's join her in the divine dialogue she already had with her Child who was yet invisible but fully present within her. In these days when we are awaiting the birth of the Son of God together with Mary and Joseph, I suggest that we all pray from the bottom of our heart this simple prayer until the Day of Joy, the celebration of Christmas: "O Dear Baby Jesus, nestled in the womb of your Immaculate Mother, I have come to see you. I need to talk to you. To tell you first of all how much I marvel at the fact that God himself took our flesh, which is so fragile and vulnerable. You made a mystifying leap from the splendor of Heaven where you lived with the Father in order to unite with our wretched race and take all kinds of risks with us... this thought makes me fling myself into adoration! How could I not love you? How could we not cherish you infinitely in this stage where you are a zygote, an embryo, an unborn child, before even showing your face in that miserable stable of Bethlehem! Yes, I love you because you did so out of pure love for me, for my family, for all humanity. You came into our muck and sludge to save us, to lift us up and enable us to share with you the delights of an eternal life in your presence. Only you Jesus could have imagined something so crazy! But you're not finished surprising us, I'm beginning to know you! Jesus, you know that I am coming to you with an agenda... I have a request, please don't be surprised! At the present time, many millions of tiny beings like you are hidden in their mother's womb. They are your treasures, Jesus! Their angels in heaven ceaselessly behold the face of your Father who is in heaven. There is nothing more innocent than these unborn babies on this Earth. Let me tell you about them. They have all received the gift of life, but have not all received the gift of love. Some float joyfully as they feel the love of their mother, but others wonder what on earth they are doing there, because they feel rejected. Jesus, you are both Life and Love! Please visit every one of these little ones, those who rejoice to know that they are loved, and also those who are suffering from rejection. You're so tiny that your approach will not frighten them, on the contrary! Come see them wherever they are, in these fragile tabernacles of human life where they slowly grow. You are the same size as they are, be their divine twin! Thanks to the extremely sensitive antennae that their innocence gives them, they all listen to the soul of their mother, and also to their Creator. This is the moment, Jesus! Tell them how infinitely precious they are to you! Don't you recognize your own image in them? Tell them that you can't wait to see them grow up and reach in its fullness what they ought to be in your loving plan for them! And if, unfortunately, they are ripped out from their humble hiding place, whether naturally or with violence, O tender Jesus, listen to their cry of anguish and spread your immense love in them! Heal their wounds! Please, be it done unto them according to your Word, Jesus, "Father, where I am, may they also be with me!" May the flow of your divine love also flood the heart of those who have chosen to lose them! Please, enable them to throw themselves into your merciful arms! O my little Jesus hidden in Mary, how can I thank you enough for having visited me from the moment I was conceived in my mother's womb, when she and dad consecrated me to your Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary! Please let all parents take to heart to do the same and keep away from them the wolves who want to steal and devour the children of men! O tiny Jesus hidden in Mary, listen to my poor prayer for your own kind! And on Christmas night, please be born in my heart! It is yearning for your coming and longing to see your face! My heart awaits to hear your voice in the night, like a watchman waiting for the dawn! Maranatha!" 4. Don't forget to pick up a saint as your pal for 2018, available December 15th. See PS 2 for more information.   Dearest Gospa, during the war you told us, "Dear Children, in this Christmas, may your families be joyful as we were joyful, in the stable, when my Son was born," (Dec. 1992). O Mother, we beg you, chase away from our families all that prevents us from enjoying union of hearts and Peace! Sister Emmanuel + (Translated from French) Attention Please! To sign up for sister's newsletter in the Chinese, Italian and Spanish languages, the corresponding email address has changed. See the bottom of the newsletter for more information. PS.11 PS 1. Read the history of Alexander Ogorodnikov in Peace Will Have the Last Word by Sr. Emmanuel. Each day, fervent prayers were carried by Angels who visited Alexander in his dreadful cell. They would give him consolation and help him survive the ordeal. After he was liberated in 1986, he went to Lisieux (France) in a pilgrimage that was led by the Beatitudes Cty. There, he shared with us that in the freezing and narrow cell where he had been thrown, he felt the presence of angels surrounding him and wrapping him like a warm mantle, and he knew they were sent to him by his Christian brothers.  PS 2. As in the tradition and spirit of the Beatitudes Community, every year we offer a list of saints from which you can discover the saint who has chosen to guide and protect you for the coming year 2018. St. Faustina also pulled saints in her community! (See The Diary of St. Faustina (§ 359). You can access the list on our website beginning December 15, 2017. On that day we will also send the list of saints to those who have signed up to receive the newsletter. PS 3. Sister Emmanuel's new book Scandalous Mercy: When God Reaches Beyond the Boundaries will be available December 20th. Shipping begins December 26th. To preorder write to: commentscom@gmail.com.   Please include the following information: 1.) In the subject line please write "Scandalous Mercy" 2.) Your shipping address; 3.) How many books you would like to receive;  When the books are ready to ship we will send an invoice to your email address through Square. You may pay by credit card or PayPal. PS 4. Prayer to Baby Jesus in the manger.  "O Child Jesus, how I love you! As I look at you, I see you so small, so innocent, so vulnerable... Yet you are my Lord and my God! With Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds of Bethlehem, I also come to adore you. Make of my heart your little manger, come live in me! Little Jesus, Herod wanted to kill you while you were coming to save us.  Keep me from every sin and everything that may sadden you in my life. Fill my soul with love and the divine peace I am so longing for. Oh, how I wish to take you in my arms and cover you with tender kisses!  You were feeling so cold in Bethlehem at winter, I want to warm you with the songs of my soul. May each one of my secret acts of love be to you like a wisp of straw and warmth! Save us from Satan, do not let him sow hatred and division in our families. Please, recreate love among us. May evil crush against your innocence! I beg you, Baby Jesus, bind the wounds of my heart, and heal my illnesses. Divine little Shepherd, may your blessing always be upon us! Lead us all on the way to salvation! " PS 5. Write a letter to Baby Jesus for His birthday. Send it to "Queen of Peace", BP 2157, F- 06103 Nice cedex, France. We will give it to a visionary and Jesus will answer you in prayer. PS 6. The next Live Broadcast will take place on January 3rd at 9pm.  Sister will speak in French about the message of the 2nd and the New Year.  The re- transmission of Dec. 3 live can be found at http://www.enfantsdemedjugorje.fr/direct-du-3-dimanche-3-decembre-2017/ PS 7. Follow the evening program of the parish of Medjugorje, translated into all languages. See the parish site at: http://www.centremedjugorje.org/    PS 8. How can you help? We are looking for a professional translator from English to Malayalam and Hebrew. If you can help, please write to: gospa.fr@gmail.com PS 9. The gravity of Christmas! Did you know that more suicide attempts happen on Christmas Night than any other night of the year, but also more souls are released from Purgatory into Heaven? That's something to think about! Let us keep these souls close to our hearts this Christmas! PS 10. Our next missions include Lithuania in March, France in June, China and Indonesia, God willing, in the fall, and Spain in September. Please continue to pray very much for these missions, and those in these countries who are thirsty for Our Lady's guidance to her Son. PS 11. Sign up to receive the 'Monthly reports from Medjugorje' by Sr. Emmanuel   French: gospa.fr@gmail.com English: commentscom@gmail.com  German: wolfgang@trautmann.ca   Italian: gospa.italia@gmail.com Spanish: gospa.espanol@gmail.com Flemish: gclaes@scarlet.be Croatian:  djeca.medjugorja@gmail.com  Portuguese: medjugorje.portugal@gmail.com Chinese:  ch.gospa@gmail.com Arabic: friendsofmary@live.com   Children of Medjugorje, INC, PO Box 18430, Denver, CO 80218