The Child Who Makes Miracles!

 

 A beautiful Christmas story . . .

The Child Who Makes Miracles! Medjugorje, December 17, 2021 Dear friends, I want to invite you to give a beautiful birthday gift to the baby Jesus, but before I do, I would like to share with you this testimony. 1. Salzburg, December 18, 1983, shortly before Christmas…  Since 1651, many pilgrims have visited the Convent of Saint Mary of Loreto in Salzburg (Austria). There is an Infant Jesus there, who has been the talk of the town! Indeed, He often intervenes in response to the most wide-ranging prayers and petitions.  But I'll let Rose Unklinger tell us how her family turned to the Baby Jesus of Loreto. “During our childhood we had at home a great devotion to the Child Jesus of Loreto, because in 1942 he healed our 32-year-old mother. “Following surgery for breast cancer, she had to undergo radiotherapy in Salzburg. It was a difficult time: we were in the middle of a war, there were four small children at home and the treatment was causing her severe headaches. “One day, on the way back from the hospital, she complained, “I can't take this pain anymore! It seems to me that my head is bursting!” A neighbor brought in what is called a ‘Loreto swaddle’, a small piece of white cloth that had been placed on the Miraculous Child of Loreto.  He put this material on our mother's head, and within half an hour the pain was gone and never came back. The healing by the Baby Jesus was so complete that our mother remained healthy after that. She died shortly before turning 90. During our childhood, our grateful mother often took us to the Convent of Loreto. But as we grew up, we lost this devotion to the Child Jesus. “December 18, 1983… I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a Sunday and my husband, 43 years old, had gone fox hunting in the forest.  I was surprised to see him come home an hour later and complain, “I have a terrible headache. It really hurts”! I immediately called the doctor on duty, who merely prescribed some painkillers.  But my husband's condition worsened and after midnight he became unresponsive.  Distressed by this, I called the doctor again. “Then everything developed very quickly. In the morning Hans was taken to hospital in Traunstein, where a brain hemorrhage was diagnosed. He was then transferred to the neurological clinic in Salzburg. The surgeon immediately opened his skull and the prognosis did not look hopeful.  “The situation is serious”, she told me. “The internal bleeding has spread”. For 4 days, Hans was unconscious. I was told repeatedly, “Your husband's situation is serious.” Two days before Christmas, Professor Dime called, “Your husband's case is so desperate that it would be better for him to die. Many brain cells are already dead. Now you can only pray and hope for a miracle, because we don't know what to do!” “In despair, I telephoned my mother who decided to go immediately to the Child Jesus of Loreto with my brother, Franz. On December 22, for the first time in a long time, I too turned to the Child Jesus.  I accompanied our parish priest to the clinic and Hans received the anointing of the sick. In the evening, Professor Dimat announced this surprising news to me: ‘Finally there has been an improvement, which is totally unexpected! Now we can treat your husband, his blood pressure is stabilizing." “The pilgrimage to the Convent of Loreto and the Sacrament of the Sick came to mind. This unexpected improvement on the same day could not have been a coincidence! “On December 24, I was finally able to visit Hans in intensive care. “Today is Christmas Eve,” I told him - and of all the time spent in the hospital, that’s the only sentence Hans still remembers to this day, nothing before and nothing after.  The next day, Christmas Day, I felt the need to pay a visit to the Infant Jesus of Loreto. The portress promised to pray for my husband and gave him a blessing from a distance with the miraculous statue. From that day Hans started to get better, so on New Year's Day the operation was canceled. The doctors were surprised to find that there was nothing left to operate on. “After a four week stay in the hospital, Hans returned home, and at Easter he resumed work again. Since then, we have had a great devotion to the Child Jesus, and our faith life has changed a lot!”   2. The manger is empty! Here is the photo of the manger in our life-size crib in Medjugorje, so popular with pilgrims.  It is empty because we are waiting to lay the newborn Baby Jesus there on Christmas night.  But in the meanwhile, let’s make the place more comfortable for Him. Since it is very cold in Bethlehem in December, we can provide the Baby Jesus with warmth.  How can we do this? With a little bit of straw! For the King of the World who makes himself poor and vulnerable, nothing is too small with what we offer him with our hearts. I suggest that each day up until Christmas, you put a piece of straw in His manger, where you have prepared the crib.  Each piece of straw represents a sacrifice, big or small, that we want to give to Jesus as a birthday present. If we don't have any straw, we can take a tiny piece of cotton wool, or leave a small, neatly folded note on which we can write our secret sacrifice.  Children are always the most generous when it comes to warming Jesus, consoling Him and making Him happy! Invite them to partake in this! Let it be a gift from the heart, as we know that the one who gives is never disappointed with his reward...   Child Jesus, still hidden in the womb of Mary, your Mother, you are our joy! We want to welcome you with gifts on your birthday.  May these gifts be like tender kisses for you! We too want to make you happy on this Christmas night when you come to save us!   Sr Emmanuel + (Community of the Beatitudes) Translated from French) Novena to Baby Jesus hidden in Mary's Womb!

Children Of Medjugorje | Kacide 5, Medjugorje, 88266 Bosnia & Herzegovina