Brother Craig, the Founder of The Monks of Adoration, studied theology at the Angelicum in Rome. You may contact him a monkadorer@verzion.net

“If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”

                                                                                                                                                                     ~St. Augustine

The Feast of the Assumption of Mary

   This feast is a celebration of Christian hope and of our participation in the Resurrection of Christ. Like Mary, we are called to eternal life in the glory of God. We know that in our body – which is the temple of the Holy Spirit – we carry the seed of eternity. August 15^th, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, brought thousands of people to Medjugorje. The MIR-Peace group joined pilgrims from many nations in song of one voice and prayer of one language – the language of peace.

   We witnessed a river of local pilgrims pouring into the village on foot. Many had been walking barefoot throughout the night and did not rest until they reached the top of the path on Apparition Hill. During the summer months in Medjugorje, evening Mass is typically attended by about four to five thousand pilgrims. However, on the occasion of important feasts, like the Assumption of Mary, the number of pilgrims grows to over 20,000. Evening Mass on the feast day, concelebrated by 65 priests, was presided by Fr. Ivan Dugandzic, OFM.

    In his homily, Fr. Dugandzic compared the apparitions of Our Lady in Medjugorje to those in Lourdes and Fatima. In all three places, Our Lady has called people for conversion to God. In Lourdes, She appeared after the French Revolution, stating, “I am the Immaculate Conception,” raising our awareness of our own origin. In Fatima, 1917, Our Lady again called the world to conversion, warning of war and the strength of evil’s power. This preceded World War II and the flourishing of godless communism.

   In 1981, Our Lady came to the small, insignificant village of Medjugorje, calling for prayer and fasting to defeat evil forces. Thanks to a response to Our Lady’s call, communism began to crumble, and this small village became the world’s center for healing of faith. In conclusion, Fr. Dugandzic said, “May Mary, assumed into Heaven, protect this parish and all the faithful. May She protect and guide all of our young people, that through them we can look forward to a better world, filled with peace and joy.”

   Already in the 4^th century, St. Epiphany wrote about the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. This belief was present in the eastern and western Church from early times. In 1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly proclaimed it as dogma. Mary’s Assumption of body and soul into Heaven is the crowning of Her Motherhood of God, Eternal Virginity, and Immaculate Conception [the other 3 dogmas].

   Throughout Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, many churches are consecrated to the Assumption of Mary, and many shrines have been built in Her honor. For more than 13 centuries, the Croatian people have maintained a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, strengthened by Her miraculous interventions during their struggle against the Ottoman Empire. The town of Sinj, Croatia, still observes the anniversary of a miracle which occurred there on August 15^th in the 17^th century.

   Our Lady saved Sinj and its inhabitants from certain destruction by an advancing Turkish army. The townspeople prayed Rosaries throughout the night, waiting to be captured, but daylight showed the great army fleeing, frightened by an apparition of the Blessed Mother above the town.

   In thanksgiving, the people of Sinj gathered every bit of gold and jewels they possessed to make a crown for the church’s painting of Our Lady. The crowned image still hangs in the church today and is carried through the streets on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary in a procession followed by thousands of faithful pilgrims.

                                                                                                                                     Mir Peace Letter, August 2001

Five Stones – the Lighter Side

By June Klins

  My grandson Thomas went to Medjugorje with my son and daughter-in-law last October when he was only 14 months old. Of course, we never expected Medjugorje to have an influence on him, but now, at the age of 21 months, his favorite thing to do is to collect stones! His parents are constantly finding stones in odd places in the house and Thomas often has stones in his pockets. (For those who have not been to Medjugorje, I will tell you that my first impression was that I had never seen so many stones in my life!)  

   I hope and pray that as Thomas grows up he will be just as interested in the "5 stones" Our Lady presents to us as our weapons. Thomas already has been exposed to 3 of them. His parents PRAY a decade of the Rosary with him every night before bed and he is beginning to learn the Hail Mary. He goes to  MASS and gets a blessing at Communion, and his parents read him children's BIBLE stories. Although he has gone to CONFESSION with his father, he'll have to wait to make his own confession.  And as for FASTING, he'll have to wait on that one too. In a few years when he understands more, he can fast from his rock collection on Wednesdays and Fridays!

Editor’s note: The “5 stones” of Medjugorje are in bold above. To learn more about them, please request a beginner’s guide from us or send for one of our books, Volume I or Volume II of The Best of “The Spirit of Medjugorje.”  

Witness of Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti

This witness was given May 10, 2008, at St. Mary & St. Michael Church, London:

   I want to greet all of you with my heart, and through this witness of mine may you come closer to Our Lady and Her messages.

   In 1981 Our Lady started coming to us. We were believers and come from families that pray, but through this presence of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, we saw a great change in our lives, in our families and in our parish. Our Lady worked in the hearts of many people, particularly those who were open to receive Her messages. When we first saw Our Lady, we were scared and ran away; we could not imagine that Our Lady would appear to us – but She actually chose us. She once said to us, “God allowed me to choose and I chose you.” But She also chose many other people who are open to Her messages. Many vocations have taken place through Our Lady’s presence, and now many parishes have a pastor through Our Lady of Medjugorje.

   One grandmother told me that she kept asking her grandson to go to Medjugorje and light a candle for her. He used to work in a hospital, but he was a drug addict and an alcoholic. One rainy day he went to Medjugorje to light this candle for his grandmother. Someone told him he could not come to Medjugorje and not climb the two hills. When he climbed Krizevac he felt the need to kneel down. He was healed, and he also felt in his heart a vocation to the priesthood. He became a priest and worked with a cardinal who was a friend of John Paul II. This cardinal was in a wheelchair and Josefano used to push the wheelchair when they went to lunch with John Paul II. Many times after lunch the Pope would ask Josefano to witness how he received his vocation. He did this so many times that sometimes he would try to make his witness shorter, but the Pope would say, “Josefano, you forgot something!”

   Everyone of us can speak of our own experiences of Our Lady. Our Lady is asking us to pray and She told us to have prayer groups – but the first one has to be in our family. In this month of May, in a special way we should pray the Rosary. Our Lady is asking each one of us to be Her outstretched hands.

   Many times we ask ourselves, “Who do we belong to?’ – a parish, a certain group. Many times we forget we belong to Jesus who has suffered and died on the Cross for us, but above all, the one who was resurrected. St. Paul says that our faith is in vain if there is no Resurrection. Unfortunately, many times we act as if we believe Christ died but didn’t rise. We witness our faith with sadness. Our Lady says that our faith has to be joyful and that we should give example with our lives. She calls us to witness and to be Her extended hands. This is why Our Lady has been appearing for so long, why Jesus sends Our Lady for so long.

   Through my witness I want to help you, to show that we are normal, not crazy. Many times journalists think that our apparitions are hallucinations, but we have certificates to say that we are normal! Through this simple witness we can really touch the hearts of many. Our Lady chose us not because we are better than others. Once we asked Our Lady why She chose us and She replied, “God let me choose, and I chose you.” God, even today, walks among us and works in us.

   There was a couple who had no children for many years. I told them that Our Lady says to pray, go to confession and adore the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Then I saw the miracle of a baby coming to this family when doctors had said it was impossible. They also can now witness.

   There was a sick lady sent home from the hospital when the doctors had said they could do no more. She started praying, “Lord have mercy,” and for her children, too. She couldn’t lie down because of the tumor she had, and one night she fell asleep crying with a picture of Our Lady on her chest. She awoke in the morning and began to feel better. She could breathe and had no more problems.

   There are many stories like this, but most important of all is when the hearts of people change. We visionaries are just simple people and we are not important. We didn’t know how to meet people, but Our Lady said, “Open your houses” and then we opened our hearts. People were coming all of the time. We would share bread, tell stories and pray with these people. We started climbing the hills at night. Vicka’s grandmother told us to take holy water and throw it on the apparition. Our Lady smiled and said, “I am the Mother of God and I come here as the Queen of Peace.” Through prayer and fasting we can even stop wars. In the Bible we are told that certain evil spirits can be cast out only by prayer and fasting – so we started to fast and pray more.

   Teenage boys are able to go to discos all night, so we thought we could pray all night. We asked our parish priest for all-night Adoration, and so we started this way of prayer, which has not been easy. We would sing and pray but around 3:00 AM we became very sleepy. Some of us even started to snore, so we called that “deep meditation!”  We tried to keep each other awake and during the critical hours we would sing and read the Psalms as it was easy to fall asleep during the Rosary. Some of us got engaged and then married and we went to pray the Rosary with the newly-weds. Sometimes they fell asleep, and when they got a dig in the ribs they would wake with the words, “Hail Mary...”

   I am inviting you to be witnesses with your lives. We don’t need to go to Africa to be missionaries, we can witness in our own families. Tonight I prayed for you in a special way at the moment when Our Lady appeared. I asked Our Lady to bless you, and She did, and She prayed over us. I am sure She has seen into our hearts. I am sure that tonight She also said to you, “Thank you for responding to my call.”

   I want to end this witness with a prayer for you, for all our needs and all that is within our hearts. We pray at all of these gatherings, that Our Lady will bring us to Paradise. I remember when Our Lady said She would take Jacov and Vicka to Paradise; Jacov asked Our Lady to just take Vicka as he was an only child!  So many times we are afraid of going to Paradise. Our Lady says, “Don’t be afraid, because God made us in His image.” Our life is like a flower, quickly over. In the same way, Our Lady wants us to witness in this world with joy and to be grateful to God, and then we will be able to witness for all generations.

                                                                                                                                      The Medjugorje Message,UK

My Message from Our Lady of Medjugorje

By Anita Cugini

   Early Saturday morning, June 21, 2008, I booted up the computer and went to the website for “The Spirit of Medjugorje”.  I enjoy reading the excerpts from the newsletter for the details of Our Lady’s messages.  I had a few minutes before my husband and I would leave for our weekly yard sale trip.   I had accessed this website before, but as I read it this time, it was as though I had never seen it before.  It suddenly dawned on me that Our Lady had appeared at Medjugorje first on June 24^th, the birthday of John the Baptist, and again on June 25^th ( my birthday) in 1981, the year in which my last child, Adriana was born.  I don’t know why I didn’t see this before! 

   I studied the representation of Our Lady of Medjugorje, trying to take in every detail:  the color of Her gown and veil, the extension of Her hands and the expression of Her face.  As Her image was firmly etched in my memory, I began to pray.

   I belong to the charismatic group at my parish.  I recently learned that the group needed someone to organize and run trips to various religious sites.  I’m the type that jumps in to volunteer when a need exists, so I offered to do this.  The core group happily accepted my offer and it was decided that I would tell the group at the next meeting.

   While sitting before the image of Our Lady of Medjugorje on the computer screen, I prayed to Her to let me know if I had done the right thing by offering to run these trips, and asked for a sign.  I finished my prayer just as my husband called that it was time to leave to go “yard sale-ing.”  I turned the computer off and left.

   We started our yard sale route.  I love going to yard sales, because you never know what you might find.  A year ago, I found a rosary much like one given to me by a Sister who taught me in grade school.  I began to use it.  Three weeks after this, the cross, center medal and chain turned to gold!  Two months later, I joined the charismatic group in my parish and met Kathy.  Kathy made and distributed cord rosaries.  She needed help and taught me. I have been making and distributing cord rosaries ever since!

   At our third stop, I walked up to the table and couldn’t believe what I saw.  There before me was a six inch statue of Our Lady of Medjugorje, exactly as I had seen Her on the website!  This was the first such statue that I remember seeing in the 10+ years of going to yard sales.  I never expected Our Lady to provide such a swift answer to my prayer!

   Monday at my charismatic meeting, I intended to tell the group that I would be planning trips.  I brought the statue with me to relate my story of the sign from Our Lady.  Again I was stunned when the teaching at this meeting centered around the appearance of Our Lady at Medjugorje some 27 years ago.  As my witness to this teaching, I told my story and passed the statue around.  I feel that Mary has Her mantle wrapped around me, and I will do all that I can to plan trips for my group, perhaps even to Medjugorje!   

Editor’s note: Anita is from Philadelphia, PA.  Please note - blessed items may never be sold at a yard sale or anywhere else for that matter, but a donation may be accepted for blessed items.

Our Lady’s July 2, 2008 Message to Mirjana Soldo

“Dear children! With motherly love I desire to encourage you to love your neighbor. 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.” 

Our Lady added: “Your shepherds should be in your hearts and your prayers.”

Reflections on Medjugorje

by Fr. Peter Arabia, S.J.

   Little did I know that when I made my first pilgrimage to Medjugorje in 1985 that I would find myself drawn to return again and again.  This past June [2007] I made another pilgrimage to spend two weeks in prayer and reflection.  I had the joy of being present for the 26th anniversary of the apparitions and attending the priest retreat.  However, this is the first time that I am writing a reflection on my experience in Medjugorje.  A good friend of mine, Mate, suggested that it was time for me to start writing about my experiences.   Actually his exact words were, "Yo, Father, don't you think it’s time to start writing about all that has happened to you!" (By the way, unlike me who only speaks English and a bit of Spanish, my friend was able to ask me the same question in 5 different languages!)   I was touched by his invitation and sat down to write this reflection.

   When I was studying theology as I was preparing to be ordained a Jesuit priest, I learned that "symbols/signs (given by God) have an excess of meaning."   This insight came alive again this past June while I was in Medjugorje for the anniversary of the apparition and the priest retreat (this trip was either my ninth or tenth trip - I have lost count - now instead of counting how many times I have been, I thank the Blessed Mother for Her loving invitation to come and stay!)

    Undoubtedly, the extraordinary symbol that we are given in Medjugorje is that the Blessed Mother has been appearing here for the past twenty six years.  We must understand that the Blessed Mother always points us to a greater sign than Herself.  She always draws us to Her Son.  In Medjugorje, we are truly given a gift because Mary calls us to Her Son through the sacraments.  As a priest, I am touched and moved when I see pilgrims returning to the Eucharist and to Confession.  I find that when I celebrate Mass and hear Confessions, I experience a little bit of Heaven.  As a sinner myself, I often feel unworthy when I am listening to pilgrims during Confession and they generously open their hearts and their lives to me.  It is through the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession that we are given the grace to be healed and to courageously become signs to the world of God's fidelity and love.  This is one of the many graces that exist in Medjugorje - the grace to be a sign like our Blessed Mother. If we live and embrace the messages of Medjugorje we too will point other people to Jesus.

   This time in Medjugorje, I had a feeling of being at home.  I was no longer a visitor - I was returning home - .home where I would experience peace and be filled with awe and wonder.  This feeling of being at home began the minute I arrived.  Within minutes of my arrival I was given the gift of being present for an apparition.  I have experienced this gift many times, but this time, while I was kneeling and praying, I had a sense that Mary wanted me to again open my heart to how God would use me during my stay.   This feeling of being at home is both a grace and a challenge.  Since, when you are at home you can no longer sit on the side lines and wait for God to act.  When you are at home, you are called to labor with God.  When you are at home, you are called to live the Gospel with all your mind, heart and soul. 

   There are so many stories that I can share of my time in Medjugorje, so many experiences of God's love and Mary's presence that even thinking of them makes me feel humble and grateful!  However, let me share with you one experience of how God works through our Blessed Mother.  During my two weeks in Medjugorje, I had been praying to celebrate Mass for the Cenacolo community.  As a matter of fact, I had started praying for this even before I arrived in Medjugorje. As circumstances were in Medjugorje, it appeared that my prayer was not going to be answered, since during my first week I was not asked to celebrate Mass and during my second week there were plenty of priests present for the retreat.  The Cenacolo community had many priests to celebrate Mass for them.  As my time in Medjugorje was drawing to a close, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be celebrating Mass for the Cenacolo community.  As a matter of fact, on Friday as part of my fast and prayer I said to the Blessed Mother, "Mary, thank you for all the gifts you have given me during my two weeks here.  Thank you even for the fact that this time I will not be celebrating Mass for the Cenacolo community. Also thank you for allowing us, the priests, to be present at an apparition.”  (We, the priests, on retreat had been told that the visionaries would be present that evening and we were invited to attend the apparition.)

    Little did I know that even though I thought I was being generous in my prayer, Our Blessed Mother had other plans.  Within moments of my prayer, my friend and my gracious host, Mate, received a call from the Cenacolo community.   He said, “Father, the women's community of the Cenacolo needs a priest to celebrate Mass tonight at six, can you do it?  They have no one else.”   I asked myself, “Can I celebrate Mass for the community?”  Now my prayer was finally answered, but not the way I expected.  What was I supposed to do? If I celebrated Mass, I would miss the apparition.  At that moment, I had a great sense of peace.  I felt as if Mary said to me, “Be at peace. I will honor whatever decision you make.”  After a few moments, I said to Mate, “Yes, I will do it.”   Without hesitation I will celebrate Mass.   I realized that the invitation Mary had given me to open my heart meant just that - open your heart to my Son in every way possible.  It is only when you open your heart, and even more so when it breaks, that you begin to understand the love that Jesus has for you.

     I had a wonderful and blessed experience celebrating Mass for the women of the Cenacolo community.   I felt again as if I were in Heaven. Their singing and their prayers (in Italian) filled me with joy!   I felt as if I were on holy ground.   I told the women a story about when I returned from my first trip to Medjugorje.  My first trip was in 1985, and on the plane ride home I fell sound asleep.  When I was asleep, I saw in my mind's eye Mary and She was holding the Baby Jesus. I heard Mary say to me, “Peter, my son, take my Son back with you to the United States.”  In the background, I heard singing, it sounded like angels to me.  I had never heard these voices again - until I celebrated Mass for the women of the Cenacolo community.  I told them that their voices reminded me of angels.

   So now, I am back in New York City.  I am preparing to begin my new assignment as a teacher of theology at one of our Jesuit high schools in Manhattan.   Each day,  I  face  the  challenge of living  from  the  graces I experienced in Medjugorje,  but more importantly,  living from the grace of the sacraments.  So you see, next time you receive a sign from God  -  open your hearts -  for He wants to use you as an instrument of His love and care for all whom you meet.

                                                                                                                   www.spiritdaily.com, August 2007

Editor’s note: Our family became acquainted with Fr. Peter when he was the spiritual director of my son’s pilgrimage to Medjugorje in 2001. He sent me an Easter card this January, saying that since he was late with his Christmas cards he may as well send an early Easter card. How prophetic that was! Fr. Peter never made it to Easter (on earth), as he died unexpectedly on March 4. Fr. Peter had promised me years ago that he would write an article for our newsletter about his experiences in Medjugorje. Little did we know that it would appear posthumously.

Eternal rest grant unto Fr. Peter and also Fr. James Wiley, who died on June 29. His story was in our May, 2003 issue and is also in Volume II of The Best of “The Spirit of Medjugorje”.

Prayer Cloth Library

By June Klins

   It is hard to believe that two years have passed since we began our “Prayer Cloth Library,” and have been led to make prayer cloths for distribution. There have been so many blessings bestowed. On our website we have about 150 testimonies listed, but we know there are far more than these. (Many people have promised to send in their testimonies but have forgotten to do so.)

   I am thrilled at how far this apostolate has spread. When I was on pilgrimage in Quebec in June, I offered an Italian pilgrim a prayer cloth and she said she already had one!  And a lady in Florida told me the same thing – that she offered a prayer cloth to a lady who was on vacation from the North and this lady already had one!  It is my dream that everyone would have one of these special cloths to receive the blessings that Jesus wants to give us. However, I don’t like it when people call the cloth a “healing cloth” because the cloth itself does not give healing. It is a PRAYER cloth, meaning that when you use it, you are in prayer. Healing of some type –either physical, emotional or spiritual- will come, because of the prayers and the blessings on the cloth. Our God is an awesome and merciful God and He wants to heal us.

   I’d like to share one of my favorite recent testimonies. This comes from a lady in New Orleans: “Last Sunday my husband and I were in a head-on collision.  I just happened to have my Tears of Jesus prayer cloth and it was the only thing in my hand when I came out of the truck!  It was in my purse before the accident.  The E.M.T. workers and police officers kept asking me what I was clinging so tightly to.  I was in shock and could not answer questions correctly, but I could somehow tell every person that asked, the story of the cloth and begged everyone not to remove it from my hands.  I remember praying the Hail Mary over and over again in the ambulance with the cloth in my hands. I also remember that I kept stressing to people who were not Catholic that this was not some kind of lucky charm, but a blessed reminder of what Christ did for all of us (that is why there is a cross on all the ones that were made). We should always turn to Him in our lowest times, our darkest hours! 

   “Looking back on the accident, I am amazed that I did not only make it out alive - but without every bone in my body being broken, as I am in the severe stages of osteoporosis.  I know in my heart that it was Jesus in that vehicle with me that protected me and saved my life.”

   And another incredible testimony from Erie, PA: “My granddaughter has spina bifada and was told that she would never be able to walk. I obtained a Medjugorje  prayer cloth and put it on her knees and prayed. Although she is not completely healed, she is walking – something the doctors said she would never be able to do!  We consider that a miracle!”

   We have a number of original prayer cloths recently brought from Medjugorje by subscriber Louise Lotze that can be used to make more and multiply the blessings. If you are willing to make some, you may KEEP the original! Mailing instructions are on p.8. Please note that a legal size envelope is 4 1/8” by 9 ½.”  We thank Audra Hardenstein and Chris Clothier for making us prayer cloths to share.