On Prayer

The Immaculate Conception

By Fr. Neil Buchlein

   Today we have stopped in the beginning of our short Advent journey of three weeks to give thanks and praise to God for Mary's wonderful example.  During this busy time we may feel "stretched" to get so many things done or to live up to someone's expectations of us. 

   Actually, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is about Mary being conceived without sin and not the announcement of Her being the Mother of God.  God certainly had a plan. Why would He use a corrupt or broken vessel to bring His Son into the world?  When you served your family and guests on Thanksgiving, did you bring out your finest china or use plates, platters, and bowls which were cracked or chipped?  That is how we are in the sight of God.  He made sure that the vessel that He chose would be "holy and blameless" in His sight.   Unfortunately, there are no Scriptures regarding Her being conceived without sin. Rather, we see once again Her availability and responsibility to say "Yes" to God. 

   Mary was a poor teenager between the ages of 13 and 16.  She has an angel of the Lord appear to Her with a great message and She is afraid at first.  I would be too, if a heavenly being were standing in my house speaking to me and saying that I am "favored" or "chosen by God."  We don't know how much time passed but She did let go of Her fear.  How many times have we said "No" to God throughout each day?  In the first reading of this feast day, we see that Adam said, "Yes", but it was a "Yes" for himself, not God.  He saw that he could profit from his action even though it was not in his best interest. 
   This feast gives us the opportunity to stop and to reflect on how often we do not say "Yes" to God because it does not fit our plan. Look at the 26 years of messages from Our Lady and Her intercession on our behalf.  If we were saying "Yes" to God, She would not have to keep coming back each month and re-emphasizing what we must do.  Once again, we are not doing all that we can when it comes to living the messages.  We are looking at them as if we are in a cafeteria line. "I think, I'll have this and that but not that!"  Our "Yes" to God is often tainted by our narrow -mindedness and selfishness.  We do not totally avail ourselves to our God. Perhaps this is something that we can work on in this Advent.  As we continue our Advent journey, let us ask Our Lady to instill in us a determined "Yes" so that we can give our all to Our Lord.

Editor’s note: Fr. Neil is from Hurricane, West Virginia.    

Live Nativity scene in Medjugorje
photot credit: Information Center, Mir Medjugorje

Christmas in Medjugorje

By Milona de Rambures

   Since the year 1984, I have spent most of my Christmas celebrations in Medjugorje. When I began working there at Father Slavko's side, it was lonely. I was 25 years old, and had left the family and all my friends to live in Medjugorje. Thanks to that loneliness, I discovered something so unique. Sitting by myself on Podbrdo in the Christmas night, sometimes in the cold, sometimes in more warm temperatures, there was a gentle silence.The dark sky, which can be so clear around there, and the village with its silent lights, brought me into the silence of the stable. The simplicity of the outer signs of Christmas under the harsh communist times had something true about it. The birth of the little Savior was not welcomed there by the state. The families lived it all in the building of the church and in their homes. Around the midnight Mass there were some loud noises, like little explosions in front of the church of Saint James, but otherwise the silence was very special.
   Over the years the visible manifestations of Christmas became available. In a very special way in the year when Communism had officially been overcome and the Catholic faith could be shown, the bells were ringing everywhere, and on TV that night the bells of Zagreb were shown officially. The explosion of joy was wonderful. Light was glittering all over the place, and we could show Christmas. It did not last long and the war broke out, and again everything changed, and the suffering plunged everybody into new dimensions of Christmas again.
   Many things could be said about all the years, but still today, married, with a little daughter, we spend Christmas in Medjugorje. Just a few days ago, our 8 year old Clara, when asked where we should spend Christmas this year, shouted out loud: “Medjugorje, Medjugorje!”  She knows it means very small gifts, but since she knows about hungry and poor children thanks to my work, she has some priorities very clear. This is definitely a fruit of Our Lady's Love in our small family.

Editor’s note: This was written at Christmas, 2006. Milona and her family have since then moved to Medjugorje. She wrote, “The fact of living in Medjugorje is a gift beyond words, and also a deep call.” She is associated with Mary’s Meals, an organization which feeds poor children.

 

Mary Leads Us to Her Son

“O come Let Us Adore Him”

By Louise Lotze

   This past summer I broke my routine of going to Medjugorje for Anniversary Week.  My daughter, Vickie, who is teaching in Augsburg, Germany, had a school break in late May and early June and wanted me to visit her and her husband Andy.  Thus I coordinated my pilgrimage to Medjugorje to coincide with her free time for a visit.  I also wanted to be present for Father Jozo's Visitation Prayer Partner Reunion on June 2, since I had recently received my prayer partner's name and had hoped to meet her at the reunion in Siroki Brijeg.  Little did I know what Our Lady had in mind for me as She orchestrated the dates of this visit to Augsburg, after a grace-filled pilgrimage in Medjugorje.

   While I was browsing in the Phoenix bookstore in Medjugorje looking for books on Divine Mercy, I came across some outdated Medjugorje magazines published in Ireland.  They were the previous winter issues and I bought them for nightime reading back in my pansion.  When I was looking through the November 2006 issue that night, I found an article on Eucharistic Miracles.  I was surprised when I saw one of the headings which said:  Augsburg, 1194.  I immediately read this article and discovered that there is a Miraculous Host which has been preserved in perfect condition for over 800 years, and can be found in Augsburg.  The Host had changed into the flesh of Our Lord Jesus Christ and had threadlike veins holding it together.  I was more than excited, I was determined to locate the church where this Miracle was housed, since the article didn't disclose this information.  Much later when back home, I attended on August 24 the Vatican International Exhibition of over 150  Eucharistic Miracles of the World displayed in Erie, PA, and I discovered there was a Medjugorje connection with the Augsburg Miracle.  It was the date of June 24, and Baby Jesus also appeared in connection with this Host as well.

   I left Medjugorje on June 4 and flew to Munich and was met by Vickie and Andy.  We took a train to Augsburg, about an hour away.  The next few days while taking walking tours of Augsburg (in Catholic Bavaria) Andy questioned some German Sisters outside their convent and discovered that the Miraculous Host is only a few blocks from Vickie and Andy's apartment.  It is in the church of the convent of the Holy Cross.  We all walked there at 5:00 p.m.  I prayed a Rosary silently and at 5:25 they unlocked the iron grillwork and I entered the main church and sat in the front pew.  I was so anxious to venerate this precious Miracle.  At 5:30 a young Dominican priest lit candles, unlocked the tabernacle, incensed the Eucharistic Miracle displayed in a monstrance, and then the priest, a small group of elderly German ladies, and one Chinese lady and I all prayed the Rosary, they in German and I in English.  Then we all sang Tantum Ergo in German (I used their prayer book for help).  The priest blessed us with the monstrance and enclosed Host.  It was so beautiful and I was in awe.  The monstrance was returned to the tabernacle and locked up, waiting for the next evening for adoration since the Rosary is prayed each night like this in front of the Miraculous Host.

   Once outside, Vickie and Andy introduced me to Mrs. Kok, the Chinese lady.  They were surprised to see her there but discovered she lives only a short distance from this church.  Her daughter, Sia, teaches at the same school with Vickie and Andy.  Mrs. Kok has lived in Augsburg for over 20 years but she proceeded to tell me that she had gone to Medjugorje several times in the 1980's on a bus and had taken her 3 children with her.  I was fascinated that she had been there in the early years when it was still very rural and undeveloped.  Mrs. Kok then told us about the Corpus Christi procession and the time to be at the Cathedral in the morning.

   Although I have previously venerated  and adored other  Miraculous Hosts in Lanciano, Italy, and Santarem, Portugal, maybe it was because Our Lady had led me here that I felt so honored and privileged to have adored this Miraculous Host.  I was fearful that I had just missed the May 11 observance in Augsburg, the Feast of the Wonderful Miraculous Treasures (Fest des Wunderbarlichen) when solemn Masses and the wearing of special vestments and public veneration of the Miraculous Host is observed.  Little did I know that the adoration and veneration are quietly done year round in this tiny convent church by elderly women who love to pray the evening Rosary in Jesus' loving Presence.

   The very next day I was again honored to be in Jesus Presence on the Feast of Corpus Christi.  Once again Our Lady had led me to Her Son.  I did not know beforehand that I would be in Augsburg for this Feast.  It was a totally awesome experience I will never forget.  The Bishop of Augsburg , Dr. Walter Mixa, celebrated the Mass with 5 or 6 other “floating” bishops of Germany ( those who don't have a diocese ).  He quoted both Pope Benedict XVI as well as Pope John Paul II.  Mass was held in Mary's Cathedral of Augsburg ( The Dom ).  The Church was immense and was packed , with people also standing in the aisles. It was Thursday, June 7, not even a Sunday.  The procession began after Mass.  We joined the boys' choir and the throngs behind the canopy-covered Monstrance.  We all processed down Maximilian Blvd. and  loud-speakers were giving instructions for songs.  German song sheets were being passed out.  Altars had been set up in front of the City Hall door as well as further down the boulevard out in the main street.   Floral displays covered the ground and various flags and birch tree branches in buckets of water were along both sides of the street.  We sang songs in German and listened to speeches which Andy translated for me.  The Monstrance reposed on the altars awhile.  The procession went almost to the Basilica of St. Ulrich at the other end of town and then returned to the Cathedral (The Dom).  The mayor and other government officials were part of the main procession.  Flower girls strew petals on the boulevard.  Guests from Spain and Portugal gave greetings over speakers.  People from other churches joined us wearing native costumes  (Croatia and Hungary) and carried their banners in procession.

   The return procession recited a Litany in German between songs.  There followed a solemn benediction upon return to the Dom.  Incense was permeating the Dom before Mass, during the service, during the procession, as well as the final benediction.  The mayor and other prominent people of Augsburg, bishops and priests were all seated behind the altar facing the congregation.  The men all wore black tuxedos with beige capes with red Jesus crosses on them.

   Bishop Walter Mixa spoke about the realization that the Host is the actual Body of Christ and that we get the salvation from this.  He said the Church made the Enlightenment possible in its learning.  As brothers and sisters of the Faith we are the enlightened ones.  He further said that by revealing the Body of Christ on this day, we are bringing the Light to the world and out into the public and the community.  Do not be concerned with criticism that our Church is not dealing with the modern world, he said.  The Church is not threatened, but is criticized  by people who say it is old-fashioned and mostly unenlightened.  Isn't it being enlightened that we realize that the Host is truly the actual Body of Christ?  If not for the Catholic Church, Bishop Mixa said, we would not have had the Enlightenment!  The greatest threat he stressed is disbelief!

   Thank you, Our Lady of Medjugorje, for leading me to Your Son with my visit to Augsburg and by my change of dates for my pilgrimage this year to Medjugorje.  You are truly a Mother for all.  Nothing happens by chance alone, not even buying an outdated Irish magazine in a tiny bookstore in Medjugorje, or “bumping into” a lady from China in a church in Germany whom my daughter and son-in-law had met at their school in Augsburg, and knew her well.  These are not coincidences, they are God-incidences!      

Editor’s note: Louise is from Ashtabula, Ohio.

Christmas Novena in Medjugorje

By Ana Shawl

  I am sometimes asked if there is a Christmas Novena in Medjugorje and if there is something that the people will do there during this time to prepare for Christmas. I asked Ivan, and he said “yes” and the day to start is December 16^th. It would finish on Christmas Eve. The Novena that Ivan talks about is to make it to Mass every day during this time, go to confession and at least once or whenever you can, go to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Try to pray your entire Rosary every day. This gives you strength for the next part which is forgive all those for whom you have been carrying a grudge. Seek them out, visit them, write to them and forgive one another. Get rid of old hurts and clean yourself from all of these things so we can start anew when Jesus comes through Mary as an infant on Christmas.
   Please remember to put a rose or some other flower in the manger of Baby Jesus wherever you are on
Christmas. Our Lady said that She likes it when we go to Midnight Mass.

Editor's note: Ana is from DeKalb, IL. She and her husband Steve lead pilgrimages to Medjugorje year-round.

My Trip to Medjugorje

By Thomas Daniel Klins

   My Grandma (the editor) thought you might like to hear about my trip to Medjugorje in October.

It took us a very long time to get there, even though we don’t live that far away. (We live in England.) Grandma says that often happens, but is always worth it in the end.

   The next day we went to a big hill they called Apparition Hill and I wanted to walk up like everyone else, and especially I wanted to play with all the stones there. I never saw so many stones in my life! But my Dad made me ride on his back all the way. That stuff is for babies. I was not happy. When we got to the top, people were all saying, “Hail Mary, full of grace…” and I thought it was my bedtime because at home my Mom and Dad say that ten times before I go to bed. My bed was not there, but there was a big statue and I wanted to touch it, but I couldn’t because there was a fence around it shaped like a star. And I thought this trip was going to be fun!

   I liked it though when we would go into the big church because it was warm in there. People told my parents that October is usually very nice weather in Medjugorje, but when we were there it was very cold. We did not go up the big mountain with the cross on top because it was too cold. I hope my parents will bring me again and I can do it next time. And maybe next time they will let me play with the stones!

   Behind the church there was a big statue of Jesus and there was a liquid coming out of it at the knee. My Dad said that last year when he was there, a lady named  Zeljka who is Vicka’s cousin, said that scientists have tested the liquid and it is human tears – just like mine!  Wow!  My parents bought handkerchiefs and wiped them on the tears. They were going to send some of them to my Grandma to share with people because my Grandma said many blessings have come from the ones she and my Dad brought back last year.

   Before you know it, it was time to go home. Even though it was cold, I had a good time. Everyone there was happy and smiling. I wish people were this happy everywhere. 

“A Treasure”

By Louise Lotze

   The Best of "The Spirit of Medjugorje," Vol. II  1998 – 2004  is a treasure.  It is a wonderful compilation of the history of Medjugorje, testimonies, messages from Our Lady, and helpful suggestions.  For newcomers you will feel like you have been on a pilgrimage.  For those who have already been to Medjugorje it is a chance to revisit.  It is a real joy and delight to read and meditate.   Be ready,  for this book can be transformational due to the 5 "weapons" which can provide holiness right within the ordinary events of your own lives, if you give them time, practice, and perseverance.  Our Lady's messages speak to the heart of the reader.  When taken seriously they can invoke peace in your heart and help bring peace to the world. 

Editor’s note: To help Our Lady spread the messages, we encourage our readers who have read our books to send a review to www.Amazon.com  and to us. Give a spiritual gift to your loved ones this Christmas. This book as well as Volume I can be ordered from any bookstore, from www.Amazon.com, or from www.Authorhouse.com.   

Christmas program in Medjugorje
photo credit: Information Center Mir Medjugorje