On Prayer

 

Fasting

By Rev. Albert Joseph Mary Shamon

   Hand in hand with prayer goes fasting. Today we have forgotten this truth, that we need to fast. At Medjugorje Our Lady asked people to fast twice a week: on Wednesdays and Fridays. On Fridays She asked people to fast on bread and water. That is tough. You may not be able to do that, but you can still fast. You can, for instance, on Wednesdays and Fridays eat only one full meal and cut down on the other two and eat nothing between meals - no snacks, no gum chewing, no treats.

   Certainly, anyone can fast like that. More graves, as the saying goes, are dug by knives and forks than by auto accidents. Far from hurting us, fasting will help us. Aren't we as a nation overweight? Aren't diets popular? Yet fasting is not half so hard as dieting. If you fast, you might not have to diet; and, you'll gain countless spiritual blessings to boot.

   When I tell the story of Medjugorje to students, one question they always ask is, "Why does Our Lady want us to fast?" We might just as well ask, "Why do athletes train?" Or, "Why do young people sacrifice so much of their youth to school and studies?" "Why weed a garden?" "Why go to a barber or hair dresser?"

   In inviting us to fast, Our Lady is only following Her Son. Jesus said: "If a man wishes to come after Me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and follow in My steps" (Mk. 8:34).

   To deny self is not easy. We are by nature both earth-bent and me-centered. These twin tendencies exert a powerful gravitational pull on all of us. It takes a booming booster rocket to break that gravitational attraction. That booster is fasting.

   Fasting attacks, not human life or values, but those tendencies of ours to remain on the earth and "me" levels.

   The whole idea behind fasting is not to impose a hardship on us, but to open us up to God and to one another. And this is what counts. As Mary said in Her Magnificat: "He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich (those who deny themselves nothing) He sent away empty."

   When we fast, we pray better, we grasp the word of God better, we become better. Try it and see!

                                         Used with permission from the excellent book Three Steps to Sanctity 

Oatmeal Bread for Fasting

By Deanette Pease.

I thought I would share with you an awesome bread recipe.  It is great for fasting.  This recipe will make two loaves.  This bread takes 4 hours from beginning to end.  The bread also freezes very nicely.  It was taught to me by an 86 year-old prayerful Italian woman. If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer the kneading goes easier.
Oatmeal Bread
Add 2 tablespoons of dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water and let stand for 10 minutes (good yeast foams up)
In large mixing bowl add (mix well):
   2 cups oat bran flour
   3 1/2 cups white flour
   1 flat tablespoon salt
   1 cup quick (not old fashioned) oatmeal
Make a little hole in the center of your bowl before adding:
   dissolved yeast
   2 eggs beaten (eggs should be room temperature)

   1/4 vegetable or canola oil
   1/2 cup of honey, maple syrup or light molasses (your choice)
   3/4 cup of warm water (Add water little bit at a time, when bread is dry add a little more, if too soupy too much      water, no fear - can always add a little more flour to stiffen up the dough).
   Roll onto floured surface and knead into a large ball.  Place in a lightly oiled large bowl to let rise for 2 hours (on a warm place preferably). Cover with spray-oiled plastic wrap and let rise.  Then when risen, punch down and roll onto floured surface again and split the dough into two balls.  Roll flat and shape into elongated rolls and place in an oiled bread pan. Cover again with lightly spray-oiled plastic wrap. Let rise again for about an hour. When dough rises to just above the top of bread pan, (a rounded look), you can take egg white and a little water and brush lightly on top of bread and sprinkle quick oats on top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and then lower temperature to 375 degrees for another 35-40 minutes.  When bread is nicely browned and the top taps hollow sounding, take out and cool on wired surface. 
Tip:  Let bread cool a bit before slicing or even better yet at least a couple of hours. Enjoy and good fasting to all! 

Editor’s note: Deanette is from Feeding Hills, MA.

Hail Mary...My Protector

By Sue Kempen

  I was living in Saudi Arabia before coming to Rome 2 years ago. I spent some years in countries where it was difficult for us to practice our faith. Finally, with the grace of God, and intensive prayers from the heart, asking God, since He knows what is best for us, we were posted to Rome.

  I was so excited and so thankful to be in this holy place, to go to the Vatican, to be able to visit all the basilicas and churches and to go to Mass every day. I was more than happy to find a Medjugorje prayer group, even though I was not fluent in Italian, but I could understand all the prayers especially “Ave Maria”  which I learned by heart. I even had the chance to go to Medjugorje a second time with the leader of our group. Time went by enjoying all the blessings around without knowing what the future was hiding for me.

  I was preparing myself for Easter 2007, and had copied the Holy Father's message for Lent. I was determined to go every Friday to climb the Holy Stairs in Rome near St. John Lateran and do the Via Crucis ( the Way of the Cross)after that. A friend of mine informed me too that they pray the Divine Mercy every day at 3 PM in the Church of the Holy Spirit near St. Peter's Basilica, so I tried to go whenever possible.

    I was happy to find a spiritual director too who I saw a few days before my tragedy and asked for some advice. He said the best prayer is, “Lord have mercy on me, I am a poor sinner,” and he told me to take time after Lent to notice how Jesus manifests Himself in our lives everywhere, in everyone, in everything, and added that Jesus is everywhere, not only in church.

   On March 22, after praying the Divine Mercy in the Church of the Holy Spirit, I went to Mass at one of the station churches, where they display the relics of the Cross too, which is a tradition in Rome to celebrate Mass every day in one of  the churches where they have relics or tombs of martyrs. I felt so much peace after attending that Mass with the Franciscan friars, a wonderful procession, and blessings with the relics from the cross.

  On the way back, I crossed the street and when I was waiting for the traffic light, the sunset attracted my attention. I never saw it that magnificent before. I thought, aha, this is one of the ways Jesus is manifesting Himself to me! I could not resist, but stop for moments and admire all this. Then I went on to take my bus to go home. I was about to cross the street and all of a sudden, I saw this huge Pullman tourist bus coming so fast my way, round the corner - I could not believe my eyes !!!! I felt that's it - I am gone !!! It cannot be possible!!! Then - me no legs in a wheelchair!!! All thoughts came in one split second while the bus was dashing in my direction, knowing there was no way out for me!!!  I was screaming: “OH, MY JESUS,” so loud, from the bottom of my heart !!!  I was hit so fast from my left side and was lying on the ground under this huge bus which went over my legs and stopped there!!!  I was screaming, ”JESUS HELP ME...JEEEEESUUUUS...HELP ME PLEASE !!!” Then it had to drive back to free my legs, but drove back over my feet !!! And STOPPED! I was in agony and alone, saw that I was dying, I asked people who started gathering around from nowhere to call a priest friend from St. Mary Major, but they had no idea! Call my Franciscan brothers from there, but no idea !! I started praying “Hail Mary” in Arabic (which is my first language ) knowing I am finished. All of a sudden I saw this face bending over mine, which looked like Jesus' face and asking me if I am an Arab, so I told him to leave me alone, I want to pray. He started praying “Hail Mary” in Arabic with me, then I felt like choking and there was nothing left to do, I went on praying more and more Hail Mary’s. I saw a huge light all over, everywhere, and was so overwhelmed, so anxious, thinking, ”Oh my Lord, I am going to meet you now.” I started screaming aloud: “Forgive me, forgive me please for anything, I offer you my life, I offer you everything.” Then I thought, ”I am not going to see my son and my husband anymore,”  so I offered all my suffering for their conversion. Then a priest came and held my hand and asked me if I wanted to confess. I told him I cannot remember anything, just forgive me. He gave me final absolution, and prayers went on from all people who were leaning over me waiting for the ambulance to come. ”Hail Mary full of grace,” ”Ave Maria” in Italian. I was clutching the hand of the priest, asked him not to leave me alone. He was permitted to accompany me in the ambulance, and we went on praying Hail Mary while the doctor and nurses were doing their job. I remember too that they took off my rosary which I was wearing around my neck and I was screaming: ”My rosary, my rosary!”  They said, “Not now.” Then I was saying in Italian: “Ho sete,” which means “I thirst.”  They refused to give me water, and I kept begging for just wetting my lips. “Not now.”

    Then after all the emergency handling, I woke up in the intensive care unit with all kinds of tubes etc. and the left side hanging in traction. The pain, agony was not possible to describe. I spent a long time like this, crying all the time and not having the minimum energy to pray. I was looking at the crucifix hanging on the wall with the clock beside it which made the situation more difficult - watching, counting seconds, minutes, and asking Jesus to help me. “Lord have mercy on me,” praying Hail Mary when I can, not even a proper Rosary. Then I would look again at the crucifix and say, “Jesus, You were crucified one day, but I am crucified every day - release some pain away.” Then I would take my rosary and press on it all the time and ask Mother Mary, “Help me please, Our Lady of Lourdes, take some pain away just for some minutes, I do not want any miracles, just a little break from this pain. Let me sleep for some time.”

  After some operations I was transferred to another station when my sister arrived and finally I could ask her help to get in touch with June Klins and ask for prayers. My situation was still in danger, so many broken parts, feet destroyed, left one was completely turned around with all wounds everywhere, not being able to move or to feed myself because of all the tubes and things. My sister was allowed to come during mealtimes to feed me, and the rest of the time I would be alone - just looking at the crucifix at the wall and crying - no painkillers, nothing was helping me. I could not even sleep because of all the noise and action around in the hospital. I could not take it anymore and asked to be transferred when they were able to move me and I did this on my own risk.

    With the prayers from members of our prayer group, things started to get better when I was transferred to a private hospital. During that time, of course, I was still unable to move, and operations went on - 13 operations to try to fix what could be fixed. Every time, before going in the operation room, I would be holding the rosary in my hand, and after, I would find it either on my chest or on my pillow -but still, lying in bed, not being able to move my legs.

    One day, June sent me the cloth from Medjugorje and I was always passing it on my legs in time of agony and pain. Then I got a beautiful inspirational package from all friends from our internet Medjugorje prayer group.

    I spent 5 months in the hospital till I was able to stand and walk around the room with the help of leg braces. When I was able to sit in the wheelchair, the first thing I did was to go to the chapel and thank God for everything.  I was able to attend Mass with my legs stretched on the wheelchair.

  Slowly things were improving, even if the pain and suffering was continuous, but I was always thankful for being alive, thankful to be chosen for sharing in the sufferings of Christ. I never complained or asked why this happened to me, I just accepted it and was living day by day. And whenever the Sister in charge in the hospital would come to visit me and see how I was suffering, she would say, “There is always Easter Sunday after Good Friday.”

  That was so true, because now, after 7 months, some weeks in rehabilitation in Germany too, I am able to walk with the crutches and inside the house even without. I was able to serve as a Eucharistic minister a few times in our parish in Rome, the church of Santa Susanna, when all were surprised to see the progress I made.

   I can assure you all, I conquered death with simple prayers from the heart and the rosary in my hand. "Dear children, put on the armor for battle and with the rosary in your hand, defeat him!” (8/ 8/ 85)  I was holding on in my suffering and endured in my pain...”I am your Mother and Jesus is your great friend...give Him your heart..tell Him of your sufferings from the bottom of your heart, for this way you will be strengthened in prayer, your heart will be free, at peace and without fear.” (11/ 29/ 83)

  I felt at peace the whole time, and I never was afraid. People would never believe how much suffering I went through. I was saying, “Thank You, Jesus, for suffering for us. No matter how much I am suffering now, I will never be able to understand Yours.” 

  I still have a long way to go, some more operations, and nothing will be the same as before, but I am grateful for all that, because I learned that, after all, in suffering we are closer to Christ, and through prayer we are richer in the mercy of God. “By means of prayer, little children, you will find joy and peace...through prayer you will be richer in the mercy of God." (8/25/89)

 

Sue in Medjugorje

 

Editor’s note: Sue is one of our sponsored subscribers. She was interviewed on EWTN radio a few months ago. In January Sue made a pilgrimage to Assisi to give thanks.

 

 

The prayer below, by Fr. Larry Hess, fell out of my Bible one day in December at Adoration. I thought it was a beautiful prayer. That evening a friend sent me the exact prayer. I felt that the Holy Spirit was prompting me to share it with our readers, and it fit in perfectly with Sue’s story above.

Heavenly Father, I call on You right now in a special way. It is through Your power that I was created. Every
breath I take, every morning I wake, and every moment of every hour, I live under Your power.     Father, I ask You now to touch me with that same power. For if You created me from nothing, You can certainly recreate me. Fill me with the healing power of Your Spirit. Cast out anything that should not be in me. Mend what is broken. Root out any unproductive cells. Open any blocked arteries or veins and rebuild any damaged areas. Remove all inflammation and cleanse any infection.

   Let the warmth of Your healing love pass through my body to make new any unhealthy areas so that my body will function the way You created it to function.
  And Father, restore me to full health in mind and body so that I may serve You the rest of my life.
   I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Desolation and Dryness

  At times God treats the upright man in a way that disturbs and alarms him. He wants to test his fidelity and therefore deprives him for a while of His sensible presence. This is how Jesus acted towards His holy Mother. He had foreseen the anxiety His absence would cause, yet He left Her for a while and, unknown to Her, remained in the temple.

   Christian soul, if it pleases this God of love to test you in the same way, be not dismayed. Arm yourself with courage and wait patiently for His return.

   He is always near you to help you when you ask for His help, but it is good that He should pretend at times to depart from you, so that you may realize how unfortunate you would be if you really lost Him.

   When  favors a person with consolation, it is in order to strengthen him in his trials. When he permits him to be left in dryness and desolation, it is in order that he may not grow proud of the goodness God shows him.

   All or almost all His friends have experienced such alternations of joy and sorrow, consolation and dryness, peace and temptation.

   When Jesus seemed to depart from them and abandon them to themselves, they felt all their weakness. But they did not lose heart, for they knew that His presence is not always sensibly felt and because they were sure He would help them.

   They knew that God foresees the difficulties we must endure and that He has given us the means of drawing profit from them.

   When His grace was sustaining you in sweetness and consolation, you advanced with pleasure and ease. Yet you make greater progress in virtue when you experience dryness and bear with patience, humility, and submission the state of abandonment in which God seems to have left you.

   This state is indeed one of sadness, for we fear it is more of a punishment than a test. But, Christian soul, when you find yourself in it, do not lose confidence. Hope always, hope firmly, and the trial will not be long, any more than it was for Mary.

   Imitate the solicitude of this Divine Mother as She searched for Her Son. Seek Him, as She did, with a holy desire and a holy impatience to find Him.

   Never complain, for Jesus owes you nothing, and if you must lament, let it be a lament of love, like Mary’s. …Tell Him simply: “My Jesus, why have you put me to such a hard test? You know how I suffer from Your absence! Is it some infidelity of mine that has merited Your departing so far from me? If I have deserved it by actions that displeased You, pardon me, Lord. Henceforth, I shall be more attentive to avoid anything that can displease You. But, whatever be Your reason for acting this way toward me, I accept the trial as You wish me to accept it, and for as long as You wish, provided You let me always keep love of You in my heart.”

                                                                          Excerpt from The Imitation of Mary by Abbe d’Herouville

Ivan’s Talk in Brunswick, Ohio

The following is an excerpt from Ivan’s talk in Brunswick, Ohio, April 24, 2007:

   She (Our Lady) calls us to monthly Confession and Adoration of the Holy Sacrament. And She wants us to pray the Rosary within our families and She wants us to read the Bible in our families. And She says: “Let the Bible be in your family in a visible place. Read the Holy Bible and by reading, Jesus will be renewed and reborn in your lives.  Forgive others, love others.” And She is carrying all of us in Her heart. 

   And She says very clearly in one of Her messages:  “Dear children, if you knew how much I love you, you would be crying for joy.”  So great is the Motherly Love. One of the most important messages that Our Lady calls upon is the prayer from the heart. So many times She has repeated Herself saying: “Pray, pray, pray, dear children. Not from the mouth, not from the mind, but from the heart.”  How is She teaching us to pray from the heart? What does it mean to pray from the heart?  Pray from the heart means to pray with love and out of love, to pray with your whole being, so that our prayers will be a meeting with Jesus, a conversation with Jesus and it is rectifying with Jesus.  So by praying you can be full of peace and joy. And we can say: “How is this possible?” “How can you concentrate on prayer all the time?”  Our Lady knows that we are not perfect; however She desires that we go to the school of prayer. That we pray every day. She wants us to pray three hours daily. That is Her wish. She doesn’t say that we need to pray for three hours just the Rosary. There is Holy Mass, the Holy Rosary, reading the Holy Bible and doing good deeds.

   One of the pilgrims came to Medjugorje and she came to me and asked me: “I cannot believe Our Lady wants us to pray three hours, how can She ask for that?”  I told her: “That is Her wish.”  The next year when the same person came to Medjugorje, she came to me again and she put the same question to me. “Is She still asking us to pray for three hours?” I said: “No! She is not asking for three hours, She is asking for twenty four hours.” And do you know what she said then?  “Then I will pray for three hours!”

   She is not asking much of us. She only asks of us that which we can accomplish. Dear children, if you want to go to the School of Prayer you must know that there is no weekend in the School of Prayer. You go to the School of Prayer every day.  If you wish to pray better, then you need to pray more. And to pray more is your personal decision. And to pray better is grace, and it is a grace to give to those who pray more.  Many times today we say that we don’t have time to pray, that we are tired, we work a lot, and that the family is not together at the same time.   The kids go to school and time is always of essence. But Our Lady says very simply, “Dear children, time is not of essence.  That is not the problem!  The problem is Love. When you love something then you always make time for it, but if you don’t like something then you will never find time for it.”

   That is why She is asking us so much to be involved in prayer. And that prayer will return peace to the world.  Peace will return within the families and peace will return among young people and in the whole world.   And She wants to wake us up from this spiritual dying of us.  She wants to wake us up from this spiritual coma and She wants to make us stronger in holiness and in our prayer.

Editor’s note:  Our thanks to Mary Jane Muslera for transcribing this talk.

Ivan’s Schedule

March 7 - St. Monica Church, 212 Lawrence St., Methuen, MA. Contact Donna Barnes, 978-686-1743.

March 8 - Our Lady of the Lake, 580 Monponsett St., Halifax, MA. Contact Cheryl Hunnewell, 781-293-7971.

March 28 - St, Mary Church, 196 Washington St., E. Walpole, MA.Contact Lauren, 508-668-5597.

March 29 - St. Joseph Church, 173 Albion St.,Wakefield, MA. Contact rectory, 781-245-5770

April 26 – St. Joseph Church,1761 Second St.,Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Contact Peggy golden (440)350-9217

A bus trip is planned from the Erie area for April 26. Call Dean Rose at 868-8690 for details.

April 28- Queen of Heaven church, 1800 Steese Rd., Uniontown Green, OH. Contact Peggy Golden (440) 350-9217

 

Jesus and the Prayer Cloth

By Lisa Leach

   I was sitting in my mother’s kitchen when she received the Medjugorje prayer cloth. I watched as she ironed all these white cloths and took her time marking a gold cross on them. After she was done, she touched them to the original cloth and said the prayer. When my mother gave me one it really touched me. My mother said to put it in a special place where you can pray with it. Well I knew that special place had to be on me, having difficulty keeping the cloth on myself without it slipping off was very difficult.  I told my mother I needed to keep the prayer cloth on me, and the trouble I was having with it and I didn't want to lose it. My mother said not to cut the cloth. Well, I just went off by myself and I told Jesus that I needed to pin the cloth on myself, that it was the only way I could be sure not to lose Him. I wear the cloth 24 hours a day.  I take it off my day clothes and pin Him on my night clothes. That posed another talk with Jesus. I told Jesus that wearing His cloth 24 hours a day, I need to wash it. So I wash it in the washing machine and dry it in the dryer and put it right back on when it is done. I always feel a connection with this cloth, and I felt that Jesus knows how much I love Him and I had this feeling that somewhere on the cloth He would leave me a sign.

   Then one day I was refolding the cloth to pin it on me and I opened it up and was looking at the cloth thinking maybe some kind of sign would be there. Seeing nothing on the white of the cloth I was putting the pin on when all of a sudden I saw the image of Jesus on the gold cross. I was so happy I felt this connection with the cloth from day one and now Jesus is on my cloth. I can't ever explain how happy I am to have Jesus with me! Then when I was writing out my Christmas cards something was telling me to take a picture of my cloth. I am not very good at taking pictures but when I did, I sat at my computer in shock at how clear I could see the image of Jesus. I don't know much about digital cameras and I wasn't sure how to set the lighting, I adjusted the color so to better view Jesus.  This is the best Christmas present I have ever received. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sending the original cloth to my mother to share, can you imagine - you sent Jesus to me.

 Editor’s note: Lisa is from Lynn, Massachusetts.                            

 

As mentioned in last month’s issue, St. Augustine is the “saint for the year” for “The Spirit of Medjugorje” this year. We hope to bring you some of his words of wisdom each issue this year, if room permits. Our Lady asks us to read the writings and the lives of the saints, so this is one small way we will help you to do that.

   “Do not say then:’Tomorrow I shall be converted, tomorrow I shall please God, and all that I shall have done today and yesterday will be forgiven me.’ What you say is true: God has promised forgiveness if you turn back to Him. But what He has not promised is that you will have tomorrow in which to achieve your conversion.”

                                                                                                                                         ~St. Augustine