Ivan Speaks about Family Prayer

By June Klins

   On April 26, 2008, Ivan Dragicevic spoke in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. I was blessed to have been present for his talk and  the apparition of Our Lady.  Although I have heard Ivan speak many times, I took notes anyway since there was no video or audio recording permitted, and there is always something I need to hear again.  When I looked over my notes, I noticed that Ivan seemed to emphasize a central theme of family prayer.

    Ivan said, “Prayer has evaporated from the family. Parents don’t have time for one another any more.”  He lamented that there is too much infidelity in marriage and so many broken families. Too many young people live away from their families and the morals have gone down. He said to the parents, “Open yourselves to your children,” and to the children, he said, “Open yourselves to your parents.”

   Ivan continued, “Prayer must return to families. Many times we are asked why there are no vocations to the priesthood. It is because there is no family prayer. If we pray in families there will be vocations, there will be fruits…If we return to prayer, our families will be healed. Our Lady said that our world today is spiritually ill. We cannot have bodily healing without spiritual healing. She brings ‘heavenly medication’ for our sores and wounds. She comes to us because She is concerned about our salvation.”

   Ivan said that Our Lady does not come to criticize us or tell us about the end of the world or the Second Coming of Jesus. She comes to bring hope to our families and to our Church. “The family must be a chapel where we start praying. Christ’s words must be lived in the family itself. The world has a future only if it turns back to God. We are pilgrims traveling on this Earth.”

   Then Ivan spoke about the concrete things Our Lady asks us to do. “Our Lady calls for monthly Confession, Adoration, reading the Bible in the family and praying the Rosary in the family. The Bible should be spiritual food for our lives.”

   Ivan decried, “If you could see Our Lady for one second, I don’t think your life would be interesting any more.”  He said the most important message of Our Lady is prayer from the heart. He advised, “Do not look at your watch when praying or answer the phone when you are praying.”

  He also mentioned that Our Lady would like us to form prayer groups, but we are not doing it. She wants us to pray for three hours a day, and that includes Mass, Bible reading, praying the Rosary, family prayer, helping others by good deeds. Ivan said, “How selfish we can get when it comes to prayer… to pray better is a grace given to those who pray more. When someone loves something they always make time for it.”

   Ivan went on to describe the apparition that evening and that Our Lady came with 3 angels. There was no public message that evening because we had just gotten a public message through Marija the day before.

Editor’s note: The full text of Ivan’s talk in South Bend, IN, on March 19, 2009, can be heard on the website www.marytv.tv. For those without internet access, you can contact us for a free audio cassette of a talk given by Ivan in Ohio in 2004.

Beatitudes for Mothers

By Anita Cugini

   I consider myself flea market/thrift store/yard sale “royalty.”  My passion is searching these places for things from the past---particularly religious items.  As the lyric from one of my favorite hymns tells us, I “Look for God in small things” while rescuing religious items to “recycle” to others.  Somehow, I often pick a person who is at the end of their rope and they tell me, “You made my day.”  I want to be His instrument, nothing more….to help people reconnect with God and our Blessed Lady.  

   A business card hidden in a pile of greeting cards came to me on my last trip to our local thrift store.  The quiet message it speaks is undeniable….”Blessed are the Mothers”.  May all women strive to take our example from Mary, Our Mother!

BLESSED are mothers....who did without for us, they will be rewarded.

BLESSED are mothers....who lost sleep when we were sick, they will find rest.

BLESSED are mothers....who taught us how to pray, they will share God's kingdom.

BLESSED are mothers....who comforted us, they shall be comforted.

BLESSED are mothers....who taught us right from wrong, they will know justice.

BLESSED are mothers....who showed us the Christian life by example, they will live forever.

BLESSED are mothers....who shared with us the meaning of peace, they shall know peace.

BLESSED are mothers....who taught us the importance of loving God and each other, they shall see God.

Editor’s note: Anita is from Philadelphia, PA. To help spread Our Lady’s messages Anita has taken our newsletters to crafts shows and distributed them at her table where she also distributes prayer cloths that she has made.

   Not everyone who goes to Medjugorje receives exactly what they ask for, but I am convinced that everyone who goes there does receive gifts from God.  He gives according to our needs, not our desires.  In truth, the precious treasures I gained more than compensate for what I lost:  My heavenly Father gave me the gift of writing, to share with others on paper whatever He wants the world to know.  I have had many articles published in various Catholic magazines and I continue to make use of this talent.  I am currently working on a couple of books.  I also received the gift of understanding, so that when I read scriptures, I can understand how God wants me to live my life, full of meaningful purpose.  I received the gift of joy in knowing Jesus and Mary, and sharing that love with others.  I received the gift of calm acceptance during my trials.  Patience and perseverance have become my close friends.  Faith, hope and charity fill my heart.  I received a deep desire for Heaven, rather than earthly goods.  These graces are worth more than all I suffered, and if I could go back in time, I would endure it all again.  There is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t give, just to be with my Lord forever. 

   To some extent, I do understand how saints can bear sufferings for Christ.  (Not that I am a saint!)  When God takes from us with one hand, he gives sevenfold with the other hand.  The type of perseverance and faith we receive that enables us to continue, while we focus on Jesus is a supernatural gift from God.  We cannot do it alone, but we can do all in Christ.  How could Peter walk on water?  How could the apostles cure diseases?  They, like we, did nothing on their own account, but God accomplished his works through them, by infusing His loving power into them.  I compare this to someone gasping for air.  When a paramedic infuses oxygen, the patient can breathe.  I used to say, "I can’t."  Now, I say, "With you, Lord, I can!"

   I carry the little stone with me, a physical reminder of the love of Christ and His Mother.  Even though I still suffer, I am at peace.  I don’t know whether I am destined to live out my life one step ahead of bill collectors (I hope not!)  and I’m not sure how long it will take for my health to improve (soon, I hope!)  and I doubt I will ever marry the good Catholic man I dreamed of (no white knights riding up to my doorstep, yet!)  Nonetheless, with God’s powerful gift of acceptance that I received in Medjugorje, I can bear whatever God gives or takes away, and I feel truly blessed that I, a sinner, have been welcomed into the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Sacred Heart of Jesus.

   Now, for the rest of the story . . .

   I have been praying all these years to reconnect with the organization that gave me those first messages, those first glimpses of hope from the stack of papers through my neighbor.  I am certain that those people prayed for me, and I wanted to thank them and encourage them to continue prayers for non-believers like me.  Their prayers are being answered!  I couldn’t remember the address, but I would never forget the blue and white pages, since blue is my favorite color.  I also remembered the general place they were from: Pennsylvania.  Last year, I was invited to a "Medjugorje Mass" offered at a local place by our parish priest, who made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.  While there, a friend offered me copies of the monthly messages she received and suggested I write for my own copies.  I did, and am now receiving The Spirit of Medjugorje newsletters from Pennsylvania; the very same messages from the stack of papers that first set my heart ablaze, beginning my journey from atheism to Catholicism!  So, to staff and readers alike, a very big THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!  Please continue your prayers and good work, and be assured that God truly is listening!  Helping one soul is priceless. 

   For any of you who have not yet made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje: Please believe firmly that God will shower His blessings upon you.  He may not give you what you ask for.  He might just give you more than you ask for.  And I’m sure Heaven will be more joy than any of us can ever imagine!  May God bless and reward each of you abundantly.

Editor’s note: Donna is from Ontario, Canada.

Is Medjugorje Real? (Part 6)

   The following is a transcription of a talk given by Dr. Mark Miravalle at the Medjugorje Conference at Notre Dame University in May, 2008.  It is continued from previous issues and concludes in this issue. The Conference at Notre Dame University this year will be held on May 29-31.  For more information call 574-288-8777.

   Now I do want to draw attention to three particular testimonies, the first two of great significance. The first testimony of authenticity to Medjugorje I want to refer to is from Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. On August 14, 1993, I had the unmerited privilege of going down and spending a couple of days with Mother Teresa. She had asked for presentations to her Sisters of Charity on the proposed 5^th Marian Dogma of Co-Redemtrix, Mediatrix and Advocate, and in the few days down there I gave six presentations on the 5^th Marian Dogma, two of which Mother herself sat in. And no, I wasn’t nervous at all!

(Laughter) It was particularly difficult when she went for the second one and I said, “Mother, I’m not coming up with new material here.”  During that time I went and sat with Mother outside her office in Calcutta, and above her desk area was a picture, a calendar actually, of Our Lady of Medjugorje. And I said to her, point blank, “Mother, do you believe in Medjugorje?” and she gestured to me as follows, putting her finger over her lips as if to be discrete. But she said to me and I quote: “ I asked Our Lady of Medjugorje to come to the first home for the dying in Calcutta and She did.”  Now I unfortunately did not have the guts to ask her, “How did She come, Mother?” But she left it with that, with a great big smile on her face.

   The second testimony, a testimony that is getting more and more well known, is the testimony of John Paul II. Now let’s be clear and factual. John Paul II made no official statement on Medjugorje, but indeed, in many dialogues, I have personally spoken to three American bishops who heard from the lips of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, when asking is Medjugorje authentic, the Holy Father said, “Go and pray for me in Medjugorje.”  But I want to quote something even more objective. This is the statement of the late Cardinal Tomasek, the Eastern cardinal close to the Holy Father who said that John Paul told him, “If I were not the Pope, I would like to go to Medjugorje to help at the work with the pilgrims.”

   We also have received eight documented letters of personal letters written by Pope John Paul II to the Skwarnicki family. This would be a family he knew in Poland, to Marek and Sophia, in which on several occasions he talks about Medjugorje. I am going to read you two quotes from the letters of Pope John Paul II. The first, December 8, 1992, and I quote the words of John Paul II: “I thank Sophia for everything concerning Medjugorje. I, too, go there every day as a pilgrim in my prayers: I unite in my prayers with all those who pray there or receive a calling for prayer from there.”

   The second quote of John Paul II comes February 25, 1994. Once again I quote:” I guess Medjugorje is better understood these days. This kind of ‘insisting’ of our Mother is better understood today when we see with our very eyes the enormousness of the danger. At the same time, the response in the way of special prayer – and that coming from people all around the world – fills us with hope that here, too, the good will prevail.”

   John Paul II, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, not a bad pair of discerning saintly individuals in our time about the authenticity.

The third testimony is least important. In fact, it’s the least important thing I’ll share with you today, but, nonetheless, I feel called to also convey this to you. This is my own personal testimony. As a doctoral student in Rome in December of 1983, I happened into a Roman bookstore and there was a very thin book by Fr. Robert Faricy on Medjugorje. It was one of the first two books on it. Being an impoverished Roman theological student, I did not buy the book, but I went into the corner of the bookstore and read it in about 90 minutes. As I was reading the book, I had a certain inflaming of my heart and I decided that there was enough in this to investigate. So I went to my beloved wife Beth, and we had one child at that time, and I said, “Beth, I’m going to go over to this place. Let’s just fast for the four days I’m gone, we’ll fast for the holiness of our kids. If it is not the Blessed Mother, there’s no loss because we’ll be offering the fast.”  My wife kindly agreed. So I went over.

   On December 7, I arrived at Medjugorje. And in December of 1983, of course there were no hotels, and there were no restaurants, and there were no stores. And so that first night I got there I spent the night in the church with nine other pilgrims from the area of Croatia. We all slept on the pews, and the next morning we were delivered to various homes. On December 8, in one of these homes, five little kids came down with their mother and they started doing the “Sevens.” I decided it would be the time to take the walk to Krizevac.

   At that time, I had a doctrinal topic approved at the Angelicum in Rome entitled “Holiness for the lay person, according to the writings of St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Francis de Sales, and the Doctors of the Church,” and as I was praying the Rosary, walking up the hill of Krizevac, it occurred to me the remarkable presumption that I had in thinking that I could summarize how to become holy as a lay person better than the Mother of God and the Mediatrix of all graces. So I went back to the Angelicum and changed my topic. The first time I offered my topic on the message of Medjugorje to the doctoral board of the Pontifical University of St. Thoma Aquinas in Rome, the Angelicum, it was rejected, and the second time a Father suggested, “Why don’t you add Lourdes and Fatima so you can examine the message in continuity with them?” It was then accepted.

   Apart from my own experience, I just want to pass on that for us, a young family, I prayed, my wife prayed, but we didn’t pray as a family. Our spiritualities were separate. The gift of Medjugorje for our family was twofold. First of all, we prayed as a family. We prayed the Rosary and other prayers as a family. Secondly, we fasted as a family. We thought it remarkable how quickly the children accustomed to fasting. If anything, they became the “fasting police,” not us. “Dad, are you supposed to have that cup of coffee?”  “Mom, are you sure you want to have that roll?”  because they became habituated to saying, of Wednesdays and Fridays, “Yes, we give up something for Jesus, and we give up something for souls.”

   So in conclusion, to answer the question we started with, “Is Medjugorje real?” the most objective, theological answer  I can give you in light of the Church’s teachings and precedence is, “Oh, yes, it is real”  and more than that, She is real! And if you still doubt, I invite you, in fact, I challenge you – go and investigate. Go to this land yourself. Go with an open heart, but if you don’t have an open heart, go anyway because the Mother is waiting for you. Be open and be grateful for the gift of the Queen of Peace. Thanks be to God for Her!

What Else Could There Be To Write About?

By L. Cunningham

   I recently got Volume I, The Best of "The Spirit of Medjugorje.”  I already had Volume II and really did not think I would even read it, because I have so many books on Medjugorje.  I thought, “What else could there be to write about?”  I just wanted to help with the sale of the book.  But, I flipped through and started to read and I could barely put it down.  I have underlined and put stars by articles that I wanted to find quickly and reread again.  I learned so much from that book.  I know you had help from Above in writing it.  It was wonderful! 

    I was diagnosed with a serious health problem in October, 2007. I have always been so healthy and this was a real shock to me.  Volume II of your book helped me so much to finally say to the Lord, “Not my will, but Your will be done.”  It has taken me all these years to get to this stage. 

Our thanks to Dianne Yochim, Agnes Trott, Chris Maxwell, Cindy Bielanin, Vickie DeCoursey, Barb Sirianni, Louise Lotze, Vilma Smith and Joan Leysa for their help with the April mailing.  Thanks to Mary Pat Ringhold for making us more prayer cloths. Thanks to Mike Golovich, Dean Rose and Bernard Gallagher or their photos in this issue.