The Spirit of Medjugorje

"Dear children! In this time of grace, pray with me for the good to win in you and around you. In a special way, little children, pray united with Jesus on His Way of the Cross. Into your prayers put this humanity which wanders without God and without His love. Be prayer, be light, and be witnesses to all those whom you meet, little children, so that the merciful God may have mercy toward you. Thank you for having responded to my call."

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Journey of Hope

By Maureen FitzGerald

     This is written to give testimony to the love and mercy that God has for each of us, and to give all Glory to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and to give honor and thanksgiving to Our Lady of Medjugorje for intercession to Jesus for my healing.
     In April 2022, I was surprisingly diagnosed with advanced cancer of the liver with too many tumors to count, and was offered no hope. They had no treatment, ruled out transplant surgery and I was given prognosis of only three months to live. It was then that my husband and I were inspired to call it our Journey of Hope since no hope was offered. We immediately called our Rosary group members and our family and friends to ask for prayers. It was Good Friday 2022.
     One cancer center out of four offered me experimental immunotherapy. After two treatments, my body overreacted and multiple hospitalizations in June and July put me near death. In July, the cancer metastasized to my spine. Doctors again offered no hope though I reminded them of the Divine Physician being in charge. They told my husband to put me in a nursing home with hospice.
     When I left the hospital in July, I went home. I could not walk other than on my heels using two canes. My nerves were damaged and I had massive edema, and was put into congestive heart failure and I was blind in my right eye. We were praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosaries daily. There were so many Rosary groups praying for me and my family, it had spread from USA to the Philippines, England, Ireland, and even underground China! It was overwhelming and so wonderful. It was like a giant blanket of prayers that covered us and strengthened us. One Rosary group sent me the Surrender Prayer Novena which I began to pray nonstop. It took me four times to pray the Novena before I surrendered my will to God's Divine Mercy.
     In late August 2022, my Journey of Hope continued while going to confession. The priest listened and suggested to me that I had spent plenty of time with doctors, and maybe I needed to spend more time with God. I asked him to repeat it three times.
     Two days later, my friend Julie Rasp asked us what was next. Doctors had no plans. She then asked us to go on her Medjugorje pilgrimage which was leaving in two weeks. It included Fr. Dan Powell, our pastor, who had been spiritually administering to us these past months with Communion, Confession and Anointing.
     We left September 12, 2022 on our Journey of Hope which took us to Medjugorje. My husband's prayer petition was for a miracle and mine was to Our Lady for peace in my heart concerning our daughters. I asked her to take care of their hearts if God's will be to take me.
     After a couple of days, I went alone to early evening Confession walking with my two canes, knowing that if I fell, a kind person from the village or pilgrim would help me get back up. The Irish priest I had for Confession listened and told me to find Father Leon and he would know what to do. I responded, "Who is Fr. Leon and how do I find him?" He told me not to worry and that I would find him. I informed Fr. Dan of my Confession and asked him about Fr. Leon. He was surprised I did not know him, but realized I was staying outside for Mass and would not have seen him. He concelebrated Mass the next day with Fr. Leon and would talk to Fr. Leon about me.

     I met Fr. Leon after his talk outside the yellow hall. Fr. Dan introduced me and Fr. Leon (who was a physician before he became a priest) asked about my cancer. I told him, "An Irish priest sent me to you, and he also told me you would know what to do." Fr. Leon realized it was Fr. Mike who sent me. Fr. Leon asked if he could pray over me and I said, "Yes."
     As Fr. Leon prayed with his hands on my head, I immediately felt this intense heat from my head going down to my spine. I closed my eyes and knew the Lord was doing something and began thanking him for what was happening. Fr. Leon blessed me and we parted. Walking with my two canes I leaned against the yellow building waiting for my husband. With my mask on, I began to smell a beautiful fragrance of roses which overpowered to the point that I took my mask off. Breathing fresh air, I looked around and saw no plants or bushes, just concrete. I put my mask back on, and the intense beautiful fragrance of roses returned. I started crying and thanking Our Lady of Medjugorje for Her intercession to Her Son.
     The next morning, I felt very strong in my legs upon waking and the severe edema was completely gone. My husband helped me up in the room, and I could walk without my canes! We thanked God for this tremendous change, I could now walk and had peace in my heart.
     When we got home to America, I had an appointment with my family doctor. The doctor was shocked to see me with no leg edema and no canes. He asked me what happened. I reminded him I went on pilgrimage and believed God had healed me through the intercession of His Mother Mary. He then went to see my lab work which was just done when I had returned from my pilgrimage. His jaw dropped and he started telling me my tumor marker was 1.3 (less than 3 is normal).
     When I was diagnosed it was 8,000. He also told me the rest of my liver enzymes were perfectly normal. I was pleasantly stunned and amazed at God's mercy and love. He turned to me and said something happened to my body and I needed to get MRIs. He sent me to the Oncologist who ordered an MRI of my abdomen and spine. The resulting abdominal MRI showed all tumors gone except for one which was 3cm, but had been 8cm before. The resulting spinal MRI showed no tumors. We were overjoyed and amazed. The Oncologist had the cancer surgeon come to evaluate the 3cm tumor. The surgeon said he would order a surveillance scan in three months, as he could not understand the results of the recent scans and lab work.

Maureen and Michael on their pilgrimage of thanksgiving in 2023

      At the three-month MRI, the scans showed all tumors were gone!!! We were so happy, and amazed at the results which cannot be explained by medical science. But as we know, nothing is impossible with God. Jesus is our Hope, Our Lady is the Mother of Hope. All thanksgiving to His Divine Mercy and Our Lady's loving answer to all the prayers that went up for our family.
     My husband and I were praying and both of us felt that God's plan for us would be to promote the Divine Mercy devotion as well as give thanks to Our Lady of Medjugorje's intervention by sharing our Journey of Hope. The Divine Mercy Chaplet and Surrender Novena teach us to trust in Him and His plan for us all. We returned in September 2023 to Medjugorje as a Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Our Lord and Our Lady. We ask all who hear about our Journey of Hope to thank God and Our Lady, for we cannot thank Jesus and Our Lady enough for this healing. Along with the Rosary please pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for all those in need of Hope.
     Jesus I trust in you!!!
     Editor's note: Maureen is from Lancaster, PA. For the complete testimony as well as Fr. Leon's testimony go to www.marytv.tv, Fruit of Medjugorje #538. I would like to thank Thomas Fleming, who sent me the link to Maureen's testimony after he read a prayer request I wrote for a member of our mailing crew who has liver cancer. Please keep our friend Georgia in your prayers. It is because of Georgia's liver cancer that you are reading this beautiful story of hope.

Fr. Leon's Commentary on Maureen's Healing

     I'm Fr. Leon Pereira. I'm the chaplain here in Medjugorje for the English-speaking pilgrims. I met Maureen FitzGerald here a year ago, September 2022. I was giving a talk in the hall. When I came out, I was being mobbed by people, and suddenly they parted and Maureen came up with her husband, Michael. She was very emaciated. She didn't look great, she looked a bit yellow, she looked cachectic, and she didn't look like she was very long for this world. When you have cancer and you're riddled with it - she obviously had that look.
     She told me about...what the cancer was, and also said that two priests had told her to come and find me. So after a short conversation, I worked it out. She meant Fr. Michael Fitzgerald [same name as Maureen's husband, but no relation], who is a lovely priest from Cork who has been living here in Medjugorje for the past couple of years. And Fr. Dan Powell, her pastor, as well, directed her to me. So when she came up and she said she had been asked to find me, my first thought was, "I don't know why." So I prayed over her. I asked her if she wanted to be prayed over. I laid my hands on her and I prayed, and when I prayed, the first thing is, I started to imagine all the tumors, where she told me the tumors were, sort of evaporating from her body. But at the same time, I thought - I actually did think - "Oh no, what will happen if she's cured? Because that'll be the end of my life!" So I said explicitly to the Lord, "Please, through the intercession of Our Lady of Medjugorje, let Maureen be cured as a proof to them that Our Lady is truly appearing here in Medjugorje." I said that explicitly. So I prayed over her.

Fr. Leon

     Then a couple of days later, I was back towards the house where I live with the Franciscans, and Maureen just appeared with her husband and she looked better. She was walking a lot better and I said, "Shall I pray with you again?" And so I did. And I said the same thing again explicitly. "As a proof to them that Our Lady is truly appearing here in Medjugorje..." I've never seen Maureen before in my life before that visit last year. And after that, I didn't think I would hear from her. I do remember the look in her husband's eyes - Michael's eyes - I do remember feeling very moved, seeing what he was carrying, the burden he was carrying...
     A few months later, I got an email from Fr. Dan Powell, saying, "Do you remember this lady, Maureen?" And, of course, I did. He told me that she was well, she was cured, that her blood results were normal, and the tumors had shrunk or disappeared. And then shortly after, I had an e-mail from Maureen herself, with a lot more details. And I encouraged her to send all this medical data to the Bishop here, the Apostolic Visitator, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli. So she told me this morning that she did that yesterday. I think she had a meeting with the Bishop and handed over all the medical documentation to him and told him the story as well.
     It is wonderful, it is absolutely wonderful to see her well, on her feet! I have to admit when I saw [her] this year, I didn't actually recognize her. When she said, "Do you know who I am, Father?", I only knew because her pastor was standing nearby. But I didn't recognize her; the contrast was so complete, so different. It's all God's work. He's healed her, but through the intercession of Our Lady of Medjugorje, because that's explicitly what I asked for, that it should be a proof to them that Our Lady truly is here.
     And I think that Maureen also feels that motherly presence of Our Lady, motherly love and care over her and her family. So we praise God for this. It's a wonderful gift. Praise God!
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