The Spirit of Medjugorje

"Dear children, in this time of grace when you are called to conversion, I am encouraging you, little children: offer me your prayers, sufferings and tears for conversion of hearts that are far from the Heart of my Son Jesus. Pray with me, because, little children, without God you do not have a future or eternal life. I love you, but I cannot help you without you; therefore, say 'yes' to God. Thank you for having responded to my call. (With Ecclesiastical approval)"

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The Miraculous Pilgrim Rosary

      Editor's introduction: In our February 2012 issue, we featured two articles about what has been called the Miraculous Pilgrim Rosary. The man who made the rosary and traveled with it, Richard Bingold, passed away on June 24, 2019, the 38th anniversary of the first apparition in Medjugorje. Recently I became aware that the Central New York Marian Center has temporary guardianship of the Pilgrim Rosary and that it is traveling again. We thought it might be good to re-print these stories to help promote interest again.

The Story of the Miraculous Pilgrim Rosary

By Richard Bingold

     The Stone Rosary was fashioned by the writer from the very stones on top of Apparition Hill, in Medjugorje, where Our Blessed Mother appeared to the children. I remember the very moment, while kneeling there with Fr. Albert Mary Shamon (deceased) - we were praying the Rosary and Fr. Shamon noticed I was picking up many stones. He asked me, “What are you doing?" I answered, “I think I will make a rosary from these stones."
     I had no idea what Our Lady had in store for the rosary She was inspiring me to make. It took six months to fashion by hand; every stone and link had to be carefully prepared. The drilling of the stones had to be submerged in water to keep them from breaking. Then the moment came to drill the first stone I had picked up on the hill as it reminded me of a human heart. It was to become the center stone or medallion, to bear the image of Our Lady's young face surrounded by 12 semi-precious diamond-like stones, forming Her crown, which represents the 12 tribes of Israel.

The heart-shaped stone, while being drilled, gave off the aroma of fresh roses. The fragrance overcame me to the point that I could not control my emotions. Breaking down into tears, it took almost an hour to drill the three openings through which the fine stainless-steel wire would be placed. The crucifix also was inspired. I had taken home some thorn branches from the hill along with a much larger stone that I believed I could make into a cross. The thorns from the branches became the crown of thorns behind Our Lord's precious head. The three other smaller thorns became the nails by which Our Lord was nailed to the cross. It came out beautifully, and I sized it to the stone cross and it looked perfect. I decided to encase both the crucifix and the medallion in liquid glass. It took over 30 coats for each to complete.
     On completion of the rosary, I decided to return to Medjugorje to see if one of the visionaries would present it to Our Lady as a rosary that would travel the world in Her honor. The rosary was presented to Our Lady during an apparition to Vicka in 1994. Our Lady, I was told, approved my intention that this rosary would travel the world in Her name. Fr. Jozo blessed the rosary, and became very emotional upon doing so.
     Upon returning home, I was asked to show the rosary at a Marian conference in Rochester, NY. It was at this conference, under unusual circumstances, that I was given the hand carved, 3' high statue of Our Lady of Medjugorje. This statue was carved in Italy by a family of carvers that kneel in veneration to Our Lady while carving. The statue has been with me for 14 years.

     At that conference, a man approached the area where the rosary and statue were being viewed. His wife was in a wheelchair. She sat motionless, a victim of MS. He told me she had not moved in years and that he would feed her and bathe her. I noticed he had been kneeling in front of the rosary while reading the story about it.
     Getting up from his knees, he asked me, “Would you pray over my wife with your rosary?" I refused several times, telling him to go find a priest. He said “No, it's your rosary. Please pray for her." A woman standing next to me said, “Oh, come on, we will all pray for her." She grabbed my hand and placed it on the woman's head. I felt embarrassed, but silently prayed the “blessing" Our Lady revealed in Medjugorje, that we could pass on to another in Her name. At first I thought the man moved her chair, and upon opening my eyes, I watched her sit straight up in the chair and lift her arm to touch her husband's cheek with her little hand. He collapsed to his knees in tears with his head now on her lap.
     Thus the Ministry had begun... By the end of 2011, 116,000 souls had been prayed over with this rosary!

Healings at St. Barbara's

By Richard Bingold

     In the fall of 1994, I received a call from the Reverend Father Vince Malone, pastor of St. Barbara's Church in Winchester, Massachusetts. He had been approached by Maureen O'Connor, my friend in Reading, about my coming to give testimony and pray over his parishioners. Fr. Malone and I set a date. When I arrived a day early to prepare, I received a call from a woman who asked me to visit her nephew, Jamie, 27, who had been critically injured in an automobile accident and had been in a coma for the past seven months.
     I asked my good friend, Bruce Ellavsky, an FBI agent, with whom I had visited Medjugorje, to go with me to the hospital. Jamie was lying on his bed on top of the sheets and his condition took us by surprise. Bruce and I exchanged questioning frowns of pain and concern: still in a coma, the young man was in a spastic state, shaking without stop.
     I opened its case, and, holding it steady, placed the Miraculous Pilgrim Rosary across Jamie's body. In an instant, he slept as if he had been sleeping at peace all the while. Again, Bruce and I exchanged glances, but now with looks of surprise, relief and wonder. I said, “Let's pray," then I placed my hand on Jamie's forehead and prayed for a minute, not more than two. Seeing him so peaceful, we stood peacefully. Five or six minutes passed. Bruce and I exchanged a glance and prepared to depart. But just before we did, I placed a large picture of Our Lady above his bed.

     The following night, some 300 attended the event at St. Barbara's Church. After my testimony, the main aisle filled with those who, one at a time, came forward to be prayed over.
     Shortly after I began, a woman stood before me and said, “I am Jamie's mother." I was totally surprised. She told me that, though her son would require months of therapy, he had that very morning awakened from his coma. And then she lifted her head and looked me in the eye. “I have my son back," she said.
     That simple statement would have made the service complete, but there was more to come - another four hours of stories of suffering and Our Lord's mysterious ways.
     Immediately behind Jamie's mother stood two young women, sisters, suffering from bipolar disease, the modern name for manic depressive disorder. Both were on medication and both had husbands who were abusing them, one verbally and the other physically. They came up to me, arm in arm... "We don't want you to pray for us, but rather we ask you to pray for our girlfriend, Susan, who lives about an hour away, in Lenox, Massachusetts. Susan is dying of Leukemia. She was in remission and now she is told she has about two months to live." She was to have come with them, the sister told me, but it was too risky, for she was hemorrhaging. I was very moved by their unselfish request, and I proceeded to pray for Susan. In addition, I quietly prayed for these two generous women.
     By the end of the service, which had taken some four hours, the church was empty but for the two sisters, at that moment in the very first pew, heads bowed, praying before the statue of Our Lady of Medjugorje and the Pilgrim Rosary.
     “They are in a bad way," Fr. Vince Malone said, “see if you can console them." I went forward and, standing near them, asked, “Have you ever asked Our Heavenly Father to remove this depression from you?" They looked up, their expressions saying in so many words, “Are you kidding?"
     With that, I said, “Why don't we go ask Him!" One each side of me, I took them by their hands, led them toward the main altar, saying to them, “Kneel and pray to our Heavenly Father, and from the bottom of your hearts, beg Him to remove this depression from you, in whole or in part, whatever is His will for you."
     I got up and went to pack up to leave. Fr. Vince came through the church at that moment, and seeing them in front of the tabernacle asked what they were doing. I said, “They are praying to Our Heavenly Father." Fr. Vince responded, “Oh! O.K." And we left them there, praying.
     Some three months later, I received a call from one of the sisters. She said, “Richard, have I got a story to tell you. My sister and I have not had a moment of depression since that night. I am totally off my medication and my sister is on the mildest prescription. Our husbands are now behaving so well. We had the most joyous and peaceful Christmas you can imagine." I said, “Praise God!"
     “But that's not why I called you," she said. “I want to tell you about Susan. We called her the next morning to relate the evening. Susan asked what time we had prayed for her. We told her about 7 p.m. Susan said that she had felt well at dinner and had got up to go to the bathroom to check her bleeding and found her bleeding had all dried up."..."Richard, since then, Susan has been to every doctor in Boston General Hospital and none can find a trace of the cancer."
     As of this writing, August 15, 2010, Susan is still cancerfree. This event happened in the fall of 1994.
     The events that took place at St. Barbara's Church were certainly very profound. This story reflects on the power of God to heal those who come to Him with humility and faith. We are weak souls that find it hard to trust (faith). Yet, time and time again, Our Lord shows us the way to Him. We question too much and trust too little. Yet through His mercy, He shows us how to come to Him. He draws us near so we may witness His Mercy.
     Editor's note: If you would like to bring the Miraculous Pilgrim Rosary to your parish or conference, you can visit the CNY Marian Center site at www.cnymariancenter.com for more information.