"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)"
Featured article from January's Spirit of Medjugorje
Motherly Hands
By Bernadine Biss
My husband, Joe, and I received an awesome gift while
on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in June of 2015. The day
after we arrived in Medjugorje, we climbed Apparition Hill
along with our group. On our way back, Joe and I stopped
to rest at the plaza in front of Saint James Church. We sat
on a bench directly across from the statue of Our Lady. Joe
took a couple of pictures from afar, and I went up to take a
closer picture.
After dinner, and while we were getting settled into
our room, we talked about seeing the sun peek through
the clouds for just a few minutes at the time we were
praying the third mystery of the Rosary, as we went up
the hill. Joe saw the sun pulsating, and I described what I
saw as the dancing sun. We then decided to take a look at
the pictures we had taken that afternoon from the top of
Apparition Hill and, of course, the pictures of the beautiful
statue of Mary.
We were amazed at what we saw. The left hand of
Our Lady's statue was not stone white as her right hand, and
it appeared to look like a hand of flesh. We sat in awe for
a number of minutes, and we weren't really sure we were
seeing what we were seeing.
The next morning, Joe showed the picture to the spiritual
director of our pilgrimage, Father Bill Kiel. Father smiled
and told Joe that these things are "all a part of Medjugorje."
He further asked Joe to ponder what this meant to him and
why Mary would do this.
The next day, we went back to
the plaza, sat on the bench, and
Joe told me what Father Bill had
said. I knew immediately why the
statue appeared this way to me. I
told Joe that I have, for many years,
asked Our Mother to "hold my
hand and take me to Jesus." With
that, Joe, told me that during the
novenas we prayed before going to
Medjugorje, he would ask Mary to
spiritually guide him during the
pilgrimage. I know She is showing
us She heard our prayers, and that
She is always with us.
"I desire to take you by the hand and to walk with you … I will take your lives into my motherly hands, and I will teach you peace and love, and then I will give you over to my Son" (Our Lady, 3/18/12).
Editor's note: Bernadine lives in Greensburg, PA. Fr. Bill Kiel, who gave us permission to use this story, will be the spiritual director of a pilgrimage to Medjugorje June 10-19, 2016. For further information call Den Todaro at 724-837-7434.