Our “UNCLE LEO”

By J. D. Tiner

   I received with great joy the news informing us that Saint Leopold Mandic has been chosen as this year’s “holy protector” for the Spirit of Medjugorje family.  You see, Saint Leo is my “spiritual uncle,” and now he is yours!

   About five years ago, when I first came to Christ, our Blessed Mother steered me to this holy saint for guidance.  My baptismal sponsor in Switzerland sent a prayer novena, to be made with the intercession of St. Leopold.  I was (and still am) a prisoner on death row awaiting execution.  I had recently come to Christ, but had very limited access to religious instruction.  That being the case, each time I had questions about the faith, I spiritually sought out St. Leopold, making sure to pray the novena prayers, as I looked for guidance in the faith.  Inevitably, a book would be opened to the exact page speaking to the very issue I was seeking to understand, or relevant material would arrive in that night’s mail delivery.  It became clear that I had somehow been adopted by this saint.  In my heart, he had become like a “spiritual uncle,” giving encouragement and instruction.  He became my “Uncle Leo,” who catechized me in the faith. 

   Sometime thereafter, Deacon Allen Vandecovering began coming to death row to bring Holy Communion.  At the time, I was the only Catholic on the row, newly-minted.  The elderly priest had retired, and I was living without the Sacraments.  I made fervent appeal to Saint Josephine Bakhita –my patron saint – and to dear Uncle Leo…”Please ask Jesus to come here!” Shortly thereafter, Deacon Allen was given prison chaplaincy role, a true Godsend.

   Sometime after our friendship developed, Deacon Allen and his wife Teresa were blessed to go on a pilgrimage to Northern Italy.  One of their visits was to Padua and the Capuchin friary where St. Leopold’s relic lies.  His tomb is actually set into a wall inside the monastery.  Deacon Allen and Terri went there to pray to the saint, and to thank him for being such a wonderful spiritual mentor to me.

   Before he left on pilgrimage, Deacon Allen made arrangements for the mainline prison priest to fill in and bring Holy Communion over to the prison’s separate death row unit.  The priest was newly assigned to provide a weekly Mass to the general population prisoners, but not for a lone death row prisoner.  I was just happy to know those other prisoners were cared for sacramentally, and very grateful that Father could fit me into his overloaded schedule while Deacon Allen was away.

   Father arrived that first weekend.  He was required by rule to remain on the far side of a “grill” wall, made of perforated steel.  This wall separates the prisoners’ tier area from the area where the guards generally remain.  The death row unit has no exterior windows or sunlight, only industrial-type fluorescent lighting.  At the priest’s arrival – during the time frame of Deacon Allen and Terri’s visit to the tomb of St. Leopold in Padua – the death row unit experienced what appeared to be a power outage, just as I was coming out of my cell to approach the grill gate to receive Holy Communion.  Pitch blackness enveloped a windowless building for a split second, followed by a glow of automated emergency-power lighting on the guard’s side of the grill wall.

   As I approached the small opening in the unit door, reserved for passing in food trays – and through which I would soon receive spiritual food in the form of the Eucharistic Host – I heard the priest say, “I come to bring you Jesus.”

   I squinted into the dim light, looking through the screen at Father.  And my jaw about hit the floor!  There stood a little slip of a man, a short priest in Capuchin friar robe, with a gray beard falling to the middle of his chest.  A soft glow seemed to envelop him.  All my mind could register was, “He’s the spitting image of Uncle Leo!”  I was then in a bit of a happy fog.  Receiving Jesus from a priest was a rare, choice grace, and receiving Our Lord from an elderly priest who really brought to mind one of my saintly heroes of our Christian faith was like holy icing on the cake.  I was blessed to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion.  Thereafter, I stood with great waves of joy washing over my soul as I watched the little bearded friar exit through the unit’s sally port door.  Once he had vanished from sight, the unit’s main lights began to flicker back on.  I then returned to my cell, although “floated home” might better describe it, so great was my happiness of heart.  My soul was singing!

   The following week, an officer called out to me and instructed, “Get dressed for a visit.  A priest is coming into the building.”  Great!  I had hoped he would return a second time while the Deacon was away.  I wanted to tell the priest about my great devotion to St. Leopold, and to tell him how much he looked like the saint.  And I figured he’d probably been told that before.  “The resemblance is uncanny,” I again thought to myself.

   The priest arrived in the unit.  My noisy electronic cell door ground open.  I came out onto the tier area and approached the grill gate.  There stood a priest on the other side – a tall priest, clean-shaven and wearing modern diocesan clerical garb.  I must admit that while thankful for the priestly visit, I was at the same time a bit disappointed that the Capuchin fellow had not returned.  I received the sacraments and thanked Father for his kindness.

   As a bit of an afterthought I asked, “By the way, Father, who was the priest who came in last week?”  And with all  sincerity he replied, “Oh, that was me, remember?”  I looked at him again.  Yep…tall, no beard, Roman collar.  “No, I mean last week, when we had the power outage.”  Father responded, “I don’t recall any problems with the lights.  That was me who came here last week, too.  I promised Deacon Allen that I would cover for him while he was in Italy.”

Fasting  When  Ill or Pregnant

By Ana Shawl

   The question of fasting when ill or pregnant comes up quite a bit in our Internet Prayer Group discussions on fasting.
   Our Lady said not to! Her words are these: “If you do not have the strength to fast on bread and water, you can give up a number of things. It would be a good thing to give up television, because after seeing some programs, you are distracted and unable to pray. You can give up alcohol, cigarettes, and other pleasures. You yourselves know what you have to do.” (12/8/81)

   In 1982, Our Lady said:”The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer, one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature. Charity cannot replace fasting. Those who are not able to fast can sometimes replace it with prayer, charity, and a confession; but everyone, EXCEPT the sick, must fast.”
   For those who are pregnant, I asked Vicka what she did. She said she ate on the fast days, but she did not eat meat. She ate fish, vegetables, salads. If you are ill, you could try doing the same thing by still eating, but maybe give up something  that you know you shouldn't have – like junk food.
  So, please, if you have a health condition, and your doctor has you on a special diet, then listen to your doctor, since after all, God gave him the gift of helping you, too. Sacrifice something else.     

A “Breathtaking” Visit of Ivan and Our Lady

By Margarita Rodriguez

    I want to share with you some wonderful news of the day when Medjugorje visionary Ivan and the Blessed Mother came to visit our church, St. Brendan's in Miami, Florida.  

   On that day, Our Lady asked Her Son Jesus to take care of me. My big problem was that I had been short of breath because of an operation in 1987. The doctor had to remove half of my diaphragm, and since then, I have been very short of breath. About a year ago, I became much worse, and my right lung collapsed. I went to a specialist, a doctor of pulmonary disease, and he sent me for a scan, and also a test to see how my oxygen level was. The test showed that I had less than 60% function in my lung. So I was really bad, with my shortness of breath.  I had to use three pillows to be able to sleep, and when doing my housework I had to rest often. The doctor told me, “I am sorry, Margarita, I can do nothing more to help you; you have to live with this condition the best way you can.”   I accepted what the doctor told me, and that was fine.  Then I offered to Our Lord the little I have to offer Him. I said to Jesus, “I offer the little that I have to You, because You have suffered so much for us, and our sins.”

   I went to my church to talk to Father Fernando Heria with my friend Mary Fernandez and her husband Manolo to discuss the preparation for the day Ivan was coming to Miami and the Apparition of Our Blessed Mother. It was then that Father Fernando asked me to pray and lead the Rosary. I said, ”Yes, of course,”  and I was so happy – but  then I was worried because of my acute shortness of breath and my cough. I prayed very hard to Our Mother and Her Son Jesus to help me to pray well, as They both knew of my big problem. I asked Them to help me so I could pray the Rosary well on that special day in front of so many people –  about 1500 people.

   When I went to the podium, I felt that I was on a cloud – a Peace so strong came over me.  I felt different, and I prayed the Rosary so well. Then, after the Apparition of Our Blessed Mother, I also prayed the Peace Rosary of Medjugorje - the Creed and seven each of the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Gloria Be.

   That was on a Friday, January 21, but it wasn't until Sunday, the 23^rd, that I realized that I didn't have any shortness of breath. I didn't tell my husband anything at that time. I wanted to be sure first. I started checking myself, and I began doing things in the house, and I felt fine. When I went to bed that evening, I said, “OK, now I am going to do a big test.”  I took the three pillows away that I always had to sleep on, and I was perfect!  I was breathing perfectly!  And then I said, “Now the final test – the way I always like to sleep, FLAT completely, with my stomach in the mattress – and I slept perfectly all night!  Since that day, I continued sleeping that way with NO SHORTNESS OF BREATH!

   I feel so good, and so happy. A few days later, I went to see my doctor, and I told him what happened, and that I was feeling fine, no longer short of breath. He was so surprised, and said to me, “When Our Lord wants to do something for someone HE does it, and HE did it for you, Margarita."

Ivan in Vienna

By Cathy Nolan

   "Dear children! Today I call you to renew prayer and fasting with even greater enthusiasm until prayer becomes a joy for you. Little children, the one who prays is not afraid of the future, and the one who fasts is not afraid of evil.” (1/25/01)

   Our Lady invites us to the way of prayer, fasting and conversion with such seriousness and perseverance!  She just doesn't give up!  Ivan is well acquainted with the Mother Mary's untiring persistence!  On September 23, 2010, Ivan attended an evening of prayer at the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Vienna to a packed crowd.  He answered several questions fielded by Dr. Christian Stelzer.  We can glimpse the Heart of Our Lady in his answers:

   Christian:  "When I came to Medjugorje for the first time, I got a virus from the family I was living with.  It was not a sick virus, but it was a habit that they had.  They fasted on Friday.  And it was very easy to fast in Medjugorje.  But when I came home I noticed it wasn't that easy to fast for a day.   And I have a question, dear Ivan.  On the 14th of August, 1984, you received a special message, an extraordinary message, that shows me specifically how seriously Our Lady takes us and how serious it is for Our Lady that we pray and fast.  Can you tell us something about it?" 

   Ivan:  "Prayer, fasting and penance, forgiveness, those are the key messages through which Our Lady is calling us.  Our Lady says, 'Dear children, may prayer be joy for you. Dear children, he who prays must not be afraid of the future.'  Prayer with joy, that is hard sometimes.  Our Lady knows that we are not perfect.  Our Lady knows that it is hard to concentrate in prayer, that we have difficulties putting away the thoughts that burden us and problems that crush us.  The Mother knows all that.  But the Mother invites us that we may enter and be enrolled in the school of prayer and that we may learn every day in her school of prayer.  We need to do the homework every day.  We receive homework every day and we need to receive it and fulfill it every day.  For me personally, every day for those 29 years, I received homework every day from Our Lady.  And I need to do it, to do my homework, as well as I can.  I try to do what She asks of my life, of my family, and I must put it into my life and my family. 

   “But in truth, we need to know how to forgive.  Harmony is a great gift of God.  Without forgiveness there is no healing, neither a spiritual nor a physical healing is possible.  We need to know how to forgive.  That is why Our Lady asks us so much to forgive.  In prayer and through prayer, we become able to forgive.  Our Lady calls us, endlessly She calls us throughout the years, She calls us to pray.  How many times did She repeat, ‘Pray, pray, pray, my dear children’?   Not like a machine, not with the lips, and not looking at the clock so that we may be finished as soon as possible. She asks us to decide to pray, that we may decide for God, that we may take time apart for God.  May we place Him in the first place in our life and walk with Him into the future. 

   "Our Lady says, 'My dear children, may prayer be joy for you.'  Mother calls us to prayer with the heart.  It means to pray in love and with love, pray with our whole being, that our prayer may become an encounter with Jesus, that our prayer becomes a rest with Him, that our prayer of the heart may be full of peace and joy and come out like that from our hearts.  Pray with love. 

   "In 1984 as the question already was asked, I prepared myself for Mass in the church and I wanted to go to the Rosary before the apparition.  Our Lady came into my room. I was surprised!  Our Lady said, 'Bring this message to the priests, for the world, that everybody in the world may fast on bread and water on Wednesday and Friday.  And that they may pray the three parts of the Rosary.' Our Lady calls us to fasting and to penance.  What is fasting?  Many think and say, what do we get by fasting?  What good comes from fasting, what does it bring me?  Fasting is not a loss.  Fasting is something to receive.  Through fasting we cleanse ourselves, we strengthen our spirits, we strengthen our faith.  We become more secure in our peace.   I can compare fasting with the sentence of the grain of wheat in the Gospel.  That grain we must throw into the earth so it may die.  Then it will bear fruit later.  What does it mean when the grain falls on the hard ground?  No fruit.  Our Lady wishes that the fruit will grow in us.  God asks little of us and gives us 100 fold.  Let us accept fasting and penance with love.  Everything we receive and attempt in love will be much easier for us." (Visionary Ivan in Vienna, Sept. 23, 2010)

   We want to be the kind of ground that makes the wheat grow!  Prayer prepares us to receive and fasting makes us soft and nutrient-filled ground!  This is the environment that makes for conversion, as Our Lady asks!

Editor’s note: The entire interview with Ivan and Marija may be watched at www.marytv.tv in the video library.                                                                                                                                                                    

Set Free in Medjugorje

By Bernard Gallagher

   When John went to confession in Medjugorje he was greeted with a warm welcome from the Irish American priest that sat in the box sheltering from the cold and rain outside. All went well and before he gave absolution the cheery priest asked John if he was familiar with the parable of the Prodigal Son. John replied, “Yes, Father, I am.”

“So you will know about the significance of the father giving his son sandals to wear?” responded the priest questioningly.

John was hesitant with his answer, “Now, about that, I am not sure.”

   “Well, it’s like this,” said the priest, “In those days only slaves and servants went barefoot. Free men wore sandals. So before you go, I am going to put sandals on your feet to make you a free man!”

   John wasn’t sure about this and glanced around to see where the priest would produce the sandals from. He didn’t realize the priest was referring to absolution until he heard the words: “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and the resurrection of his Son, has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

   Shortly afterwards, John decided to go to Mt. Krizevac and pray the Way of the Cross. The rain had stopped and John took his time to pray at each station and gaze at the amazing detail cast in the bronze reliefs. It was at the fifth station, where Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross for Jesus, that John’s eyes were drawn to the base of the plaque. All of a sudden, the words the priest had spoken to him in the confessional came echoing back: “In those days only slaves and servants went barefoot. Free men wore sandals...”   And as John stared at the plaque, he could clearly see that it was Jesus who stood barefoot and Simon who wore sandals.                                                                                                                                                     

          Keeping a Journal

By June Klins

   The night before I left for my first pilgrimage to Medjugorje in 1998, my husband told me that I should keep a journal while I am there. I remember running to K-Mart, in the midst of packing, to pick one up.

   The first day in Medjugorje, we went to hear visionaries Mirjana and Jakov. A stranger walked up to me and asked me why I was not taking notes. He said, “You should be taking notes because you are a teacher.” I asked him how he knew that I was a teacher, to which he replied, “You look like a teacher." When I returned to my room that evening, I wrote down everything I could remember from the talks and my experiences. From that point on, I took notes at every talk I attended.

   Soon after my return home, I was asked to write up my notes each month for “The Spirit of Medjugorje” – a newsletter I never heard of until I came back from that first trip. A few years later, the editor, Joan Wieszczyk, had a heart attack and the newsletter fell into my lap. How that little trip to K-Mart to buy a journal changed my life!  
   After I returned from that first pilgrimage, I continued to keep a journal of all the things that were happening in my life as I began to live the messages more seriously. I quit journaling for a while because I could not keep up with it. But then I began again, when I read that visionary Mirjana said that dates were significant, and Vicka say that nothing happens by chance. I also heard a conference speaker recommend keeping a journal, because it is so easy to forget specifics. She said you might need to go back and look at it to confirm something. I am so thankful that I listened to the advice.

  Two months ago, as I was looking for something in my journal, I was astounded when I read an entry from 1999 – something I would not have remembered, had I not recorded it. The entry said that while in church that day I felt that God was calling me to a ministry regarding suicides. The entry said, “I'll have to pray on it more to realize specifically what I am supposed to do.”  I noted that two hours after I got that feeling, a friend who works at a funeral home called to say she was going to drop off to me that day two books about suicide!  I was dumbfounded at the time, because I had not talked to her on the phone in six months. She had no idea what I had just experienced.

   After reading my journal, I felt such a comfort. It was another confirmation for me that the idea for a website to gather prayers for the souls of suicide victims and those who are suicidal was Heaven-sent. Apparently, because it is such a difficult ministry, it took over 11 years of prayer and fasting to materialize. God’s timing is always perfect.

  For me, keeping a journal has been very beneficial, and I highly recommend it.

Editor’s note: You can visit the website mentioned above at https://sites.google.com/site/divinemercyforlostsouls/.

Don’t Focus on the Past

The following is an excerpt from a talk by Father Larry Richards at the Cleveland Charismatic Conference on July 30, 2010.

   When you confess [previously] confessed sin, you glorify Satan.  If it’s already been confessed, forget about it !…When Sister Margaret Mary had the Sacred Heart of Jesus appear to her, she was supposed to go see the Bishop.  He said, “Go to the Bishop and tell him I want the devotion [to the Sacred Heart] started.” She went before the Bishop and he said, “I don’t believe you,” of course. And the Bishop said, “If you’re really seeing Jesus, then you go back and ask Jesus what I confessed the last time I went to Confession.”  She went back before Jesus, and He said, “I know what he wants. You tell him, ‘I forgot.’”

   When a sin is confessed before God, it is forgotten in the mercy of God forever.  So you’ve got to let it go, too.  The devil is going to love to bring up your past so you don’t stay focused on Him.  Anything that keeps you focused on your past or on yourself is from the evil one. It is NOT from God. 

   Remember Peter?  As Peter walked on the water, he was doing fine as long as he looked at Jesus.  As soon as he looked at himself – “I can’t walk on water” – and looked at the storm – “There’s a big storm around me” – he fell. How did he get picked up again?  He said, “Jesus!” And he focused again on Jesus. “Help me!” 

The following prayer was dictated by Our Lady to Medjugorje locutionist Jelena on June 22, 1985. It was taken from the book Messages and Teachings of Mary at Medjugorje by Fr. Rene Laurentin and Dr. Rene Lejeune
                                                        

PETITION TO GOD

Oh God, our heart is in deep obscurity,

in spite of our union to Your Heart.

Our heart is struggling between You and Satan;

do not permit it to be in this manner!

Every time that the heart is divided

between good and evil,

let it be enlightened

by Your light and let it be unified.

Never permit

for there to be able to exist in us two loves,

that there can never co-exist in us two faiths,

and that there can never co-exist in us

lying and sincerity,

love and hatred,

honesty and dishonesty,

humility and pride.

Help us, on the contrary,

so that our hearts may be elevated toward You

just like that of a child.

May our heart be ravished with peace

and continue to always have the nostalgia of it.

May Your Holy will and Your love

find a permanent place in us, that at least

sometimes we would really wish to be Your

children and when, Oh Lord,

we will desire to be Your children,

remember our past desires

and help us to receive You again.

We open our hearts to You

so that Your holy love will remain in us.

We open our souls to You,

so that they may be touched by Your holy mercy

which will help us to see clearly all our sins,

and will make us realize

that which makes us impure is sin.

God, we want to be Your children,

humble and devout,

to the point of becoming your cherished and

sincere children,

such as only the Father

would be able to desire that we be.

Help us, Jesus, our brother,

to obtain the goodness of the Father in our regard,

and to be good to Him.

Help us, Jesus,

to understand well what God gives us,

although sometimes we foil to perform a good act,

as though it were for us an evil.

Editor’s note: Jelena will be speaking at the National Medjugorje Conference at Notre Dame, May 13 – May 15, 2011. For more information call 574-288-8777

Prayer – the ultimate wireless connection.

The Sorrows, Joys of St. Joseph

March 19 is the feast of St. Joseph. One of the many devotions to this great saint is the Seven Sorrows and Joys of St. Joseph. To see the whole novena, scroll down.

Thanks to Sally Dugan, Barb Sirianni, Cindy Bielanin, Mary Kerman, and Marge Spase for help with the February mailing. Thanks to Sue Taccone for typing and  Mike  Golovich for his pictures.