August 15, 2010, Feast of the Assumption of Mary
Dear Children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary!
1 - On August 2, 2010. Mirjana received her monthly apparition at the Blue Cross, in the presence of a huge crowd of youth. After the apparition, Mirjana gave us the following message:
"Dear children! Today I call you, together with me, to begin to build the Kingdom of Heaven in your hearts; that you may forget that what is personal and – led by the example of my Son – think of what is of God. What does He desire of you? Do not permit Satan to open the paths of earthly happiness, the paths without my Son. My children, they are false and last a short while. My Son exists. I offer you eternal happiness and peace and unity with my Son, with God; I offer you the Kingdom of God. Thank you."
2 – The Youth Festival was more beautiful than ever before! The speakers were well chosen, their talks were of high quality and well adapted to the youth. Many youth have left with the DVDs of the Festival to be able to watch it with their friends and share their experiences with them. In this way the grace will be widely spread across the world. One evening, 550 priests from over 80 different countries concelebrated Mass, not to mention those hearing confession at the time! What an Awesome vision of our Living Church!
It confirms the prophetic vision that Sr. Briege McKenna had at St. James in 1984, when she first came to Medjugorje: She saw a source of living water gushing forth from the altar, and some youth coming to gather this water in the palm of their hands and quench their thirst. Then she saw them return home and invite their friends to come in their turn to Medjugorje and drink from this marvelous source. The youth multiplied by thousands and Sr. Briege saw them drink eagerly from this living source and be regenerated. This vision is powerfully verified today!
Thank you, Fr. Slavko, for having set up that yearly Festival. You persevered in difficult hours of the war in the 90s, having around you only a small group of youth, scarcely filling some benches of the Rotunda.
The Gospa has Her plan for the youth! Medjugorje has become an outstanding place of inner healing and conversion for them.
3 – A surprise at the confessional. In the beginning of May 2010, an Italian family from Naples arrived at Medjugorje in a state of profound distress: on a spiritual level they had no peace, on a physical level they were carrying a heavy cross: not only was their 5 year old almost completely deaf since birth, but their 8 year old son, Antonio, suffered from epilepsy. His seizures multiplied day by day and occurred more and more frequently. His parents couldn’t bear to see him suffer like this anymore! One evening, they were able to go with the other pilgrims to pray on Apparition Hill with Ivan, and they recited the Rosary under the stars as they awaited the coming of Our Lady. There, they placed everything into Her motherly hands. They hoped for a powerful, heavenly assistance during this pilgrimage.
The next day, the father went to share with the responsible of their group the painful situation of his family, hoping for a comforting word from her part. But she simply said to him, "Go to confession!" Surprised by this seemingly harsh word, the man made a solid examination of conscience. Actually, he was living in sin and had not been to confession in years! Seeing within that word an invitation to make his peace with God, he decided to make a good confession and he sincerely renounced his sins.
To everyone's amazement, his son Antonio (ignorant of this confession) had no longer any seizures since then! As for the little 5 year old girl, upon returning from the pilgrimage, she began to speak, pronouncing intelligible words for the first time...
The father concludes his beautiful testimony in this way: "I am changed! My wife and I see life with different eyes. It is a great comfort for me to have found peace again, and to rediscover the optimism of my wife. Since that confession at Medjugorje, I can touch with my own hands the benefits of a life lived in the light of God."
Yes, the Blessed Mother knows why she asks for monthly Confession.
"When there is sin”, she says, “there is no peace". "Monthly Confession shall be a remedy for the Church of the West". (1982)
“I desire to lead all of you to my Son, your Savior. You are not aware that without Him you do not have joy and peace, nor a future or eternal life. Therefore, little children, make good use of this time of joyful prayer and surrender.” (07/25/2010)
“I ask of you to sincerely look into your hearts and to see how much you love Him (the Father). Is He the last to be loved? Surrounded by material goods, how many times have you betrayed, denied and forgotten Him? My children, do not deceive yourselves with worldly goods. Think of your soul because it is more important than the body, cleanse it. Invoke the Father, He is waiting for you.” (11/2/2009)
4 – The way to follow. A woman arrived at Medjugorje the other day, very agitated and profoundly hurt. She related to me the facts of her life that, truly, demonstrated a series of situations and sufferings difficult to overcome. It was a complete mess! Now, this woman had already come several times to Medjugorje. I asked her, therefore, if she lived the main messages given by Our Lady here.
- Do you apply yourself to prayer everyday?
Um... not everyday, just sometimes.
- Do you practice fasting, so powerful to defeat evil and prevent wars within the heart?
No, I wish to fast, but when the moment arrives, I give up and don’t do it.
- Do you go to confession regularly?
I have not been in several months...
- Do you read a few verses of the Bible everyday?
Yes, I read, but not everyday.
- Do you go to Mass at least every Sunday?
Almost every Sunday.
How could I respond to this woman? How could I effectively help her? I just could not let her leave with flat words watered down. Then I said to her, “The Gospa is going to help you powerfully, she loves you infinitely and wants you to be happy. Don't be afraid, She has her plan of peace for you! But She cannot realize it unless, for your part, you take the means that she gives you. It is for you that She comes to Medjugorje! Therefore, first of all, apply yourself to simply put into,practice what she says, and you will quickly see the change. Do your part, She will do Hers! Do not return to Medjugorje before you have begun to practice these simple messages! You may come again and again, hundreds of times, but if you hear the messages without living them, things will never change!"
That woman- thank God- took well this exhortation, even with gratitude. Let’s pray for her and for all those who still hesitate to take a concrete step towards conversion!
Dear Gospa, how good it is to have a mother like you! Again today, we want to take your hand and allow you to guide us, you who know fully well the unique plan of God for each one of us!
Sister Emmanuel +
(Translated from French)
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PS 1 - Looking for CDs to better live Our Lady’s major messages and help others live them?? On www.childrenofmedjugorje.com check out our webstore for CDs such as The Most Beautiful Mass of My Life, Angels, Fasting, Door to God’s Power, Adoration, Prayer Obtains Everything, True Consecration to Mary, The Joyful Mysteries of The Rosary (5 Joyful mysteries commented), The Rosary With Medjugorje (double CD with the 20 mysteries recited with Mary’s messages), Portraits of Mary, or many other CDs and DVDs from Sister Emmanuel that make great gifts to inspire along your spiritual journey.
PS 2 - Sister Emmanuel’s latest teachings –the Educational Series from St Malo- are AVAILABLE on both CD and DVD format! Choose a single title or purchase all six *: Take the Hand of Your Heavenly Mother; Make Your Peace With God (about Confession); Embrace Suffering As Your Way to Joy; Pray With Your Family: A Remedy for our World Today; Responding to Our Lady's Call to Holiness; Prayer Groups: Our Lady's School for Holiness.
*Buy the DVD set and go on a virtual retreat with Sister Emmanuel, as experienced last fall at the Children of Medjugorje Summit Retreat in St Malo, Colorado!
Order Fr. Tim Deeter’s “Prepare for a Successful Marriage” available on both CD and DVD for more marriage preparation tips at our online shop. You’ll be glad you did! www.childrenofmedjugorje.com
PS 3- You can view the celebrations of Medjugorje live on the site of the parish at http://www.medjugorje.hr/fr/multimedia/tv-web/
PS 4 - Information to pass on to all: The parish of Medjugorje now requires to see the 'celebret' of the visiting priests, and to keep a copy. If they don’t have it, they won't be able to celebrate Mass nor hear Confessions.
