EDITOR: JUNE KLINS PHONE: (814)

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1 THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE P.O. BOX 6614 ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA SUBSCRIPTION RATE - FREE WILL OFFERING - PLEASE SEE PAGE 8 If this is the first time you have received this newsletter, and you would like a Beginner s Guide, please contact us for one. EDITOR: JUNE KLINS PHONE: (814) jklins1981@verizon.net EDITOR EMERITUS: JOAN WIESZCZYK SPIRITUAL ADVISOR FR. WILLIAM KIEL VOL. 31, NO. 12 PUBLISHED MONTHLY DECEMBER 2018 MONTHLY MESSAGE OF NOVEMBER 25, 2018 ON THE 25TH DAY OF EACH MONTH, THE BLESSED VIRGIN GIVES A MESSAGE TO THE VISIONARY, MARIJA, THAT IS TO BE GIVEN TO THE WORLD. We thank subscriber Debi Byham for the original mixed media collage above, entitled Humble Queen. To view this beautiful work of art in color, please click on this month s Current Issue tab on our website. (See our September 2017 issue for Debi s story.) We wish all of our readers a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year. Dear children! This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving. God is giving Himself to you that we may love Him above everything. Therefore, little children, open your hearts and families, so that this waiting may become prayer and love and, especially, giving. I am with you, little children, and encourage you not to give up from what is good, because the fruits are seen and heard of afar. That is why the enemy is angry and uses everything to lead you away from prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call.

2 Peace of Jesus at Christmas and Always During the Christmas season, we hear, May the joy and peace of Christ be with you. What do these words really mean? Hopefully, the person extending the greeting is asking Jesus to fill you with His blessings of joy and peace. When you receive the joy and peace of Jesus you Fr. Bill Kiel will be a carrier and a witness of peace and joy in the places where you live. (12/25/10) As we speak of peace in this sense, it is God s peace which no one can destroy. It is peace in the heart which God gives to those whom He loves (12/25/11); by our Baptism we are, in a special way, called and loved. Let us accept God s peace and give it to others; then the greeting of Christmas peace and joy will be authentic. Remember, we cannot give what we do not have. The Blessed Mother was asked through the angel Gabriel if She would accept becoming the mother of Jesus. Mary s yes was an important part of God s love and mercy coming to us through God s Son, Jesus. When we see the nativity scenes during the Christmas season, we are reminded of the change Jesus brought into the world. The Son of God came into the world simply and humbly, and lived a life following the will of His Father. The worldly luxuries were not of importance. Jesus was on earth to build up the Kingdom of His Father, and Jesus surrendered His life to carry out that mission. Do not forget you are passers-by on this earth and that things can give you small joys, while through my Son, eternal life is given to you (12/25/07) should help us remember the reason for the Christmas season, the birth of our Savior. Hopefully, we can follow the exemplary life of Jesus and surrender our will to the will of God. Our thanks to Sue Taccone, Diane Niebauer, Marge Spase, Rose Heintzel, Tom McIntire, Chris Falk, Marge Burchard, Joan Peterson, Chris Opron, Peggy Chludzinski, Peggy Smith, Darleen Wilkinson, Estrella Igras, Omega Cooper, Dan Zuba, Pat and Tim Berrier, Laura DiBacco, Kathy Luschini, and those who want to remain anonymous for their help with the November mailing. We thank Louise Lotze and Susannah Klins for their photos in this issue. We also thank our proofreader, Pat Berrier, our webmaster, Jason Klins, and our prayer group administrator, Patti Millar. By Fr. Bill Kiel As baptized followers of Jesus, we have the responsibility to carry on His mission to build up the kingdom of God and be models of Jesus. During this Christmas season, we have the opportunity to model Jesus by not becoming overtaken by the unneeded things of the world. We should remember the greatest gift to give or receive is LOVE. We receive love from God and we give love to others. Receiving the love of God, we also receive His peace. Many people have tried every imaginable way to acquire peace, but have remained discouraged and alone, and then finally they came to opening themselves to true peace. It is important to remember God sent His Son to express that love in human ways that serve as models for us to live. Do not be afraid to open your heart and to completely surrender yourself to Jesus, because only in this way can He enter into your heart and fill it with love, peace and joy (message to Jakov, 12/25/98). As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, remember Jesus is your peace. No one can give you peace as He who is the King of Peace. Adore Him in your hearts, choose Him and you will have joy in Him. He will bless you with His blessing of peace. (12/25/06) May your Christmas season be filled with the love, joy and peace of Jesus. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us. Editor s note: The above reflection is a reprint from our December 2013 issue. Fr. Bill has been ill and unable to write at this time. Please keep him in your prayers. Message to Mirjana on November 2, 2018 Dear children, My motherly heart suffers as I am looking at my children who do not love the truth, those who are hiding it as I look at my children who do not pray with their feelings and actions. I am sad as I am saying to my Son that many of my children no longer have faith, that they do not know Him my Son. That is why I call you, apostles of my love: you strive to look to the very depth in human hearts and there you are certain to find the little hidden treasure. To look in this way is mercy from the Heavenly Father. To seek the good even where there is the greatest evil to strive to comprehend each other and not to judge that is what my Son is asking of you. And I, as a mother, am calling you to listen to Him. My children, the spirit is mightier than the flesh, and, carried by love and actions, it overcomes all obstacles. Do not forget: my Son has loved you and loves you. His love is with you and in you when you are one with Him. He is the light of the world and no one and nothing will be able to stop Him in the final glory. Therefore, apostles of my love, do not be afraid to witness the truth. Witness it with enthusiasm, with works, with love, with your sacrifice, and, above all, in humility. Witness the truth to all those who have not come to know my Son. I will be alongside you. I will encourage you. Witness the love which never ends because it comes from the Heavenly Father who is eternal and who offers eternity to all of my children. The spirit of my Son will be alongside you. Anew I am calling you, my children: pray for your shepherds, pray that the love of my Son may lead them. Thank you. Prayer Intention of Pope Francis for December In the Service of the Transmission of Faith: That people, who are involved in the service and transmission of faith, may find, in their dialogue with culture, a language suited to the conditions of the present time. As of November 25, 2018, the number of Masses reported for Our Lady s intentions was 26,391. Thank you THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE DECEMBER 2018

3 Fr. Leon Answers Objections to Medjugorje By Cathy Nolan Often Fr. Leon [the chaplain to the English speaking the Mother of God, I would have become a monk or nun or pilgrims in Medjugorje] will give a little talk before the something. Then you have to ask yourselves, Why haven t English Mass, which we call a Sanctuary I become a monk or nun? It s not too Snippet! (You can listen to all the Snippets late! I have a habit in your size. Now this here: I call Vauzou syndrome. I name it after He does short teachings that help us in our the novice mistress of St. Bernadette. spiritual life. The Snippet for yesterday, Sr. Vauzou said, Why would the October 9, was so helpful! He answered several Mother of God appear to an illiterate, objections to Medjugorje as an apparition uneducated sister? She should have site. We all encounter people who are cautious appeared to a marvelous, fantastic, or even afraid of Medjugorje. Fr. Leon s points clever person like me. Now think about will help us to allay their fears. Medjugorje is La Salette. In La Salette, which is an a grace for our time! approved apparition, the two visionaries Fr. Leon s Snippet for October 9, 2018: were hounded by the public and they In the name of the Father and of the Son both went off the rails. Melanie, the and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today I thought girl, joined four different orders and I would talk to you about possible objections she died outside all of them, dispensed to Medjugorje. Some of the objections that from her vows. Maximin, the boy, was people come up with (these are the sort of thrown out of high school, then thrown things you hear or have already heard, or out of medical school, then tried to maybe you have these objections yourself...): be a soldier and failed at that. Tried to One of the things people say is that you train as a pharmacist, and later lent his cannot go to an unapproved apparition site. name to a man who made liquor, and You cannot go to an unapproved apparitions they called it Visionary Liquor. He was site. Well, what happened at Lourdes? Lourdes swindled out of a lot of money. Then he took four years to be approved. Fatima took died, penniless, alcoholic and in a ditch, fifteen years to be approved. When they were Fr. Leon alone. But he was a real visionary. So approved, the bishops said that one of the reasons they were don t confuse being a visionary with being a saint. This is approved was the continual numbers of people who were a good reason why we should leave them alone and not coming there while it was still not approved. So that is one hound them. of the signs that the Church looks for. So to say that you Finally, two last things. People say Our Lady doesn t make cannot go to a place that is not approved yet is not true. appointments to appear, because here She appears at 5:40 Then people say that the apparitions at Medjugorje [6:40 in the summer] every day. What did She do in history? have gone on too long. OK, how long is too long? In Laus Well we know at Guadalupe, She said to come back tomorrow, in France, the apparitions went on for 54 years daily same time and same place. Fatima: come back every 13th of apparitions. Fatima, we know that Sr. Lucia continued to the month, same time, same place. Lourdes: Will you do me the have apparitions for 88 years! OK? So how long is too long? great grace of coming here every day for 15 days? So from this we Then they say that the approval is too slow in coming. see that Mary is perfectly capable of making appointments. Champion in Wisconsin took 151 years to be approved. Laus And finally, people complain that it is the same message, in France took 344 years. So the average number of years for over and over. This I submit to all the mothers here. You Marian Apparitions Sites for approval is 64.8 years. Here in know if you repeat yourself, obviously you must be fake. Medjugorje, we are near 37 years, so we have another 27.8 So to all the mothers here, how many times do you tell your years to go before we are average. children to come down to dinner? How many times do you Then people say there is a danger in going to a place tell them to clean their rooms? Just once? Because if you like Medjugorje. This is true. According to Archbishop repeat yourself, you must be fake. OK, if Our Lady has to Leonard of Brussels, he said there are two dangers in going repeat Herself, it means that we are bad children! In the Name to Medjugorje. Number 1 the first danger in going to of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Amen. Medjugorje is that it may be false. And if it is false, we are June 25, 2007: Dear children! Also today, with great joy in my all in danger of being deceived. If we are being deceived, we heart, I call you to conversion. Little children, do not forget that are being deceived into what? Praying the Rosary every day you are all important in this great plan, which God leads through from the heart, going to Mass every day, going to Confession Medjugorje. God desires to convert the entire world and to call it once a month, reading our Bibles, fasting on Wednesdays to salvation and to the way towards Himself, who is the beginning and Fridays. Oh happy deception I wish the whole world and the end of every being. In a special way, little children, from were deceived in this way! Number 2 then he says there is the depth of my heart, I call you all to open yourselves to this great a greater danger to Medjugorje. This is the danger of What grace that God gives you through my presence here. I desire to if it is true? Because then it is a grace from God, and how thank each of you for the sacrifices and prayers. I am with you and have we responded to it? So that is the greater danger! I bless you all. Thank you for having responded to my call. Then people say, Oh the visionaries lives! If I had seen DECEMBER THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

4 As I had several missions last month, I can t wait to share with you an incredible grace I ve discovered that is being poured out in connection with newborn Baby Jesus. On the first day of this Great Jubilee beginning the new millennium, the Gospa gave to each one of us the Baby Jesus, to be put at the first place of our life as our leader. Therefore I ve decided throughout this year to focus on the Baby Jesus whenever I speak. It has been amazing to see the miracles of healing and liberation that Baby Jesus is performing wherever He s welcomed and embraced. This Baby is just dynamite! Here s one testimony (among many) from a 49 year-old lady in Denver: When Sister was here last Saturday at our parish, she talked about Christ and a way of receiving Him as a baby. It seems like a different type of idea because I had always thought of Christ mostly as an adult. I also thought of Him as I was most used to seeing Him on the Cross the Crucified Christ. She had the people in the church close their eyes and pretend to hold the Baby Jesus close to their heart. I noticed many people were deeply moved by this experience. I must tell you what happened to me when she had us close our eyes and hold the Baby Jesus. As I held Baby Jesus, He became very real. He was no longer on the Cross, but in my arms. The connection was made with Him very much like a mother makes with her child. Then I also began to have another feeling as I held the Baby Jesus. I felt my own son, Peter, as a baby my son who I had only held on two or three occasions as a child. I had become pregnant at 16 and relinquished him for adoption. Years later, I got married, but Last December, one of our many generous subscribers sent a large donation large enough to cover all of our international subscriptions which had not gotten renewed for the year. I sent out a letter to the international subscribers to let them know that an anonymous donor had paid for their renewal, and that if they wanted to send a thank you note, they could send it to me and I would forward it to him. One person who responded was Stephen Sematiko, from Uganda. I sent Stephen s thank you note to this man, we will call Bill (not his real name). Stephen happened to mention in his thank you note that through Our Lady of Medjugorje, St. Philomena Primary School was started in his village, and that 350 children were now receiving a good education. Since Stephen s note was an , his address appeared on the note, and Bill felt inspired to Stephen to inquire about the school. Bill asked if there was anything that they needed. Stephen This Baby is Just Dynamite! By Sr. Emmanuel I could never have children. Sister had talked about what it would be for a baby never to have been held or cuddled. In that moment while I was holding Jesus as a baby, I also reconnected with my son as a baby, the child I so needed to hold and cuddle. I began to feel the emptiness due to that loss. As I felt the pain, I began to cry. It was a great release for me. I felt that I had experienced a deep healing. I must also tell you that my son and I were reunited when he was 19 years old. He is now 33. He suffers from a disorder caused from feelings of abandonment. As I cradled the Baby Jesus in my mind, I had the sensation of not only holding Jesus, but also my baby. I felt that a spiritual healing took place for not only me but for my son as well. After our day of prayer, I spoke to my son and told him what had occurred while I held the Baby Jesus. He quietly listened. He told me a few days before he had gotten himself a statue of the Virgin Mary. He also told me he loved me. This I believe is a spiritual healing he never said those words to me before! Years ago, I had been praying the Rosary three times a day. But then I had stopped. I am now recommitted to praying as I was before; but the way Our Lady inspires me now, and speaks to my heart during the mysteries, it s as if everything She lived in those mysteries is now mine She s continuing that healing! I know God is working in our lives through Mary. I m so grateful! There is an incredible healing in holding Jesus as a child. I thank God for the healing I received and give Him the glory. Children of Medjugorje, March 1, 2000 report Preserve the warmth of the family because the warmth of the whole world cannot make up for it. ~ St. Charbel (our patron saint this year) Stephen s Miracle By June Klins told him about the sponsorship program where a person donates $25 a month and that will pay for the student s education, as well as breakfast and lunch, school supplies, uniforms, medical supplies, and more. Bill wondered what else was needed, and Stephen told him they were hoping to build one more block of classrooms. Long story short, within a few months time, Bill got two friends to chip in with him, and said they would donate the amount needed to finish the entire new block of classrooms!!! Isn t God amazing how he worked to help these children? All because Stephen wrote a little note of thanks! There is more to this story, though. In July, Stephen wrote to me with the news that he received the money from Bill and that they used the money to finish four classrooms and were planning to add two The new block of classrooms at St. Philomena Primary School THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE DECEMBER 2018

5 more classrooms. Stephen further explained that he had a list of many friends and relatives who had died, and that one day he told them, If you get us money and we finish these classrooms, I will offer more prayers and Masses for you. He continued, I decided to take the list to Fr. Francis, the superior at Padre Pio Friary. I asked for 33 Masses, and before they could end, I had a phone conversation with Bill. Miraculously, that s when he told me he is donating that money to assist the school! Stephen added, I met Fr. Francis last week and shared with him this great testimony and also asked for 33 Masses more in thanks for this great favor. After I asked Stephen permission to share his testimony, he replied, I realized the souls listen and hear all the prayers. It took only three days to see this miracle!!! When I spoke to Bill, I only expected a donation of perhaps $200 or $300, but I was surprised when he mentioned that big figure. I have a list of relatives and friends, and every time I offer them Masses, they help me. They have helped me so much to build this school; soon we shall be having 15 classrooms. I offer them Masses and something miraculously happens! Our Lady told Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich, I entreat you to instruct people to pray for the suffering Souls in Purgatory, for they certainly will pray much for us out of gratitude. Prayer for these holy souls is very pleasing to God because it enables them to see Him sooner. According to Our Lady of Medjugorje, Bishop Johnbaptist Kaggwa blessing the school and grounds with holy water Medjugorje is a place where one can hear unusual stories from the real lives of individuals or groups of people. It is fertile soil for the truth about our yesterday, present and tomorrow. Our Lady s presence, her Motherly patience, extends trust and security to people so that they can step out from their obscure reality and come face to face with the truth. Many pilgrims take off their shoes and walk barefoot here. So I asked one young man who was walking toward the church, Why are you barefoot? He answered, I climbed Cross Mountain to pray that I may love and accept my wife again. He said this, and then continued on his way toward the church. The man s answer obviously shows that he has understood Jesus, and that he understands what Our Lady is asking of us. He did not come on pilgrimage to pray for others to change and accept him, but rather he wants to change himself. He has fully accepted Jesus call for conversion. Our Lady s call to conversion is only an echo of what Jesus The Barefoot Pilgrim By Fr. Mario Knezovic as well as a number of saints, more souls are released from Purgatory on Christmas Day than any other day. As I have written many times before, praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory is a win-win-win situation. We are helping them, we are pleasing God, and we are helping ourselves (since they pray for us in gratitude). And if we have Masses said for the souls, we benefit the ministries of the priests or the missions that we use. Let s empty Purgatory this Christmas! Dear children; Today I would like to invite you to pray, day by day, for the souls in Purgatory. Every soul needs prayer and grace to reach God and His love. This way, you too, dear children, can find new intercessors who will help you in life to know that all things of the earth are not important for you. It is only Heaven which you need tend to. For this reason, dear children, pray without interruption so that you may help yourself and those to whom your prayers will bring joy. Thank you for your response to my call. (Our Lady, 11/6/86) Editor s note: If you would like to sponsor a child or send a one-time donation for St. Philomena Primary School, you can visit greenvillagechildrencenter.org. In the U.S., donations are tax-deductible through Mary Mission, Inc., Stephen informed me recently that the house where many of the school s teachers live is being demolished, and the school needs to find alternative lodging for them. Stephen wrote, In Uganda it is expected that schools provide accommodations for the teachers; in fact teachers usually sleep on the school premises. said and expects from us. Spiritual writer, Gregory Mayers writes: One cannot shake off a nightmare until he wakes up. The writer wishes to emphasize that we need to wake up and turn around. We often wait for someone else to make a move instead of us. The message of Jesus, like the message of Our Lady, always aims to address each one of us. We live in a time when we are especially called to awaken in our faith, and to walk to the manger in Bethlehem. Only if we are awake in our faith are we able to change and come out of the nightmare. This is the time of decisions, promises and new beginnings. May our promises be a covenant with God. When awakened in faith, we will be able to shake off the nightmare and despair, ready to remove the shoes from our feet and step onto holy ground, waiting to meet the Newborn King the ultimate goal of every pilgrim of the Queen of Peace. Mir-Peace Letter, December 2003 In the parish of Medjugorje, the villagers practice the age-old custom of fasting before the feast (of Christmas). The solemn Christmas Eve fast includes a holy supper of a few simple foods symbolic of what Mary and Joseph would have had on the very first eve of Christ s birth in Bethlehem bread, honey, dried fruits and nuts, eaten at dusk, by the light of a single blessed candle. The villagers then gather at the church for Holy Midnight Mass to begin the joyful celebration of Christmas. Mir-Peace Letter, December THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE DECEMBER 2018

6 Our Blessed Mother started appearing in Medjugorje to six visionaries in Medjugorje is now in the country of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which used to be Yugoslavia. It has been a place of great conflicts between the Croatians (Catholics), Serbian Orthodox and Muslims. It was also the location of the assassination of the ArchDuke, which led to World War I. It is also a meeting place between the East and the West. Why did Our Blessed Mother come here? Probably because of the high spirituality of the people. The people built a large, fifty-foot-high cross on top of one of their mountains today called Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain). They had no vehicles or modern construction equipment there were no roads up the mountain. They had to carry it all rocks, sand, cement and water. And they built this beautiful cross as a reminder to all that they are Christians in the Lord and were celebrating the 1,900 th year anniversary of their Savior. I began to get interested in Medjugorje. I began to talk to people who went there, and found that pilgrims who went to Medjugorje came back and were changed for the better. They became better Catholics and wanted to do more for the Lord. They wanted to go to daily Mass, weekly confession, would fast once or twice per week, and they would pray more. I also started reading the messages coming out of Medjugorje and found that they were not in conflict with the Bible or Catholic Doctrine. I began to believe in Medjugorje. I was also out of work. I was always able to get good jobs and so I was not worried, even though it was going on three months or more without work. Then something special happened. I made a deal with the Blessed Mother. I think, at this time, my faith was going from my head to my heart and I did something I never did before. I trusted in the Blessed Mother. I said to Her, Blessed Mother, get me a job where I can start the first of the year and I will come to Medjugorje to see you for Christmas. I meant it it was early December and if She would get me a job where I could start the first of the year, in January, and not now, I would come to Medjugorje to see Her for Christmas. Two to three days later I received a telephone call from a company in the area that wanted me to come for an interview. The company s name was familiar and I checked my records and found out that I sent them a resume in September of this year, and now they were calling me? So I went and took the interview and it went well. They wanted to see me again in a few days, but this time, to be interviewed by the President. The interview went well with the President. He gave me an offer and I accepted. And then he said: It is silly to start work now. We shut down for the holidays. Why don t you start at the first of next year? I accepted and went home awe-struck. My prayer to the Blessed Mother had been answered She was now calling me to Medjugorje. My Christmas Pilgrimage By Joe McNamara But I didn t even have a passport. I never went overseas. Now I would go by myself overseas alone and to a foreign country that hardly anyone every heard of Yugoslavia and Yugoslavia was a communist country. I had to really trust in God. Well these things are little to the sight of Our Lord. I went and got myself a passport, got plane tickets to Yugoslavia via New York City and Mostar and packed my things. I didn t really tell many of my friends, as I was afraid they would laugh and wouldn t understand. Medjugorje is a very special place. Rosaries turn gold, people see miracles of the sun and pilgrims who go there, come back wanting to do more for Our Lord. I was very curious about seeing a miracle of the sun. So one day, returning from the bank and getting traveler s checks, I stopped the car at our subdivision and looked up at the sun. To my astonishment, the sun and the sky turned green. I was able to look at the sun without hurting my eyes or even having any tears in my eyes. I could see the sun spin at a fast speed and became frightened. God was working a miracle for me. The sky and the sun were green and remember, my name McNamara I am Irish and the Irish color is green. Praise God! He was welcoming me to Medjugorje. I went home quickly and told no one about this. And so I went by myself. The plane ride was from Chicago to New York change planes fly across the Atlantic long flight and doing a lot of looking out of the windows, thinking of my friends talking about me at home: Where is Joe? Trust in the He is flying to Medjugorje and all by himself LORD and he will for Christmas. Does help you he have a (Proverbs job yet? I 20:22). didn t care. I trusted in the Lord. Somehow I arrived dead tired for traveling more than 24 hours straight fell asleep and dreamt about my mother who was dead at this time. It is my belief that it was my mother now in Heaven who brought me to Medjugorje. My mother was a doer. She would do many things for people. I could picture my mother in Heaven approaching the throne of the Blessed Mother, Blessed Mother, I have a son down there. Give him something to do for Our Lord. I stayed at one of the homes for the pilgrims, met some people from America, and then went to St. James Church in Medjugorje to pray and thank the Lord. Medjugorje is a very small town. Only a few hundred people were living there in the beginning of the apparitions. Yet they, the town s people, built this large church which can seat and stand a couple thousand. St. James in the early days, artwork by Michael Conti DECEMBER THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

7 Most people are struck by the large amount of people going to Confession. In America, only a few people go to Confession anymore. If you go to Confession in the afternoon on Saturday, which is a normally scheduled time, you might find five others besides yourself going to confession for a church of five to six thousand. Yet in Medjugorje, people stand in line on the inside of the church or on the outside of the church. It appeared the priests were giving some very special things away for the people to sacrifice themselves so. And they were they were offering a life with Jesus for the people. My first trip to Medjugorje I went there six times was really non-eventful at first. No miracles, no miracles of the sun, no rosaries turning gold, and yet God had a surprise for me on the last day. A new friend and I decided to climb Mt. Krizevac Mt Krizevac is a good climb. It is not that high, but the steps are very high and it is tough on your joints. But I was young at that time, and we climbed Mt. Krizevac only to spend some time at the top and by the magnificent cement Cross that the people built. Some people even see this massive cement Cross spin from afar as a special treat from Our Lord. It was nice and quiet up there. You have a commanding view of the countryside. You can hear many roosters crow and even hear farm animals such as sheep When I was a young girl, I had a book about St. Brigid of Kildare. I loved her story, not just because we shared a similar name, but because of her simplicity in her love for God. Her story is well worth looking into for further details, but I m going to tell you my favorite part of her story. St. Brigid came from a family of noble birth, but her parents sent her off to live with a teacher in the country to learn her studies, and she was given the task of overseeing the cows in the pasture and making butter from their milk. Often times she would see caravans on their way to the castle for dances and the such. She was always amazed at the time these young women, on their way to the castle, would spend making themselves beautiful for the dances they would be attending. She compared their beauty to the wild flowers in the fields where she was watching the cows. To her, these simple flowers were of incomparable beauty. She spent much of her time in the field making crosses out of the tall grass of the field and giving them to the many peasants as they passed by. On one of these quiet days, as St. Brigid was tending the cows in the field and pondering God s beauty in the nature all around her, the Blessed Mother appeared to her holding the infant Jesus. It is said that the Blessed Mother gave little Jesus to St. Brigid to hold. She held the infant Jesus and He soon fell asleep in her arms. After a little while longer, she gave little Jesus back to His mother. This experience had forever impressed upon St. Brigid the love of her God in this very simple way as the baby Jesus. View from Mt. Krizevac Preparing our Hearts By Bridget Perez and cows. It is very peaceful. On the way down, we were very tired and decided to stop at a restaurant for a drink. I looked at the sun from the inside of the restaurant and could clearly see the miracle of the sun. When you look at the sun in its normal way, it is flat. Not so this time. The sun was gold and round and it was spinning. Around the sun were three circular rings that were also in-tune with the sun. I shouted to my companion friend: Look, look, a miracle of the sun. He saw the same thing a golden and round sun which was spinning with three golden rings around it also spinning in-tune with the sun. Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! We wanted to make sure that this was not a trick with the glass door and windows we were looking out from, and so I went outside the restaurant and saw the same thing. It was truly a miracle that God was working for us and it was on the last day of our trip. Thank You, Lord! Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Medjugorje is a very special place a place which affected my spirituality and moved it from my head to my heart. Editor s note: Joe McNamara passed away on June 4, He was in the midst of setting up a TV program in the Philippines called Mama Mary is Calling Us. He wrote a booklet called Prayer Groups about the first prayer group that Our Lady started in Medjugorje. It has been translated into seven languages. I was thinking about this story again as we are in the season of Advent and are preparing for the coming of the infant Jesus on Christmas. St. Brigid must have had a great peace in her soul for the Blessed Mother to bring Her little baby to her and for Him to fall asleep in her arms. If St. Brigid would have been as concerned with the many interests of this world, as were the other girls on their way to the castle, she would not have been prepared to hold little Jesus in her arms. Similarly, are our souls in a state of peace and recollected so that we will be ready on Christmas for when Our Lady will give us Her baby Son to hold so close in our hearts? Will we be excitedly waiting for this moment and longing for His quiet presence? My prayer for all of us is that we silence the many distractions and materialism that is trying to take away our peaceful waiting during this time of Advent. I pray that we, like St. Brigid of Kildare, will be found prayerfully waiting when Our Lady is ready to give us Her beautiful baby Jesus to hold in our hearts. Will our hearts be a quiet place for Him to rest? Let us all resolve to purposefully live with an inner peace during this season of Advent and prayerfully await the coming of Our Lord! Editor s note: Bridget lives in Hudson, OH. Her Medjugorje story was in our November 2017 issue. You can read more of Bridget s writings at DECEMBER THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

8 The Spirit of Medjugorje Information Center P.O. Box 6614 Erie, PA U.S.A. RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID ERIE, PA PERMIT NO. 685 DATED MATERIAL On June 24, 1981 in Medjugorje, Our Lady appeared to six children. She identified Herself as the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Peace, and has continued to appear daily. Her message is PEACE, peace with God and man. Her words to the visionaries, I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and obtain peace, you must return to God. Today, all but three of the visionaries have daily apparitions of the Blessed Mother. During the apparitions, the visionaries do not react to light, don t hear any sound or react to being touched. They feel that they are outside of time and space. All the visionaries declare to see the Blessed Virgin as they see other people - in three dimension. They pray and speak with Her. The Blessed Mother is confiding ten secrets to each visionary (some are chastisements for the world) and promises to leave a visible sign at the place of the apparitions in Medjugorje for all humanity. This time, this period of grace, is for CONVERSION Permission is given to spread the text of any original works and may be used with the following conditions: 1) No words are changed; 2) Spirit of Medjugorje is cited. For articles by other sources, permission must be obtained from the original source. If you want to receive The Spirit of Medjugorje monthly newsletter, please fill out the form below and return to: P.O. Box 6614, Erie, PA If you are able to send a donation to help spread Mary s messages, it would be greatly appreciated. We request that you renew your subscription annually to remain on our mailing list. May God bless you. Please check one: New Renew Distribute Adoration Newsletters Issue #1 or Issue #2 (please circle) (# of newsletters) Name Street Address MARY IS CALLING YOU and a DEEPENING OF FAITH. After the visible sign, those still living will have little time for conversion. Father Jozo Zovko, who was the pastor of St. James when the apparitions began, has spoken about what he calls the weapons or the the five stones of Our Lady. They are: prayer with the heart, especially the Rosary; Eucharist; Holy Bible; monthly Confession; and fasting. The publisher recognizes and accepts that the final authority regarding the apparitions at Medjugorje rest with the Holy See in Rome. To borrow an original prayer cloth from Medjugorje for a week, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address below. You must include your phone number. If you want a prayer cloth we made to keep, send a self-addressed stamped business size (4 1 / 8 x 9 1 / 2 ) envelope with $.71 postage on it. Sponsor a subscription for someone in a foreign country (suggested donation: $13 to cover postage) Distribute Beginner s Guides (# of guides) (Please, no foreign checks or money orders, except postal money orders. U.S. FUNDS ONLY) City, State and Zip Code VOL. 31, NO.12