EDITOR: JUNE KLINS PHONE: (814)

THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE P.O. BOX 6614 ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA 16512 www.spiritofmedjugorje.org 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) 898-2143 E-MAIL: jklins1981@verizon.net EDITOR EMERITUS: JOAN WIESZCZYK SPIRITUAL ADVISOR FR. WILLIAM KIEL VOL. 29, NO. 5 PUBLISHED MONTHLY May 2016 CURRENT MONTHLY MESSAGE OF APRIL 25, 2016 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. Dear children! My Immaculate Heart bleeds as I look at you in sin and sinful habits. I am calling you: return to God and to prayer that it may be good for you on earth. God is calling you through me for your hearts to be hope and joy for all those who are far away. May my call be for you a balm for the soul and heart so that you may glorify God, the Creator, who loves you and is calling you to eternity. Little children, life is short; you, make good use of this time and do what is good. Thank you for having responded to my call. The feast of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated on May 13. Our Lady of Medjugorje said in Her August 25, 1991 message: I call all of you, dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to self-renunciation for nine days so that, with your help, everything that I desire to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima, may be fulfilled. We wish a happy Mother s Day to Our Mother in Heaven and to all mothers.

Fr. Bill Kiel In the United States, we celebrate Mother s Day, the second Sunday of May, as a special day to recognize our earthly mothers. On this day, we may send special cards, have a dinner to honor our mother, plan a special occasion for our mother, send flowers, or make an effort to visit our mother. We should be aware of, and honor, our earthly mothers each day for all they have done for us. Our mother was the one who usually taught us to pray, kept us on the right path in life, and gave us that exceptional love only a mother can give her children. The care and love of a mother is a gift from God for His children. The month of May is regarded among Catholics as the Month of Mary. Recently, we were taught that we should approach our heavenly Mother to permit Her Motherly love to illuminate hard hearts and fill them with love and hope, so that, as a Mother, She may soothe their pains, because She knows them and has experienced them. In other messages, words were given that refer to Her Motherly Love and Her care for us, that help to bring us to a closer relationship with Her Son, Jesus. Examples are: Motherly perseverance and love, Motherly way, Motherly heart, Motherly hand to lead, Motherly blessing, blessing you in my Motherly love, A Mother s Love By Fr. Bill Kiel Motherly embrace, Motherly battle, Motherly patience. These words serve as a model for our earthly mothers to imitate, using ways that will draw us to Jesus, and teach us how to live a life worthy of being called a child of God. When we see images of the Blessed Mother holding Her child Jesus, it evokes memories of us being held in our earthly mother s arms, and we can imagine what comfort and love we would receive in being held by our Blessed Mother. We should be aware that Mary, our Mother, cares for us and intercedes for us to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirt. Many times in our prayers, we can feel the presence of Our Lady. During May, if we are not showing love for our earthly mother and the Picture seen in the art museum in the Franciscan Monastery of St. Anthony of Padua in Humac, a short distance from Medjugorje. Blessed Mother, let us renew our appreciation and love for them both have done, and are doing, many loving things for us. Mary Queen of Peace, pray for us. Prayer Intentions of Pope Francis for May: Respect for Women: That in every country of the world, women may be honored and respected and that their essential contribution to society may be highly esteemed. Holy Rosary: That families, communities, and groups may pray the Holy Rosary for evangelization and peace. A new Medjugorje film, Apparition Hill, will be premiering in theaters beginning in May. To check for screenings or to host a screening, you can visit http://apparitionhill.tv/find-a-screening. The movie is about seven total strangers, including skeptics and atheists, chosen by an online vote from 160 applicants, who traveled to Medjugorje in 2015 with filmmaker Sean Bloomfield, director of the popular film The Triumph. April 2, 2016 Message to Mirjana Dear children, do not have hearts that are hard, closed and filled with fear. Permit my motherly love to illuminate them and fill them with love and hope; so that, as a mother, I may soothe your pains because I know them, I experienced them. Pain elevates and is the greatest prayer. My Son, in a special way, loves those who suffer pains. He sent me to soothe them for you and bring hope. Trust in Him. I know that it is difficult for you because you see more and more darkness around you. My children, it is necessary to break it by prayer and love. The one who prays and loves is not afraid, he has hope and a merciful love, he sees the light and sees my Son. As my apostles, I call you to keep trying to be an example of merciful love and hope. Always pray anew for all the more love because merciful love brings light which breaks every darkness it brings my Son. Do not be afraid, you are not alone, I am with you. I implore you to pray for your shepherds that at every moment they may have love, that they may work for my Son with love through Him and in memory of Him. Thank you. Our thanks to Pat Weller, Sue Taccone, Diane Niebauer, Cindy Bielanin, Mary Tirak, John Raclawski, Sybil Berarducci, and those who want to remain anonymous for their help with the April mailing. We thank Mike Golovich, Sean Bloomfield, Mary Ann Bender, Fr. Bill Zimmer, Louise Lotze, and Josip Elez for their photos in this issue. We thank Dorothy Cavanaugh and Mary Stumpp for making more prayer cloths. We also thank our proofreader, Pat Berrier, and our webmaster, Jason Klins. - 2 - THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE MAY 2016

Motherly Hands and Miracles By June Klins In our January issue, we published a story in which the author, Bernadine Biss, gave her testimony regarding a photograph she took of the statue in front of St. James Church. She wrote that in the photograph, the left hand of the statue looks like human flesh. We published the picture with the article. Not long after this issue came out, we heard from two different women who told us that they both had the same phenomenon happen to them in Medjugorje. Josephine Jackson, from England, wrote, I just read the article Motherly Hands by Bernadine Bliss, with some astonishment. When I went on pilgrimage in October, 2014, I took a friend who had many problems. We climbed Apparition Hill together and it was so peaceful. I took a few pictures. I didn t notice until I got back home to England, but the statue showed the same phenomenon just described by Bernadine. At the time, I sent it to various friends. I could not figure the meaning. My scientific brother said perhaps the original hand had fallen off and this was a different material replacement. But when I re-read the article by Bernadine, I noticed that her statue was in the plaza and mine was on Apparition Hill. The probability of a coincidence seems unlikely. But a God-incidence? Yes. Mary Ann Bender, from Bellefonte, PA, was so excited after reading Bernadine s story that she felt compelled to talk with Bernadine. She did some online detective work to find Bernadine s phone number. Mary Ann told Bernadine how astounded she was when they put all their trip pictures on the computer and saw Mary s flesh-colored hand in a picture she took of the statue on Apparition Hill in 2012. She said she was so happy to know this had happened to someone else. I later contacted Mary Ann to tell her about Josephine s experience as well. Although we don t really know why this has happened, we remember that Fr. Kiel told Bernadine s husband that they should ponder this in their hearts for an answer. Bernadine then remembered that she had asked Our Lady to hold her hand and take her to Jesus! Josephine wrote back later and testified, I d like to add that when I was on Apparition Hill, I didn t see the sun dance or anything like that (I was not looking for it), but what I did notice at the top of the hill, when I took out my phone to take the picture of Mother, was the Rosary was playing on my phone! Now I had locked my phone, and to get into my music section I would have to unlock, then tap the icon, which I hadn t done. And the odds of it being the Rosary CD playing... out of all that music (some of it secular) would be even rarer. At the time, it made me smile when I heard it playing, as I felt Our Lady was seriously reminding me of the utmost importance of the Rosary. It was rather like a mother reminding her child to wear a warm coat, or to wash behind the ears, etc. Hope that s not too homely an image, but that s really what I felt. When I was discerning whether to publish these testimonies this month, I heard a homily on EWTN in which the priest said that miracles are necessary to make the Christian faith credible. He mentioned that Servant of God John Hardon, S.J. wrote about miracles and their necessity. I later found the article by Fr. Hardon online. Fr. Hardon wrote: Miracles are not only important; they are indispensable for the credibility of our faith. They are God s way of enabling us to believe that someone, who claims to be speaking for God, is really telling the truth. Fr. Hardon expounded on this, by using the example of the solar phenomenon at Fatima. It was no coincidence that the solar phenomenon at Fatima came only several months after the basic message of Fatima had been communicated to the children. The phenomenon had to have a purpose for its occurrence, and the message had to have Mary Ann Bender s picture a divine confirmation of its authenticity. When the phenomenon occurred in October, it was witnessed by thousands of people, friendly and unfriendly, simple believers and professed skeptics, those disposed to believe Our Lady s message and others who were openly hostile to what the Blessed Virgin was reported to have said. In God s providence the hostility of the skeptics was necessary to give rational grounds for believing what the children said the beautiful Lady was telling them. All the reports of those who witnessed the spectacle of the sun testify to their stupefaction at what they saw. No one, not even the most hardened agnostic, doubted that what he saw was a prodigy. This was necessary to provide the rational foundation for accepting, on faith, the Marian message of Fatima because of the solar event which everybody had to accept, as a fact, perceived by the senses. Why, then, was the solar prodigy of Fatima [and Medjugorje] necessary? It was necessary in order to satisfy our spontaneous need for giving rational credence to what Mary was telling Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta [and the Medjugorje visionaries]. The children did not need the solar phenomenon to believe what Our Lady was telling them. But we do. It is not coincidental that Mary asked Her Divine Son to work the miracle at Cana as the first of the signs performed by Her Son. Immediately, we are told, His disciples believed in Him. She has been doing the same ever since. As God, He is master of the sun, moon and stars which He created. Her message at Fatima [and Medjugorje] was to tell a sinful world to stop offending the Divine Majesty and to repent of their sins. As at Cana, She asked Jesus to work a miracle. At Cana, as the poet said, The water looked at its Maker and blushed. At Fatima [and Medjugorje] the sun looked at its Maker and whirled in dazzling splendor to acknowledge its Creator. As to the reason for the miracle of the hand looking like flesh, could it be a motherly reminder for all of us of Her June 25, 1996 message I invite you again to open to prayer so that in prayer the Holy Spirit will help you, so that your hearts be of flesh and not of stone.??? MAY 2016-3 - THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

Mary, Medjugorje and Changing the Tide of History: My Experience of the Love of the Mother of God at Medjugorje By Rev. William E. Zimmer Life is a talent entrusted to us so we can transform it and increase it, making it a gift to others. No human is an iceberg drifting on the ocean of history. Each one of us belongs to a great family, in which we have our own place and our own role to play. Love opens eyes and hearts, enabling people to make that original and irreplaceable contribution which, together with the countless deeds of so many brothers and sisters, often distant and unknown, converges to form the mosaic of charity which can change the tide of history. ~ Pope John Paul II, Message for 11 th World Youth Day 1995 In 2011 I had the privilege of being a chaplain with the Totally Yours Pilgrimage Co. on its fall pilgrimage to Italy and Medjugorje. It was a life changing experience. The high point was a reported apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Son of God, to Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo, one of the six visionaries of Medjugorje. (Note: The Vatican has not officially authenticated the phenomenon of Medjugorje as apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to date. I respect the Pope s policy and criteria for authentication and do not seek to pre-empt it. Consequently I avoid making statements that state or imply that the phenomenon are apparitions of Mary advocating one way or another on that aspect of the Medjugorje phenomenon is not the purpose of my talk or distributing the related message sheet and other Medjugorje materials.) The reported apparitions to Mirjana take place on a hillside on the east side of Medjugorje at a site marked by a large blue cross. Mirjana s monthly apparition takes place about 9:00 AM on the 2 nd of the month. However, the evening before and continuing throughout the night, people begin gathering on the hillside. This is an act of faith and love. The hillside is dark and the ground is composed of only large rugged rocks and hard packed dirt, an inhospitable place. In November, a bone chilling cold descends on Medjugorje at night as winter approaches. Despite these rigors, people come by the thousands and wait for hours, some all night. 8:15 AM I am waiting for Mirjana near the Blue Cross site, amazed at the immense throng of people gathered for the event. The street below is packed, and the hillside is covered with people pressing toward the Blue Cross where the phenomenon will take place. Many are praying the Rosary and singing hymns. A thought comes to me: The Holy Spirit is moving these people to come here at this time, to pray and sing the praises of God. I realize the Holy Trinity and Mary are working like a heavenly team the Spirit is prompting people to come and listen to Mary deliver Her Son s message. (Mary s messages at Medjugorje embody the gospel of Jesus Christ; they are the essence of Christian Crowd at the Blue Cross on November 2, 2011 spirituality.) All this is being done under the loving gaze of the Father in Heaven. Normally we think and speak of Mary and the Trinity separately, not working together in this way. This insight came to me in a compelling way that morning and in reflection afterwards. 8:30 AM Mirjana arrives and makes her way up the hillside. The crowds press in on her from every side, including the disabled and sick. The scene reminded me of one of the gospel stories of Jesus walking through a town, They came bringing to him a paralytic... Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd,... (Mk 2:3-4). 8:35 AM Suddenly everyone goes silent and many kneel down. My understanding was the phenomenon would take place around 9:00 AM, so I said to myself, We are going to pray in silence, reverence and humility to prepare for the apparition. Although I am only about 40 feet away, I can t see Mirjana because she is kneeling and everyone around her is standing. For the next ten minutes you could hear a pin drop on the hillside, although it and the surrounding area were covered with thousands of people. 8:45 AM An announcement in Italian emanates from the sound system: The apparition has just ended. I am shocked! The German in me comes out Wait a minute! The apparition was supposed to be at 9:00 AM! You mean I came half way around the world a nine hour flight from Chicago to Rome, buses through Italy, a boat across the Adriatic Sea, buses through Croatia and Bosnia to Medjugorje, I wake up at 4:00 AM and am within 40 feet of an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and I missed the whole thing? I felt double crossed and began to pout. A few moments later came another announcement: Now today s message in English. I perk up, giving it my full attention. Dear children, the Father has not left you to yourselves. Immeasurable is His love, the love that is bringing me to you,... As I listen a strong feeling of love comes upon me. It comes out of nowhere I have done nothing to cause or deserve it. Tears begin rolling down my face. For a few moments all I can do is experience it and I am speechless. It had no natural explanation. Mirjana passes by to return to her home two blocks away. I begin walking down the hill with thousands of others. Another thought comes to me: This is why you are on this pilgrimage. The churches where you celebrate Mass in Chicago and the suburbs are not aware of these events or the messages. It is now your task to bring them to your part of the world. You are to be one of Mary s messengers. I was to join Her, the visionaries, and many others in changing the tide of history in this way. - 4 - THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE MAY 2016

1:00 PM After the 10:00 AM Mass at St. James Church in Medjugorje, I am enjoying the midday meal at the hotel with the other pilgrims. Miki, Mirjana s translator and our Medjugorje guide, comes in and announces, Good afternoon everyone. I have this morning s message and I would like to read it to you. Dear children All of a sudden, out of nowhere, that powerful feeling comes to me again. One moment I am enjoying a delicious meal, the next moment tears are rolling down my face. It seemed to be a sign saying, What happened that morning on the hillside was not some kind of a fluke. Mary s love for you is real. The next week this unforgettable journey brings us back to Italy. We are visiting the Basilica of Loretto which contains the Annunciation House. According to tradition, three walls of the house where Mary received the message from the angel Gabriel that She was to conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, were transferred to Italy in the 13 th century. This was to escape destruction by the Muslims who had invaded the Holy Land and were destroying Christian holy sites. Downstairs from the Annunciation House, in the subterranean level of the basilica, is a chapel where the Since She was assumed body and soul into Heaven in the first century of Christianity the Blessed Virgin Mary, the human mother of the Son of God, has appeared on earth at many times and places to lovingly reveal Her Son and guide us to Heaven. Some of the most well known of these appearances were at Tepeyac, Mexico, and Lourdes, France and Fatima, Portugal. Since 1981 She has reportedly been appearing to six visionaries from the town of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a country across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. One of Her most beautiful messages follows. Dear children, the Father has not left you to yourselves. Immeasurable is His love, the love that is bringing me to you, to help you to come to know Him, so that, through my Son, all of you can call Him Father with the fullness of heart, that you can be one people in God s family. However, my children, do not forget that you are not in this world only for yourselves and that I am not calling you here only for your sake. Those who follow my Son think of the brother and sister in Christ as of their very selves and they do not know selfishness. That is why I desire that you be the light of my Son. That to all those who have not come to know the Father to all those who wander in the darkness of sin, despair, pain and loneliness you may illuminate the way and that, with your life, you may show them the love of God. I am with you. If you open your hearts I will lead you. Again I am calling you: pray for your shepherds. Thank you. This and Her many other messages are not just for us, Her Catholic sons and daughters, but for the whole human family. Mary and Her Son Jesus see all the people of earth pilgrimage group would celebrate its daily Mass a special Mass of the basilica, The Mass of the Annunciation. I am in the sacristy preparing to proclaim the story of the Annunciation from the gospel of Luke. When I come to the verse and the virgin s name was Mary a strong emotion comes over me once again. I thought, Uh-oh, here we go again! I may not even make it through the gospel this time. I almost didn t. As I began proclaiming Luke s account of the Annunciation, I experience a strong emotion. However, I make it through the reading and return to my chair. I feel tears rolling down my cheeks for several minutes as the Monsignor preaches. This was confirmation that the first two Fr. Bill Zimmer (right) at Mirjana s apparition experiences of Mary s love for me in Medjugorje were real indeed. Back in Chicago, I am reflecting on my experiences during the pilgrimage. The bigger picture of what is going on in Medjugorje is revealed to me Mary is changing the course of history. The deepest hunger of our human hearts is the love of God. When someone has a personal experience of that love and then becomes a messenger of it sharing it with everyone in the world of his or her time they are, in the inspiring words of Saint John Paul II, forming that mosaic of charity which can change the tide of history. [Below is the related message sheet that Fr. Bill distributes with his testimony] Our Lady of Medjugorje s November 2, 2011 Message to the Visionary Mirjana Soldo as Their children. That s why She asks us to share Their messages with everyone especially Catholics who do not practice their faith and those living a faithless life. She invites us to share Her work in changing the tide of history by spreading the immeasurable love of God that dispels selfishness, hate and all the darknesses of human existence. What a great privilege! Share the messages with everyone! Invite them to come to church with you and encounter this great love! The Medjugorje.hr website has all of Our Lady s messages and is updated daily. Visit these websites regularly! www.medjugorje.hr www.totallyyours.org Original version and all subsequent editions Copyright by Rev. William E. Zimmer, 2016. All rights reserved. Fr. Zimmer grants permission to anyone who receives this document in either hard copy or electronic form to distribute it as extensively as they wish. In fact they are encouraged to do so! However if you use any material from this document in a published book, article etc. please make the appropriate reference: Mary, Medjugorje and Changing the Tide of History: My Experience of the Love of the Mother of God at Medjugorje by Rev. William E. Zimmer, March 18, 2016. Editor s note: Fr. Bill Zimmer is a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago. The full version of his experience will be presented at the National Marian Conference at Notre Dame University May 20-22. For more information on the conference, call 574-288-8777. Fr. Bill can be reached at padrebill77@yahoo.com or 224-616-8305. As of April 25, 2016, the number of Masses reported for Our Lady s intentions was 14, 295. - 5 - THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE MAY 2016

Little did I know, in 2007, when I was visiting my daughter in Augsburg, Germany, after a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, that I would visit a church where a painting there would become well-known worldwide. I felt compelled to take a picture of this painting, and later discovered that Pope Francis brought a postcard of the painting to Argentina in the 1980s after seeing the original when studying in Germany. This image of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots (or Untier of Knots), is especially venerated in Argentina and Brazil, but can be found in churches and chapels in Austria, Switzerland, Peru, Ukraine and in the United States (Texas). Johan Melchior Geog Schmidtner painted the original around 1700. It is found in the Catholic pilgrimage church of St. Peter am Perlach, in Augsburg (Bavaria), Germany. It shows the Blessed Virgin Mary standing on a crescent moon, surrounded by angels and with the Holy Spirit hovering in the form of a dove above Her circle of stars. She is untying knots into a long strip and rests Her foot on the head of a knotted snake. The serpent represents the devil. Below are a human figure and his dog accompanying a much smaller angel. This scene is often interpreted as Tobias (from the Book of Tobit) with his dog and the Archangel Raphael, traveling to ask Sarah to be his wife. During the Year of Faith (2013), Pope Francis spoke of Mary, (Vatican City, Oct. 12), as one who always brings us Jesus, is a woman of faith, a true believer. He described Her faith with the first aspect being: Mary s faith unties the knots of sin. (cf. Lumen Gentium, 56). He relates how the Fathers of Second Vatican Council took up a phrase of St. Irenaeus, who states that the knot of Eve s disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary; what the virgin Eve bound by her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by Her faith (Adversus Haereses III, 22, 4) c. 180 A.D. Pope Francis then said: The knot of disobedience, the knot of unbelief. When children disobey their parents, we can say that a little knot is created. This happens if the child acts with an awareness of what he or she is doing, especially if there is a lie involved. At that moment, they break trust with their parents... Then the relationship with their parents needs to be purified of this fault; the child has to ask forgiveness so that harmony and trust can be restored. Something can also happen in our relationship with God. Pope Francis states that when we do not listen to Him, when we do not follow His will, we do concrete things that demonstrate our lack of trust in Him for that is what sin is and a kind of knot is created deep within us. These knots take away our peace and serenity. They are dangerous, since many knots can form a tangle which gets more and more painful and difficult to undo (Oct. 12, 2013). But what are these knots? I found a description in a Novena book of Our Lady Undoer of Knots. They are the knots of problems and difficulties that we have carried with us throughout all our lives. Our Lady wishes to undo them for Our Lady, Undoer of Knots by Louise Lotze Louise s photo of the painting of Our Lady Undoer of Knots us, for without Her assistance, we are unable to do so. They are knots of family disputes, lack of understanding between parents and children, lack of respect, and violence; knots of profound resentments existing between spouses, and the lack of peace and joy within families. There are knots of anguish and despair as a result of marital separation, knots brought about by drug addiction, of a child who is sick, or who having left home, lives far from the house of God; knots of alcoholism, knots of our own vices and of those whom we love. There are knots of resentment which torture our hearts, feelings of guilt caused by having had an abortion, illnesses that never heal, knots of fear, loneliness, depression, unemployment, and knots of disbelief and pride..., the knots of a life of sin, and knots of sadness. The knots can weigh down our souls, crushing us and robbing us of joy even to the point that we no longer wish to live. The knots keep us far from God, preventing us from throwing ourselves into the arms of God to give Him thanks. However, Pope Francis says that we know one thing: Nothing is impossible for God s mercy! Even the most tangled knots are loosed by His grace. Mary, whose yes opened the door for God to undo the knots of ancient disobedience, is the Mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that He can untangle the knots of our soul by His fatherly mercy (Oct. 12, 2013). We all have some of these knots, and we make a mistake if we say to the Father that they cannot be undone. We must ask Mary to help us to trust in God s mercy, to undo those knots, and to change. She, as a woman of faith, will tell us to get up, go to the Lord since He understands us. As a Mother, She leads us by the hand, to embrace our Father, the Father of mercies. God has given us a spiritual Mother in the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the icon of all our mothers and those women who have been like mothers to us in our own lives. She offers to console us, to help us on the journey of faith there is no problem, no need, no knotty challenge that is too much for God. Let us then ask Mary, Untier of Knots, to take these problems and challenges to the Lord. We know our heavenly Mother will gladly take us and our concerns to Her Divine Son, as She mediates all graces that flow into the world! (Fr. Stephen McKinley, OFM, Conv., Rector of the National Shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe). My friend Sylvia had a really great idea to help her undo the knots that seem to weigh her down. She shared with me that she was praying a novena to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. She decided to make it a shared experience with Our Lady, so she took a ribbon and folded it in half and tied nine knots in it. Each day she would pray her novena and then untie one knot. One day after doing her novena and untying a knot, Sylvia placed her ribbon on her home altar at bedtime. It still had one knot tied in it. In the morning, the knot was gone! It was untied. She did not do it, and her husband said he had not done it. She feels Our Lady untied it for her! MAY 2016-6 - THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

I decided to make a knot rope myself, and strangely enough discovered a thin rope in my hallway lying on a small table. I don t really know how it got there, but I felt drawn to it and then folded it in half and tied nine knots in it. I left a loop at the top to hang over my bedpost. It hung down about four feet. Each night I would pray the prayer from my novena book and then I would untie one knot which I would specify by naming it. I seemed to feel Our Lady s presence as I would do this. It was an awesome personal experience for me. Perhaps you would like to try this yourself. In fact, I missed the knots, so I again tied more knots in the rope and have been continuing it again. I love asking Our Lady to help me undo these knots in my life. She is a very kind and loving Mother for everyone. Sylvia later shared with me that on the day that she became a Third Order Carmelite, a strange woman came up to her and said she was told by Our Lady to make her a knot rosary and she wasn t sure why. She made two of them and gave them both to her. Sylvia felt one was for me, so she mailed it to me. On May 15, we will celebrate Pentecost. The following are some of the early messages of Our Lady regarding the Holy Spirit. The early messages can be read at medjugorje.org/messagesall.htm. (Our Lady s words are in italics.) Advent 1983 Begin by calling on the Holy Spirit each day. The most important thing is to pray to the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit descends on earth, then everything becomes clear and everything is transformed. Monday, January 2, 1984 Why have you stopped saying the prayer to the Holy Spirit? I have asked you to pray always and at all times so that the Holy Spirit may descend over all of you. Begin again to pray for that. The visionaries had stopped saying the prayer to the Holy Spirit, thinking that it was said only until Christmas. God allows me every day to help you (Our Lady of Medjugorje, 10/25/84). The following prayer to Our Lady Undoer of Knots was written by Pope Francis, when he was a bishop in Argentina. Holy Mary, full of God s presence during the days of your life, you accepted with full humility the Father s will, and the Devil was never capable to tie you around with his confusion. Once with your son you interceded for our difficulties, and, full of kindness and patience you gave us example of how to untie the knots of our life. And by remaining forever Our Mother, you put in order, and make more clear the ties that link us to the Lord. Holy Mother, Mother of God, and our Mother, to you, who untie with motherly heart the knots of our life, we pray to you to receive in your hands (the name of person), and to free him/her of the knots and confusion with which our enemy attacks. Through your grace, your intercession, and your example, deliver us from all evil, Our Lady, and untie the knots that prevent us from being united with God, so that we, free from sin and error, may find Him in all things, may have our hearts placed in Him, and may serve Him always in our brothers and sisters. Amen. The Holy Spirit himself. My wish is for all to be converted, but I do not want to force anyone. Saturday, June 9, 1984 (Vigil of Pentecost) Tomorrow evening, pray to receive the spirit of truth more particularly, you, members of this parish. The spirit of truth is indispensable to you in order to convey the messages, such as I give them to you, without adding or deleting whatever it may be. Pray, so that the Holy Spirit inspires you with a spirit of prayer, so that you may pray more. I, your mother, find that you pray too little. Thursday, March 22, 1984 Pray each day the Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Holy Spirit) and the Angelus. God has given each one the will to decide for St. Francis of Assisi s Prayer Honoring Mary the Mother of Jesus Hail, holy Lady, most holy Queen, Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin. You were chosen by the Most High Father in Heaven, consecrated by Him, with His most Holy Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. On you descended and still remains all the fullness of grace and every good. Hail, His Palace. Hail His Tabernacle. Hail His Robe. Hail His Handmaid. Hail, His Mother. and Hail, all holy Virtues, who, by grace and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are poured into the hearts of the faithful so that from their faithless state, they may be made faithful servants of God through you. Congratulations to visionary Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez and husband Rajko, who recently became grandparents. Their son Josip and his wife Marija had a baby boy named Ivan, born in January. Ivanka was the first visionary to see Our Lady, the first to get married, and now the first to become a grandparent! Josip studied at Irvine Valley College in California, and is now a tour guide in Medjugorje. He works for Medjugorje Now Media/News/Publishing and Ave Maria Pilgrimage Travel Agency. MAY 2016-7 - THE SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE

The Spirit of Medjugorje Information Center P.O. Box 6614 Erie, PA 16512 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 16512. 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 $.68 postage on it. Sponsor a subscription for someone overseas (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. 29, NO. 5