IMPORTANCE OF PRAYING FOR THE MEDJUGORJE VISIONARIES … Vicka, Mirjana, Ivanka, Maria, Ivan and Jocov The Medjugorje visionaries indeed have a great gift and grace but with it comes equally a great task and responsibility before them!!! It is difficult to grasp the extraordinary gift that is being given to them from God - that Our Blessed Mother, Queen of Peace would be appearing to them for over 28 years and continuing!!! Just simply unimaginable! All of them, whenever you hear them speak, will relate to us that they themselves do not know why they were chosen. It is a question that hunts them daily. They are simple, humble human beings and like us, subject to the same weaknesses that we each face. However, because they have been chosen as visionaries and messengers, it is of the utmost importance that we keep them daily in our prayers to help them in the enormous task set before them and the many trials they have already faced and continue to face. Many times when asked if they have special graces to make them holy that we do not have, their answer is NO. Having the great grace and gift to see Our Lady does not exempt them from working out their salvation as we do; they are the same in this. There are no extra graces for them; they have to do it in an ordinary way as we do. Let us thank God for them and ask Him to send His Holy Angels to watch over them. Protect them from the wiles of Satan so that they can continue to relay to the world the heavenly messages entrusted to them and to fulfill their mission. According to visionary Mirjana: it was early in the beginning that Satan appeared to her. “… Mirjana related an apparition she had in 1982, which we believe sheds some light on some aspects of Church history. She spoke of an apparition in which Satan appeared to her and asked Mirjana to renounce the Madonna and follow him. That way she could be happy in love and in life. He said that following the Virgin, on the contrary, would only lead to suffering. Mirjana rejected him, and immediately the Virgin arrived and Satan disappeared. Then the Blessed Virgin gave her the following message in substance:” "Excuse me for this, but you must realize that Satan exists. One day he appeared before the throne of God and asked permission to submit the Church to a period of trial. God gave him permission to try the Church for one century. This century is under the power of the devil; but when the secrets confided to you come to pass, his power will be destroyed. Even now he is beginning to lose his power and has become aggressive. He is destroying marriages, creating divisions among priests and is responsible for obsessions and murder. You must protect yourselves against these things through fasting and prayer, especially community prayer. Carry blessed objects with you. Put them in your house, and restore the use of holy water." According to certain Catholic experts who have studied these apparitions, this message of Mirjana may shed light on the vision Pope Leo XIII had. According to them, it was after having had an apocalyptic vision of the future of the Church that Leo XIII introduced the prayer to Saint Michael which priests used to recite after Mass up to the time of the Second Vatican Council. These experts say that the century of trials foreseen by Leo XIII is about to end. Our Blessed Mother throughout all these years has continually warned us with many messages concerning Satan at how he wants to destroy Her plans by attacking the Parish of St. James and the visionaries. January 14, 1985 (Monday) “My dear children! Satan is so strong and with all his might wants to disturb my plans which I have begun with you. You pray, just pray and don’t stop for a minute! I will pray to my Son for the realization of all the plans I have begun. Be patient and constant in your prayers. And don’t let Satan discourage you. He is working hard in the world. Be on your guard” (Message conveyed by Vicka from Our Lady). By making a conscious decision to pray in a special way for the visionaries, we also are helping our Lady that Her plans may be realized! Once, Our Lady showed Vicka a girl who was in prayer for Vicka. Our Lady told her this girl was faithful in praying for her protection. This shows us how Our Lady views the importance of praying for them. August 25, 1991 “Dear Children! Today also I invite you to prayer, now as never before when my plan has begun to be realized. Satan is strong and wants to sweep away my plans of peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, 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 begun in Fatima, may be fulfilled. I call you, dear children, to now grasp the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I want to save all souls and present them to God. Therefore, let us pray that everything I have begun be fully realized. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Just by these three very important messages one can see that the roll of the visionaries is so great. More than ever let us pray for them!!! Almighty God has given them a great grace, and with it comes a great responsibility. Our Blessed Mother Queen of Peace chose them to help her to accomplish God's Will for us, for the world and for the Church in this time of GREAT GRACE we are now living through!! Let us help them daily by our special prayers for their perseverance and protection. Our Lady has said many times that we do not grasp, understand or comprehend the seriousness of her messages that she is giving us through her angels as she sometimes liked to address them in the beginning of the apparitions. Dear God, Almighty Father and Blessed Trinity. United with Our Blessed Mother Queen of Peace, all the Saints and Angels in Heaven, Our Holy Father and all the faithful… Today and everyday help us to remember the importance to praying for the Medjugorje visionaries. Thank you for them, bless, protect and guard them from the evil one and every evil influence and that they may persevere in this great task that You have asked of them. Amen!!! 1. http://www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/magazine/documents/ju_mag_01051997_p-04_en.html Medjugorje Overview Monthly commentaries on the messages have been suspended by the Parish of Medjugorje until further notice. MEDJUGORJE OFFICIAL
WEBSITE Organizers
of pilgrimages, responsible parties of Centers of Peace and Prayer Groups,
regularly ask us many diverse questions about spectacular news related to the
Apparitions of Our Lady, presumed declarations of visionaries and of the
position of Herzegovinian Franciscans. It
is impossible to personally answer each one of them. However, we encourage
pilgrims and friends of Medjugorje to first “discern in the Spirit and in
Truth” news which may be heard or read, and we invite each and every one not
to be mislead or deceived by sensationalism or by shallow, and sometimes
malicious news, being published. All
essential and necessary information concerning the events of Medjugorje can be
found on our web-pages www.medjugorje.hr
, which is the ‘official voice’ from Medjugorje. We ask you to accept and to
disseminate, in
prayer and with seriousness,
news coming from other sources, and - if necessary - to disregard this news
completely. All
Franciscan Friars serving in the Parish of St. James in Medjugorje are here with
the permission of the local Bishop, Monsignor Ratko Perić, and all possess
their canonical jurisdiction for exercising their priestly ministry. Compiled by: Perla Saenz |