Medjugorje Explained
The Visionaries
- The Blessed Mother first appeared to them on the feast of John the Baptist June 24th, 1981
- There are six visionaries, who were children at the time (Mirjana, Ivanka, Vicka, Marija, Ivan, Jakov).
- They see the Blessed Mother daily until they have received all ten secrets.
- Three have all ten secrets and do not see her daily but one or more times a year.
- The remaining three have nine secrets and see the Blessed Mother daily.
The Messages
- The Blessed Mother gives them messages, at first daily to the world, then in 1984 weekly to the world, now monthly to the world.
- The messages started on June 25, 1981 and continue to this day.
- The messages from 1981-1983, recorded by the parish in Medjugorje, were confiscated and destroyed by the communists. (there are copies from Fr. René Laurentin, and Professor René LeJeune. They were originally recorded in French, and translated into English by Juan Gonzales Jr., Ph.D.)
- June 25, 1981 Ivanka: Why have you come here? “I have come because there are many true believers here. I wish to be with you to convert and to reconcile the whole world."
- Message themes over the years: Prayer, Fasting, Daily reading of the Bible, Confession, and the Eucharist.
Good Fruits of Medjugorje
- ~3 million people visit Medjugorje per year (currently ~35-40 million in total)
- ~35 thousand priests celebrate Mass on an average per year
- ~1.8 million hosts are served on an average per year.
- ~610 Vocations have been confirmed by the last commission investigation.
- ~700 Miracles have been documented by the last commission investigation (non-certified)
- ~350 videos of good the fruits of Medjugorje found on Mary TV: https://marytv.tv/fruit-of-medjugorje/
- See the video “Miracle of Medjugorje” on my web site MustardSeedRecording.com http://www.mustardseedrecording.com/media/dvd-movies/
- Article on Medjugorje Miracles http://www.mustardseedrecording.com/fruits-of-medjugorje/
Our Pilgrimage is a Spiritual Retreat
- Our pilgrimage is not a sightseeing tour like most modern pilgrimages.
- It is a spiritual retreat that can lead to a conversion of heart and strengthens of your faith.
- Our guide is a premier guide who lived there when the apparitions began, continues to live there now, knows all the visionaries, and offers spiritual reflections.
- Some pilgrims may see miracles, but all will feel peace in their hearts by the end of the visit.
- Many will permanently change their lives as they put “God in the first place”.
What you will Notice
There is a noticeable presence of the Holy Spirit
- 50,000 people praying throughout the day.
- Many in the town go to mass twice a day, adoration, recite rosaries, and/or the way of the cross.
- Thousands of people going to confession (With 50 confessionals and many impromptu settings, it is considered the confessional of the world).
- You may see one or more of the visionaries.
- You may experience miraculous things.
Surroundings
- Many languages (Croatian, Italian, English (spoken everywhere), German, French, Spanish, etc.)
- Fresh and simple local food/drinks (European/Italian in nature)
- Currency (Credit Cards, Euro, American, and Croatian)
Pilgrimage Challenges
- It takes 20-24 hours of travel by planes and bus to get there and come home.
- You walk to the different places in town.
- “Apparition Hill,” a special place of grace, is 1,000 feet up a hill of rocky terrain. Many pray a rosary as they climb to get to the original apparition site. (Some climb barefoot as a form of penance)
- “Cross Mountain,” a special place of grace, is 3,300 feet up a mountain of rocky terrain. Many pray the Stations of The Cross while ascending to the 30-foot cross. (Some climb barefoot as a form of penance)
- Like all highly visited shrines in the world, there are many religious shops that may or may not distract you.
Easy to walk to “Places of Grace”
- The church and confessionals
- The Adoration Chapel
- Outdoor mass and adoration
- The Risen Christ Statue (A 15-ton bronze statue that weeps continuously)
- Blue Cross (One of the apparition sites accessible via wheelchair)
- Testimonies from visionaries or local priests on the phenomenon
Humanitarian Efforts
- Since the war from 1991-95 where 100,000 people died and 2,000,000 were displaced, there has been large efforts to take care of the orphaned and displaced. Mother’s Village was established for the education and care of abandoned and neglected children. Each of our Pilgrimages bring humanitarian supplies for the children.
The Cenacolo Community
- The “Cenacolo” Community was founded in 1983 in order to help drug addicts. The main goal of the community is to discover and to live the true values of a Christian life. According to their words, their therapy is Jesus Christ and the way of healing is prayer, work and friendship.
- Because of special graces, which young men in search of truth receive in Medjugorje, the boys of the “Cenacolo” community gladly receive pilgrims and give witness of their conversion and liberation from drug addiction.
Overview of the Ten Secrets
- The secrets will not be revealed until the end of the apparitions. We don’t know when that will take place. The visionaries do not talk to each other about the secrets.
- Mirjana, one of the six visionaries (in her mid-fifties) has been chosen to reveal the secrets to the world through Fr. Petar Ljubicic (in his mid-seventies).
- She has received the ten secrets from our Lady, in written form, on a parchment that is not from this world. The words are invisible to us.
- When the time comes for the first secret to be released, ten days before, she will give Fr. Petar this parchment. He will then be able to read the first secret and then, along with her, he will fast for seven days and pray. Then he will be able to reveal to the world what will take place: where, how, and how long. This will occur before every secret.
- The first two secrets are warnings; especially they are for the people of Medjugorje. When the first two secrets, take place it will be clear to everyone that Our Lady was truly there.
- The third secret will be an indestructible sign that will take place on Apparition Hill, in the place where Our Lady first appeared. That sign will be a great joy for all those who have believed that she is there all along. And it will be the last call to those who have not converted and did not hear her messages.
- The seventh secret has been averted thanks to prayer and fasting. That is why the Blessed Virgin continues to encourage prayer and fasting:
- The ninth and tenth secrets are serious. They concern chastisement for the sins of the world. Punishment is inevitable, for we cannot expect the whole world to be converted. The punishment can be diminished by prayer and penance, but it cannot be eliminated.
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Is it Approved?
Apparitions are “private revelations,” and it is never a requirement of the faith that they are accepted. Normally only the local Bishop is needed to approve an apparition (not the Vatican). Because Medjugorje is the most frequent and long-lasting apparition in modern time, three formal commissions have been formed to study it.
- 1981: The apparitions of Medjugorje begin in the communist country of Yugoslavia.
- 1984: The local bishop, diocese of Mostar forms a commission to investigate the events in Medjugorje.
- 1986: The local Bishop submits a negative decision about Medjugorje.
- 1986: The CDF, under Cardinal Ratzinger rejects the findings of the bishop’s commission, disbands the commission the local bishop created and creates a new commission to investigate Medjugorje. The local bishop and successors were stripped of all jurisdiction over the apparitions of Medjugorje.
- 1991-2019: The first commission concluded that it cannot yet be determined whether Medjugorje is of supernatural origin; and that pilgrims can visit Medjugorje and priests can go there to tend to the spiritual needs of the pilgrims.
- 1992-1995: a three-way ethnic war broke out as Yugoslavia collapsed. 100,000 died, 2,000,000 displaced. Medjugorje, in the center of the war remained unharmed.
- 2010: The Vatican under Pope Benedict formed a new commission under Cardinal Ruini to investigate the apparitions of Medjugorje.
- 2014: The Cardinal Ruini Commission completes its investigation of Medjugorje and submits findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
- 2017: Pope Francis appoints Archbishop of Warsaw Poland, Henryk Hoser, as Papal Envoy to Medjugorje. Hoser discovers and wrote to the Pope: 610 religious and priesthood vocations were born in Medjugorje. There is something remarkable here. We can see that devotion in Medjugorje is very Christ-centered, and we have discovered a profound spirituality.
- 2017: The findings of the Ruini Commission, which Pope Francis made public. The commission recommends that the first 7 days of the apparitions be approved and that Medjugorje be turned into a pontifical sanctuary.
- 2018: Pope Francis named Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser as pontifical to the shrine with Vatican oversight. Archbishop Henryk Hoser's message: “3 million Pilgrims each year come to Medjugorje from approximately 80 countries of the world. Why do so many people come to Medjugorje every year? They come to meet God, to meet Christ, to meet His Mother. This is what the people’s devotion in Medjugorje looks like: in the center is the Holy Mass, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the sacrament of Reconciliation followed by other forms of devotion. I invite all believers to go to Medjugorje and to receive spiritual renewal. I would highly recommend it. I would say that it is the pilgrimage of spiritual change, conversion, and strengthening of faith.”
- 2019: Pope Francis establish Medjugorje as a shrine and declares US clergy are permitted to organize pilgrimages to Medjugorje. (However, the entire thirty-nine years of the apparitions need further study and have not yet been approved. This does not start until the apparitions stop and typically does not happen for many years after the apparition ceases. For example, Fatima took 13 years to approve and Lourdes took 18 years to become officially approved after the apparitions stopped.)
The Phenomenon in Medjugorje Explained
