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www.medjugorje.ws » Echo of Mary Queen of Peace » Echo of Mary Queen of Peace 177 (September-October 2004)

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Our Lady’s message of 25 July 2004:
“Dear Children, I call you anew to
be open to my messages! My Children,
I desire drawing you all closer to my
Son Jesus. Thus you pray and fast. I
call you in particular to pray for my
intentions, that I may present you to
my Son Jesus, and that He may
transform and open your hearts up to
love. When you shall have love in your
hearts, peace will reign in you. Thank
you for responding to my call.”

May Jesus
transform your hearts
It is with extreme clarity that Mary
points out the scope of Her Presence at
Medjugorje, to show us her role and our
role. Mary renews her invitation: “be open
to my messages
.” It is necessary then that
we be receptive to her messages, and the
more we allow the Holy Spirit to work in
us the more He is able to help us do this. It
is not we who reach God; all we can do is
desire being reached by Him, but without
this desire we only shut ourselves off to
His action of love.
Mary’s first objective is: “I desire
drawing you all closer to my Son
Jesus”,
and our first task is “pray and
fast.”
It’s not a question of becoming
better, or more honest, or more generous…
none of these qualities draw us to Christ;
they do not make us become more like
Him, but they are the fruits of our being
drawn closer to the Lord. So we pray and
fast to allow Mary to draw us closer to
her Son. The request is not exorbitant, for
it is precisely what Jesus did during His
earthly existence. If He, Who is God,
prayed and fasted so much, all the more
we need to pray and fast!
In a world which has rejected these
values, Mary has come to re-propose
them, and we ought to accept them with
docility and humility, and honour them
scrupulously (cf. Mt 6:5-18).
Our second task is: “pray for my
intentions” and the objective is: “that I
may present you to my Son Jesus, and
that He may transform and open your
hearts up to love.”
The more we are
drawn closer to Jesus, the more we
assimilate Him. Thus, by the grace of God,
by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the
will of Jesus (Jn 19:26-27) Mary fully
accomplishes her Motherhood. Mary is not
only Mother of the Church, but she is my
Mother, and your Mother; she is Mother
of each and every person who takes her in
to his soul and heart. Mary then presents
us to Jesus, offering us to Him as the fruit
of His Passion and Death, and regenerated
by His Blood we are transformed and
become capable of loving as He loves. This
is the conversion we are called to, and it is
realized in us in the measure that He lives
in us (Gal 2:20).
Lastly: “When you shall have love
in your hearts, peace will reign in you.”
Peace is the consequence of love. While it
is a task (a duty to love) it is also a gift
already received, and an objective already
reached – for it is Jesus Who lives in us.
Jesus is Love; Jesus is Peace; and in Him
we are reconciled to the Father and to our
brothers and sisters. Only God can fill man.
There is no gift, charism or action that can
fill the void in us; only God can fill it. It is
useless and deviant to seek in things that
which only God can give. It is useless to
worry over the things that can be received
solely by an open heart (cf. Lk 10:38-42).
Gather us up, o Father, in Jesus Your
Son. May Your will be done in us, as it
was accomplished in Jesus, that in Him
we might be one with the Son. We ask
this through the intercession of Mary our
Mother.
Nuccio Quattrocchi
Our Lady’s message, 25 August 2004:
“Dear Children, I call you all to
conversion of heart. Decide, as in the
first days of my coming here, for a
complete change of life. In this way, my
Children, you will have the strength to
kneel and to open your hearts before
God. God will hear your prayers and
answer them. Before God, I intercede
for each of you. Thank you for
responding to my call.”
Authentic conversion
Men and women are the only creatures
made in the image of God
(Gen 2:27)
whose
nature is realized in the amount that His
image shines in them. When there is
communion between God and man, God’s
image lives in the soul and shapes man’s
actions, relations and attitude. In other
words, God’s image visibly emerges from
man’s life.
Sin breaks this communion between
the creature and his Creator, and causes
corruption of the human nature. This
already happened on a cosmic level with
the first sin, and it continues to happen
even today for every sin that man commits.
A Christian is not immune from sin,
but rather, his sin is more serious because
not only does it harm the image of God,
but it wounds Christ Who lives in us by
virtue of our baptism. With a purely human
heart one would say: “Then who can be
saved?”
But the Lord’s reply to this
question fills our hearts with hope: “What
is impossible with men is possible with
God”
(Lk 18:26-27)
. But that our hope not
be in vain we must respond with our own
“fiat,” and sincerely seek and desire
salvation. In other words, our hearts must
convert
. A faith which is limited to mere
religious practices obviously can’t suffice,
but even a certain frequency to the
Eucharist doesn’t guarantee conversion,
for even those who eat and drink in His
presence are not necessarily acknowledged
by Jesus
(Lk 13:26).
Mary calls us to decide for a complete
change in our lives, which is an invitation
to take the way of salvation. If our initial
zeal has slackened, if our hope has become
dull, then it is because we have once again
tried converting with our own strength
rather than implore God for conversion.
Mary calls us to begin again: as in the
first days of my coming to Medjugorje,
make a decision to change. If we truly
desire being changed, if we desire
honouring the image of God in us, and
letting Christ grow in us, then our lives
will change, and it will be a complete
change, and authentic conversion.
Conversion of the heart is the
profound desire to let God work in us; it is
“Unless you convert and become like
children, you will not enter the kingdom
of heaven” (Mt 18:3)
Sept.-Oct. 2004 - Echo of Mary, Queen of Peace, P.O. Box 27, I-31030 Bessica Treviso, Italy. Yr 20 # 5
Ph/fax 0423-470331 - E-mail: info@ecodimaria.net- A translation of the original Italian: Eco di Maria
177
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the surrender that Mary has been asking
of us for the last 23 years; it is allowing
God to replace our heart of stone with a
heart of flesh
(Ez 36:26); it is opening up
our hearts to receive the spirit of wisdom
and revelation
(Eph 1:17).
If we take this decision seriously we
shall have the strength to kneel and to
open our hearts before God.
When the
heart is opened up before God it is already
a prayer, and it is a prayer pleasing to God;
it is our “fiat.” God will not fail to listen to
this prayer: God will hear your prayers
and answer them.
“If you then, who are
evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father
who is in heaven give good things to those
who ask him!”
(Mt 7:11).
N.Q.
Russian Icon returns home
Almost a hundred years ago the Icon,
Mother of God of Kazan, left its
homeland, and now thanks to the Holy
Father it has returned to the Kremlin’s
Cathedral of the Dormition in Moscow.
After passing through various countries
and staying a long time at the Shrine of
Fatima in Portugal, it providentially arrived
at the Pope’s dwelling more than 10 years
ago. “Since then,” says the Pope, “it has
found a home with me and has
accompanied my daily service to the
Church with its motherly gaze.”
“The Bishop of Rome has prayed
before this sacred Icon, asking that the
day may come when we will all be
united
and able to proclaim to the world,
with one voice and invisible communion,
the salvation of our one Lord and His
triumph over the evil and impious forces
which seek to damage our faith and our
witness of unity,” said the Pope in very
explicit words to the Patriarch of Moscow
and All Russia, Alexei II.
“By a mysterious design of Divine
Providence, during the long years of her
pilgrimage the Mother of God in her sacred
Icon known as Kazanskaya has gathered
about her the Orthodox faithful and
their Catholic brethren
from other parts
of the world, who have fervently prayed
for the Church and the People whom she
has protected down the centuries. More
recently, Divine Providence made it
possible for the people and the Church in
Russia to recover their freedom and for
the wall separating Eastern Europe from
Western Europe to fall. Despite the division
which sadly still persists between
Christians, this sacred Icon appears as a
symbol of the unity of the followers of
the Only-begotten Son of God, the One to
whom she herself leads us.”
Once again Mary has been the
mediatrix of peace. As always, her
children find refuge under her mantle. Once
again the Holy Father has pointed Her out
as the high road to reconciliation. “Russia
is a nation which has been Christian for
many centuries; it is the Holy Rus’. Let us
pray with trust to Mary, for we know that
she implores on our behalf and on behalf
of all nations for the gift of peace.”
Editorial team
The Pope at Lourdes:
150 years of pure grace
I have greatly wished to make this
pilgrimage to Lourdes in order to cele-
brate an event which continues to give glory
to the Triune God. Mary’s Immaculate
Conception is the sign of the gracious love
of the Father, the perfect expression of
the redemption accomplished by the Son,
and the beginning of a life completely open
to the working of the Spirit.”
These are the words with which John
Paul II greeted the faithful at Lourdes for
the 150
th
anniversary of the solemn
definition of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception
, last 15 August,
day of the Assumption.
“Beneath the maternal gaze of the
Blessed Virgin I offer a heartfelt greeting
to all of you as we gather before the Grotto
of Massabielle to sing the praises of her
whom all generations call blessed (cf. Luke
1:48). By her words and her silence the
Virgin Mary stands before us as a model
for our pilgrim way. It is not an easy way:
as a result of the fall of our first parents,
humanity is marked by the wounds of sin,
whose consequences continue to be felt
also among the redeemed. But evil and
death will not have the last word! Mary
confirms this by her whole life, for she is
a living witness of the victory of Christ,
our Passover.
The faithful have understood this. That
is why they throng to this grotto in order
to hear the maternal counsels of the
Blessed Virgin. In her they acknowledge
“the woman clothed in the sun” (Rev 12:1),
the Queen resplendent before the throne
of God, ever interceding on their behalf.”
The example of Mary Assumed into
heaven has opened up wider horizons
and new hope for us all: “Today the
Church celebrates Mary’s glorious
Assumption body and soul into Heaven.
The two dogmas of the Immaculate
Conception and the Assumption are closely
related. Both proclaim the glory of Christ
the Redeemer and the holiness of Mary,
whose human destiny is even now
perfectly and definitively realized in God.
”When I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and will take you to myself,
that where I am, there you may be also”
(Jn 14:3). Mary is the pledge of the
fulfilment of Christ’s promise. Her
Assumption thus becomes for us ‘a sign
of sure hope and consolation’ (Lumen
Gentium 68). Listen to her, young people
who seek an answer capable of giving
meaning to your lives. Here you can find
that answer. It is a demanding one, yet it
is the only answer which is genuinely
satisfying. For it contains the secret of true
joy and peace.”
We are definitely in a new time, in
which Our Lady is ever closer to her
children; she traces out the path for us,
explains the way, and offers us
encouragement and company, but at the
same time she precedes us.
Her motherhood is real, her closeness
tangible. John Paul II knows this and he
has no fears about proclaiming it even
though many in the Church still find it
difficult to acknowledge the importance
of Mary’s role.
Thus, the Holy Father addresses his
appeals to women: “This Grotto also
issues a special call to women.
Appearing
here, Mary entrusted her message to a
young girl, as if to emphasize the special
mission of women in our own time
,
tempted as it is by materialism and
secularism: to be in today’s society a
witness of those essential values which are
seen only with the eyes of the heart. To
you, women, falls the task of being
sentinels of the Invisible!
I appeal urgently
to all of you, dear brother and sisters, to
do everything in your power to ensure that
life, each and every life, is respected from
conception to its natural end. Life is a
sacred gift, and no one can presume to be
its master.”
How much strength and truth in these
words, and how much pain in the
knowledge that today’s world all too often
denies life, preferring to be enslaved to the
logic of death. The Pope’s last appeal thus
appears more than appropriate since we
are all tied to the powers of evil in some
way: ”Finally, Our Lady of Lourdes has a
message for everyone. Be men and
women of freedom!
But remember: human
freedom is a freedom wounded by sin. It
is a freedom which itself needs to be set
free. Christ is its liberator; he is the one
who ‘for freedom has set us free’ (cf. Gal
5:1). Defend that freedom!
Dear friends, in this we know we can
count on Mary, who, since she never
yielded to sin, is the only creature who
is perfectly free
. I entrust you to her. Walk
beside Mary as you journey towards the
complete fulfilment of your humanity!”
Editorial Team
“Your prayers and your hopes are mine”
wondrous plan.
I have always trusted greatly in the
offerings, prayers and sacrifices of the
suffering
. Dear brothers and sisters who
are sick, how I would like to embrace each
and every one of you with affection, to
tell you how close I am to you and how
much I support you. I now do so in spirit,
entrusting you to the maternal love of the
Mother of the Lord and entreating her to
obtain for all of us the blessings and
consolations of Jesus her Son.”
On Saturday, 14 August, the Holy
Father travelled to the Grotto of Massabielle
“to first of all greet the sick who come in
ever greater numbers to this Shrine, those
who have accompanied them, their
caregivers and their families.
I am here with you, dear brothers and
sisters, as a pilgrim to Our Lady. I make
my own your prayers and your hopes. With
you I share a time of life marked by
physical suffering,
yet not for that
reason any less fruitful in God’s
2
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“Return to your initial zeal”
Mother of life for all
creation
In her messages the Queen of Peace calls
us her “dear Children” as though it were an
impassioned appeal directed at our distracted
hearts with the aim of involving us more
profoundly in the ineffable gift of her divine
maternity
. On many occasions Our Lady has
called us with insistence and motherly
passion, to a more authentic and conscious
mother-child relationship. “How happy I am
when you call me ‘My Mother!’ How lovely
it would be if I could be your real mother
and you my children!”
(25/10/85). “Dear
Children, I want you to understand that I
am your mother and that I desire helping
you”
(25/8/93). “Now, right now, you have
to be my children. Not tomorrow or after
tomorrow, but now! If you have a problem,
give it to me, for I am your mother; I am
always here for you and I love you.”
(15/12/
85). “How long it has been since you
encountered me as your mother! Meditate
on this over the next days and decide to
change something.”
(28/7/85).
Why should Mary press us so urgently
to accept her living presence as Mother of
our life
, as though it were a seal so as to
forever mark our true identity and spiritual
mission? The answer, we feel, touches on the
true meaning of Mary’s presence in the world
in our times, for it is part of the Father’s great
plan of salvation to re-generate the members
of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church His
Spouse, and in it each one of us. More so
than ever, the Mystical Body is today called
to become “immaculate, without spot or
wrinkle”
(Eph 5:27)
, and be finally ready for
the eternal marriage with her Lord. This is
necessarily accomplished through the same
Mother of the Divine Son, which she, true
and only “Theotokos,” bore into the world.
And today this same Mother is being called
to re-generate Her Son in the souls of men
and all creation: “This maternity of Mary in
the order of grace lasts until the eternal
fulfilment of all the elect.”
Lumen Gentium, 62
Mary’s “new, spiritual motherhood” is
her most precious gift which gushed forth
from God’s Heart
. It is inseparably associated
to the sublimely regal and salvific mission
which She ardently desires sharing with her
children, particularly those whom she herself
calls at the service of the plans of salvation
entrusted to her by the Most High for these
times. This gift, indeed, is “born from the heart
of the Paschal Mystery of the Redeemer of
the world”
(Redemptoris Mater, 44)
, and it must
pass through the unlimited surrender and
unreserved offering of life to God. It was in
His will that Mary alone amongst all creatures
would accomplish this.
That is why Mary is forever the only
immaculate way. The Queen of Peace
communicates the ineffable gift of her divine
maternity to her children precisely through
her immaculacy. Thus, she never ceases to
invite us to accept her as our real mother. She
has a special place in her Heart for us: “Allow
me to be your link with God and eternal
life”
(2 Feb. 1990).
This Mother-child relationship, lifted up
and transfigured by grace, allows us to be
joined in a total union of hearts. We can
become her true children if we hand over our
hearts to her without conditions: “Allow me
to do this. I tell you anew: open your hearts.
Allow me to guide you. My way leads to
God”
(18 March ’94)
. “As a Mother I plead
with you: open your heart; offer it to me!”
(18/3/94)
. “I am your mother, and I desire that
your hearts be similar to mine”
(25.11.94).
When our hearts are handed over to our
Blessed Mother she can shape them
according to the image of her own
Immaculate Heart, and we partake of Her
Immaculacy and burning love which, in union
with Jesus Christ, works to restore the
supernatural life in souls. (cf. RM 39)
This is the only way that God’s pure love
can freely flow through those who have
responded to Mary’s call and thereby re-
generate the life of the Risen Lord in the
multitudes of brothers and sisters throughout
the universe according to the inscrutable
plans of the Most High.
Mary’s divine motherhood, accomplished
throughout time, reached its crowning
moment only at the foot of the Cross. It was
here that the total fusion of her Immaculate
Heart to the Father’s Heart was fulfilled. It
was here that with the same immolated love
of the Son she embraced all mankind,
suffering and wounded by the sins of all
times. It was here that Mary received from
the lips of the dying Saviour the definitive
gift of universal motherhood. The Church
never fails to proclaim: “This “new
motherhood of Mary,” generated by faith, is
the fruit of the “new” love which came to
definitive maturity in her at the foot of the
Cross, through her sharing in the redemptive
love of her Son.” (RM 23)
We thus intuit the concreteness of the
spiritual way that the Queen of Peace desires
leading us into, to allow us to partake more
fully in the gift of her divine motherhood and
glorious regality: “My Children, I desire
giving you my love, that you might make it
known and pour it out onto others. I, your
Mother, will help you.”
(17.9.88). The way to
total union of our hearts with the Immaculate
Heart of Mary is the same as the way to Her
Son Jesus. “For this I am with you, to draw
you closer to my Heart and to the Heart of
my Son Jesus.”
(25/8/93); “I lead you to
eternal life. My Son is eternal life. Accept
Him and you will have love.”
(18/3/95)
Mary’s is a great call; it deeply expresses
all previous apparitions in the world and the
present ones in Medjugorje. In a certain sense
these recapitulate them all. It is the great
spiritual way which launches us into the
salvific ray of Christ’s Heart, making of us
true vessels of new life and salvation for all
souls, both living and deceased, that God
mysteriously links to the response of love
we give to Mary’s call.
Hers is the call to become true mothers
and fathers in the order of grace of
multitudes of brothers and sisters in the entire
universe, to birth them into the new and
immortal life, into the light of the new creation
which Mary is unveiling ever more clearly
before the eyes and hearts of each of us and
of the Bride, Who with the Spirit, is saying to
the Lord: “Come!” (Rev 22:17).
Giuseppe Ferraro
Praying the complete
Rosary
by Fr. Slavko Barbaric
On the eve of the Assumption (14 Aug.
1984) Our Lady appeared to Ivan, and gave
an important message: “I would like
everybody to pray with me as much as they
can at this time. To fast strictly on
Wednesdays and Fridays and to recite the
rosary every day, meditating on the joyful,
sorrowful and glorious mysteries.”
At the beginning Mary asked for the
Creed and seven Our Father’s, and we knew
this request was only the start. We say these
prayers every evening, but this is only the
ABC to help us learn to read. It is necessary
to read in order to learn to read. This means
that when we start to pray we must continue
to do so and to increase our prayer.
I realize that Mary wants from us a
permanent prayer. I will explain this. When
Mary asks for the complete rosary every day,
this doesn’t mean finding half an hour to recite
the Hail Mary’s as quickly as possible and
then tell ourselves we’ve fulfilled the
message. No. The sense of this prayer is
another. To recite the entire rosary is to be
closer to the mysteries of the life of Jesus, of
Redemption and of Mary. It requires a
different attitude. For example, if you have
no time for prayer in the morning, meditate
on a mystery, such as a joyful one. Our Lady
said: “I am ready to do your will. I understand
what you want from me. I am ready and allow
myself to be guided by you.” This is the first
joyful mystery.
If we want to deepen our prayer, we must
keep the Word in our heart, so that a readiness
to look for and to do the Will of our Lord
every day may grow in us. After we have
allowed the Word of God to enter our heart
and, by grace, our heart becomes ready to
seek and do the Will of God, then we may
pray ten hail Mary’s for ourselves, our family,
the people we work or study with. So our
first impulse each day must be: “I want to
seek your Will, and put it into practice.”
This is the way to meditate each mystery.
When we do this for five or ten minutes each
day, we have a new stimulus to live our life
with the Lord. This is the most important
factor in the message.
Our Lady is not asking for so much prayer
just to take up our time, but to lead us to the
Lord. It is an indirect invitation to read the
Scriptures because the rosary is a meditative,
biblical prayer and it isn’t possible to meditate
the rosary well without knowing the Bible.
If someone asked me: ‘How can I find so
much time for prayer, for the whole rosary, or
for prayer to contemplate the mysteries?’, I
would reply: ‘I have realized we do have the
time, but, as we often do not see the value of
prayer, we say we have no time.’
If we want peace, I believe we must find
time for prayer.
(15 Sept. 1984)
“The Rosary is my
favourite prayer.”
John Paul II
3
Echo 177
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Motherhood transfigured
I first became a mother a couple of
months before I turned 20. Maternity was
for me both a gift and a grace, much
greater than I ever imagined. The Lord
called me to be a mother nine other times.
Each child has been for me an ever deeper
encounter with the Lord and greater joy.
Each conception was an experience of
welcoming Jesus; each birth and nursing
period was an explosion of prayer, praise
and contemplation of the mystery of life.
For each child that was born I discovered
the presence of God ever more deeply.
My life has not been without suffering,
but God our Father led me to the way and
peace of Medjugorje
, and I have
experienced being received by the heart
of Mary so that all the evil in me is purified
and transformed. But at Medjugorje Mary
has shown me that there is also spiritual
motherhood
. I’ve learnt that my soul can
take upon itself the suffering, difficulty and
problems of many others to then bring
them to Jesus at Adoration and daily Mass
so that He through His Spirit can visit them
and bring healing and new life. It is all very
profound, but also very simple. It can all
happen whilst I carry on with my duties
as wife and mother.
Every now and again I feel drawn to
Medjugorje, both as a geographical location
and the place of spiritual communion
amongst the brothers and sisters who wish
to follow Jesus in company with Mary,
and who are willing to put into practice
the messages of the Queen of Peace for
our times. And when I make a journey to
Medjugorje (whether real or spiritual) I
realize how our Blessed Mother very
discreetly and humbly gives me trust and
strength; she takes me by the hand and
leads me on one more step, inviting me to
collaborate in this new way of
transmitting life
.
Elena Ricci
Divine paternity and
maternity in us
by Fr. Tomislav Vlasic
The title of this
reflection makes
one immediately
think of marriage
or preparation for
marriage, but we
know that marriage
isn’t the only
condition for
becoming mothers
and fathers.
For instance,
there is the
paternity and
maternity of man which begins with his
conception; and that of the young people
who must reflect on the ways that lie before
them when choosing either consecrated life
or marriage. So, in this same perspective,
we see how divine paternity and maternity
is proper to priests and the consecrated
according to the model of Joseph and Mary
who didn’t generate in the flesh, but were
in a perfect manner, father and mother. And
we also see in this perspective God’s
creativity which is present in each soul. His
creativity is a power that desires being
manifested and freed so it can find the
space within us to be more fully expressed.
It is every being’s nature to
generate. If he cannot generate he feels
frustrated
. A Christian who does not
generate life in God is a maimed Christian.
If a spirituality does not generate God it
is ill. Openness to the gift of divine
paternity and maternity is thus the
readiness to generate the life of God in
others.
In this perspective, we find ourselves
before two choices: to generate life or to
generate death. To generate life one must
necessarily be united to God and be in
harmony with Him. Since God is the
source of life, He is our life; and it is His
life which must be generated in us. To the
contrary, Satan generates death, even
spiritual death.
To generate life means to allow
God’s life to flow out like a river,
according to St. John’s account in the book
of Revelation. In his apostolic vision John
saw that from God’s temple – the new
Jerusalem
– life flowed out (symbolized
by a river), and that life in the world was
not polluted by it, but rather was healed
and purified by it.
So that divine paternity and maternity
is lived correctly, it is fundamental that
our life generate and make known God’s
grace. We can see how thoughts and
desires flow continually through us, both
on a conscious and sub-conscious level;
well, in being united to God - day and
night - it is divine life that flows out from
us. Though we are probably unaware of
it, God’s action covers the entire
environment, and even nature feels His
grace being sent forth.
Mary and Joseph are our models:,
Jesus Christ chose these two people who
had put aside all their plans and desires,
and it was in them that He became
incarnate. If we, too, surrender ourselves
and all we have to God, without reserve,
and without allowing our ego to dominate,
then the river of God’s grace will pass
through us.
To receive the gift of divine paternity
and maternity the most important thing
is that the grace of God envelop us and
change us. Unless we are regenerated, we
cannot be fathers and mothers of divine
life, for we ourselves would lack it.
Perhaps we can accomplish great works
on religious or humanitarian levels, or
preach refined catecheses or theological
lessons, but unless we are transformed in
the life of God we cannot possibly
transmit His life. If, on the other hand, we
allow God’s grace to envelop us and lift
us up, nothing can impede divine life from
using us as its vessels. There is no power
that can stop it, no one that can oppose it,
not even death or hell.
With baptism we become God’s
children, but that’s not enough, for we
are called to be fathers and mothers,
parents. This is adult faith
. This is where
our mission begins. But who is willing to
accept this gift from God? Not many.
Those who unite themselves completely
to God and desire entering into mystical
communion with Him are able to fulfil the
call of a Christian. The Church has neither
hesitated, nor delayed in raising to the
altar the great saints who’ve been fathers
and mothers for humanity, such as Mother
Teresa and Padre Pio: bearers of life.
Where and how can mothers and
fathers express themselves? We know
from the mass media that mankind risks
grave dangers. Creation was entrusted to
us so that God could govern it through us.
Therefore, our fervent prayer in favour of
all creation – prayer which is fruit of our
paternity and maternity - ought to be a
prayer through which God works His
grace with power. If the gift of divine
paternity and maternity in us were alive,
we would easily recognize how we are all
priests, and mediators. This is the spark
that we received with our baptism and that
makes us a priestly people. The gift is
within us.
History has its course, with periods of
crisis, others of triumph. Many things
suggest to us that the time of the triumph
of Mary Most Holy, of her maternity, is at
hand. Her apparitions will shine out; the
times are mature. The visits to Medjugorje
will be powerfully affirmed; but there is
need for fathers and mothers: men and
women to generate new life, so that the
Holy Spirit can act through them, the way
He did with the Apostles.
What do we desire? apparitions, or
visions, or do we want God’s creativity
within us? Some receive apparitions; it is
a sign God grants to the world – a special
grace. However, all of us can and must be
creative, each according to his individual
gifts. Even those who think they are last
are called to be filled!
So what do we prefer? The tales, the
visions, the words; or the living God Who
generates His Son – the living Word – in
us? The difference is abyssal! If we opt
for the unending prayer and devotion
which annoy God, which are heard but not
heeded, we will not receive life, and we
will not know how it should flow through
us. We must, instead, choose to belong to
God, and He will transmit life to us. Then,
we will not say: “Where is God?”, for we
will all see Him. We will no longer ask:
“What is God like?”, because we will
understand. All history tends towards the
apex: God-with-us and us-with-God.
Sacred Scripture, from the
beginning, proclaims the Woman who
will crush the head of the enemy.
In the
light of what we have said, we can add
that it will be the fathers and mothers –
united to Mary – that will crush the head
of the old serpent. Those who generate life
will also cast out death and he who
generated death. It is a beautiful call. This
is what God is calling us to.
4
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I was there!
News from the blessed land
“We wish to see Jesus”
For many it is an appointment which can’t
be missed, while others come out of curiosity;
but to all is served up a generous portion of
grace during the yearly Medjugorje Youth
Festival
. Even organizers were surprised by
the numbers attending this year: 30,000
people at the Shrine of the Queen of Peace
from the 1-6 August, each of them with the
desire to encounter Our Lady and her Son.
“We wish to see Jesus” was the theme of
the meeting, which was also the Pope’s most
recent theme for World Youth Day, while the
next one in the summer of 2005 at Cologne in
Germany is “We have come to worship him.”
The encounter between a soul and its Creator
is written in the depths of the human heart:
“The greatest dignity of man consists in his
call to enter into relationship with God in
an exchange of gazes that transform his life,”
said the Pope in his message for WYD 2005.
That is why the young people are so
drawn to Medjugorje, and why obstacles are
joyfully hurdled: “I travelled 60 hours from
Australia to come here. I’m exhausted, but I
couldn’t miss it,”
said Joshua, visibly
suffering from jet lag.
No matter what their story, the hearts of
all were steeped in hope, waiting to be filled
with certainty. They know only too well that
Jesus alone can loosen the knots that
condition their lives, that He alone can offer
new light and fulfilment, that He alone can fill
their deepest desires, those which were
impressed in their souls at conception.
The programme of the Festival led the
young people down a path which prepared
them for the encounter with Jesus: first as a
friend, then as brother, then as Lord. “Prayer,
music and reflections will offer the help
necessary to let Jesus look at us (theme of
day 1), because it is only through
experiencing His loving gaze upon us that
we come to desire meeting Him,” explained
the parish priest, Fra Branko, in his
introductory homily.
“Then we will discover that the encounter
with Jesus gives a fuller meaning to our lives
(theme day 2), and that this encounter is
realized in the Eucharist (theme, day 3) and
in Eucharistic Love, which is the giving of
oneself without egoism, and sacrificing
oneself for the others. The Pope says that to
love isn’t a question of just feelings, but that
it is an act of will; so that to love is to prefer
the good of others above the good for self.
On the fourth day, participants were
called to become witnesses of the Lord, as
the world seeks true witnesses of the One
Who alone can grant life. Young people
desire seeing Jesus because they want to
know the truth about their own lives
. “I am
the way, the truth and the life”
assures the
Teacher (cf. Jn 14:6). They believed and they
came to Medjugorje to listen to Him.
The voice of Christ spoke in the various
testimonies throughout the Festival and it
became clear that whatever the call may be, it
is able to fully realize God’s will when there is
a sincere decision to comprehend it and
follow it. “I remember, in particular, the
words by Sr. Elvira who urged us not to delay
in choosing,”
said Loredana from Pompei,
“and she was referring to the common
practice of our days of reaching your 40’s
without knowing your calling.”
Young married couples, expectant
mothers, consecrated and religious, priests
and representatives of new communities
which the Holy Spirit continues to inspire
and create, visionaries and others again all
took their turn at tracing out for the young
people a vision to pursue, a goal to tend to
which would lead them to happiness. “You
have heard the testimony of only a few of
those who heard a voice they couldn’t resist,
and who left everything to serve the Lord,”
said Fr. Jozo Zovko in paternal tones, “but
there are thousands in Medjugorje who have
made the decision to serve God as religious,
as priests, as parents, or simply as good
Christians. This is the meaning of
experiencing grace; of seeing Jesus.”
However, there is not an encounter with
the Lord without there being an encounter
with Mary. She alone knows how to “form a
contemplative heart and how to teach us to
reach Jesus”
(Holy Father’s message for
WYD). This isn’t a novelty for those who’ve
been listening to Our Lady’s messages at
Medjugorje, for she often repeats: “I desire
leading you all to Jesus because He is your
salvation”
(Message 26/6/94). Mary is
generous; she doesn’t hold back her treasure
for herself, and neither does she desire
drawing us to herself out of self-interest. All
she asks is that we enter into her Immaculate
Heart because she knows that it is the
shortest way to Jesus.
Christ is the scope of our pilgrimage.
Our Lady teaches this when we pray the
Rosary to contemplate His birth, death and
resurrection, that the same mysteries might
impress deeply on our own lives.
The days of prayer, adoration and joy
concluded at dawn on the 6
th
August
(Solemnity of the Transfiguration) with the
celebration of the Eucharist. As the giant host
was elevated up to the Father, the still sleepy
countenances broke into smiles, in an
expression of joy and serenity. The young
people of Medjugorje were ready to return
home; their expectations had been fulfilled;
they had seen His Face.
S.C.
admire its beauty and relish its flavour.
We all came to Medjugorje full of un-
answered questions, desirous of knowing
what to do with our lives. Many of us were
seeking out a vocation. All of us understood
that the important thing to do was first seek
the Kingdom of God
, and the rest would be
given us. At that point our every choice
would have been dictated by the Holy Spirit
and blessed by the Lord. Whether it be
marriage or consecrated life, our aim ought
to be holiness of the soul; so that whatever
our choice in life, we would be accompanied
by the cross which would allow us to be raised
up to God.
How could we not see Our Lady’s
embrace in this beautiful adventure: Mary
who presses us up to her Heart and to the
Heart of her Son? We wanted to see Jesus;
Our Lady lost no time. She showed Him to us
in all His splendour, and we were like a
beautiful bouquet of flowers which she
offered up to her Son. Not only did we see
Jesus, but – like Thomas – we touched Him,
and now we know that He is alive in our
midst and that He will never tire of loving
us. If our hearts are now overflowing with
love, what will it be like in heaven!?
In a world where young people are a sign
of perversion, where they die off in road
accidents on Saturday nights, and they
symbolize the scourge of society, and while
the others limit themselves to praising the
“old times,” Mary has come to build up a new
world with us
. From today we have become
her witnesses; now it is our turn to show
Jesus to the others, to those who thirst for
truth and life.
The last night was spent atop Krizevac.
With rosary beads in our hands we awoke
the dawn as we celebrated Holy Mass and
entered the light. However, the Festival didn’t
finish at Medjugorje, for it continues on in
our heart and day-to-day life. Mary didn’t
leave us alone and defenceless, but she robed
us in weapons of light. We are now armed
with the Rosary, the Bible, with fasting,
confession and Holy Mass. We can no longer
fear on the sad and difficult days. The way
isn’t easy, I know, but Our Lady trusts us.
On our part we have to open ourselves up to
God and allow Him to shape our lives.
Alessandro Macinai
I was one of the 30,000 young people
at Medjugorje for the Festival, and still
today I have before me the sight of us all on
our knees in adoration before the Blessed
Sacrament. What did we do there under the
sun? Why leave the comfort of our homes
and spend money at a place like that? The
beautiful beaches of Croatia weren’t far
away; yet – like everyone else – I was there
for a precise reason: I wanted to see Jesus!
Our Lady had called us one by one with
her infinite patience. Each of us had a story
to tell: life’s experiences, the way which led
us there, but together we were there with our
hands uplifted to praise the Lord. We were
all touched by divine grace, in the amount
each of us needed, and the more we opened
ourselves up to God the more we were
transformed into vessels of grace for others.
I can still hear the words of Fr. Ljubo, Sr.
Elvira, the visionaries and Fr. Jozo, and all
those who witnessed to their experience of
conversion. Above all I can still hear the Word
of God. Yes! the Word of God accompanied
us in every moment
, from the morning
prayer to evening adoration, and we heard it
in all the languages so that all of us could
5
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Portion of Heaven
Nothing could better describe the grace
experienced by collaborators of the Echo
of Mary
at their annual international
retreat
in Medjugorje from 25-29 August
2004. Grace was so dense that it was
tangible, and joy flowed over from hearts,
creating a climate of profound spiritual
communion.
Various were the reasons that brought
us together, including the desire to respond
ever more radically to Mary’s call and to
make a total donation of self to Jesus
through Mary; the awareness of being at
the service of a precious instrument that
brings the Mother’s message to her children
the world round; the need to share a common
spirituality to bring union and harmony to
Echo; the need to know each other better to
be able to love each other as brothers and
sisters of the same family.
Each of us was gifted by the
presence of every other person; a
presence made all the more beautiful by
the fact that we came from many parts of
the world (15 different countries), and
various states of life (married couples,
families, children, lay consecrated,
religious, priests). But thanks to the grace
of open hearts, the Holy Spirit was able to
do great works in each of us, opening up
new horizons, illuminating the way to take
and confirming that already taken.
The atmosphere of silence and
prayerful concentration helped us listen
with the heart and reflect on the meditations
by Fr. Tomislav Vlasic who led the retreat.
Morning prayer on Podbrdo and Krizevac
knitted us together even more closely; and
night-long Eucharistic adoration during
three of the nights (taking turns) allowed
for each of us to personally encounter
Jesus, heart to heart. With the celebration
of Holy Mass, the celebrant recapitulated
every intention in Christ, he consecrated
the peoples present, and he gathered up
the offerings presented by each person and
raised them to the Father.
We also celebrated Echo’s twentieth
year to give thanks to God for having
allowed us to continue the work begun by
Fr. Angelo, in the certainty that the Lord
will continue to multiply the fruits that Echo
sows around the world. As a memento, a
gold miraculous medal was donated to
each collaborator of Echo: a powerful
protection for the work which awaits us.
All of you, dear readers, were in our
hearts and prayers.
Following are some testimonies by
some of the participants who wrote about
the “portion of paradise” that we all
experienced.
Sr. Stefania Consoli (Editor)
Robert Prendushi,
Translator, Albanian Echo
My impressions on the Third
International Retreat for translators? Many;
but the most memorable one is praying the
Our Father and Hail Mary in so many
different languages but feeling that it was
one. Prayer has no boundaries, rather,
it unites them. There is only one prayer:
and it is that which raises the hearts of the
peoples up to the Lord. The themes
developed by Fr. Tomislav will be of great
help in our humble work. As I translate I
shall pray, knowing that there are many of
us praying together.
Beverley Drabsch
Translator, English Echo;
Secretary, Echo Assoc.
“Lord, surprise me!” I had started
saying several months ago, without
anything particular in mind; and it was only
on the last day of the retreat that it dawned
on me that I was living my “surprise.” And
what a surprise! Our days at the Kraljice
Mira House were steeped in love.
Words cannot express the inner joy
and peace and the deep inner sense of
having come to Our
Lady’s very own home
where Mary herself
opened the door and
welcomed us in
. The
love she poured into our
hearts was tangible. It
was a feeling of
walking in the garden
of Eden
: a little girl being
led by the hand with God, my Father, on
one side and my Mother on the other.
But the surprise also had a very
concrete aspect to it, in the form of a
brother and sister from Australia, and
together we delighted in the garden, and
we offered up to God our country and the
English-speaking world.
The Lord’s generosity can’t be met;
nobody’s better at making surprises than
Jesus! So with each passing day I’ve come
to realize how the surprise is still unfolding,
little by little, and the grace of Medjugorje,
particularly intense at “Mary’s own
garden,” has continued on in time,
revealing new aspects and new details. I
sense that this is only the beginning, as
though I were still removing the wrapping,
and that the real surprise is yet to come,
though each wrapper removed is already
a surprise in itself. We know, of course,
that ultimately we will be ravished in the
sweet embrace between Soul and Creator,
and that between now and then there can
only be a build-up of this inscrutable love
of His, and that He delights in letting us
feel this love also through our corporal
senses. “Behold, you are beautiful, my
beloved, truly lovely,”
(Song 1:16).
But back to earth, for we are earthen
creatures yet. At the Kraljice Mira
Community, Our Lady gathered us
together, sheep in the Lord’s flock, and
gave us a shepherd to lead the way. That
shepherd was Fr. Tomislav Vlasic, whose
fatherly guidance helped me immensely,
shedding further light on the wonderful
reality of the communion of saints and on
the encounter between Christ and the
Church with the celebration of the
sacraments and in particular of the
Eucharist, as well as on the great need for
intercessory prayers for abandoned souls.
It is here that we are called to be mothers
and fathers in a spiritual sense to generate
souls into Life.
Truly, words cannot express! May our
tongues and our entire beings give praise
and unending thanks to God, One and
Triune, for His goodness and mercy, and
for giving us such a beautiful, sweet and
pure Mother!
“My soul thirsts for thee, o God, my
flesh faints for thee…
Because thy
steadfast love is better than life, my
lips will praise thee”
(Ps 63)
.
Piero Gottardi
Webmaster
That’s right, the gold medal! The
afternoon after I got back home I
unpacked, but I was so tired and in need
of sleep that I didn’t take much notice of
the little jewel-case. Today I opened it and
understood. Given by Pietro, Fr. Angelo
and Our Lady were just as present in the
giving of it! Athletes rejoice over a gold
medal for a passing glory, and to think that
I almost didn’t understand! Receiving a
“gold medal” from the Blessed Virgin isn’t
an everyday feat! It is clear that on her
scales merits and love weighed in more
than error and misery.
What else can I say? I could write for
hours. In that House, vital branch of the
great tree of Medjugorje, there is an
explosive force; against the kingdom of
darkness, it is an atomic bomb!
I was inspired by the way relationships
among participants were reinforced and
renewed and how they grew in God. Now
I believe in the advent of a new time, not
only because the Blessed Virgin has
announced it, but because I’ve seen its first
lights. It won’t burst in, for in God and in
His Creation, everything is gradation and
harmony. Between the day and the night
there is twilight and dawn. The new dawn
in Medjugorje can already be seen!
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Christina Agnani
Translator, Swedish Echo
It was a great grace and immense
joy for me to participate in the annual
retreat for collaborators of the Echo.
During the year we live a long way
apart, so it is very comforting and
encouraging to meet the people behind this
work, most of whom received no formal
preparation for the making of a newspaper.
We came from Albania, Australia, Spain,
Germany, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic,
Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Catalonia,
Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, and Croatia,
while friends from other countries were unable
to make it.
The “Kraljice Mira” Community offered
us hospitality and true friendship. What joy
it was to share meals, to eat the exquisitely
prepared food in meditative silence or in
happy conversation. Each time was a festive
banquet!
A couple of work meetings were held to
discuss what had been done and what
needed doing for the future, but, above all,
we received spiritual encouragement by Fr.
Tomislav. Through his homilies and talks we
were helped to offer ourselves up to God the
Father in union with Jesus and Mary. He
urged us to offer up to God in the Eucharist
the countries we represented. So I offered
the problems, sins, and sufferings of Sweden,
but also of Finland, Norway, Denmark and
Iceland. Without doubt, all of us extended
their intentions to the rest of the world, to
ask for God’s blessing on all mankind.
We translators and collaborators are
ordinary people, but we know we’ve been
touched by the hand of Mary here in
Medjugorje. We all felt her call in our hearts,
and her presence, and we desire helping to
spread to the world her message. She says to
all: God exists, God loves us and wants us in
Heaven with Him.
We were immersed in love and friendship,
and surrounded by the beauty of nature. Our
senses were nourished on the sweet smelling
herbs and flowers, on the summer song of
chirping cicadas and crowing roosters. It
wasn’t difficult to renew our choice to live as
authentic Christians. We are certain of the
help of the brothers and sisters, of Fr.
Tomislav, and above all of Mary. The Queen
of Peace told us again in her message of 25
August that she intercedes on our behalf.
Mary prays also for you who read these lines.
You can be sure of that, for we are all her
children! Thank you Mary, Mother dear!
Barbara Squassabia
Honorary member, Echo Assoc.
Each person arrives at Medjugorje after
travelling along his own path. I came here
out of conjugal obedience. It was my
choice; it wasn’t imposed, but I
am convinced that in marriage
there should be no exclusive or
private spaces which aren’t
shared by the other.
It was in the conviction that
private spaces bring about
separation that I came, determined
to accompany my husband along
this way. I came here and found a
place where
Grace is made
concrete in the
offering, and the
elevation, and in
the communion
of souls. Here,
one’s soul is able
to breathe, and be the Lord’s Sanctuary
where other souls find restoration.
Fr David Tremble, mgl
Missionaries of God’s Love
Australia
Just as Mary was surprised by the
Angel Gabriel’s greeting in the mystery of
the Annunciation (Luke 1:26), so too was
I pleasantly surprised with the greeting I
received during a visit to the Kraljice Mira
Community while in Medjugorje with thirty
other pilgrims from Australia for this
year’s Youth Festival.
During this quick visit I was invited to
return for the upcoming retreat with Fr
Tomislav - like Mary at the
Annunciation I was unsure how
this could be possible but my ‘Yes’
bore fruit and I soon found myself
back in Medjugorje.
During the retreat I was deeply
blessed with all those who gathered
from various countries in company
with Fr Tomislav and his
Community – we were blessed by
their welcome, their word, their song, their
prayer, their love, and their lives given
joyfully to Jesus through Mary.
It was a significant time for my first
visit to Europe. Fourteen years ago I was
consecrated to the wounded heart of Jesus
(which is opened in love for the world)
and offered under Mary’s mantle of
protection. For the last seven years I have
been ordained a priest – these years have
held their many blessings together with
their burdens and my own weakness and
sin. During the retreat, especially the
Eucharist, I experienced Jesus invite me
to release these burdens into his care. As I
yielded to Him, I saw Jesus take in hand
the weight of these years along with my
sin; and lest I be yoked to them again I
saw His wounded hand guarding these
burdens as one clutches at a bag of
belongings. Each time I was tempted to
identify again with the burdens my eyes
were drawn instead to Jesus’ wounded
hands, one of which was extended toward
me in invitation to continue our journey.
I thank God that the retreat culminated
in a renewal of my self offering to Jesus,
a renewal of my consecration and
priesthood, a renewal accompanied by
Mary and pressed to her heart. Just as the
Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary in the
mystery of the
Annunciation and,
through her,
generated New Life,
I also through Mary
have been renewed
in order to bring
forth new life to the
glory of God.
Elena Lehocka
Translator, Slovak Echo
This was our third time here. As soon
as we arrived I felt as though I was in a
garden for children. Little gestures made
me realize how we are still little. Yet, at the
end of the retreat, I noticed how all of us
had gained greater awareness and maturity.
Radek Starostik
Czech Rep.
Last year was my first time here for the
retreat for Echo collaborators and all those
who wish to undertake this particular call
proposed by the Kraljice Mira Community.
That meeting was very significant: it
represented my departure along a way
which is neither wide nor comfortable, yet
after my first few steps I came to realize
that it leads one out of fear into joy, out of
darkness into light. I now understand the
immense gift of Mary’s words: “May it
be done unto me
according to thy
word”
(Lk 1:38).
This year I
again ex-
p e r i e n c e d
profound joy in
meeting the
others, some of
whom I met for
the first time, and yet it was as though
we were all family
.
Oddly, it wasn’t that difficult to leave
the joyous atmosphere of the convent to
go back to my place in life; for the retreat
allowed me to breathe in deeply and find
inner strength to go onwards.
A friend, new to Medjugorje, came too,
and I think he also came to realize that he
was “finally back home.”
The Word
You said it!
God lives, and so do I!
Like a cool breeze on a hot day,
or rain falling softly of an evening,
the Spirit of God comes upon us,
upon us the King descends.
There is nothing I lack;
love and peace are always with me.
One day all men will do as I do:
they will play in the garden of
Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
Isabelle (Swedish violinist)
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Sped.Abb.Post.3/70, Aut.Trib.Mant.#13-8,11.86; Legal Dir. A.Lanzani; Printed by DIPRO Treviso
Our Readers Write...
Maria Luptakova, Slovakia: Dear friends
of Echo, I send my heartfelt greetings, and I
thank you for sending me your publication
regularly. It is full of blessings and the love
of our Mother and her Son our Lord. I always
so look forward to receiving Echo.
Maria Cristina Pereyra, Argentina: I
wish to thank you for our first copies of Echo.
Our little prayer group was overjoyed. It is
difficult for us to get to Medjugorje, Echo
brings our Blessed Mother closer to us.
Thank you!
Judy Chlebowicz, Australia: May God
bless you abundantly for spreading devotion
to Our Lady and for inspiring and
encouraging me in my spiritual life.
Marie-Aude Claveau, France: Thank you
for sending me the Echo of Mary.
Sr. Klaretta Griebel, Germania: Thank
you for your good publication. May God
bless your apostolate.
Mrs. Marion Thiesen, Canada: Enclosed
is my donation for your publication which I
find very interesting and spiritually uplifting.
Georgette Egue Cheveko, Benin: We
thank you for the immense joy we feel each
time Echo arrives. For us it is a Christian guide
to our spiritual and Marian lives. We highly
appreciate your work.
Francesco Bazzoli, Burundi: Thank you
for the Echo of Mary. I cherish my copy in
Italian, while I distribute the French copies.
These are well received, especially amongst
the local clergy. I admire your work.
Mutuna Chiwele, Zambia: I am a medical
student who for the past five years has been
seeking new forms of spirituality to fill in a
self-created vacuum due to tepidity.
I came across Echo accidentally, and
through it I’ve found that the spirituality is
already there within our hearts. We do not
realise its presence. Thank you for bringing
this message to the world.
Fr. Cirillo Tescaroli, Ecuador: I have
been receiving Echo of Mary for some time
now. It is very useful to me for my radio
programmes on the National Catholic Radio
of Quito.
Mr Connolly, England: I distribute copies
to people and prayer groups around England.
We are all grateful for your Echo. God bless.
Teresa Griffith, Birmingham
Medjugorje Centre, England: Thank you for
the Echos; the many who receive it through
us all look forward to it! Every September we
take a plane load of pilgrims to Medjugorje,
and we always include about 10 free places
for priests. This year we have nine to take.
The priests (we have taken) all think of
Medjugorje very positively; and they pass
this on to other priests in the diocese. I am
very grateful to Our Lady as in 1985 I was
healed after a pilgrimage to Lourdes (I was
nearly blind in one eye), but it was my belief
in the Medjugorje apparitions that boosted
my faith.
F. Malik, England: May God bless you
for the work you do, and Our Lady Queen of
Peace always protect you.
Fr. Sean Ryle, Japan: I appreciate very
much the Echo which you regularly send to
me in Japan where I work. Thank you, in union
with Jesus and in the company of Mary.
Beryl de Margerie, USA: Thanks for
making the voice of Our Lady echoed
throughout the world. I hope my small
contribution will help you to continue your
good work.
Fr. Joseph Buffoni, Comboni Missionary,
Malawi: Thank you for the Echo! On my part
I shall celebrate Holy Mass according to your
intentions. The prayer group will intensify
their prayers for you. I bless you all and offer
you a big “thank you.”
Philip Tiko Nwankwo, Cameroon: I am
writing to say thanks to God, to our Blessed
Mother, and to you for the Echo we receive
regularly. It teaches us spiritually and morally,
and is very inspiring.
Dear Friends of the Echo,
On the 10th May last I was in Medjugorje,
and after having prayed the Way of the Cross
up Krizevac in the morning and filled the
afternoon with prayers for friends near Fr.
Slavko’s tomb, I heard in my heart: ‘Now pray
for your enemies.’ I did, though it cost me
enormous effort, because that day was exactly
5 years and 5 months since my parents had
been assassinated
(my mother had first been
tortured). They had been very difficult years
for the entire family!
The only thing certain in my mind was
that one day I’d go to Medjugorje. Once there
I was completely freed of my many sufferings.
If prior to Medjugorje I occasionally prayed
for my enemies, it seems that now the Lord
has given me the grace to not forget them in
my prayers.
Thank you for your publication which
you generously send to me. Over the past
five years it has truly renewed me. And a big
thanks to Medjugorje and to the entire team
at the Echo of Mary.
(A reader from France)
Monica Chin, Christmas Island,
Australia: Thank you for your prayers and
copies of Echo. I am very pleased to inform
you that due to your prayers we have started
a Marian Prayer Group. The first Cenacle was
held on 16 July, feast of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel. Praise God!
Giovanna Ellis, USA: I thank you for the
Echo. Numerous priests have told me how
happy they are to receive it; and apart from
them I also send copies to various prisoners.
In the USA Our Lady has established a
little place where her children can make a
pilgrimage and hear the message of
Medjugorje. It is in a beautiful mountain
woodland in Birmingham in the state of
Alabama. The visionary Marija from
Medjugorje went there at the end of 1988 for
medical care. The Blessed Virgin appeared to
Marija every day and gave beautiful
messages. On Thanksgiving Day (24 Nov.
1988) Our Lady appeared in a nearby field in
which stands a single pine tree. It was close
to this pine that Marija saw Our Lady who
gave the following message: “Dear Children,
I invite you to live my messages. I am here to
help you. I will intercede before God for you
and all your intentions.”
After that first stay,
Marija has since returned to Birmingham in
1994, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003 and in May of
2004. It is a place where one experiences
profound peace, silence and prayer.
Disciples of Jesus Covenant Community
- AUSTRALIA - organizes week-long
retreats
for people aged between 16 and 35.
Summer Schools of Evangelization provide a
chance to retreat for a week into the powerful
experience of the Holy Spirit of God
.
The Spirit opens up possibilities for
conversion, deepening faith, peace, healing,
joy, freedom and passion for the Gospel of
Jesus through: lectures, seminars, prayer,
music and drama, recreation. Held in
Bathurst NSW, 16-23 January; numbers are
restricted, so book early. For information,
including other localities, contact:
Summer School of Evangelizaiton, P.O.
Box 38, Mortdale NSW 2223, Australia.
www.disciplesofjesus.org
* Request for Rosary beads, medals:
1. Br. Ephraim M. Chimutu, Box 275,
Tembisa 1628, R.S.Africa
2. Theresia A. Missanga, Au-Olmee
Mission, P.O.Box 5858, Asmara, Eritrea.
Echo is a free publication. Donations are
gratefully accepted; without them we
cannot continue to distribute the
Message to Mary’s little children around
the world.
How to donate:
1. PERSONAL CHEQUES payable to
“Echo of Mary Association” - mail to same
at: P.O. Box 27, I-31030 Bessica TV, Italy.
2. If convenient, pay into one of our bank
accounts, specifying payment for “Echo of
Mary Association”:
Italy: Banca Agricola Mantovana (BAM),
Ag. Belfiore, Mantova. Bank coordinates:
IBAN: IT 02 Z 05024 11506 000004754018
Britain: Royal Bank of Scotland, 26
George St., Oban, Argyll, PA34 5SA. Acc. no.
8326 0400 154351
3. In the USA, cheques payable to “Echo
of Mary Association” can be mailed to C/o
R/F Venditti, P.O. Box 646, Pacifica, CA 94044.
4. Australia / Oceania. Echo is now
posted from Italy. Please write to us to keep
subscriptions up to date, submit donations.
ADDRESS:
Echo of Mary Association,
P.O. Box 27, I-31030 Bessica TV, Italy.
Ph/fax: Italy 0423-470331
Internet: www.ecodimaria.net
NEW EMAIL: info@ecodimaria.net
God bless you
with every blessing from heaven,
may He make you pure and holy before
His eyes;
pour on you the wealth of His glory,
teach you with words of truth,
enlighten you with the gospel of salvation.
Villanova, 15 September 2004
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