Medjugorje Grey Book

Open Your Hearts to MARY Queen of Peace

Other languages: English, Italiano

This book is the first of the four volumes of sermons and discourses given by Fr. Slavko Barbaric and Fr. Tomislav Vlasic during 1984 - 1987 in Medjugorje, and contains talks given from Easter until December 1984.

All chapters of this book are now included

The strength of the messages

The characteristic feature of the messages during the last few months has been as follows : in the middle of June, Our Lady said: “Dear children, at this time Satan wants to obstruct all my plans: pray that he will not succeed. I will pray to My Son Jesus so that during the trials you will be able to feel His Victory.”

After a week, during which the Parish had replied by praying and fasting, Our Lady said:

“During this week you have felt the presence of Satan. Do not be afraid because God is looking after all of you. I participate in your every trial. So do not be afraid.” After this we felt a wave of grace here.

Now we are able to tell you this: the visionaries announced the 2000th Birthday of Our Lady, but the Bishop told us not to talk about it until the Pope makes an announcement. Our Lady toldus : “If the Pope tells you, you may talk of this; if he does not, then abandon yourselves to me.” We priests did not say anything about it but only urged people to conversion, prayer and fasting. However, people heard about it from the visionaries and journalists who wrote that the 2000th Birthday of Our Lady was on 5th August. We priests felt a wave of grace at a spiritual level and have had many really fervent conversions. The happiest day of my life was that Sunday, I felt true happiness and felt the grace in confessions as well.

We priests have met many tourists who, at a certain moment, felt a force pushing them here to Medjugorje to make a heartfelt confession. We have met people who have not been to confession for ten, twenty or thirtyfive years who threw themselves before the priests asking how they must behave, how they could change, what they must do. I really felt in the same situation as St.John the Baptist when people went to him to ask what they must do. We know of the many graces people have received at this time, especially on a spiritual level, in a conversion of heart.

The visionaries tell us that on 5th August Our Lady was very happy, happier than ever before. Even before 5th August, every evening Our Lady said: “I am happy because people are praying a great deal. Continue, continue, continue.” Yesterday, too, she told the visionaries : “Continue and make me happy every day.” We can all go forward from here.

The deepest message or rather, the path that brings us to Our Lady’s peace, is prayer. I often tell pilgrims, and I think you have heard me, too, in several of our recorded messages, everything consists in prayer. Everything truly consists in prayer.

I am always happy to hear prayers when I go past the houses here in our village. When I was coming here, I passed a family of ten saying the Rosary outside their home. People have no work in the fields at this time, so take up their Rosaries and pray. It is like this : the message has become sweetness, people are happy when they can pray.

If you would like me to tell you something you can take home with you, it is this : pray, increase your prayers. In a message of 24th April this year, Our Lady told Jelena : “It is not necessary to tell people, people know what they must do. When they are in church they are happy. Go home and continue in the same way. Tell people: this place is a place of prayer. pray.“

I want to repeat this to you : pray, pray, pray more. When I tell you to pray I have to admit that I have not been telling the truth to myself. Even in my pastoral, priestly life I often said I have no time to pray because I must do this or that. During the days preceding 5th August, however, I was laden with work but managed to pray just the same. I started to pray, even in the car: I took up the Rosary and prayed, as soon as I went anywhere I started to pray. I discovered that I had not been truthful when I used to say I had no time to pray. There is time to pray. It is only necessary to want to pray and to discover the value of prayer. So start to pray, to live the Sacraments and you will discover the strength of the messages.

Pray by praying, dedicate time to God, take up the Rosary, take up the Gospel, have time for God.

To search for God, we must go towards Him, not just recite prayers. When I need to meet God I must place myself before Him like a child before I begin to recite Our Father, tell Him: ‘I do not feel well, I have a headache, I feel tense, help me !’. I have these problems. I want to be quiet and recollected to start on the path to reach God, so I do not begin immediately with a set prayer but I start by putting myself in the presence of God in order to arrive at prayer. Many people say their prayers but do not search for God. ‘Today I am oppressed, I have many difficulties, I cannot be calm as I stand before You, help me !’ This is the path we must take to reach God. This is how our prayer becomes a meeting with God; not prayer for prayer’s sake. This is important.

(Fr. Tomislav Vlasic 7th August 1984)

 

For God to live in your hearts, you must love.

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