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www.medjugorje.ws » Echo of Mary Queen of Peace » Echo of Mary Queen of Peace 212 (November-December 2010)

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Message of the 25
th
of September 2010:
“Dear children! Today I am with you
and bless you all with my motherly blessing
of peace, and I urge you to live your life
of faith even more, because you are still
weak and are not humble. I urge you, little
children, to speak less and to work more
on your personal conversion so that your
witness may be fruitful. And may your life
be unceasing prayer. Thank you for having
responded to my call.”
Life like prayer
Mary
blesses us all and urges us to
intensify our life of faith because we are
still weak and we are not humble. It is not
a question of doing something more but of
strengthening our life of faith, which fi nds
it hard to bloom in weak plants because
they are folded back on themselves and are
anaemic due to a lack of humility. “Take
My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for
I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will
fi nd rest for your souls” Jesus says to us (Mt
11, 29). And Mary once again says to us:
“Open your hearts and surrender your life to
Jesus so that He works through your hearts
and strengthens you in faith” (Message of
23.05.1985) and: “When you are far from
God, you cannot receive graces because you
do not seek them with a fi rm faith. Day by
day, I am praying for you, and I want to draw
you ever more near to God, but I cannot if
you don’t want it. Therefore, dear children
put your life in God’s hands” (25.01.1988).
Yet still today we continue to hear the
same exhortations, the same invitations,
and perhaps still today we will pretend that
we have understood and accept the words
revealed but not the Word Incarnate! For
me, for each of you, it is much easier to
understand than to do, like it is much easier
to speak than to live! This is the fulcrum of
today’s Message. I urge you little children,
to speak less and to work more on your
personal conversion, so that your witness
may be fruitful. “Be strong in God. I desire
that through you the whole world may get
to know the God of joy. By your life bear
witness for God’s joy. Do not be anxious nor
worried. God himself will help you and show
you the way. I desire that you love all men
with my love. Only in that way can love reign
over the world” (25.05.1988).
All of this is truly within our reach;
not due to human ability but thanks to a
divine gift, through the Passion, Death and
Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is
up to us to accept or refuse; and to accept
means living our abandonment to the Father
together with Mary and Jesus: “Behold, let
it be done onto me according to your word”
(Lk 1, 38) and “Behold, I have come, oh
God, to do your will” (Jews 10, 7-9). This
does not mean taking refuge in indolence
but welcoming God’s plan for salvation
within ourselves and in our lives; this is not
a choice that deprives us of something, but
that highlights our dignity as children of God,
beyond every human possibility.
This is the testimony that bears fruit,
the fruitful testimony that Mary invites us
towards. If our life is inhabited by Jesus,
fertilized by His Spirit, it is already a testimony
and there is no need for verbal affi rmations,
persuasive discourse, or many words: we will
speak of God with the mouths of children
and infants (cfr Psalm 8,3) and that is, only
with the smile of the eyes and lips, with the
love, peace, joy that every child gives to the
world. Is this not an invitation from Jesus to
be like them? We must be reborn from above,
from the Spirit; not only is this possible, it is
necessary for us and for the world! Nothing
stops us if not our will. I, you, any of us can
strip ourselves of our sin because if I ever
committed the worst of crimes I would retain
the same trust forever, because I know that
this multitude of offences is just a drop of
water in an ardent brazier, as Saint Therese of
the Infant Jesus teaches us. Let nothing hold
us back from running towards the Father
and our life will be no easier than He who
stands beside us, but supported by He who
lies within us; not immune from pain, fatigue,
adversity but consoled by He who holds the
Cross. Our life will no longer be an empty
succession of days and events, but a unique
event in the Event, an incessant prayer that
is elevated at every breath of ours, both if we
keep watch and if we sleep. Peace and joy in
Jesus and Mary.
Nuccio Quattrocchi
Message of the 25
th
of October 2010:
“Dear children! May this time be a time
of prayer for you. My call, little children,
desires to be for you a call to decide to
follow the way of conversion; therefore,
pray and seek the intercession of all the
saints. May they be for you an example,
an incentive and a joy towards eternal life.
Thank you for having responded to my
call.”
The journey of conversion
The keywords of this message are:
prayer, conversion, intercession of all the
saints. These are fundamental themes for us
Catholics, actually, the fi rst two are vitally
important not only for Catholics but for
all Christians. Prayer and conversion are
recurrent themes in Mary’s Messages so that
our faith might not be reduced to a sterile
verbal profession, but that it might make
us similar to Christ. Oh Father, accept our
offering on this night of light, and through
this mysterious exchange of gifts, transform
us into Christ your Son, who raised man up
alongside you in glory. This is how we pray
over the offerings during the Mass on the
night of Christmas, and our offering cannot
be reduced to gifts that we present on the
altar, but these must mean ourselves, our
life, our love, our desires, our thoughts, our
plans, our affection…Our offering cannot
but be our person, body, blood and soul and
this, to be true, requires a long journey of
conversion that is certainly the gift of divine
grace, but that requires our free decision,
towards which Mary invites us today also,
and our prayer. Today then, in the imminence
of the feast of all Saints, Mary suggests that
we pray and request the intercession of all
the saints. The Catechism of the Catholic
Church teaches us as follows (thesis 2683):
“The witnesses who have preceded us into
the kingdom, especially those whom the
Church recognizes as saints, share in the
living tradition of prayer by the example of
their lives, the transmission of their writings,
and their prayer today. They contemplate
God, praise him and constantly care for those
whom they have left on earth. When they
entered into the joy of their Master, they
were “put in charge of many things.” Their
intercession is their most exalted service to
God’s plan. We can and should ask them to
intercede for us and for the whole world”.
And so Mary says to us: May they [the
saints] be for you an example, an incentive
and a joy towards eternal life.
Let us pray for our saints therefore, for
all saints, that they might take care of us, that
they might intercede for us. Let us pray to
them with an open heart, presenting our needs
to them, but let us not underestimate their
November-December 2010 - Year 26 # 11-12 - Echo of Mary, Via Cremona, 28 - 46100 Mantova - Italy.
www.ecodimaria.net - A translation of the original Italian: Eco di Maria
212
“The Lord is coming, he will not
delay: he will unveil the secrets of the
shadows, he will make himself known
to all peoples”.
(Entrance antiphon – 1
st
week of Advent)
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help, with insignifi cant requests; let us aim
high: let us ask them to communicate to us
the desire to live in the presence of the Father
in every circumstance of our terrestrial life,
in joy and in pain, in sickness and in health.
Praying is not delegating but entering into
communion and therefore praying to the saints
means sharing their life of holiness, allowing
ourselves to be permeated by the Love of God
that inhabits them. Nothing and nobody can
separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus, our Lord (Rm 8, 38-39). Let us
seek out this love, let us desire it with all our
hearts, with all our strength, let us fall in love
with Love and, not knowing how to pray in
a convenient manner, the Spirit himself will
intercede for us with groanings that cannot
be uttered (cfr Rm 8-26-27). Nothing and
nobody, not even our sin, can keep us far from
God if we really want to be with Him. “And
when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as
the heathen do. For they think that they will
be heard for their many words. Therefore do
not be like them. For your Father knows the
things you have need of before you ask Him.
In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father,
who art in Heaven...” (Mt 6 7-13). Let this be
our prayer, let this be the breath of our day, of
each of our days.
N.Q.
Somebody is listening to me!
Prayer is not in the beautiful words that
we use or in the beautiful sentiments that we
blurt out before God, but rather, in our ability
to bring our battles and our combats before
his gaze. The only way to win our battles is
to remain fi rm like the “fi rm” hands of Moses
on the mountain… Prayer is therefore an
underlying behaviour, a way of reacting to
the events of life: every time that someone
or something comes to “fi ght” in our heart,
we immediately turn to God… Prayer is not
answered when we get what we have asked
for, but when we know deep down and
believe that someone is listening to us….
(from Messa Quotidiana - Fratel Michael Davide)
I want to go to Bethlehem
We
fi nd ourselves once again face to face
with the Mystery par excellence: The eternal
and infi nite God becomes small, He becomes a
man, He becomes a child…This is Christmas.
All the rest is an outline, a frame created to
highlight the picture that illustrates that night
in Bethlehem.
Unfortunately the culture of the transitory
has plundered the treasure of this celebration
brimming with profound spiritual meanings, to
use them to its own advantage; like the over-
abundance of lights that should tell us that the
Light is coming into the world and yet they are
just a ploy to attract as many buyers as possible
to the shop windows full of all sorts of goods…
It would be nice if Christians would speak up
and give back a true meaning to this celebration,
that cannot be manipulated to gratify the spirit
of the world! Jesus was born for all of us and
offers himself indistinctly, but every man must
be willing to walk with humble simplicity
to welcome the Truth that is born, without
attempting to change it to please himself…
To venture into the heart of the Mystery
that reawakens wonder every year, we are
guided by the words of Pope Benedict XVI,
words that were uttered in the homily of the
Holy Night of 2009. Words that narrate, words
that contemplate the-God-with-us. Words that
show us the pathway that leads to the threshold
of the grotto along with the shepherds…
“I want to go to Bethlehem… The Gospel
recounts the story of the shepherds with a
precise aim. They show us how to respond
correctly to that message that is also addressed
to us. What then do these fi rst witnesses of the
incarnation of God say to us?
Firstly, the shepherds are said to be
vigilant, and the message was able to reach
them precisely because they were alert. We
need to wake up, so that the message might
reach us. We need to become truly vigilant.
What does this mean? The difference between
someone who dreams and someone who is
awake lies fi rstly in the fact that he who dreams
fi nds himself in a special world. With his I he
is enclosed in this world of dreams which is
only his and is not linked to others. Waking up
means getting out of that special world of the
I and entering into a shared reality, in the truth
that, alone, unites us all.
Confl
icts in the world, reciprocal
incompatibility derive from the fact that we
are closed within our own interests and our
own personal opinions, in our own miniscule
private world. Selfi shness, that of the group and
the individual, keeps us prisoners of our own
interests and desires, that are in contrast with the
truth and that divide us from each other. Wake
up, the Gospel tells us. Come out and enter into
the great common truth, in communion with
the one God.
Waking up therefore means developing
sensitivity towards God; towards the silent
signals with which He wishes to guide us;
through the multiple signs of His presence.
There are people who say that “from a religious
point of view they do not have a musical ear”.
The ability to perceive God almost seems like
a talent that some people are not given. And in
actual fact, our way of thinking and acting, the
mentality of today’s world, the range of our
2
experiences are likely to reduce our sensitivity
towards God, making us “deprived of a musical
ear” for Him. And yet, in a hidden or open
manner, the act of waiting for God, the ability
to meet him is indeed present in every soul.
To obtain this vigilance, this waking
up to the essential, we want to pray, for
ourselves and for others, for those who seem to
be “deprived of this musical ear” and in whom,
nevertheless, the desire for God to manifest
himself is alive. Origen the great theologian
said: if I had the grace to see as Paul saw, I
could now (during the Liturgy) contemplate a
great host of Angels (cfr in Lk 23,9). In fact –
in Sacred Liturgy, the Angels of God and the
Saints surround us. The Lord himself is present
among us. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts,
that they might become vigilant and visionary
and so that we might be able to bring your
proximity to others also!
The Gospel of
Christmas tells us
that after having
heard the message
of the Angel, the
shepherds said to
each other: “Let’s
go to Bethlehem”…
they went, without
delay” (Lk 2, 15s). “They hurried” the Greek
text literally says. The annunciation was so
important that they had to go immediately. In
fact, what had been said to them was totally
out of the ordinary. It changed the world. A
Saviour was born…Of course, they were also
urged by curiosity, but above all agitation, due
to the great thing that had been communicated
to them, small and apparently irrelevant men.
They hurried – without delay.
In our ordinary life this is not how things
are. The majority of men do not consider the
things of God to be a priority, they do not follow
each other immediately. And so we, in the vast
majority of cases, are more than willing to
postpone them. First of all we do what appears
to be urgent in the here and now. In the list
of priorities, God is almost always in the last
place. This – we think – can always be done.
The Gospel says to us: God has the utmost
priority. If something in our lives deserves a
hurry without delay, that is, then, only the cause
of God.
God is important, absolutely the most
important reality of our lives. The shepherds
teach us this priority. From them we wish to
learn not to let ourselves be crushed by all the
urgent things of daily life. From them we want
to learn the inner freedom of putting other
occupations in second place – no matter how
important they may be – to direct ourselves
towards God, to let him enter our lives and our
time. The time used for God and, beginning
from Him, for our neighbours is never a waste.
It is the time in which we truly live, in which we
experience the fact that we are human beings.
But the majority of us modern men live
far from Jesus Christ, from He who was made
man, from the God who came among us. We
live in philosophies, in affairs and occupations
that fi ll us up completely and from which the
walk towards the manger is very far. In many
ways God must repeatedly push us and give us
a hand, so that we might fi nd the way out of
the tangle of our thoughts and commitments
Prayer booklets
in two maximum security prisons
The prisoners of the maximum-security
sections of Zambia – including detainees on
death row – will receive booklets on the rosary
thanks to a joint initiative between two charity
organisations based in the United Kingdom.
“Although they are treated humanely, the
majority of detainees spend years in prison
with only the clothes that they were wearing
at the time of their arrest, without soap,
blankets or sheets to cover them during the
cold months of the year, often refused by
society…Mary, the Mother of God, loves
all her children, and in suffering and despair
we can stand beside Her in prayer, looking
through the tears of this existence towards
hope in a new life and resurrection”.
A prisoner on death row wrote: “It’s the
fi rst time I’ve received a parcel, although I’ve
been in prison for 14 years now. May God
reward you abundantly”. Another prisoner
housed in the maximum-security wing
expressed his acknowledgement by defi ning
the work of the charity organisations as “a
lamp that cannot be hidden under the table”.
(source www.zenit.org)
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3
Echo 212
T
HE
MIRACLE
OF
A
NOVELTY
Half way through the journey of Advent, the
knowledgeable liturgy of the Church invites us
to take a rest in the company of Mary, a woman
characterised by waiting and welcoming and
a model of the disciple who prepares for the
coming of the Lord. The solemnity of the
Immaculate Conception is a strong invitation
to put the grace of God at the centre of our
thoughts. If Mary can welcome the vocation
of the Mother of the Messiah, it is certainly not
due to merits obtained on the battlefi eld, but due
to God’s plan of love.
The angel salutes her as being “full of
grace” (Lk 1,28) and not “full of merits”. At
the centre of this there is God’s gratuitousness,
for whom “nothing is impossible” (1,37). It is a
gratuitousness that surprises us. It is a plan of
love that unhinges our canons and our parameters
for assessment. God chooses the insignifi cant
Nazareth and not a great and wealthy capital; he
chooses the little Mary, and not the daughter of
a great leader; he chooses Joseph the carpenter,
and not an important businessman. It is a logic
that travels throughout the whole of Scripture,
from the beginning to the end. God’s callings
overthrow expectations and do not provide for
training. His word launches the chosen ones
into history with the strength of his grace.
In us too the gentle power of his mercy is
at work. In us too the miracle of newness is
possible. We are not condemned to our errors,
we are not armoured in our poverty. If we allow
it to, the grace of God will launch us onto new
and promising pathways. A rest in the company
of Mary, the Immaculate one, reminds us that
before God we need not be the best, splendid,
the top of the class; that at least before him
credit cards or educational qualifi cations or
infl uential friends do not count. Before God all
that counts is love, humility, a willingness to
allow ourselves to be moulded and remoulded
by his hand.
As the Immaculate lady reminds us, before
God the docility of the Word counts and it leads
us to release our grip, to lose control, to allow
ourselves to be transported by the breath of the
Spirit. Mary’s example is a powerful antibiotic
against the terrible virus of the sedentary nature
of Christian life. “Do not be afraid” (Lk, 1,30)
says the angel to Mary and to each of us. Do not
be afraid to offer that so-longed for forgiveness
in a gratuitous manner. Do not be afraid to
answer indifference with love. Do not be afraid
to start over: you are not your mistakes. Do not
be afraid to give yourself with your “yes” to
those who love you and are waiting for you. Do
not be afraid because the Lord is with you and
nobody can take you away from his hands (cf.
John 10.29).
Father Roberto Sereni
(From: Messa Quotidiana)
We, God’s gardens
A person dear to me, who was no longer
very young, recently left terrestrial life to meet
God the Father in a wholly new dimension. The
image that I carry in my heart is the tenderness
of her gaze during the last months; time had
left her two beautiful vivacious eyes. Her life
was spent entirely for others, in silence, and
this made me think of that smallness that God
likes and that makes us the recipients of his
blessings. A life that recalls us to great values:
a simple Faith placed entirely in God, family,
affection, rectitude, the value of a word given,
peaceful acceptance of life and its destiny.
During the last days of her life on earth,
the people who loved her prepared a beautiful
garden around the house that she lived in.
This meaningful image confi rmed to me
that God does the same with us: he loves us
gratuitously and every day he prepares the
most beautiful things for us that we often
fail to see, swept up as we are by whirling
commitments and breathless rushes here and
there. One Christian is no better than others but
he lives with the certainty that God loves him
for what he is: what a good Father we have!
He leaves us in our freedom so as to love us
even more…How important it is to enter into
the mystery of God and let ourselves be loved
by Him: this causes joy to be born in us and
we feel like we have been saved.
It becomes diffi cult on occasion, to
understand suffering when it knocks on the
door of our homes. We have all come to
know that pain that seems to pierce through
the soul…We must ask the Lord to grant us
to enter a little, through a refl ection on our
experiences, into a profound awareness of the
mystery of the Passion and Death of Christ, so
that our gaze might be elevated and we might
have a taste of the joy of his Resurrection.
The Lord raises us up with his love and
takes care of our weariness, our suffering, our
wounds, which last for a short time. Mary,
a woman of humanity and love, helps us to
understand this. She points out the pathway
to us that might unveil the Lord’s love to us
because she is our Mother and she loves us as
her children.
In my prayer of contemplation I can ask
the Lord to help me to live, to put the beauty
that has opened up within me into practice,
or I can thank him, praise him…This is the
precious moment that leads me to return to
my life in a renewed manner; life itself may
become prayer. I will no longer feel alone,
but I know that the Lord is the Living one,
because I have experienced him in prayer!
I feel Jesus’ gaze on me, a gaze of
affection and fondness. He alone enables me
to understand that He knows my heart and
He welcomes everyone according to their
characteristics and originalities and we, fi lled
with his gifts, are able to scent this life that is
given to us.
We live in a time where the Grace of God
is manifested, it is fulfi lled, and we are all
called to announce it. A Priest wrote that “The
graciousness of putting oneself at the service
of others is like the scent of a fl ower: it is
immediately emanated regardless of whether
or not someone can smell it or not”.
The Holy Spirit is our guide and he helps
us to inhabit God’s spaces here, now, living in
the Hope that becomes much more than safe
waiting.
Lidio Piardi
The greatest thank you
that we can give to God
On Sunday 26
th
September, Father
Andrea Gasparino, founder of the Charles
de Foucault Contemplative Movement died at
the age of 87 years.
Already during the years of his studies in
the seminary, Father Gasparino felt the calling
to serve the poorest of the poor. In 1951 he
opened the Città dei ragazzi in Cuneo, to
offer war orphans a home, an education, the
warmth of a family. Soon the fi rst volunteers
and the fi rst nuns joined him. The community
of the consecrated was then formed, it
currently consists of about ten priests and
120 brothers and sisters consecrated in 35
fraternities scattered throughout the world.
During the second half of the ‘60’s, the
meeting with Carlo Carretto brought him to
a deeper knowledge of Charles de Foucault
and with his spirituality, he became a
model for him. The Eucharist and adoration
progressively became the fulcrum of his life
and the soul of his apostolate. And so the
prayer schools were established, meetings
in which generations of young people and
less young people learnt the love of silence,
prayer and adoration from him. For years
we’ve published the reports given by
Father Gasparino during the prayer school in
this magazine and we are grateful to him for
having pointed out a simple pathway of faith
to us, that might be capable of harmonising
action and contemplation.
With a sense of affection and gratitude
we recall Father Gasparino, with some of
the famous phrases that he repeated several
times, to help us to live a deeper and more
authentic relationship with God:
“I believe that prayer is not everything, but
that everything must start from prayer”.
“I must change my whole day in love, because
the spaces set aside for prayer are too few”.
“If we fl ee the cross we cannot love”.
“Prayer and love obtain the impossible”.
“Joy is the greatest thank you that we can
give to God!”
Chiara Bernardi
If the Holy Spirit
meets Mary in a soul
God the Holy Spirit, who does not
produce any divine person, became
fruitful through Mary whom he espoused.
It was with her, in her and of her that he
produced his masterpiece, God-made-
man, and that he produces every day,
until the end of the world, the members
of the body of this adorable Head. For
this reason, the more he fi nds Mary, his
dear and inseparable spouse in a soul, the
more powerful and effective he becomes
in producing Jesus Christ in that soul and
that soul in Jesus Christ.
Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
(A treatise on true devotion to Mary, no. 20).
and discover the pathway towards Him. But for
everyone there is a way. For everyone the Lord
has signs that are suitable for each of us.
God walked towards us. We could not
reach Him alone. The way is beyond our
strength. But God descended. He comes to
meet us. He embarked on the longest part of the
journey. Now he asks us: Come and see how
much I love you. Come and see that I am here.
Let’s go there! Let’s surpass ourselves! Let’s
be wayfarers towards God in many ways: being
on a journey towards Him within ourselves.
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4
Prayer changes
during those moments
by Stefania Consoli
Thick, swollen clouds crowded the sky like
candyfl oss. The airplane that was due to bring
me home was ready to take fl ight. “I need to be
patient” I thought to myself, “I won’t be able to
see the view that I usually admire on take-off,
and especially we’ll be dancing around as the
aircraft fl ies through turbulence…but then, once
it has reached cruising altitude it will stabilise”.
And so, well assured in my seat, I waited for the
engines to lift us up before relaxing a little.
It was as I had foreseen. We surpassed the
barrier of clouds and an intense blue embraced
us while the light of the sun burst through the
window and warmed me up. Everything was
under control…Only for a short time however,
as without any apparent reason, the fasten your
seatbelt sign was switched on. “Why?”, I asked
myself, “it’s not possible that we’ve already
commenced our descent…”.
The answer didn’t delay in coming. Violent
shakes suddenly started moving the aircraft,
which was at the mercy of strong air currents
at an altitude of ten thousand metres. It was as
though the aircraft had become a toy made of
tin, fragile and wobbly. Air pockets, jolting,
sudden upsurges…since I was a child I’ve
travelled on this very useful means of transport,
fi nding it practical and quick, but every time I
do I think that by nature man was not meant to
fl y, otherwise God would have given us wings,
like birds. A feeling of insecurity therefore is
more than comprehensible during cases like
this…Now however, amidst crazy jumps, fright
begins to take the upper hand: “Lord – I pray
– how is it possible to believe in you yet feel
afraid? No, I don’t want to….I want to put
my worry into your hands, to pour it into you
and leave it there, because I am certain that all
things are in your power!”.
I felt a little better. I trusted in God. But
then I said to myself: “Am I doing this only to
distance the fear that creates tension within me?
So it is only a technique, a form of autogenous
training that keeps my emotions at bay…No,
this is not prayer!”.
The wind comes to help me. It now shakes
the plane like a leaf in autumn, ready to
detach itself from the tree and my prayer then
changes totally: “Good Lord, I trust in you.
I do not know if this is the moment that you
have established for me to cross the threshold
of life. I deliver myself to your Mercy…”, and
without even realising it, an objective list of
shortcomings and personal limits starts to fl ow
within me like the closing titles of an old fi lm.
It was clear, everything that I “confessed” to
him I had done! With sincerity but also much
peace, I told God this as though I was already
in his presence. It was right and honest to do
so and in any case, it freed my soul. I felt that I
was in harmony with “his” forgiveness which,
like a wavelength, continuously vibrates,
waiting for us to connect, to melt the burden
of sin within us.
Something was missing from my prayer
however: “My God, if you want me to remain
on earth then teach me to live as you wish, to
do as you wish…Let me realise what I have not
yet seen, let me learn to live on the essential,
continuously listening out for your voice, that
it might guide me and correct me…Now I
understand that the only thing
that really counts is to love,
beginning from your heart.
All the rest is extra. I cannot
manage to do it yet…”.
A living prayer, an ardent
plea burst forth from my
heart. During those moments
we instinctively start to draw
up quick balance sheets or
courageous plans because
we start to lose control of
ourselves. But it is during
those moments that we understand that nothing
is in our power and that everything is in God’s
hands; for this reason prayer becomes true,
vibrant and leaves formulae aside to deposit
itself directly in God’s spirit.
“The Pilot announces that we are about
to start our descent towards the destination
Trust
There cannot be trust without love, because love is nourished by trust. From the words of the
apostle Paul: love believes all things, hopes all things (1 Cor 13,7) it would appear that only love
generates hope and trust. For this, when we do not love a person, we are led not to have trust in
them. This is valid as regards every person, and especially as regards God. And so, the trust that we
have in God becomes an index of our love.
So how important it is! Regarding this, Saint Faustina Kowalska refers that Jesus told her that he
was more saddened by our lack of trust than by our sins. Psalm 146 reminds us that the Lord loves
those who hope in his love. It does not say those who do, but those who hope, those who have faith
in Him. Only in this way can we welcome what is offered to us, which is the work of salvation and
love.
When we hope in the Lord we are not the ones to operate, but it is He who acts in us, without
our limits of ability and time. He also acts when we are tired and incapable, even when we are
lacking time, because he will give to us in sleep also. If we behave in this way, our fruit will be
good, because it is His work and not ours and we will not perhaps be told: Your New Moons and
your appointed feasts My soul hates; They are a trouble to Me (Is 1, 13)
The trust that her child has in her is a great source of joy for a mother. But in the same way, she
rejoices for the hope that she has in her son, for the trust that she has as regards him, even if he is
little and incapable, because she loves him. God rejoices when we place our trust in Him, and he
also rejoices in trusting in us, although we are weak and incapable, because he is Love. The devil
trusts nobody, because he does not know how to love. God makes plans with us, for our good, and so
we must make plans with Him. The devil makes plans without us, and not only for our misfortune.
Trust and worry are incompatible because one is an emanation of God, His gift, the other is the
gift of the evil one. Those who experience the fi rst, surely also encounter joy in the trials of life,
because God is joy, those who choose the second, encounter sadness, also in prosperity, because the
devil is only sadness.
This is why trust is always accompanied by peace, while worry is accompanied by agitation.
May the Queen of Peace truly make us into people who trust God, who believe in the work that
She is fulfi lling in souls, for the joy of the whole of creation.
That Little One
A baby in swaddling clothes came among us, welcomed into a manger; he grew up in a family
that was not part of the nobility of the time. That baby is Jesus, God. How is it possible then, to
have feelings of pride if God came to us so Small? Pride, which loves to be great, is an enemy of
God and man. It is like smoke in the wind, it builds nothing, it only demolishes, it has no future.
And so it expects us to honour it, revere it, to guard it preciously, to keep it in consideration. It
wants everything to be subjected to it, because it is convinced that it is worth more than life, more
than creation, more than brothers and sisters, more than peace. It is worth more than everything and
everyone: this is the trick that the devil offers us continuously.
Pride is a tyrant and it complains continuously because it says that it is not given its share,
which always corresponds to our life and that of our brothers. Yes, pride is the negation of life and
it has nothing good. It hates the humble and never gives, but always asks for more. Humility on the
other hand gives continuously because it is made of God’s love, which is donation: it gives life, true
freedom. It makes us beautiful and friends of men and of God. Humility creates communion, pride
creates division and ruin: Pride comes before a fall (Pr 16,18). Humility is always at our service,
pride allows itself to be served. Jesus, the Humble one, put himself at our service: Yet I am among
you as the one who serves (Luke 22,27).
The humble one is obedient to God and willing to offer his life like Jesus did, who humbled
himself and became obedient even to the point of death (Phil 2,8). For this reason, humility is not a
conquest of ours but a gift to ask for from the Heavens. Mary, the Little one, has always fl ed pride
because she knew its fruits well. Let us ask Mary then for a humble heart, that might offer itself, to
be more and more like that Little One and His Mother and ours.
S
I M P L E
T H O U G H T S
by Pietro Squassabia
airport, where we will be
landing in approximately fi fteen
minutes…” a voice tells us from
the loud speaker. Routinely, as
though nothing had occurred.
Yet a real earthquake came
about within me, and now I
do not even have the right to
forget those moments. Perhaps
that intersection of currents at
a high altitude was waiting for
me, to tell me that life is a gift
to be valued and that it can be
taken away from us in a second: “If I remain
here let me be a better person… I offer myself
to you, unconditionally…”.
I can no longer delegate this duty to his help.
It is my own responsibility to live every instant
in fullness and with thanksgiving. As though it
were my last.
background image
5
Reflections of light
from
Mary’s land
by Stefania Consoli
Hook
on to the
Heavens
It
fi lls newspapers and bounces back and
forth on TV between debates and endless
discussions. News with a tragic tone enters
people’s homes and thoughts without asking,
with arrogance and without fi lters, causing
worry. “The facts” are commented, trying to
provoke sensation and they end up generating
dismay and tension…
But the world is not a television screen and
humanity is not the protagonist of an awful
show! Man and the whole created universe
belong to God, who is good, beautiful,
righteous… Why should this not be the case
for his children?! Why are we so obstinate as
regards living immersed in a sea of pessimism,
being battered around by waves of gloomy
and alarming worries? Perhaps we should tell
ourselves that a man weakened by a sense of
insecurity is more manageable. Perhaps we
should recognise that within the global system,
it is convenient for someone to keep us tightly
in their fi st!
Many people complain of an agonising
emptiness that feeds its way more and more
into our existence and makes it grey and
monotonous. An emptiness that bites the heart
and paralyses our ability to love and to become
passionate about the events of life. Banalities
and clichés invade conversations and
discourses appear to be silly and insignifi cant.
For this reason we become fond of dreams,
of things that we possess, of the emotions of
a moment…The illusion that they might give
us life and make us love them. In reality we
collect corners of emptiness.
This is why Mary came to Medjugorje
to tell us that if we want, we can change the
fate of the entire planet because everything is
not like they would like us to believe: “Dear
children! In this time of grace, when God has
permitted me to be with you, little children,
I call you anew to conversion. Work on the
salvation of the world in a special way while I
am with you. God is merciful and gives special
graces, therefore, seek them through prayer. I
am with you and do not leave you alone….”
(Mess. 25.05.2008) “Be joyful carriers of
peace and love in this peaceless world…”
(Mess. 25.06.2008).
Man is undoubtedly paying a high price
for the consequences of his own disobedience,
of his distance from God, caused by the sin
accumulated by generations. The objective
then is to recognise its negative fruits that
affect all of us. But looking at things only with
dark glasses means continuing to exclude God
from our lives: “God is merciful and gives
special graces, therefore, seek them through
prayer. I am with you and do not leave you
alone…. Says the Mother in Medjugorje (25th
May 2008).
And so there only remains one thing to
do: hook on to the Heavens! With the heart,
with the mind, with the soul and with the
spirit, to have our eyes transfi gured by grace
and to look towards all things “from above”…
Everything is reorganized, entering into a very
wide framework and it acquires meaning; it
subtracts itself from the dominion of public
opinion, which is fl uctuating and incoherent,
and becomes free to exist for what it is.
Furthermore,
being
hooked onto Heaven
means turning our gaze away from ourselves,
from the small world of selfi shness that holds
us back, and opening ourselves up to the vast
horizons of grace that brings everything back
to Christ: Dear children; Today I bless you in
a special way and I pray for you to return to
the right way, to my Son - your Saviour, your
Redeemer – to Him who gave you eternal life.
Refl ect on everything human, on everything
that does not permit you to set out after my Son
– on transience, imperfection and limitation
- and then think of my Son, of His Divine
infi niteness. By your surrender and prayer
ennoble your body and perfect your soul. Be
ready, my children…” (Message to Mirjana of
2nd April 2010).
The world is falling back on itself, it
anxiously deals with fi nding solutions to the
needs of today, without really considering
what awaits it in the eternal future: an existence
governed by the Spirit and that therefore
requires people transformed by the laws of the
Spirit…
What to do? What are the hooks that unite
us to heaven and lift us up?
It is all written in the Gospel. Christ
dictated all things, although in a simple and
essential language because the space of our
comprehension is small. Saint Paul – one of
us – took on the job of acting as an interpreter
and of leaving us letters that dictate the most
suitable life plan for elevating ourselves in
Spirit. It is worth reading them…
If we humbly put what he suggests to us
into practice, we will fi nd ourselves up high,
hooked onto Heaven, in communion with the
angels and archangels, with the saints and the
souls of the righteous, on a journey towards
God. It will not be diffi cult to remain in their
company, to pray and to continue to deal with
the affairs of our earth. Peacefully.
For this reason I bow my kneesto
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named,
that He would grant you, according
to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with might through
His Spirit in the inner man,
that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith;
that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the width and length
and depth and height
to know the love
of Christ which passes knowledge;
that you may be fi lled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able
to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us,
to Him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen.
(Saint Paul to the Ephesians 3,14-21)
Overwhelming
Those of us who have had the possibility of
visiting Medjugorje during the course of the last
year, will have realised that the town amidst the
hills (this is the meaning of its name in Croatian)
is starting to become a little too small, sometimes
even overwhelming! The buildings that are
springing up like mushrooms are undoubtedly
more and more imposing and they are on top of
one another, in the quest to show themselves off.
In this way however, the vital space is becoming
visibly reduced …Undoubtedly the logistic
need to welcome pilgrims explains this wild
growth of buildings that are often very ugly and
therefore it is understandable; on the other hand,
more checks by the Municipality would at least
guarantee the necessary harmony to a site that
was established solely for prayer!
But
what literally packed Medjugorje
more than anything was the continuous fl ow
of pilgrims. They have never been as numerous
as this year! Many of them coming for the fi rst
time. It was necessary to climb up to Krizevac
during unusual hours to ensure a little peace and
recollection; while the groups had to queue up
before stopping off in front of the Stations of the
Cross!
Sometimes the inability of some to
experience the pilgrimage in silence became
a source of disturbance for others; like the
obstruction of buses that often block the roads
of the town. Then again in other circumstances
people risked being crowded together and
therefore less immersed in the quiet necessary
to meet God…
But despite some negative aspects, all of this
is also a reason to be joyous, because it means
that the call of the Queen of Peace can no longer
be kept “under control”: the children are running
to their Mother!… “My children! I am happy
to see so many of you gathered here together. I
want you to meet often together to pray to my
sonÖ” (Message of the 18
th
March 1991).
It is not just a question of numbers. What
made Mary happy more than anything was the
desire for good, for truth, for fullness that pushes
the multitudes to crowd to “today’s Nazareth”:
the house where She
lives and where She lets
us meet Her…
Among the pilgrims originating from
Canada there was also Ms. Yolande Gue-
rette, who brought with her the medical
documentation of her physical healing in
Medjugorje. After her healing, Ms. Yolan-
de started a mission through which an
incalculable multitude of people in Canada
and the USA consecrated themselves to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Source: www.medjugorje.hr
It is therefore worth giving more space
in the Echo to testimonies of those who found
the truth they were looking for in Medjugorje;
of those who rediscovered faith and hope, and
brought them home, with love.
It is a way of celebrating this thirtieth
anniversary of the fi rst apparition: up to
the anniversary, the experiences of those
who welcomed the grace of Medjugorje, to
transform it into life, will accompany us.
background image
6
B
EARING
WITNESS
TO
M
EDJUGORJE
An embrace that you
cannot withdraw from
When I was asked “What is Medjugorje
for you?” I didn’t have to make any effort to
recall it or seek out any sophisticated words
that might describe whatever extraordinary
experiences…I answered with a sense of
naturalness and the immediacy with which
this truth became impressed on my heart: in
my opinion, Medjugorje is an embrace from
God that you cannot withdraw from. The
most curious and provocative element of this
defi nition of mine is not so much the embrace
in itself, but the fact that you cannot withdraw
from it…not in Medjugorje.
Everyone experiences it (and undergoes
it) in an original, more or less intense manner,
with joy or sometimes pain and a sense
of bewilderment… It is an embrace that
inexorably wraps you up, that is confused with
the air and the sky, that you do not know how
to understand but that you perceive, above all,
it is an embrace that you breathe in, and how
can you refuse to breathe?
This is why when I feel at the limit of
non meaning, when I feel crushed by an
unmanageable spiritual apnoea, I return to
Medjugorje, where my Creator always has
something to whisper to me, whether I like it
or not…
Katia Calati
An opportunity
not to be missed!
It’s the end of August. We set out in a
mixed group of people of different origins…
For some it was a return to Medjugorje, for
many others it was their fi rst experience, but
for everyone it was an occasion not to be
missed, an unmistakable sign to be grasped.
We were rewarded abundantly. The
pilgrimage to Medjugorje was in fact an
indelible, deeply spiritual moment for all of
us participants, it pervaded and articulated
every instant of the four days we stayed in that
welcoming land, in which there are the visible
signs of recent and traumatic human events
(the war) with that of a simple and diffused
spirituality, that the tangible love of “Gospa”
for her children sustains and enlivens.
The deepest meaning of this experience
of ours is that we felt like “pilgrims”, it
prepared us to open our hearts to Grace and
to experience this spiritual itinerary intensely,
from which the faith of each of us came out
undoubtedly renewed and strengthened. This
shared journey took form and awareness
gradually as the experiences of prayer,
meditation, meetings, and exploration of
sacred places became concrete realities,
always accompanied by the support of our
spiritual guide, brother Orazio. On several
occasions we said to ourselves that without his
illuminating knowledge, we would not have
been able to grasp the intimate exceptionality
of this Marian shrine, nor would we have
been able to open ourselves up unreservedly
to welcome peace and joy into our hearts.
My fi rst encounter with love
As I was returning home I was asked a
specifi c question: “What are you taking back
home from Medjugorje?”
It is not diffi cult for me to fi nd the answer: I am
taking back friends, brothers and sisters, fi rst of
all. Not only because we are children of the one
Father, but also because God gave us a Mother
who gathered us together in Medjugorje, to keep
us with her…
I am referring to the answer to a call: “Yes!”,
because within this answer lies all my joy and the
desire to change something in my life; something
that made me feel alone, although I wasn’t alone,
before encountering the strength of Mary’s love.
In Medjugorje I met them: my parents and my
brothers and sisters…
I am the mother of a son but I do not have
a man at my side. I have a great desire to fall in
love, but it is not easy to discern the authenticity
of our own feelings; perhaps sometimes I only
fall in love with the idea of a life with someone.
In the past I experienced sensations of oppression
even only looking at a couple that loved each
other, but I never wanted to give up on the idea
of being without a man and with a child. I prayed
during those moments: “Mary, Mother, welcome
my desire to have a husband to love me…Fill me,
use me and let me be a mother to the fullest!”.
We arrive in Medjugorje and until the
morning of the second day I want to remain
alone, in silence. My room becomes a sort of
refuge. I try to entertain myself by reading a
book on Franciscan spirituality, but I am feeling
irritable. I look out the window and see the
greenery and the mountains… A dream that I
had about seven years ago comes to mind, in
it Our Lady appeared to me and I was waiting
for her prostrated on the ground like someone
who wishes to consecrate herself, and I think to
myself: Perhaps I got my vocation wrong, but
what can I do now? Did I misinterpret the signs
that God sent me? It’s impossible, because I now
have a marvellous son…I am a mother and so
also a wife!? But I have no man! Mary, help me
to understand!”.
The days go by and at the end of my
pilgrimage, on the journey home, I draw some
conclusions about what happened in that place
of grace. I understood that prayer helps me
powerfully to deal with evil, to go beyond
temptation and weakness, to come out on top.
I felt certain of this as I was descending from
apparition hill, after a strong experience of
prayer. Before I left, this thought was just a
cliché for me…
The
diffi culty in climbing up cross Mountain
and meditation on the Via Crucis – that
increased the pain of walking – were not an end
to themselves, they led me to the Resurrection,
the true resurrection, that of the heart…Once I
was at the summit I was able to look out over
the immensity of creation and from within me
the Magnifi cat burst forth, along with a question:
“Lord, what is man that you should care for
him?” (Psalm 143).
That peacefulness that I had been seeking for
a long time through a lengthy journey, Our Lady
gave it to me all at once! Of course, wounds will
bleed forever, but with the love of Jesus and
Mary they will be less painful…
This is what I brought home with me: the love
and joy of having fi nally seen the Resurrection
come. And I am certain of one thing: before I had
fallen in love with an idea…now I am in love
with life!
Manuela B.
Peace and joy in our hearts: this is the most
precious thing that we found and brought with
us, it has fl ooded our eventful daily lives with
a new light, which now appears to be lighter
and less cumbersome to us. We felt extensively
rewarded in our most intimate aspirations and
our humanity also benefi ted from this.
We felt especially “welcomed”. By the
places, by the people, by the atmosphere of
joyful and shared spirituality, in which even the
gift of silence defers us to eloquent meanings
that may be welcomed only by freeing
ourselves from the din that isolates, distracts
and confuses. Silence in customary daily
gestures, silence in prayer and recollection,
like the enormously suggestive and involving
recollection that welcomed us on Podbrdo
and Krizevac, were we found ourselves with
hundreds of other people who had answered
Our Lady’s call, like us.
It was an extremely emotional experience
for us to feel in communion in the name of
Mary and Jesus that still keeps its living
intensity intact now. The places of the
eucharistic celebration and sacramental life
are unforgettable: the simple parish church, the
external altar, the small “cells” for meetings
and confessions, as well as the surrounding
ones for prayer: the statue of the Risen Jesus,
the wooden cross, the cemetery with the tomb
of Father Slavko.
Furthermore, our group experienced the
privilege of being housed by the Kraljice Mira
community, in a setting that is as far as you
can possibly imagine from the anonymous
atmosphere of a hotel or guesthouse. It is
no coincidence that the rich and suggestive
symbolism that pervades the architecture of
the site, recalls fi rst of all Our Lady’s embrace
with her Child and also protects him with her
vigilant gaze.
In her womb she also houses the places
set aside for the hospitality of pilgrims, from
the refectory to the rooms, as well as the
small chapel, the meeting room, places that
are symbolically positioned in a manner that
is such that it forms a huge cross.
“I hold you all in My arms. I want to
be everything for you and for you to be all
Mine…” (Message of the 23
rd
of February
1984).
In this special site, where everything
concurs towards recollection and prayer, we
experienced the most intense moments of
our spiritual “marathon”, as brother Orazio
jokingly defi nes it and, with the accomplice of
the spiritual peacefulness of the area, we did
not hesitate to welcome – as Our Lady says in
her messages – the opportunity given to us as
a gift from God to “convert” and to “live in
peace and love” (25
th
October 2006).
Prayer, eucharistic celebration, meditation,
and the recital of the rosary fi lled our days,
infusing peace and serenity in our hearts. We
often like to also re-evoke the joyfulness of
the convivial moments and confi dential chats
in the late evening that concluded the day.
We shared many of these moments with
our brothers and sisters from the community
and all together we felt an integral part of a
greater spiritual family. Everything is still
clear and present in our hearts, as strong
as the impulse to bear witness to what we
experienced in Medjugorje and as deep as the
desire to return there.
Miriam Blasioli
background image
7
My faith found strength
I came to Medjugorje after an event that
no mother would like to experience: the loss
of a son. A son who willingly decided to cross
the road of life and to go to the other side,
at just 22 years of age. A great pain, a great
emptiness, that was however fi lled by a faith
that I did not previously have and that I did not
realise could give me such strength and such
serenity. Yes: serenity!
This serenity, the faith and joy to live were
certainly not transmitted to me by men…
There, in the place where Our Lady decided to
convey her messages, I left a part of myself.
I am certain that I want to repeat this
experience in the home of the Karljice Mira
Community that welcomed me with such
humility, offering me a peaceful stay, giving
me the possibility to grow in faith and love
towards others, and above all, teaching me to
value sharing, which is something that I had
never paid too much attention to before. I am
no longer alone now, in my pain…
Anna Rita Vissani
I was waiting for you
Before leaving for Medjugorje I thought:
“Who knows what this pilgrimage will be
like, we’ll spend the entire time praying!”
But then the atmosphere that was gradually
created and the silence, gave rise to a state
of mind within me that naturally urged me
to go and seek out prayer….I would never
have thought that I would feel that need so
strongly and I pray to Our Lady to keep it
within me…
As I was climbing up apparition hill, I
understood that I wouldn’t have been able to
get to Her, and so I prayed that she might give
me the strength…and as though by magic, my
feet started to climb up fast! When I arrived
up, She was there and it seemed as though
she was saying to me: I was waiting for you!
Elena
In any case you
come back different
The apparitions in Medjugorje commenced
on the 25
th
of June 1981. A united, tenacious love
immediately linked our town in Piedmont to
the isolated village of Bosnia Herzegovina. The
baker used to go there regularly, at a time when
pilgrims simply stayed with local families. Once
he retired, he gave the community of Medjugorje
his oven, training the local craftsmen on how to
use it.
A municipal guard who has been married for
27 years still speaks to me enthusiastically about
Medjugorje today. His is an ecumenical marriage:
he is Catholic, she is from Valle d’Aosta. Together
they embark on a journey of faith, respecting
reciprocal diversities and regularly dealing with
people of different religious faiths.
“I went to Medjugorje for the fi rst time
in 2005, to accompany my sister. It was the
answer to a call. At fi rst my faith was superfi cial,
undermined by doubts and fears, fragile. Mary
healed my life, transmitting a total trust in God
to me. Now, the Lord accompanies me on my
daily journey. Faith is a gift: it should be asked
for and guarded, kept like a plant so that it cannot
dry out. The certainty that God is with us puts
all problems back into perspective. In any case
you come back different from Medjugorje:
husbands who were perhaps atheist blasphemers,
who reluctantly accompany their wives while
grumbling, become devout enthusiasts.
“Are Mary’s messages addressed to
everyone?”
Certainly. Humanity created religions,
divisions, fanaticism, intolerance. But God is
love: he wants us all to be saved, without any
distinctions, he offers us countless occasions
during which to save ourselves. The apparitions
in Medjugorje are different from the apparitions
of the past because they are daily and they occur
wherever the visionaries are. Furthermore, the
visionaries have remained in the world: they
are modern men and women, who have studied,
who work, travel, talk, have made families and
spread the Word throughout the globe with
modern means. This is what makes Medjugorje
a worldwide pole: this year, during the Youth
Festival, there were 60 thousand young men and
women from various Countries.
“Which message struck you the most?”
Our Lady repeatedly tells us that the world
must return to God. By excluding the Creator
from our plans, we are condemning society,
families and the planet itself to a sad end. We
are destroying ourselves. The catastrophes
that affl ict the world, acts of violence, evident
instances of injustice and wars are multiplied
because we forget the Lord, we fail to respect
nature and the animals that He has entrusted to
us, or those similar to us. Mary invites us to pray
together, to deal with others, to fast, to convert,
to read the Bible, to carry out works of charity. In
every home, in every family, we must fi nd space
for God.
I would recommend to anyone to experience
a trip to Medjugorje. Every year I come back
improved, I discover something new and
important. There, in prayer, it is as though we
were to fi nd ourselves in another dimension: you
can pray for three hours without realising the
time that is passing…”.
Edi Morini
A time of Waiting
by Piero Gottardi
“Behold a clear voice, it
resounds in the dark night,
all nightmares vanish, Jesus
shines forth from above.
The Lamb is sent for us, he
comes to forgive all sins,
all together, in tears, we
ask for forgiveness…”.
During Advent, ancient and
tormenting hymns return.
Advent is the most beautiful time of the
liturgical year: a time of waiting, a time of
hope. Those who wait do so because they hope
and in hope there is already a thrill of joy. And
whom should we wait upon if not He who must
come? The readings speak to us about the end
of time: “Blessed are those servants whom the
master, when he comes, will fi nd watching.
Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself
and have them sit down to eat, and will come and
serve them. And if he should come in the second
watch, or come in the third watch, and fi nd them
so, blessed are those servants!” (Luke 12, 35).
What will the blessed generation be that
welcomes him? The Bible and Catechism do
not provide us with any temporal indication. The
Gospel however invites us to examine the signs
of the times and of these in truth there are many:
“Humanity has forged the weapons of its own
destruction, burning colossal resources for this
undertaking. It has also lost the memory of its
alliance with God. It scorns the law of nature
and refuses inalienable moral values. A large
portion of the world is denying any spiritual
dimension of man. The materially developed
part of humanity has embarked on an enraged
rush towards technological progress for the sake
of itself. At the same time, the inhabitants of
poor countries, hundreds of millions of them,
must swallow the bitter tears of their misery,
rather than being able to eat the bread of fraternal
sharing. This world, in the eyes of the Father
who is shared by everyone, is in a state of mortal
sin”. (R. Laurentin)
In His eyes, one thousand years are like
a day: what hasn’t occurred in one thousand
years can occur in one day. Very clear signs of
the times are above all the various apparitions
of the Virgin Mary throughout the world: a
large mosaic, the little pieces of which (the
most important components being those of
Medjugorje) form a unique plan for salvation,
that is becoming clearer and clearer as the other
lights are added. Laurentin has gathered together
2400 of them and he admits that they are only
a small portion; false apparitions are limited to
very few cases.
“I have come to call the world to conversion
for the last time. Afterwards, I will not appear
any more on this earth” (2.5.82).“With the
events that are being prepared and that are near,
Satan will be stripped of the power that he still
holds…pray so that the kingdom of love might
reign throughout the world…for non-believers it
will be too late to convert…I will pray to my Son
not to punish the world; but I plead with you,
be converted. You cannot imagine what is going
to happen nor what the Eternal Father will send
to earth. That is why you must be converted!
Renounce everything. Do penance.” (24.6.83)
These are serious, imploring and dramatic words.
(R. Laurentin).
“The ill who are present will be healed in
The Virgin is the model
of interior souls
It is as though the behaviour of the
Virgin, during the eight months between the
Annunciation and Christmas, were a model
for interior souls, who live in intimate union
with God, beings chosen by God to expe-
rience from within, in the depths of the bot-
tomless abyss.
With what peace, with what recol-
lection Mary lent herself and continues to
lend herself to all things! How the most ba-
nal things were made divine by her, given
that, through everything, the Virgin re-
mained the adorer of the gift of God.
This did not prevent her from exterio-
rising, from doing things in the outside
world, when called upon she dedicated her-
self to love; the Gospel tells us that “Mary
diligently travelled through the mountains
of Judea to go to her cousin Elizabeth”.
The ineffable vision that she contem-
plated within herself never lessened her
external love, her affection for her neigh-
bour, because “contemplation guides us to
the praise and eternity of the Lord. Mary
had a unity that will never break”.
Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity
background image
“Poste Italiane s.p.a. - Spedizione in Abbonamento Postale - D.L.
353/2003 (conv. in L. 27/02/2004 n° 46) art. 1, comma 2, DCB Mantova
Legal Dir. A. Lanzani; Printed by DIPRO Treviso
8
Villanova M., 1
st
november 2010
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children, goes our heartfelt thanks,
whom we remember especially in
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Let us follow the angel
step by step
Let us follow the angel step by step and
let us see where he goes, not to Rome, the
triumphant one, nor to Athens, the wise
one, nor to Babylonia the proud one, nor to
Jerusalem, the holy one. He goes to a corner
of Galilee, to an unknown area, to Nazareth,
where Nathaniel will one day say: “Can
something good come from Nazareth?”.
But in Nazareth there is a little house
that encloses the treasure of the heavens and
the earth and the secret love of the eternal
father for the world. In this little place, there
is a Virgin who is greater than heaven and
earth together, a Virgin chosen by God to
understand the incomprehensible. There is a
Virgin there who is greater and brighter than
Rome, Athens, men and even angels.
There is a Virgin by the name of Mary
and, according to her name; she is an abyss of
graces, an ocean of greatness and a world of
marvels. This is the Virgin that God watches
over and She too watches over God and with
Him she is occupied and she rises up. It is to
this Virgin that God sends his angel.
Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle. (1575-1629)
(From www.mariedenazareth.com)
Personal cheques accepted; also
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And where convenient (within Europe)
by bank transfer :
Associazione Eco di Maria
Monte dei Paschi di Siena
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guidelines and also an “invisible” chain of
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despite obstacles. This magazine is the sign of
the essential in simplicity, the only thing that
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and Pope Benedict XVI, for peace in hearts”.
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the past three years. Please accept my sincere
love and prayers to make you succeed in
helping the souls who are thirsting for God”.
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“Thank you for sending me the Echo, several
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of everyone. Thank you also for the translation
work – all of this underground work will be
brought to light one day – the Virgin Mary
truly is tireless!”
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which is rich with spiritual nourishment in
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continues to visit us every day. May She bless
you so that you might faithfully transmit her
message to us”.
Juan Carlos Blandòn Montoya from
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“May the hearts of those who seek the
Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his
power, never cease to seek his face”.
M
ERRY
C
HRISTMAS
TO
ALL
OUR
READERS
AND
A
BLESSED
N
EW
Y
EAR
!
the presence of the great Sign!”. Ivo Juričić
is waiting for his amputated leg to grow back,
just as the Virgin told him it would, through the
visionaries. Ivanka who spends a whole hour
with Our Lady! “She stayed with me for an hour.
I never saw her looking so beautiful. She was
so tender and beautiful…”. Then she lets her
terrestrial mother come to her and kiss and hug
her, and lastly Ivanka can also kiss the Virgin!
And the angels look on!
Mirjana receives a sheet of material that does
not exist on earth, on which there are written the
secrets that will trigger the fi nal sequence, these
are invisible for now… Many priests and brothers
are startled, they are minimising, censoring,
trying to pour new wine into their old wineskins.
But Medjugorje is the complete package, either
you take it all or you can’t understand anything.
Pray for peace so that as soon as possible a
time of peace, which my heart waits impatiently
for, may reign…(25.6.95) I desire to renew
prayer with you and to call you to fast, which I
desire to offer to my Son Jesus for the coming of
a new time – a time of spring”. [25.10.00]
How beautiful Mary is! She comes every
day, young, beautiful, pure, regal, charming,
full of love. Especially all-powerful (through
Grace), by way of a guarantee of her magnifi cent
promises. Nostalgia, desire, hope, hymn, pain,
exile, a valley of tears under a sky that is too
blue, an infi nite wait… “Hope deferred makes
the heart sick” (Prov 13,12).