January 15, 2014
Dear Children, Praised be Jesus and
Mary!
1. On January 2, 2014, Mirjana received her monthly apparition
at
the Blue Cross, surrounded by a great number of pilgrims who had come to entrust
the New Year to the Mother of God. After the apparition, Mirjana
transmitted the following message:
"Dear
children!
For you to be
able to be my apostles and to be able to help all those who are in darkness, to
come to know the light of the love of my Son, you must have pure and humble
hearts. You cannot help for my Son to be born in, and to reign in, the hearts of
those who do not know Him, if He does not reign - if He is not the King - in
your heart. I am with you. I am walking with you as a mother. I am knocking on
your hearts. They cannot open because they are not humble. I am praying, and you
my beloved children also pray, that you may be able to open pure and humble
hearts to my Son and to receive the gifts which He has promised you. Then you
will be led by the love and strength of my Son. Then, you will be my apostles
who everywhere around them spread the fruits of God's love. My Son will act from
within you and through you, because you will be "one". My motherly heart yearns
for this - for unity of all of my children - through my Son. With great love I
bless, and pray for those who are chosen by my Son - for your shepherds. Thank
you." (At first Our Lady was sad and then decisive, Mirjana said.)
2. 50 reasons to be
thankful. I wish to share with you
one of our good traditions. On December 31, each one of us locks himself in his
bedroom for one hour and writes 50 reasons he has to thank God and Our Lady for
the concrete favors, blessings, gifts, pardons and lights that he has received
during the year. This is a good idea for those who want to purify their heart
from any heaviness and let the joy spill forth from your heart. If you wish to
offer your list to OurLady in this month of
January, you may send itto "Queen of Peace", BP
2157, F-06103 Nice cedex, France.We will take it to a visionary.
3. You can help
me!I have
reserved the month of January and February for the writing of a new book! So
Iwish to
receive your testimonies. I need you! Think of the lukewarm believers who will
open their hearts to Godreading the graces you have
received! Thank you for sending your testimony via email to:gospa.fr@gmail.com
4. My companion
Saint for the year 2014 is
St
Catherine Labouré, the visionary of the rue du Bac in Paris, to whom Mary gave
the MiraculousMedal. I pray to her for
the 6 visionaries of Medjugorje. May they stand fast in the storms of this
world. Howabout you? What saint has
chosen you? Our family of Children of
Medjugorje (your family!) has received "The Queen of Peace," nothing less! (See
our updated list of Saints at www.childrenofmedugorje.org)
5. Our Croatian friend Patar tells
us: "Last year, I
downloaded the list of Saints from the Children of Medjugorje website. I shared
it with our prayer community here in Split, and Leopold Mandic chose me! On the
little paper, the prayer intention read: "Pray for each conceived child to be
born."
Ten days later I visited a young family
who was struggling with a complicated pregnancy. The mother's first pregnancy
ended in a miscarriage, so the possibility of losing this one overwhelmed them.
We prayed and spoke together for nearly three hours. I told them about my
protector saint for the year and promised to pray to him in a special way for
their intention. Then I sent them to a priest that I know well. A healthy little
girl was born bringing great joy to all of us. The incredible thing is that two
more couples with similar experiences, also asking the intercession of St.
Leopold Mandic, received healthy babies.
Then, as a result of praying to him, a
great miracle took place in our family too! We wanted to have more children, but
it would be risky since my wife delivered three of our children through
Caesarian section. Another pregnancy would be dangerous considering the risks of
a fourth c-section. My wife offered the problem to Our Heavenly Mother and soon
she was pregnant during the days when it would not be possible according to the
Billings method, just around the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12th).
Now, my wife and I have six children, four on earth and two in heaven. A little
boy, Luka Leopold, was born. He is now five months old and he is a great joy to
all of us.
6. A pure and humble
heart: Ivona, 49, a florist, is a mother of 2 grown children and a widow. Last November
she came to Medjugorje for the 3rd time, and we were greatly amazed by her deep
fervor.
She would go
up and down Krizevac, barefoot, not minding the cold, the wind, the rain and the
mud.
Married since 1984, she
lived in a small 2-bedroom apartment in Ukraine. Igor, her husband, quickly
showed himself to be mean. He often drank and mistreated her verbally and
sometimes beat her. Ivona also realized one day that he had a mistress, a
married woman and mother of 3 children. Although Igor was born a Catholic, he
spoke badly of the priests and refused to go to church, except for feast days.
But Ivona loved her husband dearly and she was praying for him. One day he
became seriously ill and he had to stop working. He needed constant care. His
lover abandoned him.
Seeing that Igor was going
to die soon, Ivona worried about his eternal fate. Out of love, not only did she
pray, but she would also fast a lot for him. In August 2009, she went to
Medjugorje to obtain his reconciliation with God. Even though the heat was
terrible, she went up and down Krizevac, barefoot on the burning stones. She was
begging God: "May he not die without Confession!"
Since Igor was yelling at
the children all the time, she was praying for the unity of the family. "Even if
Igor should hate me", she said to the Lord. "Give me the strength to bear it!"
Indeed Igor insulted her despite her good caring for him day and night.
Nevertheless, Ivona was always feeling peace in her heart because her prayer
kept her in unity with God. One day Igor was hospitalized, and Ivona did not let
him down. She spent hours at his bedside. Three times Igor refused to let the
Catholic chaplain, who was a priest, see him and hear his Confession. Ivona kept
silent and did not give in to discouragement. She prayed with all her heart near
her husband, confident that God was listening to her. Rosaries and Chaplets of
Divine Mercy alternated between medical treatments.
On January 6, the morning
of his death, oh what a miracle took place! Igor stroked his wife's hair saying,
"Even when I am mean to you, you keep on loving me and taking care of me!" His
legs were becoming black but he was still conscious. That day Ivona had to leave
the hospital for a few hours to attend her daughter's first Holy Communion. When
she came back, she ran into the priest in the hall and suggested that he
make another try at hearing Igor's Confession. It was now a
question of hours before his death!
But - 2nd miracle - the
priest answered her that he was just coming back from Igor's room and that Igor
had made a good confession, after 20 years without any Sacrament! She was
overwhelmed with joy! When she entered the room, she placed a picture of the
Merciful Christ in Igor's hands and, to her great surprise, he put it between
his fingers, raised it up to his face and gazed at it with serenity.
Then he told his wife, "How
shall I manage going up there?" She answered him, "you are going to your home,
do not be afraid! Jesus is enlightening the way before you to go to Him, and you
have the Three Kings to escort you!" When she saw that he was suffering, she
told him, "Remember that Jesus also suffered before going to his Father." She
asked him to forgive her for the times she had made him suffer, and she
expressed that, for her part, she had forgiven him EVERYTHING. Already Igor
could no longer speak, but he shed tears as a response to her. She thanked him
for the years they lived together, then with a big smile, she said to him, "Now
you can leave in peace for the House of the Lord!" Upon these words, his eyes
became motionless. He was dead.
Ivona had persevered in
prayer and fasting, and everything she had asked God had come true! Igor had
been to confession at the last moment, just 6 hours before dying, before losing
his speech. After Igor's death, during the following Lent, Ivona fasted on bread
and water for 40 days in order to thank God for having converted her husband.
Ivona has not stopped
working for her family's salvation since Igor's death. Her son Boris is very
sick. She came back to Medjugorje for him in November (that's when I met her)
and she intends to bend the heart of God for his healing and especially for his
conversion. He left the Church and put up with a very difficult person. So,
Ivona made a deal with God, "Lord, you take care of my son Boris, and I will
take care of Your sons, the priests!" On November 25, after climbingboth
mountains up and down (Krizevac and Podbrdo) barefoot on a freezing cold
afternoon, she spent all night in St. James Church before the Blessed Sacrament
exposed on the altar, praying for priests!
Our Lady told us last
October, "Do not stop praying for the gift of love." And this month she said,
"You must have pure and humble hearts."Ivona is such an inspiration for us! She
is one of those "violent" ones who takes the Kingdom of Heaven by storm. She
will not be disappointed!
Dearest
Gospa, what
is there in store for us during the year 2014? God knows, you know too, and you
are our true leaders. How comforting! We totally abandon ourselves into your
hands, as we want to realize your plans and find, in this way, that peace of the
heart we yearn for.
Sister
Emmanuel +
(Translated from
French)
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