the novena to the Queen of Peace starts today June 15th. I will post the prayers every day in this thread. This is from the International Internet Prayer Group joined with the Information Center of Medjugorje. For people wondering about the purpose of the novena, there are some questions and answers What to offer to Our Lady for the 38th Anniversary of Her apparitions What could we offer to Our Lady for the anniversary of Her apparitions? This is the question many pilgrims ask, and we answer with another question: Wouldn’t the dearest gift be if we would really start to live Her messages? The main theme of Our Lady’s messages is the call to peace and reconciliation, but She underlines very often that we can obtain them only through prayer. This is why She calls us unceasingly to pray, to renew prayer until it becomes a joy for us, to pray with the heart… We have composed a simple novena with the deep desire to offer something special to Our Lady for this Anniversary, something that unites all Her children in the whole world, something that helps us to live Her messages. Why a Novena? The idea for the Novena comes from the New Testament, when Mary and the Apostles, 40 days after the Resurrection of Jesus, remained in prayer for nine consecutive days. They prayed with one heart and persevered in prayer, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, that was promised them, and that filled them “when the time of Pentecost was fulfilled” (Ac 2,1). Since then, Novenas have become a frequent practice in the tradition of the Church. Also in Medjugorje, Our Lady calls us: “Dear children, offer novenas, making sacrifices wherein you feel the most bound.” (July 25, 1993) How to pray this Novena? One special intention is devoted to each day. We pray for this intention, meditating on the texts that are proposed, through the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. The first text is a passage from the Gospel, the second - a message of Our Lady from one of the previous anniversaries, and the third - a passage from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. These have been chosen to give a threefold insight into the prayer intention: A Gospel, a Marian (through the messages of Medjugorje) and an Ecclesiastical insight, to help the person who is leading the prayer and introducing the Mysteries. The passages from the Catechism on prayer show us the richness, the depth and the immensity of the experience of Christian prayer, of which Our Lady reminds us here in Medjugorje. The concluding prayer unites all the intentions of prayer regarding the intention for the day. Together towards something new We believe that this unity in prayer will bring a new experience of the love of God, which has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. This experience is always a new beginning, a passage to a new level of existence. Real wars, wars of our doubt and our incredulity can be stopped, and even natural laws can be changed through prayer. We sincerely hope that our common prayer, united in the Heart of Mary for the victory of Her Immaculate Heart, will obtain a conversion in our hearts and in our lives and bring forth the most pleasing and dearest gift to Our Lady. 1st day WE PRAY FOR THE VISIONARIES 1. Prayer to the Queen of Peace PRAYER TO THE QUEEN OF PEACE Mary, Mother of God and Our Mother, Queen of Peace! You came to us to lead us to God. Obtain for us the grace not only to say: “Be it done to me according to Your will!”, but to live it, as You did. Into Your hands we put our hands, so that You may lead us to Him amidst these afflictions and woes. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen. Creed, 7 Our Fathers, 7 Hail Marys, 7 Glory Bes…. 2. Veni Creator Spiritus VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS – COME HOLY SPIRIT Come Holy Spirit, Creator, come best gift of God above, the living spring, the living fire, sweet unction and true love. Thou Who are called the Paraclete, from Thy bright heavenly throne, come, take possession of our souls, and make them all Thine own. Thou who are sevenfold in Thy grace, finger of God's right hand, His promise, teaching little ones to speak and understand. O guide our minds with Thy blest light, with love our hearts inflame; and with Thy strength, which never decays, confirm our mortal frame. Far from us drive our deadly foe, true peace unto us bring, and through all perils lead us safe beneath Thy sacred wing. Through Thee may we the Father know, through Thee the eternal Son, and Thee the Spirit of them both, thrice-blessed Three in One. All glory to the Father be, with his co-equal Son: the same to Thee, great Paraclete, while endless ages run. Amen. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. - Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. - And You shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: God, who taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
continued novena 3. Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary Texts for Meditation Jesus said to his disciples: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them: “thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with the power from on high.” (Lk 24,44-49) "Dear children! Today I thank you for living and witnessing to my messages with your life. Little children, be strong and pray so that prayer may give you strength and joy. Only in this way will each of you be mine and I will lead you on the way of salvation. Little children, pray and with your life bear witness to my presence here. May each day be a joyful witness for you of God's love. Thank you for having responded to my call." (Message, June 25, 1999) "Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God." (2559) 4. The Litany of the Blessed Virgin Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God, our heavenly Father, have mercy on us. God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us Holy Mother of God, Holy Virgins of virgins, Mother of Christ, Mother of Divine Grace, Mother, most pure, Mother most chaste, Mother inviolate, Mother most undefiled, Mother most amiable, Mother most admirable, Mother of good counsel, Mother of our Creator, Mother of our Saviour, Mother of the Church, Our Mother, Virgin most prudent, Virgin most venerable, Virgin most renowned, Virgin most powerful, Virgin most merciful, Virgin most faithful, Mirror of justice, Seat of wisdom, Cause of our joy, Spiritual vessel, Vessel of Honour, Singular vessel of devotion, Mystical rose, Tower of David, Tower of ivory, House of gold, Ark of the covenant, Gate of Heaven, Morning Star, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, Help of Christians, Queen of angels, Queen of patriarchs, Queen of prophets, Queen of martyrs, Queen of confessors, Queen of virgins, Queen of all saints, Queen conceived without sin, Queen assumed into Heaven, Queen of the most holy Rosary, Queen of the families, Queen of peace, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord! Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord! Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord! Pray for us, o holy Mother of God, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ! The Medjugorje Hymn To the Mother and Queen of Peace We come to you, dearest Mother, from all quarters, from all nations; bringing to you all our troubles ardent wishes, aspirations. Look upon us and console us, lay your gentle hands upon us; intercede with Jesus for us, Mother of Peace, do pray for us. All the faithful look up to you, you the lodestar of salvation; cleanse, embrace us, we pray to you, bless all in the congregation. Bijakovo, Medjugorje, little hamlets spread the story, bearing witness to your beauty to your name and to your glory. For all your love, dearest Mother all the wonders that we have seen, we give to you solemn promise to be better than we have been. Concluding prayer: Lord, You call all Christians to be real witnesses of Your life and of Your love. Today, we thank You in a special way for the visionaries and for their mission in witnessing to the messages of the Queen of Peace. We present to You all of their needs. We pray for each one of them personally, that You may be near them, so that they may grow unceasingly in the experience of Your strength. We pray that You guide them to a deeper and more humble prayer in further witnessing to the presence of Our Lady in Medjugorje. Amen.
Why I Believe that 2021 Is a Significant Year in the Unfolding of the Medj. Secrets I went to Medjugorje, for the first time, with two friends, Neil and Kevin, at Easter in 1989. We went with a small group organized by a husband and wife business that specialized in taking groups there and who were both very knowledgeable about Medj. and had excellent local contacts. During the first few days of our stay, one of my friends began to see the sun ‘spinning’ and changing into an image of the Host. We met others who saw other things in the sky and the sun (especially when the apparitions were occurring) but I and my other friend, Kevin, saw nothing unusual. I did not disbelieve those claiming to see various phenomena but did feel a little concerned at being excluded from these experiences and curious as to why this should be, as did Kevin. On Good Friday, we were told that the daily apparition would happen on Mount Krizevac at night in front of the large stone cross erected there, rather than in the early evening in the church choir loft as was usual. We decided, of course, to climb Krizevac that night. We fasted on bread and water during the day, said the Rosary, did the Stations of the Cross and talked to fellow pilgrims from various countries. That night we climbed Mount Krizevac. There were several hundred people saying the Rosary in front of the cross when we arrived and it was not possible to find a place both near to the cross and in front of it. So, we decided to go behind the cross where it was possible to find a place to stand/sit within a few feet of it. The visionaries appeared and shortly after, the apparition began. At the moment that Our Lady appeared, a ‘neon sign’ appeared on the cross. It comprised a series of red wavy lines which were moving alternately left and right. It was very bright, clear and beautiful. The lines (possibly a dozen of them) were above the horizontal bar of the cross. As far as I was concerned, this was a neon sign. I could not understand why it was there but assumed that there was some reason for it to be shown and that I would be able to establish this later from a local or an experienced pilgrim to the place. When the apparition ceased, people began to make their way down the mountain. The three of us had taken a flask of coffee and some biscuits with us and, as it was now after midnight, we broke our fast. I didn’t mention the ‘neon sign’ assuming that everyone had seen it. We chatted to a nearby group and Kevin became separated from us when he joined another group of people. We were now in the company of about 10 strangers and began to chat about various things. Eventually, I asked what the ‘neon sign’ meant and one lady said, ‘Oh yes wasn’t it beautiful’ and then went on to describe a pulsating red heart that had appeared on the cross. She also thought that this was a neon sign visible to all and was very surprised to hear that no-one else in the group had seen it. I described what I had seen but no-one else had seen the red lines. We eventually started our descent and caught up with our other friend, Kevin. I told him that I had seen something on the cross and couldn’t find anyone else who had seen it. I described it, to my relief, Kevin said that he had seen it too. Kevin was an electrician and said that after the apparition he had gone to the cross to look for cables because he knew that a neon sign of that brightness and size would require large cables and an enormous generator. All he found was a small wire leading from the lightning conductor at the top of the cross and concluded that the image must have been projected onto the cross by mobile equipment that had been removed before he had a chance to investigate. He hadn’t mentioned this to anyone else and believed that everyone had seen what we had seen. When we returned to our accommodation, I drew the image and he agreed that he had seen the same thing. The next day, I sought out our tour guide who had visited Medj. dozens of times. I described what I had seen and she said that she had never heard of anyone else seeing such an image. I asked what it might mean and she said that she had no idea but that Our Lady didn’t do anything without a reason and that I would come to understand what it meant. ‘When?’, I asked. ‘Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe on your deathbed, who knows. But you WILL find out’, she said. She told me to not to rush Our Lady but to be patient and to ask in prayer for the answer. I agreed to try to do so but was almost eaten up by curiosity. The guide then asked if I had been to hear one of Fr. Jozo’s talks. I said that I hadn’t. (Fr. Jozo was the parish priest in Medj. at the time the apparitions began, he had been imprisoned by the Communist authorities for two years and had been transferred to a nearby parish on his release). She said that he had given a wonderful talk to the last group she had taken. He had asked the group where the ‘rod of Moses and Aaron’ was now. Of course they all shrugged but he asked the question several more times and finally asked them if they would be surprised to hear that he had the rod. They looked surprised and confused and he asked if they would like to see it. Some looked a little concerned as though they were in front of a madman but he then produced a large Rosary and said, ‘This is our rod of Moses, it is just as great in power if we use it with faith. When, in your life, you are faced with the impossible in human terms, it will save you’. My conversation with our guide ended and I went on my way. It was literally when I crossed the threshold of my home when I connected the ‘neon sign’ with the guide’s reference to the rod of Moses that parted the Red Sea. The sign was an ideogram depicting the Red Sea and was an instruction to say the Rosary and the conversation was a lesson in its power. I rang Kevin to announce that I had solved the mystery. When I told him that I had done so, I was surprised to hear him say that he knew what it meant. When he had arrived home, he immediately opened his Bible asking for the answer and had read about the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and had connected this to the sign and to the conversation with the guide that I had told him about. I didn’t know at the time that I was going to be between the Pharoah and the Red Sea in my own life after a couple of years and that I was going to need a great deal of faith to see me through it. What I had seen on that cross certainly helped me to hold onto a little faith that I would not be totally ruined financially if I prayed the Rosary and I did escape that fate, though I came very close to it. Fast forward and I read a book about the apparitions and read about the reason for Fr. Jozo’s arrest. The Communist authorities had been very concerned about the claims of apparitions and had mocked the claims in the press as well as taking the visionaries for psychological and social assessments and making threats to them. It was approaching the 40th anniversary of the Communist takeover of Yugoslavia and Fr. Jozo had given a homily in which he made reference to the wandering of the Israelites for 40 years. They took this homily to be a coded reference to hopes for the imminent end of the regime and he was tried and imprisoned for two years for this ‘offence’. I noted the further reference to Exodus and was beginning to be curious about the various links that I was seeing between Medj. and this book of the O.T. Fast forward again, thirty years after my first visit. I am in a pub having a conversation with Neil (who went with me) and another friend who had also been several times. Someone said, ‘The secrets must start to unfold soon, it’s been so long since they began, it’s been nearly forty years. A ‘penny dropped’ in my mind and I said ‘That’s the key to this, it will start to happen forty years after the apparitions began, it’s all linked to Exodus’. I began the explanation as above and they agreed that this seem likely at least. I have no idea why, if it is true, that I should have been made privy to this and I understand that others have reached the same conclusion by more logical means. Perhaps it is to tell you who may use it to greater effect than I am capable of. In any case, serious events are going to start happening soon and we have to start reacting to Her advice as urgently as possible.
It does feel as though things are getting fired up. Everything we’ve believed is going to be tested. Pray that we all pass the test. If you’ve been through a trial, it may be to purify you for the final test...it might be a great blessing in the end.
Thanks for your witness, Steve. Of course, Exodus...the wanderings in the desert...that is the Forty Years. I am so slow on the uptake. This is making a lot of sense.
I pray that the Red Sea will be parted for our generation. The Pharaohs we suffer under seem so powerful that such Divine intervention is essential once again.
All these messages from Our Lady are so consistent. This, to me, lends support for their genuineness and coherence. Also, it strikes me that Our Lady knows how stupid and incalcitrant most of us are-she has to keep drumming the message over and over into our thick heads.
Also Mirjana has said the number 18 is important. She receives her annual message on March 18'th which is her birthday, but says that is not the reason our Lady appears to her then, but it is because of the date, that it is important or the number 18 is important?
Having been to Medj three times myself I completely believe every detail of your story and find the 40-year hypothesis very plausible. Thanks for sharing your insight!
