The 40th Anniversary of the Medjugorje apparitions was one of the most anticipated moments in the rich spiritual history of salvation. A Friend of Medjugorje said in 2018:

 

“Our Lady’s here to save the world. Our Lady told Medjugorje visionary Ivan that had She not come, the world would be over. Contemplate that… To save the world might take 40 years. To save the Israelites took 40 years to get them out of the desert and we are in the desert. Our Lady’s here for an exorcism and it’s going to come like a thief in the night and you’re never going to realize what happened…”

 

This is an update about our “Medjugorje” experience of the 40th anniversary at Caritas of Birmingham, which gives testimony and witness to Our Lady’s plan to save the world.

We begin sharing our experience with a few of the couples renewing their wedding vows in the home of a Friend of Medjugorje and his wife. When we bring the Caritas pilgrims to pray in the Bedroom of Apparitions, this is the moment for individual and family consecrations. The Bedroom of Apparitions is the central point for our community life. The apparitions in the Bedroom point to Our Lady’s plans to save the family. Saving the family is a centerpiece for Our Lady’s plans to save the world. The family is the major battle that must be won. A Friend of Medjugorje wrote on July 10, 2014, seven years before the 40th anniversary:

 

“I’ve often believed, in the beginning decade or two, Our Lady was not certain that God’s going to allow Her to come tomorrow. But I know very strongly that Our Lady is humbly bargaining with God through the prayers She brings to stay with us for 40 years to guide us out of the desert. And now we’ve entered into this crucial 7-7-7, with seven years remaining of this 40 year trek, that we are going to see a lot of tribulation; we “will” see a lot of tribulation.”

– Friend of Medjugorje July 10, 2014,

 

Reading a Friend of Medjugorje’s words from seven years ago, this confirms what we have been hearing from people, especially in the past year, about tribulation taking place in their families, churches, workplaces, and in nations.

On June 23, 2021, Caritas pilgrims and others begin their climb to the Cross. A Friend of Medjugore built the Cross in 2013 and consecrated it “For the Soul of America.” Read all about the building of the Cross here…

Heading up to the Cross, the rugged terrain at the final Stations of the Cross, are a stark reminder of what Jesus suffered for each one. Many pilgrims have told us that they are deeply moved in their hearts while praying the Stations up to the Cross at Caritas.

 

One pilgrim testified:

“It was my first time climbing a mountain, because I’m always so scared, not even height. It’s more like I don’t believe that I’m going to be able to make it. Let’s put it like that. And then, when Joan said, “Grab a stone,” you know, thinking of things that you want to give up, instead of thinking that much of me, it was thinking of my brothers and sisters who were not able to make it. We are ten… I have three sisters and six brothers. And once my parents passed away, they kind of all, you know, separated, most of them, and many of them don’t even go to church. They don’t pray. So, I always feel like, how can I say it? Bag on my shoulders? Like I am part of that chain that needs to link them all together again. So, when I was climbing, I was praying… when I finally lifted up my head and I saw the Cross, I was in awe. That was the best moment of my life. And putting that rock on that Cross, it meant so much to me because it wasn’t only about me. It was about my brothers, sisters, family, like putting also, there are things that they needed to give up. And I prayed for all of you too, for all your intentions. It’s really a blessing to be with all of you.”

Maria, June 2021 Caritas Pilgrim from Georgia

Another pilgrim said:

“…There’s things that have really struck me here. The first is the fact that we’ve been without our cell phones and without electronic devices. So, it’s actually really nice, because when you go out into the world, everybody’s staring at their phones. But here, we’re all actually communicating with everybody, and we’ve actually gotten to know everybody’s face, almost…”

David, June 2021 Caritas Pilgrim

Like the thousands who have come before, at the foot of the Cross is where all burdens, sins of the past, wrong decisions, etc. are laid at the feet of Jesus.

“Our Lady wants to teach you, through these messages, as never before in the world, in history. This is not just rattling off words. She’s here with a new efficacy. We have motherhood, THE mother who is getting a new power to walk on the earth when these apparitions end. She’s never going to appear like this again… We’re never going to have this again. You’re living in a moment that will never come back…”

– Friend of Medjugorje, 2018

 

June 23, 2021 – A view of the Field of Apparitions and the valley from the Cross. When a Friend of Medjugorje and his wife first moved to this valley, they learned that the early settlers of this valley called it “Paradise Valley.” Little did they know or little could they even fathom, that Paradise would descend into this valley through the Queen of Peace. Just to the left of the Tree in the Field, nestled in the woods is a Friend of Medjugorje’s home. It was in this home that Our Lady came on December 25, 1988, and through Marija, gave Her title, Queen of Peace:

 

December 25, 1988

“…Rejoice with me! Glorify the Nativity of Jesus through the peace that I give. It is for this peace that I have come as your Mother, Queen of Peace. Today I give you my Special Blessing. Bring it to all creation, so that all creation will know peace…”

 

Another pilgrim said:

 

“…I have been coming here for probably twenty years. And I ask myself every time I’m here, “Why do I not do enough for Our Lady?” And as I walked the Cross, thankfully able to do it—and yes, with the help of others… and then we really settled down, I think, and we could think and listen and pray that when we got to the top, some of the fruit of that was ours, I think. And as you look out over the mountain and the view… I mean, it is Heaven on earth here, and this is a peace that… I’m so glad you all are here, and if you’ve never been here before, how blessed are you to be chosen? How blessed are we that have been here…”

P.D., June 2021 Caritas Pilgrim

 

The evening of June 24, 2021, we gathered in the Field for the vigil of the 40th anniversary. But, were not alone. Part of the “creation” that knows peace in this valley also joined us.

The evening of June 24, 2021 – The full moon rises over the mountain behind the Field. Being together in prayer, under the stars, before Our Lady, we were reminded of yet another word that a Friend of Medjugorje spoke during one of the broadcasts in the Countdown to the 40th Anniversary Series on Radio WAVE:

 

“…after this period of apparitions is over, we will have Her. And when I say we will have Her, we will have Her in a unique way that is not compared in the past, not repeatable from something in the past, and irreplaceable from in the past – a new evident power of Motherly to act upon the earth. That’s one of the gifts that’s going to be left to us, and it’s going to be a beautiful thing…”

– Friend of Medjugorje, Countdown to the 40th Anniversary: Is Your Heart Parallel With Our Lady’s Heart?

 

When we hear a Friend of Medjugorje say these words, uninfluenced by anyone else except what he has received from God in his prayer, we are reminded of what Jesus told His apostles, that once He left, an Advocate would come. They could not understand Jesus. Many in the Medjugorje world do not understand what a Friend of Medjugorje is saying. But, those who are “little children” in their hearts understand and accept – and long for Her Motherly presence.

This year, the full moon coincided with June 24, 2021. Here the full moon rises up over the mountain behind the Field. This night is the last supermoon for 2021. It’s no chance this happened on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparitions. The Cross on Penitentiary Mountain is to the left of the moon.

June 24, 2021, 8:46 PM – During the vigil, Caritas pilgrims with many others joining, prayed before Our Lady – preparing our hearts to receive Our Lady’s words which She would give less than 24 hours later. No one wanted to leave the Field. One pilgrim said:

 

“I was just telling my friend that, out of everything that I’ve done, I’ve done a lot of seminars, a lot of retreat-type things, I’ve even been to Caritas several times, and this has been the most amazing weekend I’ve ever had in my life. And I think of the visionaries, when they say that when Our Lady is leaving, they want to go with Her, and I know, I mean, I don’t want to leave this place. So, I have that experience what they have when Our Lady leaves. I feel so blessed…”

K.T., June 2021 Caritas Pilgrim

 

Rosary time, June 25, 2021 – On the 40th Anniversary, June 25, 2021, many other pilgrims joined us for the daily Rosary which coincides with Our Lady’s apparition time in Medjugorje. This daily Rosary has been prayed non-stop, every day in the Field since Our Lady first came in 1988.

 

What have people passing by the Field during our daily Rosary seen for 33 years, non-stop?

 

First, a Friend of Medjugorje and his family kneeling by the Tree. Then, joined a small body of people. And also, hundreds or sometimes thousands of people joining from time to time. This daily Rosary is a witness of what has taken place here in this “Place.” During one of the Countdown to the 40th Anniversary broadcasts which aired in the weeks before the 40th Anniversary, a Friend of Medjugorje said:

 

“…lot of people often say, ‘Well, I’m isolated. I’m by myself.’ There’s a purpose to that because somewhere in the future, you’re going to be an apostle, if you accept the invitation. And now, you need to be in prayer for what’s coming, because there’s going to be something that will be the catalyst that will cause you to be able to testify to love. If you’re a testament to what Our Lady’s asking for, and people start seeking something, that something happens in the world that causes you to have the attention that comes back to you who are connected to Our Lady, you’re going to give testimony. You’re going to give witness. It may be your silent witness right now. Words aren’t enough now to win people over. It’s your actions. It’s your life…”

– Friend of Medjugorje, Countdown to the 40th Anniversary: Are You Ready for the Time Our Lady Quits Appearing?

 

The daily witness of “life” has testified to the thousands of people who have driven by the Field during the daily Rosary. At first people thought that what a Friend of Medjugorje was doing was “kooky”, but he stayed steadfast in what God was showing him. Now, many locals who once suspected everything here at Caritas now respect, if not believe in a small way, what has happened here. A Friend of Medjugorje told the pilgrims here on June 25, 2021:

 

“You don’t have to be embarrassed or tippy-toeing about Our Lady. We don’t do that. Never have. Every move we make is for evangelization to bring people to Our Lady. And again…don’t worry about if you’re rejected. They’ll think you’re a kook, but they’ll come back to that kook when they see the Secrets unfold.”

 

A few days after all the pilgrims left and went home, the Community gathered back together for a private prayer in the Bedroom of Apparitions. The petitions on the bed, almost 40,000 of them, are your prayers and cries to God during this past difficult year. But, as a Friend of Medjugorje said in the June 25, 2021, broadcast, we are at the edge of the Promised Land. Persevere. Do we realize what has happened? It has taken Our Lady 40 years to lead us out of the desert. There are still more battles to fight. But, we are there…

We end where we began: at the home of a Friend of Medjugorje and his wife. The most important place of Caritas is the Bedroom of Apparitions. This was Our Lady’s first choice through which Our Lady has birthed every other holy site at Caritas. Many, many people have been birthed and re-birthed here through this chosen place of individual conversion.

 

In 1977, when a Friend of Medjugorje and his wife first stepped on the land where their house would one day be built, their homesite was a clear vision of what Our Lady would one day create as the Corona Vision. And, Our Lady confirmed this vision by Her words of June 25, 2021:

 

“…decide for God so that it may be good for you on the land which God gave you.”

 

We are continuing to pray for all of our supporters and friends, especially our Project 50 Field Angels, and those who are still daily praying for a Friend of Medjugorje’s full recovery. We are humbled by your love. If you did not had the chance to listen, be sure to join in the retreat by visiting here and choosing one of the Countdown to the 40th anniversary broadcasts. We talked to many people who said that the daily broadcasts spoke directly to them. We know their words are true because they spoke to us as well.

Medjugorje.com
Caritas of Birmingham
Operated by the Community of Caritas

 

For those who wanted to come on the June pilgrimage to Caritas of Birmingham but who could not make it, there are more dates later this year. Read all about the Caritas of Birmingham pilgrimages here.