Followers of Our Lady,
Some of us will be heading to Medjugorje next week, for the 27th Anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparitions in Medjugorje. It is a grace to spend this time in Medjugorje in preparation for Our Lady’s apparitions here July 1-5, 2008. Returning with Marija, our hope and prayer is for you to use these remaining days before July to deepen your prayer and sacrifices offering them to Our Lady. Our Lady tells us,
August 29, 1982
“…I cannot do anything without the help of God. I, too, must pray like you…”
Her prayer brought before God coupled with your prayer gives Our Lady the ability to receive from God anything She asks for. If you prepare for Our Lady’s visit, She will be able to bring with Her untold graces for our nation’s healing and conversion back to God. We are in serious trouble. Now, even those who do not pray and even those who do not have faith, can see what many of those who follow Our Lady see. We are in the labor period of the coming correction of the consciousness of man. Not many would understand that statement but many feel there’s something in the air. In Our Lady’s most recent apparitions to Marija in Italy, and Mirjana and Ivan in Medjugorje, Our Lady is strongly encouraging us and calling us to pray. That call to prayer is for a purpose. She desires to give us graces.
In August of 2003, Marija and her family was with our community for a time of rest and being together in Florida. It was the first vacation we had taken in the community for several years. We term this time “family retreat” because we do not let go of our prayer life during the time we are gone. It was the first time all the members of our community left our home and mission in Alabama to take a week off at a quiet and peaceful place, near Port St. Joseph (Port St. Joe as it is now known). Though I wanted to give the community a very much needed break, I did not want to lose sight of the times we would be present for Our Lady’s apparitions. Being at the beach, separated amongst different houses, I didn’t want there to be confusion when it came to be apparition time, not wanting to shortchange Our Lady (or us) in preparing for the apparition each day. There would have to be some time management involved with everyone cooperating with Our Lady for the joy of being in the apparitions while on vacation. Because of all of us being scattered walking, biking, swimming, etc., we expected this to be a little bit of a challenge and so we wanted to be very clear when the apparition time would be each day.
When Marija had first arrived in Alabama, I asked her to ask Our Lady when She desired to have the apparitions. Our Lady answered in the evenings, at 6:40 p.m. But once we arrived in Florida on a late afternoon, we realized that we had just entered a different time zone, and suddenly we didn’t know what time Our Lady would appear, Florida time or Alabama time. We had just reached the first beaches in Florida, but we were still a short distance away from the places we had rented to stay. Not wanting to miss the apparition together, the feeling nudged strongly to have our long caravan of cars pull off the side of the road, and rush to the beach immediately to begin the rosary for Our Lady’s apparition, instead of going on further to the houses. As we knelt in the sand, the children went splashing in the water, and we watched the sun set while praying the Rosary waiting for Our Lady to come. Just before She appeared, I leaned towards Marija, and asked her to ask Our Lady when She wanted to appear each day. I wanted this for my own peace of mind to be able to organize our days around Our Lady. After the apparition, Marija excitedly told us that Our Lady had given an amazing message in response to my question. She said,
August 9, 2003
“Because it is your vacation, I will come whenever you pray.”
We were all astounded by Our Lady’s reply, Her love and even Her playfulness in recognizing our dilemma. We were all flooded with great joy and peace with smiles, marveling about what Our Lady just did, knowing that we could actually decide each day, based on our comings and going, when it was best for us to settle down, at peace, and really prepare our hearts thoroughly for Our Lady.
What followed were among the most beautiful apparitions I have ever experienced. One in particular will stay in our hearts all our lives, and was a lesson as well, as to what is in the heart of Our Lady. It was August 13, 2003 and we had spent the morning on the beach, had come in when the sun was at its strongest, and had just finished lunch. I spoke to Marija about all of us writing out our petitions to Our Lady, and then during the apparition, go up to Our Lady to give our petitions personally to Her, by placing them in a vase-like container. Marija immediately agreed. Because we weren’t rushed at all, we spent more than an hour writing to Our Lady everything that was in our hearts. It was a very peace and joy-filled time with even the little children participating. We spent three hours preparing for Our Lady’s apparition. When we finished the rosary and when Our Lady came, we each came forward and dropped our petition into the vase that was placed in front of Our Lady’s statue, in which She was also appearing in front of. When Marija came out of ecstasy, she relayed Our Lady was pleased with our action in writing out our petitions and had given a message for Marija to relay to us. Our Lady said,
August 13, 2008
“I wish to give you graces. Ask for them.”
Joy abounded upon hearing those words knowing that it was an encouragement of what we just did. It encouraged us so much that two days later, on the feast of Our Lady’s Assumption, I suggested to Marija that we could live the words of Our Lady and repeat what we had just done, by writing out our petitions again. We once again presented them to Our Lady during the apparition. On this day, we received a different kind of message from Our Lady, and by no means were we disappointed. We could tell by Marija’s face that something unusual was happening in the apparition. When she came out of ecstasy, Marija’s face shone when she told us that Our Lady had come with angels today, not three or five, but thousands, even tens of thousands of angels that filled the whole sky. Our Lady was dressed in gold for Her feast day, August 15th, and had received our prayers as the Queen of Heaven in all Her array. Even now, five years later, we cannot comprehend the graces we received and the joy of spending these special, extraordinary days with Our Lady.
July is typically vacation month in our nation. Most schools let out sometime in June and students return sometime in August. Our Lady is coming to our nation to spend our vacation with us and we cannot help but believe She is doing so because She wants to “give us graces” and is waiting for us to “ask for them.” Just as She came as the Queen of Heaven on that hot Assumption feast day in August, we have requested Her presence as the Queen and Patroness of Our Nation. Perhaps what we experienced with Our Lady in the summer of 2003 was a foreshadowing of what She wants to bring to us this July, for our whole Nation.
For this reason, we can’t impress too much upon you the importance of your personal response in this time. The Caritas Community just completed a nine-day fast on bread and water to prepare for these special days with Our Lady that are right before us. We don’t want to have any regrets that we did not do all we could to bring Our Lady what She is in need of to have our prayers answered. We responded to Our Lady’s call for us to fast when we opened to the following message in Words from Heaven several times when we were praying together in recent days.
August 25, 1991
“Dear children, today also I invite you to prayer, now as never before when my plan has begun to be realized. satan is strong and wants to sweep away plans for peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, I call all of you, dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to renunciation for nine days so that with your help everything I wanted to realize through the secrets I began in Fatima may be fulfilled. I call you dear children to understand now the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I desire to save all souls and to present them to God. Therefore, we pray that all I have started may be completely realized in its fullness. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
If you can offer a 9-day fast to Our Lady, we strongly encourage you to do so. We prayed for very specific intentions for this fast, which are included below, that you may also unite your prayers with ours for the fulfillment of these requests, along with your own personal intentions. Order the “Fasting” booklet and the broadcast on “Fasting” that aired last October on Radio Wave if you are in need of strength to say “yes” to Our Lady’s request to fast. They will be an impulse for you to “want” to fast.
I, on behalf of the Caritas Community, personally invite you to come spend your vacation with Our Lady this July, bringing with you all the burdens and desires of your heart, written out on paper, to offer to Our Lady during Her apparitions, because She wants to give you graces. We can testify the best vacation we’ve ever spent in our life was with Our Lady! If it is not possible for you to come, then send your petitions to us, and we will see to it that they will be received by Our Lady, at the foot of Her apparition.
Do not hesitate to spread information about July 1-5 everywhere. We are hearing from people who, through you informing them through mej.com have just found out about the events, are now planning on coming! When people learn they can be in the presence of the Holy Virgin Mary five days in a row, many make spontaneous decisions immediately to come. You are the one who can inform thousands through spreading brochures, mej.com and contacting your own email list. Send the news across the nation telling others to send it on!
Everyday more and more people join the ranks of those who are more and more aware that we are living in very crucial and significant time. It is important that we make them more and more aware of Our Lady’s coming precisely because we are at a pivotal moment in the history of man. All of us are being asked to give more of ourselves and strive harder in living out the call of Our Lady. I will pray in Medjugorje for you to have the courage and strength to answer that call with a firm commitment from your heart.
In the Love of Our Lady,
P.S. There was a show last night at 7pm CST on Radio Wave in anticipation for Our Lady’s coming in July. Every week leading up to July 1st we are hosting a special broadcast to help prepare hearts for this special week of prayer with Our Lady. If you missed last night’s show or the show from last week its not too late to listen to them through streaming them. Just click here for immediate access to the June 11th Radio Wave show. Last night’s show in particular is one that you should not only listen to, but send to everyone on your email list, as well as make copies and spread. It is a powerful call for people to come and be present in July with Our Lady. Putting this message in people’s hands will give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to move their hearts strongly to make a spontaneous decision to come. Help Our Lady reach hearts to bring them close to Hers here this July through getting this message out. We thank you from our hearts for being Our Lady’s apostles. show, and for access to the June 4th Radio Wave show Click Here.
Intentions for the Fasting Novena – June 2 – June 10, 2008
1. For our spiritual reconstruction and to embed the following message into the very being of our heart and soul and to act upon it as a foundation and constitution for our future. Thank you Mary.
March 27, 1989
“Dear children, your Mother calls you to completely surrender to God. Dear children, this is a time of grace. Pray as much as you can and renew yourself through prayer. Construct yourself spiritually. This construction lasts until the end of your life. Continue to pray as much as you can and with your prayers you will help me.”
2. For an unprecedented call throughout our nation for a multitude of people to be informed of the events of July 1-5, to hear the call and to come and that grace will be given for massive conversions to take place. For You, Mary, to accept fully our personal consecrations and especially the consecration of our nation. That You, through these consecrations, will obtain the fullness of going before God’s throne to win a seize the moment to rebirth our nation according to the principles of your Son, just as our forefathers’ dreams were inspired to lay our nation’s foundation out to be. Thank you Mary
3. For our Retooling project – that we may acquire all the funds we need to complete this project quickly and fully so that we may be set up as soon as possible for You Mary and Your time of the Great Evangelization and conversion. We pray in thanksgiving for all those who have given and will give to this project and ask that they receive the grace of giving to the retooling. Thank you Mary.
Dear Queen of our hearts and our nation, we give you our 9-day fasting novena and the sacrifice of our workload and little sleep for the above intentions
Pray the Hail Holy Queen after reading these intentions
and throughout your day.