Mario, Here is a couple of photos of what the inside of the huge tents set up for the refugees behind the St James Church...The year was 1994......I had forgotten the beds were actually park benches put together..... Bless, Sharon
In this set of photos....The upper picture is of a young girl getting her teeth cleaned and cavities filled by a dentist from London which I mentioned previously.....The other photo is of my twinner, Susan(left) and myself(right) with a wondeful priest named Fr Wendy....I believe he is no longer living ..... Bless, Sharon
I've just learned that a friend I met in Medjugorje is returning there in Feb. and of course my heart is a twiter because I want to go too. I don't hear the stories about Holy Priests and Stigmatic people here and when I do it causes great excitement in me. I'd love to hear more stories if you have any, when I hear the stories it's like touching God somehow. Lee
I'll tell a kinda scary story I encountered out there. I told it before but I think it bears twice telling. One morning very early I left my hostel and headed for Mount Kricavicz as I was dying to climb it for the very first time. Anyway passing the cemetary behind Saint James I saw a Franciscan monk standing there and I thought it a little odd given the time. I only found out later that the monks stand there as guards during exorcisms. They do these in the cemetery because it is remote and sanctified ground. By the way the reason they put up the cross up the mountain back in the 30's is that Medugorje used to get hit by sudden weird hail stone showers that ruined the crops and left the area very poor. The locals linked this to a demon who
Littlered, What a treat those pictures are! Gracias! It is the tangible fruit of these apparitions which speak so powerfully to my heart. God is great! Praise his holy name! Thank you Jesus for giving us such a Mom! I'm out of time at the moment, but I'm feeling such joy that I will share my most precious, and yet, humiliating experience on the pilgrimage. Believe it or not, I have never shared this experience outside of the family; for some reason, I feel led to do so...be back soon! I dunno Padraig, something about your forum... In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
Well Lee, this story might not include a stigmatist, but it highlights a very wise priest. Geralyn and I have very different personalities. One might venture to say we complement one another. I'm the philosophical, contemplative type, while Geralyn is much more visual and prudent. I always kid her that she is the most practical woman this side of the Mississippi, and I still haven't checked out the west side. Maybe I'll hire Darrell to do my checking for me! Anyway, we arrived in Medjugorje on Tuesday eve, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On Thursday, our tour group climbed the Mountain of the Cross, however, it proved too much for our wee ones. Halfway up we had to turn around and head down. Ben walked with his mother and as I had to carry Rachel, I asked my guardian angel to keep me from tripping on the stones lest my daughter experience a rough landing. He did a great job (as always)! Later, we learned that our friends saw the miracle of the sun while on top. I felt badly for Ger: I knew she was disappointed. The next evening promised a bright sunset and Geralyn and I took the opportunity to stroll over to Apparition Hill. When I glanced toward the sun it appeared to dim and I told Ger I thought God was providing us with a miracle. She was cautious; looking westward, she insisted nothing was happening, and we turned to head back to our host home. Actually, something definitely occurred: I damaged my retina by directly staring into the sun! :shock: And it was my good eye. I told you it was a humiliating event. Duh! When I read Ben his bedtime story, it was necessary to hold the book near the edge of my periphery since the middle of my vision was a big, black hole. In St. James Church the following day, I could not look directly at the altar to view Jesus aloft during the Consecration. I felt anger, remorse, and a lot of self-condemnation. Father Pavich, the wise, English-speaking Friar, rubbed salt on my wounds when he admonished those who try to force miracles, and as far as we knew the damage was irreversible. Our last night before heading to Dobrovnik was Sunday. I was depressed, but Ger encouraged me to attend the healing service at the Church. I reluctantly went, doing so to please Ger, who had not lashed out at me during this crisis. She had proven to be that pearl of great price by showering compassion and steadfast love upon me. It was then, that Mary graced her wayward son with a gift of healing from the hand of her Son. As I was preparing to go forward to be prayed with, the black hole in my eye simply vanished. I could plainly see once more! I wept freely, humbly thanking God for this gentle cure. And so, on the Third Sunday of Advent, in 1987, Our precious Savior once more fulfilled the words of his message to John the Baptist, "Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.... Here is one doppy child who will never look for another. Jesus is the one! Alleluia! Still in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary twenty years later!!
Hi Mario: Thanks for sharing your humbling retina-ruining experience with us. Apparently, God can work through human stupidity to deliver His Grace. This gives me hope that I will be really, really graceful anyday now. Ha! I'm not calling you stupid, I'm just trying to be funny . . . so, I hope you don't feel insulted. On a serious note, I want to say thank you to the many beautiful stories shared here. The grapes one really touched me for some reason. And thanks for the pictures, LittleRed.
You know what? I think we are giving each other Christmas gifts. I think the stories that are tumbling out of us are gifts to each of us. It's the season to move over and let Jesus get comfortable...it's all part of the process. Mario, your story was lovely and so encouraging. We never know what might be in store for us. God looks for places to bless us. What a gift you received. Lee
Mario, What a truly touching story you have shared with us ...How blessed you were to have your eye sight restored ...I have never known anyone who has suffered retina damage by looking at the sun.....I too am a dumbie :wink:....While I was in Medjugorje with my twin, I dared to look at the sun when it was spinning, but I suffered no damage to my eye and to this day I am able to look directly into the sun and I see a big, beautiful Host covering the sun .....I wonder if your experience was meant to be a testimony of faith....faith that you accepted your fate and because of that you were healed..... You are welcome Rain in re: photos ...I have plenty more to share if you want ... I would love for Padraig to finish his story too ....Unfortunately, the evil one likes to hang out at Medjugorje as well.... When I was in Medjugorje this last time(June 2006)....I was at Fr Jozo`s church and you know how at the end when we all stand around waiting for the priests to come through and pray over us....Well, as I was waiting for my turn to be prayed over, I heard this strange laugh coming from nearby....and as this laugh got louder, it became more evil in nature.....It turned out this woman who one of the priests(named Fr Michael Lightner...a great priest by the way and from my neck of the woods )was praying over started in with the evil laugh....He mentioned later that this woman was probably into something she shouldn`t have been into...that was all he said about it....But it was very unnerving to hear her laugh like that...made me cry... BLlss, Sharon
I agree with Terry about this forum. I have a real feeling of the presence of Mary drawing close here. For instance when Deanna talked of her experience round about the time of her fathers death and Terry talking about his experience with the sun. Sometimes in my rosary group I pray for 'Medugorje graces' and it is just this openess I partly mean...this sharing of the heartedness. For me so central to understanding Medugorje. FOr , I believe in this little village Mary shows us what it is possible for us to be , both as individuals and the as a Church...what it will be like to . So yes I think <ary, the Mother of God is very much a member of our forum and reads and enjoys our posts. I know this may sound a little crazy, but as one Italian writer said God is crazy with love for us...He is mad about us. So yes I believe Mary is very present on the forum. A crazy and very wonderful thing :lol: :lol: :lol: I sense her presence so very strongly in many of your posts.
Anyway I was talking about this demon, with an unpronounceable name which I cannot recall. After the cross was built the storms faded away. Saint Paul mentions in his epistles that people who worship false Gods are often worshiping demons in disguise. This is why when Christianity took root they destroyed the temples and idols at once. I think this demon was one of a lingering false God worshipped in the area. Though I am only guessing here. It might surprise a lot of people that the devil should come out so openly near Marian apparitions but such is usually the case. Foor instance the foremost Mariologist Rene Laurentin mentions in his wonderful book on Saint Bernadette how the devil tried on several occasions to appear in the form of Our Blessed Lady at the Massabielle. He speculates that the devil could not do so because he hates Our Lady so much that when he tried to copy her he hated the image so much he destroy it right away Laurentin also mentions that there were over a hundred false visionaries in the Lourdes region at the time of Bernadette's true visions. Satanism has a very long history in Italy, especially in the Rome and Turin areas and lots of people came to Medugorje to be exorcised from demonic possession. A lot of so called 'Satanist' are just Halloween clowns and not the real thing. But there is such a thing as the dark path and it is possible to give yourself to the devil. For instance I heard a story a few years back about a Catholic nurse in Liverpool , an English port city. It was Lent and she was fasting on bread and water. Another nurse joined her in the canteen who was also eating dry bread and drinking water. The Catholic nurse asked her if she was fasting for Lent too. But the other nurse replied that she was fasting for the over throw of Catholic priests as she was a Satanist. Now this nurse truly was a Satanist for she knew she could draw down power. As part of the ritual Satanists go through they offer their souls to the devil, usually through a specific rite which I won't describe here. If the soul does not repent then they become perfectly possessed and look like any normal person. But often the soul realises what a terrible mistake she has made and fights back. In this case they openly show signs of possession. This is not the only way folks can be possessed but I suspect it is the most common. For instance my spiritual director excorcised a young drug dealer who had given his soul to the devil in this way. By the way they stopped doing excorcisms at Medugorje a few months back as it was scaring folks too much. I, personally think this was a very grave mistake but I won't get into that now. Well Father Joe was the young priest who I mentioned before who was loosing his faith, but found it again at Medugorje. One night he went to a concert in the little hall behind the church . On his way out he was approached by a couple of locals who asked for his help. The Franciscans were doing an exorcism on an Italian lady in the graveyard behind the Church. Poor Father Joe, I think he hardly believed in God at this stage, never mind the devil and was the most unlikely person in the village for the task. But good enough of him he went along to give a hand. He told me the next day some of what he saw, he had obviously been terrified his eyes were like saucers and he was white as a ghost. He said the woman had actually levitated off the ground during the prayers and the excorcism had not been a success. Anyway the next night about ten of us headed down to the restaurant for a meal just past Saint James. Two priests Fathers Kevin and Joe were with us. We had our meal and later in the evening were heading home and had just got as far as the gates of the Church when the strangest looking woman appeared. I did not know it but this was the very same woman they had tried to excorcise in the cemetary the night before. She had obviously not had a bath in a very, very long time , her clothes and her were dirty . But the scariest thing was her eyes they just stared and stared especially at poor Father Joe who was pretty well turning into a nervous wreck. She started to follow us and poor Father Joe shouted at her to go away. Father Kevin , who was very holy and brave tried praying over her but without much luck. I called the lady to one side and gave her a lot of money asking her to go way but she stared at me. This ddn't do my nerves much good either, to be honest. :wink: So it was getting late and I could see I was getting nowhere with the woman so I just headed on home myself. But the next day they told me what happened next. The lady followed them back towards the hostel, her sights firmly fixed on poor Father Joe. But they thought they had managed to loose her. So when they got back they all sat in the garden when suddenly from all around came the sound of dogs barking and howling from the houses round about and who enters but the possessed Italian lady shows up again in the garden. Poor Father Joe!! After a while they got her to leave, but it wasn't easy. But the very next morning the wonderful holy lady who ran the hostel her dog was run down and killed by a car outside the hostel. I am convinced this was connected to the possessed lady. Also I heard the woman died a couple of months later...the possessed one, I mean. .
Rain, I'm not insulted, but even Geralyn eventually said I really outdid myself with that one! I think the phrase was: bone-headed. Well, everyone, I pray you all have a blessed, joyful, and peaceful Christmas! This last week of Advent will be hectic, and severing the Web is one way I can gain extra time. See you in a couple of weeks! TerryO
