©
Children Of Medjugorje
Advisory
Board:
May 15, 2002
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Here is an example related to me by Leila, 52, a widow and mother of three children. She lives in the Plain of Bekaa and when she decided to come to Medjugorje, her heart was tormented by anguish and sadness. She came at the urging of her sister, but because of the burden that was oppressing her, she had come like a robot, without any conviction. Her husband had died of liver cancer four months earlier and, since his death, she had stopped praying, stopped living, and she would run away from everyone, trying to lock herself away in loneliness because of despair. On the fourth day of the pilgrimage, she phoned her sister and told her desperately, "I don't know what I have come here for, I feel terrible, much worse than when I was in Lebanon; it's dreadful, I find no peace, nothing is happening to me here, I would have been better off staying at home!" Her sister encouraged her, assuring her that she and many others were praying a lot for her and continuously supporting her, offering Masses and the Way of the Cross for her sake.
Last Friday, May 10, Leila was at the Blue Cross (at the foot of Apparition Hill), away from the crowd gathered at St. James for the Rosary. A friend from her group saw her and offered to pray a rosary with her. Leila sat on a rock and her friend on another one. They prayed silently so as not to bother the prayer of a French group that had just arrived. During the Rosary Leila poured out to the Gospa all of her suffering and asked her, "Why did you let me come here if it is to suffer more than I did in Lebanon! You can see that I have no peace. I beg you, help me! And if you see anything that hinders peace in my heart, I beseach you, take it away, for I can't bear it any longer! Please bless me, give me a sign! If you set me free, I promise you to recite a rosary every day for my husband's soul."
The sky was very cloudy, for it had been raining. Around 6:30 pm, Leila raised her eyes and she was surprised to see the sun break through the clouds, shining more brightly than ever, and yet she was able to stare at it without being dazzled. The sun seemed to be swelling and throbing, pulsing as a beating heart and getting close to her. It turned into a huge host, then Our Lady appeared in it, holding out her arms as if to welcome someone. She was all white, beaming with light, and next to her was a cross of light. Then Jesus appeared right next to Our Lady. Leila saw only his face, crowned with thorns and stained with blood. Jesus was looking at Leila, who started crying, she couldn't believe her eyes. She stared at him for 20 minutes, unable to move. Her friend heard her say out loud several times in Lebanese, "Don't go, please stay longer!" The other people present, including a few French people, claim to have seen the same thing but not the face of Christ.
After this event, Leila could only keep repeating, "Thank you, my God, for the grace you have given me!"
Though I can not make a judgment about the event, if we are to recognize a tree by its fruit, we can all see that Leila has become another person. Isn't that the essential thing? A profound peace took hold of her, prayer has started to flow again in her heart, and most of all, the terrible resentment she was holding towards her husband dissolved. For the first time Leila was able to forgive, yes, forgive the years of marital suffering that death seemed to have shut up in her heart with no possible escape. Whatever Leila saw with her eyes, one thing is sure, she now feels released, and her happiness is inexpressible. Inner peace has at last flowed into her heart. That same evening, she called her sister to tell her with tears of joy, "I saw Our Lady, I saw Jesus!"
Many people like Leila remain imprisoned in revolt and bitterness after the death of a close one, when forgiveness did not take place during that person's lifetime. Many think it is too late then to make peace, they believe they have lost the chance to reconcile with the deceased who is out of their reach. This creates serious disturbance of soul which Satan may easily use to drive the remaining one to despair. Yet, God's grace has no limitation of time or circumstance! With Him, it is never too late, especially for mercy. How important it is to make peace with those who have died as well as with the living! God does indeed grant graces of liberation, we just have to sincerely desire them and ask him for them. On the other side of the veil, the deceased now see things quite differently. It is a big mistake to freeze the image of the deceased at the state they were in when they left us, as if their death made it final. This is not the case for them. On the contrary, their leaving this world will have transformed them deeply, more deeply than the most amazing conversion would have on earth. Even if they are still suffering in Purgatory, they now love all men with a pure, unadulterated, totally God-inspired love; they can no longer sin, they desire for their dear ones what God himself wishes for them: they embrace the will of God with all their soul and cherish it. Thus, the bad memories that might persist in the hearts of those who outlive them no longer apply. They have "expired", so to speak! This is why it is so important for us, the living, to free ourselves from those bad memories, through forgiveness.
Many people in mourning can be met in Medjugorje. I notice that the Mother of God intervenes powerfully and consoles her children. She sweeps away the old stories that paralyze so many hearts. We just have to ask her and open ourselves up sincerely to this grace of renewal; then life will rush anew into our heart, as Leila's experience shows, (usually without extraordinary visions or manifestations).
3.
Dearest Gospa, Help of Christians and
Refuge of sinners, pray for us!
Sr. Emmanuel
PS. The surviving seer of Fatima, Sister Maria Lucia of Jesus
and of the Immaculate Heart, has written a 300-page book, "Apelos da
Mensagem de Fatima". Translated
into English it bears the title 'Calls' from the Message of Fatima. A copy can be obtained from the
Ravengate Press, Box 49, Still River, Massachusetts 01467, USA, a distributor.
Sister Lucia asked the Holy See for permission to write a text in which she could reply in general to the many questions that had been put to her. Permission was granted. It is broken up into short chapters, each of which resembles a letter that answers a typical question about Fatima. It is a kind of spiritual treatise, that is not meant to be read at one sitting but rather to be pondered day by day, in order to nourish a true Marian piety, received as a message from the Mother of the Lord for our daily lives. (Info came from Fr. Alphonsus M Sutton, Francisacan Friars of the Immaculate).
PPS.
PPPS.