THE MEDJUGORJE WITNESS

Dear children! Also today I am with you and call all of you to complete conversion. Decide for God, little children, and you will find in God the peace your heart seeks. Imitate the lives of saints and may they be an example for you; and I will inspire you as long as the Almighty permits me to be with you. Thank you for having responded to my call. 

Alleged Medjugorje message, September 25, 2006

Fr Ljubo Kurtovic (who ministered in Medjugorje from 2007 to 2013, and who preaches many retreats on the messages of the Blessed Virgin) is currently in Mostar hospital after suffering a stroke. For him and for all our sick: “Hail Mary...”

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source: Chere Gospa

Through the towns and villages Jesus went teaching, making his way to Jerusalem. Someone said to him, “Sir, will there be only be a few saved?” He said to them, “Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed.” Luke 13 : 22-24

• In the early days of the Medjugorje apparitions when Our Lady would appear to the seers in the choir loft in St James church, hundreds of pilgrims would crowd around the narrow door (pictured) to try and get access to the staircase and a place in the balcony. Only a few ever succeeded. Access was usually by invitation only. Talk about backstage passes!

But eventually, the local bishop put a stop to the visionaries receiving their apparitions of Our Lady in the church and now hardly anyone looks to gain access through this door.

In the above photograph the two chairs outside the narrow door are probably more germane to accessing heaven than being present for any apparition in a choir loft.

One seat is for a confessor, and the other for a penitent.

The thief on the cross, who admitted his sin and asked Jesus to remember him, gained access to Paradise by this narrow door. Jesus promised the man he would be with him in Paradise that same day.

In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came to be, not one thing had its beginning but through him. All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men, a light that shines in the dark, a light that darkness could not overpower. 

John 1 : 1-5

This is a follow up to my previous post, All Roads lead to Rome. Because of the deterioration on Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper mural, it’s not possible to identify one of its features I am about to explain, but it is clearer on a copy of the mural made by the Milanese painter Andrea Solario, whose style was influenced by Leonardo da Vinci.

Solario’s version was produced c.1520 and is now housed at Tongerlo Abbey, near Antwerp in Belgium. We see the figure of John leaning in the direction of Simon Peter and a portrayal of Christ leaning toward John with his head resting on John’s shoulder. It was Mary Magdalen who came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple (John), the one who Jesus loved, reporting that the Lord had been taken out of the tomb. (John 20 : 1-2)

This morning I came across a quote attributed St Catherine of Sienna on Hervé Reynaud’s comprehensive Medjugorje website Chere Gospa. It simply reads: Saint Catherine of Sienna speaks to us about the importance of fidelity to the Pope “Even if the Pope were the devil incarnate, we should not raise out heads against him.” 

It caught my attention because I recently discovered that Leonardo da Vinci referred to St Catherine of Sienna and this particular quote of hers in the famous mural he painted of the Last Supper.

People often wonder about the figure of St John the Evangelist seated at the right hand of Jesus (his brother James the Greater sits at the left side of the Lord – Mark 10:35-45). Some say the figure of John also represents Mary Magdalen. Indeed it does. But Leonardo also applied two other identities: Piero di Lorenzo de Medici, and Catherine of Sienna. Why did the painter apply so many identities, not just to John but all the other disciples at the table? Well that’s another story.

One of the other identities given to St Peter, he with the knife behind his back, is Pope Gregory XI, the seventh and last Avignon Pope. Now instead of the disciple John leaning on the bosom of Jesus as normally depicted in Last Supper scenes, John, or Catherine, is featured instead up close to Gregory XI. The reason for this? It was Catherine of Sienna who encouraged persuaded Gregory XI to move his papal court from Avignon back to Rome.

Catherine, with her eyes and head lowered is also a pointer to her words: “We should not raise our heads against him.”

One way a link or connection can be made to Catherine’s reference to allegiance to the Pope is that Piero’s younger brother Giovanni (John) was Pope Leo X, and his cousin Giulio later became Pope Clement VII.

I’m slowly unravelling some of the embedded narratives in Leonardo’s Last Supper and posting notes about this on my Catchlight blog at THIS LINK.

Just wondering… but will Our Lady’s message to the world for the month of October speak of the Heart of Jesus, his Sacred Heart?

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O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

“Bosnia-Herzegovina, with its Muslims, Catholics, Orthodox and Jews, is one body, one heart. If there is any attempt to split it up, it means that this one heart would be split.”

Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, May 2016

• Regarding a Catholic priest, confused because of the cure of an Orthodox child:

“Tell this priest, tell everyone, that it is you who are divided on earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox, for the same reason as Catholics, are equal before my Son and me. You are all my children. Certainly, all religions are not equal, but all men are equal before God, as St Paul says. It does not suffice to belong to the Catholic Church to be saved, but it is necessary to respect the commandments of God in following one’s conscience. Those who are not Catholics are no less creatures made in the image of God, and are destined to rejoin someday the House of the Father. Salvation is available to everyone, without exception. Only those who refuse God deliberately are condemned. To him, who has been given little, little will be asked for. To whomever has been given much (to Catholics), very much will be required. It is God alone, in His infinite justice, who determines the degree of responsibility and pronounces judgment.”

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Medjugorje message 1984

Teresa was a woman “for others.” Though a contemplative, she spent much of her time and energy seeking to reform herself and the Carmelites, to lead them back to the full observance of the primitive Rule. She founded over a half-dozen new monasteries. She travelled, wrote, fought — always to renew, to reform. In herself, in her prayer, in her life, in her efforts to reform, in all the people she touched, she was a woman for others, a woman who inspired and gave life.

More at Franciscan Media

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Nade te turbe

Let nothing disturb you.


Let nothing make you afraid.


All things are passing.


God alone never changes.


Patience gains all things.


If you have God you will want for nothing.


God alone suffices.

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Teresa of Ávila

Jesus addressed the crowd: “This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.”

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Luke 11 : 29-30

Prayer is the most important response Our Lady seeks from each of us. Prayer leads to every other response. It’s the key that opens hearts. It’s a time of grace, a time for the soul, for the heart to open.

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It’s a time to prepare, a time to repair;

a time to repent, a time to relent;

it’s a time to reflect and a time to connect;

it’s a time to believe, to ask and receive;

a time to rest in God’s heart, to make a fresh start.

Prayer is a time of grace. 

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(BG)

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Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

“Lord, teach us how to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” Jesus said to them, “Say this when you pray:

‘Father, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come; give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. For we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. And do not put us to the test.’”

Luke 11 : 1-4

Pope Francis has called for a day prayer and fasting on October 7, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Next Monday is also the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The Pope said, “in this dramatic hour of our history, while the winds of war and the fires of violence continue to devastate entire peoples and nations,” the Christian community is reminded of its call to “put itself at the service of humanity”.

Source: Vatican News

The Lord says this: “I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Give him reverence and listen to all that he says. Offer him no defiance; he would not pardon such a fault, for my name is in him. If you listen carefully to his voice and do all that I say, I shall be enemy to your enemies, foe to your foes. My angel will go before you.”

Exodus 23 : 20-23

Angel of God, my guardian dear,

To whom God’s love commits me here;

Ever this day be at my side

To light and guard, to rule and guide.

Amen

“I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord's living garden.”

St Thérèse of Lisieux

Rejoice in your youth, you who are young; let your heart give you joy in your young days. Follow the promptings of your heart and the desires of your eyes. But this you must know: for all these things God will bring you to judgement.

Ecclesiastes 12 : 9

The Vatican has spoken out for the first time on the apparitions of the Virgin of San Sebastian de Garabandal in the 1960s in the Cantabrian municipality of Rionansa, stating that “there are no elements to conclude that they are supernatural ,” although it allows private worship, since people “go to pray and then to mass.”

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This was stated today by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Argentine Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, at a press conference in the Vatican when questioned about the events that occurred in the Cantabrian town between 1961 and 1965, where four girls between 10 and 12 years old from the town claimed to have witnessed on several occasions the apparitions of Saint Michael the Archangel and the Virgin Mary.

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source: EUROPA PRESS

On Friday, September 20, at the Episcopal Centre in Mostar, bishop Petar Palić held a press conference regarding the publication of the Note of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on the spiritual experience related to Medjugorje and the Decree regarding the spiritual experience related to Medjugorje.

Msgr. Palić confirmed that the Međugorje phenomenon will continue to be closely monitored by the local bishop and the apostolic visitor, and the status of the SHRINE is not being considered for now. For that, new legal and material conditions are needed, which still need to be worked on.

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source: medjugorje-info.com

Herod the tetrarch had heard about all that was being done by Jesus; and he was puzzled, because some people were saying that John had risen from the dead, others that Elijah had reappeared, still others that one of the ancient prophets had come back to life. But Herod said, “John? I beheaded him. So who is this I hear such reports about?” And he anxious to see Jesus. Luke 9 : 7-9

• Image shows a porphyry sculpture of the Four Tetrarchs, Basilica San Marco, Venice.

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Dear children, God has sent me among you, to love you and encourage you to prayer and conversion, for peace in you and in your families and in the world. Little children, do not forget that true peace comes only through prayer, from God Who is your peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.

(With Ecclesiastical approval)

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“The nihil obstat for public worship in the shrine of Medjugorje means that there is something supernatural, that the Holy Spirit acts there, as in the Mystical Rose of Montichiari, even if the supernatural authenticity of the apparitions is not declared. Some messages from Our Lady may be supernatural, mixed with others that are not. We do not say that the Spirit acts ‘through’, because that would be affirming supernaturality, but 'in the midst of': and this already means a special action of the Spirit in that place.”

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Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernádez, September 25, 2024

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source: Vatican News

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Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Col 3 : 16

Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

Luke 9 : 1-2

Dear children! This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving. God is giving himself to you that we may love him above everything. Therefore, little children, open your hearts and families, so that this waiting may become prayer and love and, especially, giving. I am with you, little children, and encourage you not to give up from what is good, because the fruits are seen and heard of afar. That is why the enemy is angry and uses everything to lead you away from prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call.

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Alleged Medjugorje message, November 25, 2018

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• Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Luke 12 : 36

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The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham was established around 1061 when, according to the text of the Pynson Ballad [c 1485], Richeldis de Faverches prayed that she might undertake some special work in honour of Our Lady:

“Our Lady led Richeldis in spirit to Nazareth and showed her the house where the angel had greeted her. ‘Look, daughter’ said Our Lady. ‘Take the measurements of this house and erect another one like it in Walsingham, dedicated to praising and honouring me. All who come there shall find help in their need.

‘It shall be a perpetual memorial to the great joy of the Annunciation, ground and origin of all my joys and the root of humanity’s gracious Redemption. This came about through Gabriel’s message that I would be a mother through my humility, and conceive God’s Son in virginity.”  [Pynson Ballad 1485]

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Source: Walsingham Shrine

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Seemingly, the alleged messages received by the visionaries will now be checked before publication. That responsibility has been presented to Medjugorje’s Apostolic Visitor, Archbishop Aldo Calvi.

Then there are the translations into many languages. Will that also be the Archbishop’s responsibility?

And will Medjugorje’s parish website continue to publish the monthly message given to Marija, or only those that meet with the Archbishop’s approval?

Is Medjugorje and the phenomenon about to enter a testing time of obedience, or even lamentation?

• Dear children! God gives me this time as a gift to you, so that I may instruct and lead you on the path of salvation. Dear children, now you do not comprehend this grace, but soon a time will come when you will lament for these messages. That is why, little children, live all of the words which I have given you through this time of grace and renew prayer, until prayer becomes a joy for you. Especially, I call all those who have consecrated themselves to my Immaculate Heart to become an example to others. I call all priests and religious brothers and sisters to pray the rosary and to teach others to pray. The rosary, little children, is especially dear to me. Through the rosary open your heart to me and I am able to help you. Thank you for having responded to my call. 

Alleged Medjugorje message, August 25, 1997

With the Vatican announcement last week (September 19) regarding Medjugojre and its focus on the good fruits associated with the phenomenon, I was reminded that just a few days earlier (September 14) Luke’s gospel reading for Mass that day was on the theme of integrity… good fruits and a solid foundation (6 : 43-49).

Five days later, the DDF prefect, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez said of Medjugorje: “The uniqueness of the place lies in the large number of such fruits: abundant conversions, a frequent return to the sacraments (particularly, the Eucharist and Reconciliation), many vocations to priestly, religious, and married life, a deepening of the life of faith, a more intense practice of prayer, many reconciliations between spouses, and the renewal of marriage and family life.”

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the assent of Pope Francis, today granted approval for devotion linked to Medjugorje, recognising the abundant spiritual fruits received at the Sanctuary of the Queen of Peace without making a declaration on the supernatural character of the Marian apparitions.

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• More details at this link

According to a report at the National Catholic Register on today’s “Note About the Spiritual Experience Connected with Medjugorje”, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said he had not met with the alleged visionaries, but that once the notification was prepared, he wrote to the six of them with some "suggestions" about the future. He provided no further details.

He also mentioned that Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, the resident apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, is charged with determining whether to allow the publication of alleged messages revealed in the future or alleged messages from the past that have not yet been published.

“The uniqueness of the place [Medjugorje] lies in the large number of such fruits: abundant conversions, a frequent return to the sacraments (particularly, the Eucharist and Reconciliation), many vocations to priestly, religious, and married life, a deepening of the life of faith, a more intense practice of prayer, many reconciliations between spouses, and the renewal of marriage and family life. It should be noted that such experiences occur above all in the context of pilgrimages to the places associated with the original events rather than in meetings with the “visionaries” to be present for the alleged apparitions.” […] “the positive fruits linked to this spiritual experience are evident and, over time, they have become distinct from the experience of the alleged visionaries, who are no longer seen as the central mediators of the ‘Medjugorje phenomenon.'”

DDF prefect, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, September 19, 2024

Yesterday, accredited journalists were notified that on Thursday, September 19, 2024, at 11:30am, a Press Conference on the spiritual experience of Medjugorje will take place at the Holy See Press Office, Sala San Pio X, Via dell’Ospedale 1.

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Speakers will include:

• His Eminence Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith;

• Reverend Monsignor Armando Matteo, Secretary for the Doctrinal Section of the same Dicastery;

• Dr. Andrea Tornielli, Editorial Director of the Dicastery for Communication.

The Press Conference will be broadcast live in the original language on the Vatican News Youtube channel, accessible at https://www.youtube.com/c/VaticanNews

September 19 is the Feast of St Januarius, patron saint of Naples. It is also the date of my wedding anniversary and the day I set out and arrived in Medjugorje on my first pilgrimage.

I’m currently working on a project to identify some of the disguised features in the Stations of the Luminous Mysteries at Medjugorje, starting with the fourth mystery, The Transfiguration, where Jesus reveals his glory to the disciples Peter and the brothers James and John.

As a start, I thought it might be an idea to attempt to count all the pieces of stone that make up this mosaic, but gave up very quickly on this. However, I did manage to count the stones that make up the extended right hand and wrist of Jesus. There are 120 individual pieces, so that might give some idea of the thousands needed to complete the picture.

And then I got to thinking of the artist and his team and the time it must have taken them to not only sort and cut the pieces but then having the patience to fix the stones in place. What a labour of love and dedication this must have been for Anto Mamuša and any assistants he may have had.

But imagine each piece of mosaic as a prayer offered to God and then add all the prayers offered by pilgrims in front of this station since its completion in 2006. Prayers of transformation.

In a Christmas Day message (2019) to the Medjugorje seer Jakov, Our Lady said, “Through prayer and faith, God will answer your every ‘why’ and transform your every pain, darkness and cross into light.”

As to answering our every ‘why’ you may wish to take a closer look at the shape of the hand. You may even see the shape of a bird nestling in the palm of Jesus, its head and beak pointing to his sleeve cuff. The forefinger is the bird’s tail and the three other fingers represent one of its wings. But why has the artist disguised this feature, and what does this ‘bird in the hand’ signify?

I shall explain this and reveal more of the embedded narratives in The Transfiguration station at another time, after I’ve completed my study.

Early in the fourth century, Saint Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, went to Jerusalem in search of the holy places of Christ’s life. She razed the second-century Temple of Aphrodite, which tradition held was built over the Savior’s tomb, and her son built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher on that spot. During the excavation, workers found three crosses. Legend has it that the one on which Jesus died was identified when its touch healed a dying woman.

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The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus’ head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.”

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To this day, the Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox alike, celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the September anniversary of the basilica’s dedication. The feast entered the Western calendar in the seventh century after Emperor Heraclius recovered the cross from the Persians, who had carried it off in 614, 15 years earlier. According to the story, the emperor intended to carry the cross back into Jerusalem himself, but was unable to move forward until he took off his imperial garb and became a barefoot pilgrim.

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source: Franciscan Media

There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told from its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man’s words flow out of what fills his heart. Luke 6 : 43-45

Dear children! Today also I am calling you to prayer. You know, dear children, that God grants special graces in prayer. Therefore, seek and pray in order that you may be able to comprehend all that I am giving here. I call you, dear children, to prayer with the heart. You know that without prayer you cannot comprehend all that God is planning through each one of you. Therefore, pray! I desire that through each one of you God's plan may be fulfilled, that all which God has planted in your heart may keep on growing. So pray that God's blessing may protect each one of you from all the evil that is threatening you. I bless you, dear children. Thank you for having responded to my call. 

Medjugorje message, April 25, 1987

Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own? How can you say to your brother, “Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,” when you cannot see the plank in your own? Hypocrite! Take the plank out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take out the splinter that is in your brother’s eye. Luke 6 : 42

• The image above is a feature from the Angel Musicians panel of the Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by Jan and Hubert van Eyck,

Waiting on Rome... waiting on pope... waiting on secrets... waiting on messages... waiting on signs... waiting to decide to believe or not...

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My friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live lives without spot or stain so that he will find you at peace. Think of our Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved…

2 Peter 3 : 14-15

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Dear children! This is a time of grace and prayer, a time of waiting and giving. God is giving himself to you that we may love him above everything. Therefore, little children, open your hearts and families, so that this waiting may become prayer and love and, especially, giving. I am with you, little children, and encourage you not to give up from what is good, because the fruits are seen and heard of afar. That is why the enemy is angry and uses everything to lead you away from prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Medjugorje Message, November 25, 2018

* Luke 3 : 15

Brothers, our time is growing short. [...] Those who have to deal with the world should not become engrossed in it. I say this because the world as we know it is passing away.

1 Corinthians 7 : 29, 31

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Dear children! Put Sacred Scripture in a visible place in your family and read it. In this way, you will come to know prayer with the heart and your thoughts will be on God. Do not forget that you are passing like a flower in a field, which is visible from afar but disappears in a moment. Little children, leave a sign of goodness and love wherever you pass and God will bless you with an abundance of His blessing. Thank you for having responded to my call.

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Medjugorje messsage, January 25, 2007

Along the path that leads to the Risen Christ statue in Medjugorje is a set of five stations devoted to the Rosary and its five Mysteries of Light.

The beautiful mosaic images were made by the Bosnia Hercegovina artist Anto Mamusa and erected in 2006. Sometimes pilgrims, in groups and individually, spend time to stop and pray at each station on their way to the Risen Christ. 

But because of the phenomenon, where water weeps from the statue’s right leg, pilgrims generally prioritise a visit to the Risen Christ and pass by the Mysteries of Light, which is a pity, because the stations connect to the ministry of Christ that leads to the bronze statue sculpted meant to represent both the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

Not only that, each station is rich in scripture references which the artist has embedded apart from its main story, but not easily recognised at first. They are indeed mysteries of light and revelation, and ‘miraculous’ in their own way.

Over the next few months I intend to reveal more about the disguised narratives in the mosaics and will set up new section on the website for this.

* Exodus 33 : 18

Medjugorje parish priest Br. Zvonimir Pavičić recently visited England where he met with pilgrims and prayer groups seeking first-hand the latest information from Medjugorje.

Br Zvonimir’s report of his visitation is published on the Medjugorje parish official website.

September 8 can be viewed as Our Lady’s ‘official’ birthday celebrated by the Church. But for followers of Our Lady’s messages from Medjugorje there is another date in the calendar put aside for celebrating the Gospa’s birthday – August 5, best considered as Our Lady’s ‘private’ birthday. This was revealed to the visionaries very early on in the history of the Medjugorje apparitions.

Mention of this date was also made by Fr René Laurentin and published the same year in his book, Is the Virgin Mary Appearing at Medjugorje? He wrote: 

At the end of May 1984, Jelena and Mirjana, with whom I spoke on June 10, had received from the Virgin a call to celebrate August 5 as the 2,000 birthday of her birth. The feast was to be celebrated by two days of fasting and a day of celebration... The three days of fast (they added one) ended in a day of intense prayer in the Church and on the hill (of apparitions). There were many conversions and confessions. One of the priests said to me: “I will remember this day more than my 20 previous years as a confessor.” According to the young people (the visionaries), Mary had said who had heard confessions that day would have great joy...

Dr Nick Wells studied physics at Cambridge and completed a doctorate in Plasma Physics. As an atheist, he said his materialist understanding was that human beings are just very complicated arrangements of atoms and molecules in motion. That was until he made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje…

Read his witness at THE TABLET

The Lord is just in all his ways

And loving in all his deeds.

He is close to all who call him,

Who call on him from their hearts.

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Psalm 144

Two days ago I went to confession. The first words the priest said to me were: “Welcome back to the foot of the Cross”. That’s the first time I’ve been greeted like that, I thought. And then before giving me absolution the priest asked me to pray three Hail Mary’s for world peace.

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In the early hours of this morning, around 2:00pm, and as I lay in bed wide awake, the priest’s words came into my thoughts: “Welcome back to the foot of the Cross”. They reminded me of words spoken by Our Lady at Medjugorje, and I was tempted to search for the message on my smartphone.

Among the links was one to a page on this website, my testimony about how my life was changed on my first visit to Medjugorje. The headline was: PRAY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS FOR PEACE.

I then searched for the full message. It said: Dear children! Without prayer there is no peace. Therefore I say to you, dear children, pray at the foot of the cross for peace. Thank you for having responded to my call.

But a remarkable thing about the message was its date, September 6, 1984.

Forty years ago today!