24
October 25, 1995
NEWS
CARDINAL WAMALA ON MEDJUGORJE
Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala from Uganda visited Medjugorje this year at the beginning of June. Upon returning to his country he wrote us a letter. Among other things he said: ". . . The memory of my pilgrimage to Medjugorje is still alive in me. My experience of that holy place could be summarized in three points: prayer, penance and communion in faith. It seems to me those are also the main features of Medjugorje. Truly you have reasons to be grateful to God. We share our common joy with you."
FAMILIES OF FALLEN AND MISSING CROATIAN SOLDIERS VISIT MEDJUGORJE
Mothers, fathers, wives, children and relatives of missing, imprisoned and fallen defenders from Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina assembled in pilgrimage at the shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Medjugorje to pray for the return of the imprisoned and missing members of their families or at least to learn the truth about their fate. After assembling in the church, they went in a long procession to the Hill of Apparition, carrying a cross, lit candles and an inscription asking "Where are our loved ones?" After returning from the Hill of Apparition they celebrated holy mass in the church of Medjugorje with about 1,500 foreign pilgrims. Fr. Jozo Zovko celebrated the Eucharist and addressed them with words of consolation and encouragement.
These people have already lived through four years of searching for the members of their families about whose fate they still know nothing today.
CROATIAN SOLDIERS IN MEDJUGORJE
Croatian soldiers stationed on the front lines in Bosnia-Hercegovina regularly visit the Medjugorje shrine. They are mostly one day pilgrimages during which they visit the Hill of Apparitions and afterwards take part in the evening prayer program in the church.
Two military chaplains visited Medjugorje this week. They provide pastoral care for the Spanish and English units of UNPROFOR in Medjugorje and Gornji Vakuf respectively.
TELEVISION CREWS IN MEDJUGORJE
Two foreign television crews, journalists from Spanish television and the Italian RAI networdk, visited the shrine of the Queen of Peace to film reports on Medjugorje and the Medjugorje events.
F R U I T S - "I RECEIVED MY VOCATION AFTER CONVERTING IN MEDJUGORJE"
At the beginning of October Friar Christopher Amanzzi visited Medjugorje. This is what he told us on that occasion.
"I came to Medjugorje for the first time in 1987. I was 32 years old then. This is the l3th time I am visiting this shrine. When I came for the first time to Medjugorje, I planned to stay for just two days and then go to the coast, because, as an economist, I was engaged in demanding jobs and felt tired. However, I stayed for two weeks and I profoundly experienced the love of God. I came back to sacramental life which I had given up ten years before. Till that time I was the centered on myself, but then God became the center of my life. That year my walk in faith began and continues till today. All of my friends asked me, ". . .Why don't you decide to become a priest?" I deliberately rejected it then. After later visits to Medjugorje in 1988, something systematically changed in me. I opened myself to the will of God! I started to feel the vocation to which God was directing me. I thought over and searched for my way. Inspired by Our Lady's messages, I came closer to the Gospel which itself began to direct me and invite me to leave everything and to dedicate myself to God. After my pilgrimage to Medjugorje in 1989 I made a contact with the Franciscans of the Rome Province and I entered the monastery in January 1990. I made my perpetual vows this year on September 17, after which I came to Medjugorje for the 13th time. This time it is my thanksgiving to the Blessed Mother for the grace of conversion and my vocation to the priesthood. I have to admit that my entire family with the exception of my mother, went completely away from God and sacramental life. After my conversion they have all come back to God, the sacraments and the Church. In the first place I am grateful to God and Mary for my vocation, but I owe a lot to the perseverance and the prayers of my own mother. I want to tell all mothers not to get tired of praying for their children, even then when it seems that they have reached bottom.
At the end I want to say that I "owe" a lot to Medjugorje. Everything in it, namely, always reminds me of the person of Jesus Christ. Medjugorje, in other words the messages Our Lady gives us here, by their simplicity heal all of us who carry the wounds of life in our times. The man of today, wounded and exhausted by the spirit of the civilization in which he lives needs Medjugorje."
Published by: INFORMATIVNI CENTAR MIR - Svetiste Kraljice Mira (Information Center MIR - Shrine of the Queen of Peace), 88266 Medjugorje.
Director: fra Miljenko Stojic.
Information Office: 00387-36-651-988
Parish Office: 00387-36-650-206; 650-310; 651-333
Fax: 00387-36-651-444
Radio: 00387-36-651-100; fax 651-300
E-mail: medjugorje-mir@medjugorje.hr; Internet: http://www.medjugorje.hr
Automatic Message: 060-325-325. By calling this number you can hear the latest message of Our Lady in Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, as well as also the meditation and the news from Medjugorje which is updated every Wednesday.
Last Modified 11/25/2002