46
August 28, 1996

How come Our Lady happened to appear at Medjugorje? I'm not claiming to know the answer to that question. Although I do know that Our Lady wishes that all our lives become complete!

Within us, the past, the present and in a manner of speaking, the future events co-exist. It's not good if all these events exist divorced from one another inside us. In that case, we become broken people who are incapable of responding to everyday challanges. God doesn't want this of us. He wants us to be whole, to be free, and to be full of joy. Let's remember that the Gospel isn't meant to mean, a dismal or gloomy face, it is the "Good News".

All those who live Our Lady's messages have become different people. The power of the "Word of God" throughout history, radiates through them in their lives. He spoke in the Old and the New Testament, He speaks today and He will speak tomorrow. And, even though times change, what He says never changes. The lecture through which it is given changes. Because of this, our past, our present and our future are as a walk towards Divine lecture.

Fra Miljenko

THE FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION

On the feast-day of the Assummption, the 15th of August, there were huge crowds of pilgrims. It is nearly imposssible to calculate the number of countries from which they came. Suffice it to say that the representation from the respective continents were in their tens of thousands. Among the most numerous were the pilgrims from; Austria, Germany, America, the Czech republic, Slovenia and Hungary. The groups from France and Italy were especially numerous. There was also a group of orphans from Romania. During their stay they were accomodated in the house of prayer "Domus Pacis". The Church of Medjugorje though huge, seemed even bigger. The mass was celebrated in eight different languages to accomodate the different language groups. We simply must mention also, the large number of native pilgrims, who from the small hours of the morning were coming barefoot to Medjugorje from all parts of Bosnia Hercegovina and Dalmatia. The fact that about thirty priests were simultaneously confessing throughout the whole day gives some idea how many pilgrims there were. At 4p.m. the rosary was prayed on Apparition hill.

"FORTRESS OF LOVE" AT MEDJUGORJE

In mid-August, seven hundred mothers from Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina came to the Shrine of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Medjugorje. This, by now almost traditional pilgrimmage, was organised for the fourth time by the group with the title,"Thank you, Mother". The "Fortress of Love" is an assosiation of mothers which originated at the beginning of the war in our country. The Croatian Mothers felt a need to make a stand in love against the tide of hatred and violence of the agressors, and to protect their children from the violence and evil provoked by the Serbian agression.

The pilgrimmage began early in the morning with a meeting with Father Slavko Barbaric who greeted the Mothers and led them into a prayer programme. Afterwards the Mothers went on foot in procession to Apparition Hill praying the rosary and singing. A mass was celebrated for all the Croatian soldiers recorded missing, after which a talk was given entitled "My post-war suffering".

ON FOOT TO MEDJUGORJE

Two French pilgrims came for the Assumption to Medjugorje, on foot having covered 1,600 kilometres. The two seventeen year olds began their walk on the first of July and arrived in the shrine of the Queen of Peace on the 13th of August.

STUDENTS DAY

The foundation of "Talented Friends", an institution based at Medjugorje which helps young students, organised a students day on the 18th of August. The event began with the rosary on Apparition Hill. After the rosary, the young people gathered in the church for confession and the evening prayer programme. The prayer was followed by a cultural-entertainment programme in which the actor Goran Matovic read from a collection of poetry from the "Master" of Croatian poetry, Tin Ujevic. In the second half of the programme, Hercegovinian students studying in Zagreb who make up a Youth Folklore group made a stage presentation. About 300 students took part in the event.

THE VISIT OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL

On the 17th of August, the American Consul to Bosnia Hercegovina, Larry Martinez visited Medjugorje. On his arrival to the shrine of the Queen of Peace, he visited the church of St. James, after which he went to the "Cenacle community of Sr. Elvira, where former drug addicts are healed.

In the parish house he met with Fr. Ivan Landeka, the Parish Priest who helped him to become better acquainted with the events of Medjugorje and of the massive influx of pilgrims from the continent of America.

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Last Modified 08/28/96