The Miracle of Medjugorje

Recently I have been telling on threads like fatima about how we should also be paying attention to Medjugorje. So I thought I should make a thread about it to inform the members of this great website about it.

Here is the medjugorje website. Read and learn of the miracles that happen there.

If you have any questions ask and I will do my best to answer them.

How do we know the visionaries aren't making these apparitions up?

There have been two major scientific studies done on the visonaries since the apparitions began in Medjugorje on June 25, 1981. The most recent of which was in 1998. Both drew the same conclusions, which are that the visionaries are healthy mentally and physically, they are not hallucinating, are not lying, and are definitely experiencing something that is beyond our scientific understanding that is unexplainable.

It is also interesting to note that during the experiments, one of the things being monitored was brain activity. Most of us are able to use around 15% of our brain during normal activities. It is facinating to note that at the moment when Our Lady appears, the visionaries brain activity jumps to 100% and stays at this level until Our Lady leaves.

Oh and if any of you are wondering why the catholic church has not officially recognized it as fatima is because the visions are still happening and are not done yet.

And then of course there will be the protestants and others coming here and saying how we worship mary.

Jesus is our Savior, why give Our Lady all this attention?

This is actually more of a Catholic Faith question than a Medjugorje questions but I will try to give a simple answer. This could be a very long discussion but I think sticking to the simplistic reality of Our Lady's role in the Church is enough.

Some other faiths contend that Catholics worship Mary, or at the very least, give too much attention to Mary. If one excludes Mary, the mother of God, from their faith, then they are making a great mistake. The Catholic Faith believes that Our Lady is mediatrix of all graces and her role has always been to lead people to her Son Jesus.

It is a fact that for the first 1500 years after the start of Christianity, Mary was very deeply revered and respected. The loss of this devotion among Christians has occurred primarily since the Reformation period (1500's), which is somewhat ironic since Martin Luther, himself, had a special devotion to Mary. In scripture we find that Mary prophesied herself, "All ages to come shall call me blessed." Mary is a special instrument in God's plan. While she is not to be worshipped, she is "blessed," and she deserves great respect for the role she played in our salvation by being the human tabernacle of Christ. She is a great model for all of us to follow. (This paragraph taken from www-cs-students.stanford.edu... )

Our Lady's message in Medjugorje supports her role in the Church, and coincidentally is virtually the same message proclaimed by John the Baptist. Just as John's message, Our Lady points the way to her Son Jesus, and implores us to "repent", to change our lives to lives with God as our focus and core. It is interesting that Our Lady's first appearance in Medjugorje was on June 24, 1981, the feast of John the Baptist.

Now let us all rejoice in Gods name and give thanks to the lord!

[edit on 4/28/2005 by Croat56]

This is a very interesting site. I enjoyed reading this info. I have always found the apparitions of the Virgin to be extremely interesting from both a religious/Catholic view and, on a secular level, fascinating. People can make derisive claims against the Church all they want but the Church certainly has claims to some very fascinating aspects of prophecy and the paranormal. Good post.

Mary says much that is anti-biblical.
This mary ghost has made herself co-redeemer.
She seeks her own glory
She wants you to consecrate yourself to Her
She wants you to set up a graven image in your house
She says she rose into heaven
She says she was forver a virgin
She says she is queen of heaven

Its a demon folks. All of that.

2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

In one of the apparitions she even said she was "The Mistress of the Son".
www.yesumulungi.com...

This object of worship was Semerimis, who was the mother of Nimrod. Semerimis was also known in the East as the Goddess Rhea, the Goddess Mother. But it was from the Son, from whom she derived all of her Glory and her “Godhood”. This same system of belief traveled far from
Babylon to Egypt.

This Mother and Child Worship continued, only this time the names were changed to Isis and Osiris. In Asia, Mother-Child Worship went under the names of Cybele and Deoius, in Rome as Fortuna and Jupiter. The child in the early Babylonian system of belief was a person of immense stature and power. This is one of the foundations of the mystery schools, this Mother-Child worship and the worship of the mother as the “Queen of Heaven”.

She ends up as queen with the son as the king. The harlot babylon from revelation.
Its happening before your very eyes.

Everyone in the world loves the mother, but most of the world hates the son.

Okay Jake, here is her latest message

Message of April 25, 2005 "Dear children! Also today, I call you to renew prayer in your families. By prayer and the reading of Sacred Scripture, may the Holy Spirit, who will renew you, enter into your families. In this way, you will become teachers of the faith in your family. By prayer and your love, the world will set out on a better way and love will begin to rule in the world. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Now how is that anti anything?

Well good day sir.

I'm sorry but I dont think a demon is going to be preaching a Christian "sect" of their religion. A demon would more likely push Islam. Sounds like you just don't like Catholicism. However, I am not entirely sold on all the things that the Catholic Church has decided on is correct. Why would I have to go to a Priest to confess my sins if I do so every night, including a walk through of my day to find as many sins as possible. Can a Priest do something Jesus can not? I could be wrong, but this is what I dont understand. Also, why the rosary, why cant i just talk to God like a friend, like a father?

Originally posted by Ryanp5555
However, I am not entirely sold on all the things that the Catholic Church has decided on is correct. Why would I have to go to a Priest to confess my sins if I do so every night, including a walk through of my day to find as many sins as possible. Can a Priest do something Jesus can not? I could be wrong, but this is what I dont understand. Also, why the rosary, why cant i just talk to God like a friend, like a father?

This is not a Medugorije question but ill do my best. Well Ryan when you go to confession you tell the priest your sins and then he and yourself ask God for his forgiveness. It is supposed to cleanse you of it. Im sure once Flyersfan gets here she can give you a better explination

And this www.medjugorje.org... will answer your rosary question.

[edit on 4/28/2005 by Croat56]

What are contained in the "secrets" that Our Lady has given the visionaries?

We know very little about the secrets of Medjugorje. First, Our has Lady allowed the third secret to be known, which is: There will a permanent, indestructable, supernatural sign left at the place of Our Lady's first apparition in Medjugorje on the hill Podbrdo at the conclusion of the apparitions. Second, we know that an evil that faced the world, which was contained in the 7th secret was eliminated due to prayer and fasting. And lastly, we know that the 9th and 10th secrets are chastisements for the sins of the world. They can not be eliminated as the 7th secret but can be lessened by our prayers and fasting. Please also see our page: "Overview on Medjugorje"

fascinating Croat, thanks for the link
I had never heard of this Miracle of Medjurgorje before, interesting read

Originally posted by worldwatcher
fascinating Croat, thanks for the link
I had never heard of this Miracle of Medjurgorje before, interesting read

Glad I could help. More people need to hear the message. What better place to start than ATS?

Is Medjugorje just for Catholics?

Absolutely Not! Medjugorje is not just for Catholics. God loves all His people. Many people who come on our trips are not Catholic and come from many different faiths and religions throughout the world. What is most important is that we change our lives to put God in the first place. Although a good percentage of those of other faiths that visit Medjugorje do convert to Catholicism, it is only because of what they see in the Catholic faith. Not only is the Catholic Church the original Church founded at the time of Jesus, but no other faith celebrates or has the same beliefs as we do about the Holy Eucharist. Through the Eucharist, and the rest of the Sacraments of the Church, the most is given to Catholics and the most is also required. If you have questions about the Catholic faith please do some research. There are many good books which will help you understand the incredible richness of the Catholic faith. We offer many of these books on our web site at: www.medjugorje.org...

Originally posted by Croat56
Well Ryan when you go to confession you tell the priest your sins and then he and yourself ask God for his forgiveness. It is supposed to cleanse you of it. Im sure once Flyersfan gets here she can give you a better explination

Naaaah. You did fine. A good confession also includes the priest
and you talking about your sins and digging down to try to find a
reason why you did what you did ... and ideas on how to best
avoid that sin. Counseling is involved. Prayer.

Originally posted by jake1997
Mary says much that is anti-biblical.

Jake, Jake, Jake. Mary says nothing that is anti-biblical.
You would know this if you'd stop reading those Jack Chick
tracts and actually checked with the Catholic church as to
what it believes and what Mary says -
www.catholic.com...
But it's more fun to blindly hate the Catholic faith... isn't it?

This mary ghost has made herself co-redeemer.

Nope. Co-redemtrix in the latin means WITH the redeemer.
WITH. She was WITH Christ during his redemption of humanity.
Christ brought salvation. Check the Catholic catechism when
you see things that confuse you. Oh .. and Mary isn't a ghost.

She seeks her own glory

She leads people to her Son. When Mary TRULY appears
she always brings people to Jesus. However,
considering that she is the Mother of God, she does deserve some
respect. And yes, she IS the Mother of God. That's who she gave
birth to. Not a donkey, not a chicken, not a man .. but a GOD-man.
She is truly the Mother of God .. not the mother of just a man.

She wants you to set up a graven image in your house

Um .. no. Try again. Most people have pictures of their family in their
homes. Photos on the walls. Most folks have no problem with having
rememberences of special people and happenings in their homes. This
is no different. Having pictures or statues in your home raises your
mind and heart to God and holy things. So ... do you think all those
hundreds of thousands of people who visit the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington DC are actually worshipping Lincoln? No. Silly.

She says she rose into heaven

And according to tradition, she did. GOD raised her body and soul
into heaven at the end of her life. This is sacred tradition that has
been handed down for thousands of years.

She says she was forver a virgin

Yep. And she was. Show us in the bible where it says
'So-and-so, son/daughter of Mary and Joseph, brother of
Jesus Christ'. It isn't there. There were no other children.
If there had been, Jesus wouldn't have given Mary to John
at the foot of the cross. She naturally would have been taken
into the home of one of the 'other' children. There were none.
The 'brethren' mentioned in the bible never say - son of Joseph
and Mary. They are just 'brethren ... blood relatives. That's it.

She says she is queen of heaven

Sure. She could be queen of heaven. She is the 'queen mum'
since Christ is King of Heaven and Earth. Prince Charles will be
king of England someday (unless William gets the crown). His
mother will be Queen Mum. No difference.

Its a demon folks. All of that.

You are welcome to believe that if you wish. You are wrong.
But you are welcome to buy into all the anti-Catholic rhetoric
you want if it makes you feel better... which apparently it does.

In one of the apparitions she even said she was "The Mistress of the Son".

Get your mind out of the gutter. Mistress as in the SERVANT.
The handmaid. Not sexual mistress. You have been watching
too many soap operas.

[edit on 4/29/2005 by FlyersFan]

[edit on 4/29/2005 by FlyersFan]

WE went to Medjugorje in May of 1990 or 1991. I think it was 1991.
It was wonderful. The town was beautiful. It was a week of prayer
and reflection without TV, radio, cars, noise, or distractions. I definately
was brought closer to God and Christ and had my first infilling of the
Holy Spirit while at St. James Church. Amazing and unexpected!

We saw a few supernatural things. I have no doubt that there are
supernatural forces at work in Medjugorje. Considering the massive
conversions that have taken place because of Medjugorje I think the
church will eventually make a decision in it's favor.

After Medjugorje we went to Dubrovnik. (spelling?) It was
incredible! SO BEAUTIFUL! We walked the walled city and
went to Mass at the church that has the relics of the saint
that has a feast day Feb 2 and he's the patron for throat
ailments. ... man I can't remember his name right now.
Right after we left, the hotel we stayed at was destroyed in
the war and the little church inside the walled city also suffered
major damage.

Croatia was BEAUTIFUL. The flight in was amazing. The
plane banked against the cliffs that went straight up and
the sea was below. SCARY! Of course, the sight of armed
soldiers with machine guns in the airports, and MIGs flying
overhead were just as frightening!

Medjugore was a wonderful experience which brought me
closer to God and brought me a more prayerful life. It was
a great experience and I highly recommend it ... May was
a great time to go.

Whoa im glad your alive FlyersFan. You went at a very dangerouse time. Good thing you got out in time.
Edit: Also in reguards to the war, Mary appeared exactly 10 years befor it started.

We saw a few supernatural things. I have no doubt that there are
supernatural forces at work in Medjugorje. Considering the massive
conversions that have taken place because of Medjugorje I think the
church will eventually make a decision in it's favor.

I had a teacher who went there and took pictures, and on those pictures there was a beam of light pointing to Marys heart in a picture. She put those pictures on her desk for every1 to see. It was pretty cool. I went to catholic school incase you cant tell.

This summer when I go there I am going to meet Ivan Dragicivic. I cant wait!

[edit on 4/29/2005 by Croat56]

We met Vicka. That was cool.

I had a picture come out on Apparition Hill with Mary in it. I can see
her standing in the rocks and a crown of stars around her head.
My husband is in prayer at the foot of a cross and she is there.
No .. I don't have a scanner or anything to put it on here. Sorry.
I don't even have a cell phone ... not very 'up' on the electronic
stuff - ha ha ha.

At night during the apparition on the hill, the clouds all moved from
different parts of the sky and came to a stop right over the hill.
They moved AGAINST the winds and all come together with a hole
in the middle - like a donut - over the hill. At the end of the apparition
the clouds disbanded and acted more natural. I can't describe it
very well .. but it definately was supernatural.

Cross mountain had an awesome view ... but we were very careful
because the war was raging on the other side of the mountain.

Had my first 'infilling of the Holy Spirit' there ... some call it slain in
the spirit. Very awesome.

Another amazing story. Truely a miracle. Lets see these anti-religion people explain this one . I cant wait till I go there this summer. Ive been putting it off to long. Did you see the mountain where the supernatural indestrucable thing is supposed to appear once the visions are done? I would like to see that very much.

Oh and get into the 21st century already

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by Croat56
Well Ryan when you go to confession you tell the priest your sins and then he and yourself ask God for his forgiveness. It is supposed to cleanse you of it. Im sure once Flyersfan gets here she can give you a better explination

Naaaah. You did fine. A good confession also includes the priest
and you talking about your sins and digging down to try to find a
reason why you did what you did ... and ideas on how to best
avoid that sin. Counseling is involved. Prayer.

Yes I know this for the most part. Whenever I used to go to confession he wouldn't try to give me an idea of how to avoid it next time, but rather just tell me to do some prayers. I don't mean for this to sound arrogant, but I was hoping there was something deeper than that. My main question here is if i already do these things with God, even suggesting how I can avoid sins, why would I need a priest? This isn't meant as an attack, but an actual question.

EDIT-My bible talks about James, the brother of Jesus. And somewhere in the letters written by Paul it talks about James the brother of Jesus. But that could mean friend or whatever.

[edit on 29-4-2005 by Ryanp5555]

[edit on 29-4-2005 by Ryanp5555]

Originally posted by Croat56

Edit: Also in reguards to the war, Mary appeared exactly 10 years befor it started.

Indeed.

A lot of people in Bosnia and Hercegovina ( and in Croatia too) consider the apparition of Mary in Medjugorje as a warning of things that have happened later: the wars, killings, destruction, genocide. Even Muslims see it as genuine sign from God to turn to good and not evil. Considering the role religion played in the Balkan war, it was understandable that God might have wanted to warn the people to try to avoid it. Sadly, many didn't listen.
There were cases of orthodox christian priests going to places of slaughter to bless the "holy serbian land" that was "clensed". Horrible really.

Originally posted by Ryanp5555
My main question here is if i already do these things with God, even suggesting how I can avoid sins, why would I need a priest?

Confession is a sacrament. Sacraments bring sanctification and grace
from the Holy Spirit. Yes people can and do go straight to God
for forgiveness. That's great and should be encouraged. When people
go to a priest it's much the same as when David went to God's annointed
and confessed his sin of killing the husband of a woman, and then taking
that woman for himself. He went to God's annointed. David could have
(and probably did) go straight to God and ask forgiveness, but he also
went to God's annointed as a sign of his penitence, for assurance of
forgiveness, for spiritual direction, etc. etc.

Christ, the good Shepard, said to Peter three times - feed My sheep.
Christ wants people to help shepard His flock. Does Christ need help?
No. But he wants shepards to help none the less. Why? I don't know.
Gotta' ask Christ. But he did say it. Also, when Christ healed he told
people 'go show yourselves to the priests'. Christ was sending people
to their religious leaders, corrupt as those leaders were. After healing
he still sent them to their shepards.

A sincere and polite question deserves a sincere answer.
Here are a few links that are more 'official' with their responses.

www.catholic.com...
www.catholic.com...
www.catholic.com...



[edit on 4/29/2005 by FlyersFan]