Dear Children of Medjugorje, Praised be Jesus and Mary!
1. On February 2nd, Mirjana received her monthly apparition in her pansion near her home, surrounded with a small crowd of pilgrims. After the apparition, she shared this message with us:
“Dear children, I have called you and am calling you anew to come to know my Son, to come to know the truth. I am with you and am praying for you to succeed. My children, you must pray much in order to have all the more love and patience; to know how to endure sacrifice and to be poor in spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, my Son is always with you. His Church is born in every heart that comes to know Him. Pray that you can come to know my Son; pray that your soul may be one with Him. That is the prayer and the love which draws others and makes you my apostles. I am looking at you with love, with a motherly love. I know you; I know your pain and sorrows, because I also suffered in silence. My faith gave me love and hope. I repeat, the Resurrection of my Son and my Assumption into Heaven is hope and love for you. Therefore, my children, pray to come to know the truth; to have firm faith which will lead your heart and which will transform your pain and sufferings into love and hope. Thank you.”
2. The extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy!
This initiative from Pope Francis really helps us to grasp the exceptional opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence! It is all about encountering God as a tender and merciful Father, who always forgives those who repent, and waits for us to return to Him!
The plenary indulgence asked for oneself is a unique opportunity to recover the innocence of our Baptism. If we obtain it on behalf of a deceased soul, it means he or she can be released from Purgatory. So many souls could be freed from Purgatory in this Jubilee year!
The plenary indulgence grants complete remission of all sins already confessed. It is not necessary to go to Rome, we need only to go through a “Holy Door” in one of the Jubilar Churches of within each diocese. Here are the normal conditions which need to be fulfilled to receive the plenary indulgence:
– A recent confession with a firm decision to detach oneself from all sins, including venial sins.
– Go through “the Holy Door” in a Jubilar Church of the diocese
– Attend Holy Mass
– Receive Holy Communion followed by a deep interior reflection on Mercy
– Recite the Creed
– Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be for the intentions of the Pope
– Do an act of charity: either material or spiritual. The Pope has compiled a list of what these acts of charity can be.
This indulgence can be granted once a day until November 20, 2016. People who can’t go out may receive it if they meet all the conditions mentioned above and attend Holy Mass on TV. For those in jail, all the prison doors become Holy Doors.
3. What Saved Luca’s Life?
A good way to start Lent is to hear how a formerly desperate man reveals his secret about fasting…
“Having by pure chance listened to a CD on fasting, out of curiosity, my life changed in a single day, on a certain Wednesday. For many years, I was a slave to thoughts of suicide, haunted by the constant desire to end my life. I had parents who had separated, emotional insecurities, difficulties at work and financial problems… and on top of that, major spiritual deviance. I touched on many New Age disciplines, but thanks be to God, I never practiced them in any depth: tetha healing, rebirthing, channeling, sokka gakkai, reiki and many other practices, all based on the principles of spiritualism, occultism and magic. I had opened the door of my life to darkness, which kept inspiring me with the thought that I was not made to live, and that everything I did was doomed to fail.
In my childhood, I had heard about Medjugorje and I knew that the Holy Virgin asked people to pray the Rosary and to fast in order to have peace of heart. Peace of heart? Was this possible for me too?
“I searched the Internet to find out more, and I came across a website called Vocepiu (Italy) that offered a CD entitled “Healing and deliverance through fasting”, by a nun. I immediately bought it. That was on a Tuesday. I listened to this CD with great interest, in a single session. Why not try fasting on bread and water for 24 hours? So I did it, sort of as a challenge and also to try to experience a day that would be different, because I had been plunged into an abyss of grief and anguish. The next day, a Wednesday (the Holy Virgin asks that we fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water), I bought a beautiful loaf of bread, and I decided to eat only that, and drink only water.
“That day, something powerful came in me, and from morning to evening I felt I was coming alive, with a light and free heart! My obsession with suicide had disappeared and the morbid thoughts directed against life even seemed ridiculous and stupid. I had not prayed, I had only warned the Holy Virgin that if this did not work, I would find a way to kill myself. Shortly before the end of the day, I walked out of my home… the sky was incredibly beautiful, I had never seen it like that before. My life had completely changed in one day! It had been enough to just obey Our Lady!
“Fasting has enormous spiritual power. Like a torch thrown into my inner darkness, it made me see all the traps that Satan had placed in my mind and in my heart. But God, through his Mother, had destroyed all these manipulations of the devil and they were replaced by the principles of a renewed life. I then realized that, for years, it was no longer I who was thinking, it was actually the evil one who inspired me with all these deadly thoughts, against life, against love, against joy and especially against Jesus our Lord and Savior!
“Fasting and praying the Rosary are the weapons of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, first within us and then around us! In a single day, I was given back the joy of being a “Dear child” (this is how our Lady calls us). From being a failed suicide, I am now a forgiven child, having no merit, and am happily consecrated. If only we abandoned ourselves in obedience to our Mother, the only ‘weight’ that we would feel in life would be the ever so gentle weight of her maternal mantle!
Hail, Mary, the ever Pure!” (Fratello Redento)
It is true, he who prays is not afraid of the future, he who fasts is not afraid of evil (Gospa).
4. The next Live in French will be on March 3 at 9:00 PM.
I will talk about the message of the 2nd. The Live of February, 3 is available to watch on
Dearest Gospa, blessed are you to remind us of the essential goal of our lives on earth: that our souls be one with your Son Jesus! During this Lent, in prayer, please help us work on this divine union of souls!
Sister Emmanuel +
(Translated from French)
P.S. 1. Your Chinese Seminarian
I want to thank with deep joy all those who have applied to sponsor a Chinese Seminarian in the diocese of Zhaoxian. The rector, Fr. Huang Yu-Tao is very happy and grateful because your help is making a huge difference. (Info atgospa.fr@gmail.com)
P.S. 2. Padre Pio has arrived in our garden!
A beautiful white marble bust statue of Padre Pio, carrying the Infant Jesus in his arms arrived here last month. It is waiting under the tent for a small protective structure to be built at the entrance of the woods, so that all pilgrims can see him from the street, and maybe come to confide in him with their intentions.
P.S. 3. Good News!
You can get a new ‘app’ for your smartphone and read the official messages of the Blessed Mother since 1984. This app is free and available in several languages, including English. It can be found on the app store. In the search box, type Medjugorje Friends of Mary. Share this excellent news with your friends! What a great way to evangelize!
P.S. 5. In order to live lent well, write a letter to your Blessed Mother! She will answer you during prayer! Mail it to “Queen of Peace”, BP 2157, F-06103 Nice cedex, France. We will deliver it to a visionary.
P.S. 6. Sister Emmanuel’s Newsletter can be received in many languages!
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