An Urgent Call to the World from Medjugorje
(in Bosnia Hercegovina)

The Message

Peace. Reconcile yourself with God.
Make peace with one another.

Prayer. Pray, pray with your heart.
Mass, daily rosary, read scripture.

Faith. Believe; live your faith fully.

Conversion. Return to Jesus.

Fasting/Penance. Bread and water on Fridays (if you can). Give up something for love of God and for conversion of sinners.

This is what Our Lady has come to tell us:

"I have come to tell the world that God exists. Peace is necessary for the salvation of the world, but it will not find true peace without God."

Mary, Queen of Peace, Pray for us!

ECCLESIASTICAL PERMISSION NOT REQUIRED FOR PUBLICATION OF REVELATIONS. VISIONS, MIRACLES FOR FREQUENTING OF NON-RECOGNIZED PLACES OF APPARITIONS.

A decree of the "Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine and the Faith" was published in the Official Acts of the Holy See' (A.A.S.) 58/16 dated December 29, 1966.

Articles 1399 and 2318 of the Canon Law are abrogated by this decree.

This decree of abrogation was approved October 11, 1966, by His Holiness the Sovereign Pontiff Paul VI, who ordered at the same time its publication.

This approval by the Holy Father took place during an audience accorded to H is Eminence Cardinal Ottaviani. Pro-Prefect for the "Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine and the Faith."

This decree was made in Rome, November 15, 1966.  It bears the signatures of:

A. Cardinal Ottaviani, Pro-Prefect

P. Parente, Secretary

The decree took effect three months after its publication, hence on March 29, 1967.

CANON 1399
The Canon 1399 forbade by right the publication of certain books such as those that deal with revelations, visions, prophecies and miracles.

This canon has been repealed.  This means that as far as these publications are concerned the prohibition is lifted as to their being bound by ecclesiastical law.

This means that henceforth Catholics are permitted without need of imprimatur, or Nihil Obstat, or any other permission to publish accounts of revelations, visions, prophecies and miracles.  Of course, these publications must not put in danger the Faith or the Morals: this is the general rule which every Catholic must follow in all his actions, even journalists. especially journalists.

There is hence no longer any prohibition concerning the narrative of seers, be they recognized or not by Ecclesiastical Authority.  All the more reason it is permitted for Catholics to frequent places of Apparitions, even those not recognized by the Ordinaries of the dioceses or by the Holy Father. Granted that the Catholic visitors who frequent these places must respect the Faith and the Morals. However, they are not subject to any discipline, not even for their public prayers. Permission is required only for the celebration of Holy Mass or any other religious service.

CANON 2318
Canon 2318 carried penalties against those who violated the laws of censure and prohibition.

This Canon is abrogated since 1966. None can incur ecclesiastical censure for frequenting places of Apparitions even those not recognized by the Ordinaries of dioceses or by the Holy Father.

Also, those who would incur the censures treated in Canon 2318 will be like absolved by the very fact of the al)rogations of this Canon." (Cardinal Ottaviani)

"MIR" means "PEACE"

Many extraordinary phenomena have been and continue to be seen in Medjugorje. For example, in August 1981, the Croatian word "MIR" which means "peace" was written in the sky at night above the large cross on the hill of Medjugorje. Many people from surrounding villages, including the parish priest, saw it. The sun has frequently been observed to do miraculous things at Medjugorje - pulsate, spin, change into a white disc, shine a rainbow of colors. At times, too, the cross on top of the mountain has been seen to spin or disappear. Occasionally, the silhouette of Our Lady has been observed at the foot of the cross at night. The Blessed Virgin has said that these signs are intended to validated the authenticity of the apparitions and highlight the urgency of the message.

Her call for conversion is urgent. She has emphasized that conversion can only happen through prayer of the heart.

Apparitions of Our Blessed Mother in Medjugorje,
(formerly Yugoslavia) Bosina-Hercegovina

On June 24, 1981 in the mountain village of Medjugorje, Our Lady appeared to six children. She called herself the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace. Her message is Peace for the world. She told the children, "I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and obtain peace, you must return to God.

As of this date - July 2010 - Over 30 million people have visited and prayed at the site of the apparitions.

The Secrets
Our Lady has promised to reveal to each of the children ten secrets. To date, three of the seers have received all ten secrets and no longer are receiving apparitions on a daily basis. The other three seers have all received nine secrets. Some of the secrets are for the seers themselves, some for the local church and parish, and some for the Church as a whole.

The ninth and tenth secrets are grave matters. They are a chastisement for the sins of the world. The chastisement can be mitigated by prayers and penance, but cannot be suppressed. An evil, which threatened the world, according to the seventh secret, has been eliminated through prayer and fasting.

The Great Sign

Only one of the secrets has been partially revealed by the visionaries. Our Lady has promised to leave a visible sign on the mountain where she first appeared so that the world would believe. These are Our Lady's words about the sign: "This sign will be given for the atheists. You faithful must not wait for the sign before you convert - convert soon. This time is a time of grace for you. You can never thank God enough for His grace. This time is for deepening your faith and for your conversion. When the sign comes, it will be too late for many.

Hill of the Apparitions

This is the sight of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to six young people in Medjugorje. Thousands of pilgrims climb the steep, rocky hill to pray at the spot where the permanent sign will be left so that the entire world will know the apparitions are authentic.

The Messages

The most important thing about any apparition is its message. These messages are addressed to all men since all are affected in some way or another by a critical crisis of faith.

Summary of the Messages of Our Lady Queen of Peace

1. Message of Peace
2. Message of Conversion
3. Message of Prayer
a. In depth prayer
b. Community Prayer & Family Prayer
c. Prayer Groups
4. Message on Fasting
5. Message on Sacramental Life
6. Presence of Our Lady

On the 25th of each month Our Lady sends a message to the world from Medjugorje.

NOTE: There direct quotations from the booklet "Queen of Peace"used with the permission the Bishop of Queretaro, Mexico who has signed the Nihil Obstat as well as the Rev. Fr. Xavier Ortiz-Dietz, Pastor and "Cesor Libororum" of the archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas

The Message of Peace

"Queen of Peace," is the title with which the Blessed Mother came to the visionaries in Medjugorje  on June 25, 1981. "PEACE, PEACE, PEACE!" Reconcile with each other. If the world wants to be saved, it must seek the way of peace; now it is going in the way of perdition."

Peace is the first and most important message of Our Lady. Conversion, Prayer, and Fasting will take us to Peace which is the first fruit of Christ the Messiah.

On the 6th of August 1981 when the clock was marking 6:15 in the afternoon, there appeared in the sky the Slavic word "MIR" in great shining letters, which means PEACE. All those who were present in the area and neighboring town saw this phenomena that lasted about fifteen minutes.

At the beginning of 1984 Our Lady repeated: "Peace is in crisis; be brothers among yourselves once again; convert; increase your prayers and your fasting; the world will not be able to save itself without peace; however, the world will find its peace if it returns to God."

In her message to the Holy Father, Our Lady returns to the message of Peace: "I have come to Medjugorje to bring the word ‘PEACE' and I want the Holy Father to take it to all the world."

We must first seek the PEACE of our souls, that we may be able to communicate it to all others. "Put the PEACE of God in your hearts is Our Lady's recommendation; live it yourselves first, then spread it around."

The Message of Conversion

Another word Our Lady repeats frequently is: Conversion. "Tell all my sons and daughters, tell all the world, and as soon as you can, that I wish for their conversion. I shall pray that God may not put you to the test. You do not know, you can not know or imagine what God is about to send upon the world if you do not convert!"

At the beginning of the Advent Season of 1983, Our Lady recommended to everybody that they should prepare well for Christmas:

"Purify your hearts, enter within yourselves, confess your own sins and change your lives."

"Many Christians," says Our Lady, "are only registered in the Parochial Archives, and do not remember they are Christians. Others go the Church without really living their faith.  Christians must be for others a living sign, helping them to convert and save themselves. All must convert."

Actually, what calls the greatest attention in Medjugorje are the numerous and great conversions.

The Message of Prayer

Our Lady appearing in Medjugorje asks us for more prayer, both personal as well as communal. Through our personal prayer we will deepen more in the meaning of PEACE; with prayer in the community we can receive help from the gifts and faith of others.

Our Lady said: "You all have forgotten that it is through prayer and fasting that wars are dispelled, and if they have already started, they will stop. Even natural laws can be suspended (that means, miracles can happen)."

"There are many Christians who are weak because they pray little; others who do not believe, because they do not pray. We must come back to prayer. The minimum is: one Creed, seven Our Fathers. seven Hail Marys, seven Glory Be to the Fathers: five of these will be recited in honor of the five wounds of Jesus. one for the intentions of the Holy Father and one to pray for the Gift of the Holy Spirit.

Speaking about the prayer to the Holy Spirit, Our Lady said: "People do not know how to pray. Many go to Church and the Shrines only to be healed of their physical maladies, or to request particular graces, and never deepen in their own faith; this is pure fanaticism. Very few pray for the Gift of the Holy Spirit. The most important thing is to pray for the Gift of the Holy Spirit; if they have this Gift, they will lack nothing, all other things will be theirs."

"What is most necessary is prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to come down on earth, then all will become clear, and the world will change:'

"Pray every day to the Holy Spirit. All you are asking for is material things; this means you have not understood what you have been told."

Father Tomislav Vlasic made the comment to some of the pilgrims:  "We Christians read a lot of books, but pray little. We have developed a number of theories and have created laws, complicating our lives altogether." Our Lady tells us: "If you want to be happy, lead a humble and simple life, and pray. Do not complicate your problems, leave the solutions to God. Deepen your prayer. You will find everything through prayer. fasting and love of neighbor."

"Man does not live by his work alone," Our Lady told us in another message, "but by prayer too."

Prayer in Depth

Our Lady in Medjugorje, says Father Tomislav, has insisted on two types of prayer: one that serves all - the Rosary, the seven Our Fathers, seven Hail Marys. seven Glory be to the Fathers, and the Creed; and the other, she asks the prayer groups for Reflection (meditation).

Jelena Vasilj (youth in Medjugorje reported to receive inner locutions from Our Lady)  told Father Tomislav, "Once Our Lady invited me to pray the Rosary with her. I began doing so as I have learned in Church, yet she made me see it was not the correct way: you are praying it only with your lips. You have to collect yourself, sitting down quietly and think of nothing else; come into your own self."

"Through the Priests," says Our Lady, "I want to bring all mankind to the depths of prayer."

"How was Jesus able to pray all night? What was the method Jesus used in His prayer?" the Spiritual Director asked Our Lady through the visionaries.

Our Lady responded: "Jesus had a great longing for God and a great longing for saving souls. Behold His method!"

On February 1984 Our Lady told Jelena. "When I tell you all: Pray, pray, pray, do not understand that I mean only an increase in your time of prayer. No! What I really want is to bring you all to a continued longing for God." Here is prayer in the radical force of its strength; a continued longing for God.

On Holy Thursday of the same year, Our Lady told us through Jelena, "Let me reveal to you a spiritual secret: if you want to be stronger through temptations, create a living conscience within yourselves; this means, pray a great deal in the morning and read a passage of the Gospel, engrave the Word of God in your hearts, welcome it actively and live it throughout the day; by the afternoon you will be much stronger.

The Prayer that Our Lady of Medjugorje teaches the visionaries is a prayer of entrustment and total trust in God. Many times she insists on this matter of utter importance: "Pray, fast and entrust yourselves to God."

The entrustment is the goal, the end itself of prayer. At the same time it is prayer and fasting, the very instruments that will help us to entrust ourselves to God. Some people do severe penance but they never entrust themselves to God. It is easier to fast than to entrust ourselves to God.

"Place yourselves before Jesus with all your strength," recommends Our Lady. "Ready to do all He tells you to do." And that you may know more concretely God's Will: "You must walk with your priests. Do what your ecclesiastical authorities tell you." The apparition shows a deep respect for the authority of the Church.

Prayer in Community and in the Family

I would feel deeply happy, insists Our Lady, "if families would pray half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon. Their work would be better.'

According to one of the visionaries, Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo, "In these last days, the devil has become more aggressive than ever, especially against families and marriages. If before there were dissensions and breakups, now things are getting worse. Each one of us is experiencing it: we are no longer able to live next to each other. All have something to say against the other."

"Some marriages have ended," Mirjana continues telling us, "and have terminated in divorce." Our Lady said that in order to stop these phenomena, and avoid its expansion, it is necessary that we pray united: prayer in a family. Even more, Our Lady has concretely told us that the prayer of the family is the symbol of the most powerful remedy there is. Another remedy is to always have a sacred object exposed in the home, and the home should be blessed with great frequency."

Our Lady is asking us Christians to help Her with our prayers:  "You must tell the faithful," she tells the visionaries, "that I need their prayers, Prayer and Sacrifice, for there are such few sinners that have converted. Many of the Christians live as pagans. In truthfulness, there are few believers."

The recommendation given us by Our Lady is that we restore in our homes the sacred images of Jesus and Mary which have been taken away from many homes; she calls us also to make our consecration to her Immaculate Heart. She herself has given Jelena some forms of consecration.

Inner locutions and the prayer group

At the end of May 1983, Our Lady told Jelena: "Tell your Priest that I want a Prayer Group, formed out of the youth, because they are more free to consecrate themselves to God deeply as well as to my Heart. All those who want can also participate, although those who work or are committed to marriage will find it more difficult to find time for this."

Our Lady wants this group to be the inspiration and model of other groups that she hopes will be formed in other Parishes.

The prayer group Our Lady requested began gathering in prayer with great enthusiasm at the beginning of June 1983. She spoke to them on their second time, always through Jelena.

"Great, however, although you have gathered yourselves for three long hours of prayer you do not stop looking at our watches to see at what time it is over.  In this way you will never bring yourselves to the depths of prayer n your spiritual life. Stop looking at your watches, stop thinking on your business allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. Then you shall see how well you will be doing in your responsibilities and you will still have plenty of time.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Message on Fasting

The Apparitions at Medjugorje show deep support for Christian tradition in reference to FASTING in a way that comes across to us a harsh.  The best way of fasting is bread and water, if at all possible, on Fridays.  Only sick people are excluded or dispensed from fasting."

"Fasting practically does not exist.  We must renew it.  Peace, conversion, the healing of the sick, whatever blessing for the body or the soul, are not found without prayer and fasting.

In. Jelena's diary, Father Tomislav tells us, I have read these words told her by Our Lady: "Pray and Fast. I have nothing else to tell you, because through prayer and fasting you will obtain everything

The Franciscan Fathers at Medjugorje, confident in what the visionaries are telling them, give us this explanation on fasting: Above all other things. Fasting sets us free from all consumerism and materialism, which today is enslaving and blinding us, Fasting begins by freeing us from this hypnosis.

Through fasting our heart sets itself free, and a free heart can pray with much ease and depth. Therefore, fasting is a means to come to God easily.

"Why fasting?" was the question Father Laurentin asked Marija, one of the visionaries, "What does it bring us?" "Joy, availability and abandonment in a complete way to God," Marija answered.

The way the visionaries fast has been picked up by all the faithful. More than half of the Medjugorje Christians regularly fast once a week. The elderly, seeing the youth do this, say: "These youth know how to fast and they pray much better than us."

"Eat all you can of bread in one meal," the Franciscans tell us in Medjugorje. Besides, Our Lady does not demand this of anyone, even though she is suggesting it for our well-being. Through prayer and fasting one discovers so many strengths we never knew we possessed. However, if you become nervous and irritable with your neighbor, due to fasting, it is better not to fast; Charity (love of neighbor) is better."

"Your body needs fasting," Our Lady teaches us; "however, the true and most necessary fasting for us is that from sin: renouncing our passions, our pleasures, the excess of alcohol and," she emphasizes, "renouncing the excess of watching television. Television is destroying you: due to television you do not know how to pray."

Message on Sacramental Life

On one occasion the visionaries asked Our Lady about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. She told them: "If Christians would learn how to reconcile themselves with God and their brethren once a month, through practicing Holy Confession, a great number of regions would become spiritually healed."

On the last week of each month, the Catholic community of Medjugorje celebrates the Liturgy of Reconciliation, preparing themselves for it during three consecutive days; Thursday they start with a one hour adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; Friday with an hour prayer of veneration of the Holy Cross, and Saturday with lengthy prayer to Mary, Most Holy, and individual confessions. Sunday by 11:00 in the morning they celebrate, with particular solemnity, the Mass of Reconciliation.

Referring herself to this Holy Mass, Our Lady said: Mass is the most excellent form of prayer.  Many are the ones that come to Mass without any preparation and do not receive Holy Communion: when done in this way, the Mass serves them very little.

She recommends us to actively participate in the Holy Mass, if possible every day. She tells us that the appropriate moment for us to request favors and graces is at the time of Consecration.

We cannot express our gratitude enough for His awesome gift of the Eucharist.

I ask you all to have the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament once a week.

We have been able to see, as we speak of the religious situation of the people of Medjugorje, how they have well understood this message of Our Lady perfectly, and how they are now coming by the hundreds daily, to Holy Mass and Communion.

Presence of Our Lady, The Greater Message

The greater message Our Lady continues giving the visionaries and the people of Medjugorje is her own presence. The visionaries insist on seeing a real person, a normal person, in a tri-dimensional form; they talk to a person, they touch a person, they hug a person.

A Pilgrim's Experience in Medjugorje - 1987

The "Message" is undoubtedly a blessing and the only sorrow is the fact that it took six years in getting to us. Upon arriving in Dubrovnik, my family and Rev. Roberto Quinones from Guatemala were fascinated by its beauty. We rented a car and it was an experience getting to Medjugorje.

We had difficulty locating Medjugorje. No one seemed to give us the correct directions. Finally, we met an individual who told us how to get there. As suddenly as he appeared. he vanished.

We arrived in Medjugorje without lodging reservations. The first thing we did upon our arrival was to go to St. James Church and pray. Later we went outside the rectory and waited for the visionaries to arrive.

The only ones allowed, other than the visionaries, in the apparition room were the press, a few sick people, and the clergy. A little before the apparitions two of the visionaries, Marija and Jacov, arrived hut Vicka and Ivan were not there that day.

At the time of the apparition, my family and I were able to see three flashes of light outside the apparition room. It was an extraordinary experience for us.

Following the services at the Church, which ended quite late at night, several priests inquired where we were going to stay. We told them that we had no plans hut were sure that Our Lady would help. They were amazed that we took this chance. They were all ready to retire; however, to our surprise, one of them stayed behind and told us to follow him as he led us to a home where the family welcomed each of us as one of their own.

The next day we climbed the apparition hill and got lost since we went up the wrong side. We were very nervous not knowing what to do and not seeing anybody. We remembered that I had in my purse the rosary that the priest from Guatemala, who went with us, had given me to keep. This rosary was held by Marija (one of the visionaries ~ during the apparition. She stated that Our Lady blessed the rosary.

My husband and I sat on a rock and started to pray while I was holding the rosary. While praying, we started hearing voices and found the path that guided us to where everybody was. Father Quinones was already there.

While at the site, my husband prayed that God would help him give up smoking. He had been a smoker for years. He knew by being a medical doctor the consequences that this could bring to his health. The next day he stopped smoking and never again has had any desire to pick up one cigarette. It is amazing since our son is a smoker and smokes near him but be has never suffered any temptation.

I was very impressed with the faces and attitudes of these simple people who do not have the conveniences of the modern world and, what little they have, they share with the visitors.

Excessive comfort makes us take things for granted and forget that we are only temporarily in this world; we are not going to be able to take our valuables with us when God calls us.

We are so busy working that we do not take time to pray. It is a pity to see how this modern world has the lost the important values.  There is almost no respect for the family, the elderly do not count anymore, and the respect toward parents is long gone. Very few families stay together.

If we continue our materialistic ways, what will become of the next generations? Let's open our hearts to God and prepare for our salvation.

MII      PEACE           PAZ

By: Cristina S. Argilagos