Medjudorje
MEDJUGORJE
POST VATICAN II In the tiny hamlet of Medjugorje (pronounced Med-u-gory or Med-ja-gor-ya) there has been an apparition of Mary which is unique in its message. The message of Medjugorje may well explain why, in a recent seminar in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, the pastor reported that the local Lutheran Church has initiated prayers to Mary.
What is the connection? One link is that one of the main avenues of information from Medjugorje is from a Lutheran, Wayne Weible, whose report, MIRACLE AT MEDJUGORJE has had 7,000,000 copies printed. The other link is that Mary, unlike her message at other apparitions, has adopted a thoroughly ecumenical tone and now promotes not her own veneration, but a world-wide understanding of all religions.
At Lourdes, four years after Pius IX had proclaimed her Immaculate Conception, Mary appeared to a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, as “The Immaculate Conception.” In 1917, when she appeared to the children at Fatima, Portugal, it was her “Immaculate Heart” that was to be honored and the prayer promoted was the Rosary.
Now Mary has appeared and she said, “religions are separated in the earth, but the people of all religions are accepted by her Son.” (page 4; all quotes taken from MIRACLE AT MEDJUGORJE, Weible.)
When asked if that meant that all people go to Heaven, Ivanka, one of the young seers who supposedly hears directly from Mary replied, “It all depends on what they deserve.”
Mary is quoted as saying, “I am His Mother and I intercede for you with Him” (page 2).
Mr. Weible reports on how he became involved. Although from a Lutheran background, his interest was first aroused by a statement of a Sunday school classmate about the miracles in Yugoslavia. Inquiries were made and a video procured. Weible says something happened during the viewing of the video that changed his life completely.
We will quote from his own account. “About midway through watching the film, I suddenly `felt’ a strong message within myself. I heard no audible voice, but the message was just as clear as though I had actually heard it. In essence it said, `You are my son, and you are to do my Son’s work. Write about events in Medjugorje. . .’ There was no doubt in my heart about the source of the message. It was from Mary, the Blessed Virgin. . . I began a series of four columns on the apparitions . . . I hope you will read these columns . . . (and). . offer penance to God . . .”.
The reported apparitions have been to a group of six local young people. These apparitions have gone on daily since June 1981, and are supposed to be an urgent message to the whole world to reconcile now with God and bring peace to a dangerously troubled world. (More recently, the number of seers has been reduced to four, and the messages are weekly.)
Mary, who is referred to as “She” [note capital letter] by Weible, has given numerous messages. She said that every family should have at least one sacred object in the house, and that houses should be blessed regularly. She is constantly calling for fasting and prayer, and one of the evils that threatened the world has already been thus eliminated, according to seer Mirjana, who believes we are close to the events of judgment predicted by the Blessed Virgin. Because of this, Mirjana says to mankind, “Convert yourselves as quickly as possible.”
Weible gives selected bits of conversations between the seers and Mary. On June 24, 1981, Ivanka asked the lady her name. “I am the Blessed Virgin Mary” was the reply. Later, Vicka said, “If you are Our Lady, stay with us. If you are not, be gone!” The lady smiled and remained.
Mirjana reports, “Then She told me there are levels in Purgatory: levels close to Hell and higher and higher toward Heaven. Most people, she said, think many souls are released from Purgatory into Heaven on All Saints’ Day, but most souls are taken into Heaven on Christmas Day. Prayers that are said on earth for souls who have not prayed for their salvation are applied to souls in Purgatory who pray for their salvation. Mary said that, today, most people go to Purgatory, the next greatest number go to Hell, and only a few go directly to Heaven.”
Mirjana also reported an unusual revelation. “God allowed the devil one century in which to exercise an extended power over the world, and the devil chose the twentieth century.” This is a departure from usual Catholic theology which states that we are now living in the Millennium.
Jesus is not absent in these apparitions; once Ivanka reported having seen the Madonna holding the Baby Jesus. When asked , “What did seeing the Madonna mean to you?”, Ivanka replied, “It meant everything in the world.” Apparently the Baby Jesus in “Her” arms did not have much significance to the seers. CHRISTIAN COMMENT The Lutheran involvement and the ecumenical overtures have great
significance. Medjugorje is just another step toward Satan’s ecumenical super-Church!