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was repeated, with more detail, in Yugoslavia a decade later. In June, 1981 six young people from the mountain village of Medjugorje reportedly encountered Mary near the top of Mount Podbrdo, a small mountain located in central Yugoslavia. In a series of apparitions that still continues, but with much less frequency, she reportedly sent a message of faith, prayer, fasting, conversion and peace. In these apparitions Mary said she came to bring humanity back to her Son; and warned that Satan is especially active in these times and that it was necessary to pray fervently and often to ward off his advances.
During the early '80's, Medjugorje became well known initially throughout Europe, with newspaper reports in such disparate publications as Le Monde and the Financial Times; by the late '80's it had become known throughout the world. As a result of its growing fame, more than ten million pilgrims had visited it by the tenth anniversary of the first apparition. On the tenth anniversary, conflict broke out among the Bosnian Serbs and Croats which has continued to this day. Despite this conflict, thousands of pilgrims still manage to make the dangerous journey to Medjugorje each year.
Less well known than the apparitions themselves, is an unusual event that preceded them. In May, 1981, Father Tomislav Vlasic of Capljina, Yugoslavia was in Rome attending a conference on Catholic Charismatic Renewal. At this conference he asked to be prayed over for the healing of the Church since he had become increasingly pessimistic about his parish ministry. One of the individuals who prayed over Father Vlasic was Sister Briege McKenna, a member of the Sisters of St. Clare with a healing ministry. While she prayed, Sister Briege reported seeing Father Vlasic sitting on the celebrant's chair in the sanctuary of his church and surrounded by a large crowd; beneath his seat were streams of living water which were flowing from the altar. Simultaneous with this, Fr. Tardiff another of the individuals praying over Father Vlasic, reported hearing the words, "Do not fear. I am sending you my Mother." The apparitions in Medjugorje began several weeks later.
Since the apparitions have lasted for such a long time, it has been possible to subject the visionaries to a large and diverse number of medical, physical and psychological tests. The physiological and psychological battery of tests they were taken through showed them to be bright, well-adjusted teenagers. The medical tests indicated no major physical problems. In short, they seemed to be experiencing something outside themselves which had a significant and long-term impact on their demeanor and behavior.
In the reports of her appearances here, Mary is said to ask each of us to return to her Son; to become aware of the active and destructive role that Satan plays in the modern world and to protect ourselves against Satan's actions through frequent, fervent prayer to Jesus. In addition, she requested fasting twice weekly, frequent reception of the sacraments -particularly the Eucharist - and personal surrender of our will to the will of God.
To emphasize the urgency of her requests, she entrusted the visionaries with ten secrets which purport to be descriptions of events that will transpire if humanity fails to correct itself. At this time (early '96), two of the visionaries have received the ten secrets. The remaining visionaries have received nine. She has also told the visionaries that when the apparitions cease at Medjugorje, they will cease at all other Marian apparition sites around the world. When this occurs, the events described in the secrets will begin to unfold.
The ten secrets of Medjugorje appear to be a continuation of the Fatima Secrets and are similar in general character to the secrets described at Garabandal.
In 1982, the Church established a commission to begin to evaluate the occurrences at Medjugorje. As part of the initial report, Father Tomislav Vlasic, the local pastor, sent the Pope and the Bishop of Mostar a letter detailing what little information is available about the secrets. In the letter he states:
"According to Mirjana, during the apparition on December 25, 1982, the Madonna confided the tenth and last secret to her, and she revealed the dates on which the various secrets will come to pass. The Blessed Virgin revealed many aspects of the future to Mirjana, many more up to now than to the other seers. For that reason, I relate now what Mirjana told me in a conversation on November 5, 1983 I shall summarize the essential things she said, without any literal quotations:
# Before the visible sign is given to humanity, there will be three warnings to the world. The warnings will be warnings on the earth. Mirjana will witness them. Three days before one of these warnings, she will advise a priest of her choice. Mirjana's testimony will be a confirmation of the apparitions and an incentive for the conversion of the world. After these warnings, the visible sign will be given for all humanity at the place of the apparitions in Medjugorje. The sign will be given as the testimony of the apparitions and a call back to faith.
# The ninth and tenth secret are grave matters. They are a chastisement for the sins of the world. The punishment is inevitable because we cannot expect the conversion of the entire world. The chastisement can be mitigated by prayers and penance. It cannot be suppressed...
# After the first warning, the others will follow within a rather brief period of time. So it is that people will have time for conversion.
# This time is a period of grace and conversion. After the visible sign, those who are still alive will have little time for conversion. For that reason, the Blessed Virgin calls for urgent conversion and reconciliation.
# The invitation to prayer and penance is destined to ward off evil and war and above all to save souls.
# We are close to the events predicted by the Blessed Virgin.
# Convert yourselves as quickly as possible. Open your hearts to God. This is a message to all mankind.
In addition to these remarks, Father Tomislav added the following observations in August, 1983: "They say that with the realization of the secrets entrusted to them by Our Lady, life in the world will change. Afterwards, men will believe like in ancient times. What will change and how it will change, we don't know, given that the seers don't want to say anything about the secrets."
A further clarification of the character of the initial secrets came from a series of interviews conducted by Janice Connell several years after Father Tomislav's report. In her interview with Marijana, she asked for any additional information about the secrets that Marijana was permitted to disclose. Marijana responded:
"The first two secrets will be warnings to the world - events that will occur before a visible sign is given to humanity. These will happen in my lifetime. Ten days before the first secret and the second secret, I will notify Father Petar Ljubicic. He will pray and fast for seven days, and then he will announce these to the world."
When pressed to give additional details, Mirjana stated:
"Well, the first secret will break the power of Satan, and that is why he is so aggressive now."
The message of Medjugorje has the same components as the earlier messages at Fatima, Garabandal and a number of previous Marian apparitions. The local Church's commission on the apparitions has yet to make a final determination on the events at Medjugorje. The strong and personal disagreements between the local Bishop and the local Franciscans ministering to the parish at the time of the initial apparitions combined with the outbreak of the civil war has made a full and fair evaluation of the events there quite difficult. The clerical disagreements appear to be related to the potent influence the Franciscans had when acting as spiritual counselors to the "visionaries". The local Bishop, Msgr. Zanic, thought the Franciscans were publicizing the events at Medjugorje much too quickly and too rapidly to properly evaluate and analyze what was happening there. The preliminary Church statement, finally issued in January, 1991 stated:
" The supernatural characteristic (in the miraculous sense) is not established, but it is not excluded either; the Episcopal Commission continues its work to get a decision, a decision the bishops do not want judged prematurely. The pilgrimage, of national and international dimension, is the bishops' responsibility."
The message of Mary at Medjugorje is one of peace and acceptance - acceptance of the will of God, acceptance of whatever suffering that may come as humanity moves closer to a self-induced catastrophe, acceptance of Mary's role as our loving Mother, and acceptance of God's desire for us to renew our faith in Him through prayer, conversion, fasting and love. If we convert ourselves with the help of God's graces, then and only then will we be able to achieve peace in our hearts, peace in our families, peace between neighbors and peace between nations.
The purported apparitions at Garabandal and Medjugorje have created some confusion and conflict among the various religious authorities who have investigated the occurrences. In Medjugorje, the scientific group headed by Dr. Korljan, seems to have been given short shrift in the process of evaluation by several members of the clerical evaluation group. In turn, the clerical evaluation group divided between backers of the former Bishop and backers of the local Franciscans. In short, the Commission seemed to reflect the chaotic state of affairs in Bosnia and Croatia. This type of conflict serves to reaffirm the Catholic Church's reluctance to affirm the reality of any apparition until a long-lasting and thorough evaluation takes place.
In Garabandal, one of the original "visionaries", Maria Cruz, recanted her original description of events and said she wasn't sure she ever had a vision of Mary. To further complicate matters, Conchita noted in her diary that the Blessed Virgin had warned the girls that they would have to experience trials and suffering.
and they would contradict one another. Further the Chancery of Santander, which is the local religious authority in the region, issued warnings about the apparitions shortly after they started thus giving the appearance of trying to quash these events before they were thoroughly examined. Within four months of the first apparition, the local Bishop had issued a statement calling events at Garabandal unproved.
The most troubling aspects of these two apparitions, aside from their marathon duration, is the predestination implied in the warning messages. Unlike previous apparitions, there is no contingency clause to the prophecies such as "Unless men convert...". The "visionaries" say that they know NOW the date that each of these events are to occur.
For example, at Garabandal Our Lady reportedly stated that the Miracle will occur on a Thursday evening at 8:30 PM (Garabandal time) between the 8th and 16th of either March, April or May. The Miracle will coincide with an important event in the Church and on a feast day of a martyr of the Eucharist. Russia will finally be converted after the Miracle occurs.
Looking at the calendar from now through the year 2000 shows two years, 1996 and 2000, when the conditions mentioned above appear to be met. April 11, 1996 is the feast day of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow who was martyred while celebrating Mass and April 13, 2000 is the feast day of St. Hermenegild of Spain who was martyred because he wouldn't receive communion from a heretical bishop. There are several other martyrs whose feast day falls within the dates mentioned at Garabandal. One is St. John Ogilvie of England whose feast day is March 10th. St. John was martyred because he refused to renounce his Catholicism. The next March 10th that occurs on a Thursday will come in 2005; another is St. Pancras of Rome whose feast day is May 12th. He was martyred for his beliefs at the age of 14. However, May 12th does not occur on a Thursday until 2005. This level of precise predetermination is difficult to embrace since it seems to eliminate the efficacy of any response by humanity to the grace given to it by God.
In addition, the secrets of Medjugorje appear to indicate an almost fatalistic view of the future. Medjugorje is perhaps the most important Marian site in the last sixty years. Millions have returned to prayer and a sacramental life as a result of visiting or learning about the events reportedly occurring there. Nonetheless, as with all apparitions, each of us are required to be discerning as St. Paul has urged, "Test everything; retain what is good." (1 Thess. 5:21)
It is obviously possible for Heaven to choose specific dates for events to occur, but it seems to remove the hope that through repentence and changed behavior, humanity can petition God to relent as He did at Nineveh. This level of predetermination is not a characteristic of earlier Marian apparitions, nor does it appear to be consistent with other statements made about the end times,
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only." (Matt 24:36-37).
Only time and further evaluation and discernment will uncover exactly what occurred in these two mountainous parts of Europe. Clearly, the response of the tens of millions of the faithful around the world would appear to indicate that these two events should not be taken lightly.
was repeated, with more detail, in Yugoslavia a decade later. In June, 1981 six young people from the mountain village of Medjugorje reportedly encountered Mary near the top of Mount Podbrdo, a small mountain located in central Yugoslavia. In a series of apparitions that still continues, but with much less frequency, she reportedly sent a message of faith, prayer, fasting, conversion and peace. In these apparitions Mary said she came to bring humanity back to her Son; and warned that Satan is especially active in these times and that it was necessary to pray fervently and often to ward off his advances.
During the early '80's, Medjugorje became well known initially throughout Europe, with newspaper reports in such disparate publications as Le Monde and the Financial Times; by the late '80's it had become known throughout the world. As a result of its growing fame, more than ten million pilgrims had visited it by the tenth anniversary of the first apparition. On the tenth anniversary, conflict broke out among the Bosnian Serbs and Croats which has continued to this day. Despite this conflict, thousands of pilgrims still manage to make the dangerous journey to Medjugorje each year.
Less well known than the apparitions themselves, is an unusual event that preceded them. In May, 1981, Father Tomislav Vlasic of Capljina, Yugoslavia was in Rome attending a conference on Catholic Charismatic Renewal. At this conference he asked to be prayed over for the healing of the Church since he had become increasingly pessimistic about his parish ministry. One of the individuals who prayed over Father Vlasic was Sister Briege McKenna, a member of the Sisters of St. Clare with a healing ministry. While she prayed, Sister Briege reported seeing Father Vlasic sitting on the celebrant's chair in the sanctuary of his church and surrounded by a large crowd; beneath his seat were streams of living water which were flowing from the altar. Simultaneous with this, Fr. Tardiff another of the individuals praying over Father Vlasic, reported hearing the words, "Do not fear. I am sending you my Mother." The apparitions in Medjugorje began several weeks later.
Since the apparitions have lasted for such a long time, it has been possible to subject the visionaries to a large and diverse number of medical, physical and psychological tests. The physiological and psychological battery of tests they were taken through showed them to be bright, well-adjusted teenagers. The medical tests indicated no major physical problems. In short, they seemed to be experiencing something outside themselves which had a significant and long-term impact on their demeanor and behavior.
In the reports of her appearances here, Mary is said to ask each of us to return to her Son; to become aware of the active and destructive role that Satan plays in the modern world and to protect ourselves against Satan's actions through frequent, fervent prayer to Jesus. In addition, she requested fasting twice weekly, frequent reception of the sacraments -particularly the Eucharist - and personal surrender of our will to the will of God.
To emphasize the urgency of her requests, she entrusted the visionaries with ten secrets which purport to be descriptions of events that will transpire if humanity fails to correct itself. At this time (early '96), two of the visionaries have received the ten secrets. The remaining visionaries have received nine. She has also told the visionaries that when the apparitions cease at Medjugorje, they will cease at all other Marian apparition sites around the world. When this occurs, the events described in the secrets will begin to unfold.
The ten secrets of Medjugorje appear to be a continuation of the Fatima Secrets and are similar in general character to the secrets described at Garabandal.
In 1982, the Church established a commission to begin to evaluate the occurrences at Medjugorje. As part of the initial report, Father Tomislav Vlasic, the local pastor, sent the Pope and the Bishop of Mostar a letter detailing what little information is available about the secrets. In the letter he states:
"According to Mirjana, during the apparition on December 25, 1982, the Madonna confided the tenth and last secret to her, and she revealed the dates on which the various secrets will come to pass. The Blessed Virgin revealed many aspects of the future to Mirjana, many more up to now than to the other seers. For that reason, I relate now what Mirjana told me in a conversation on November 5, 1983 I shall summarize the essential things she said, without any literal quotations:
# Before the visible sign is given to humanity, there will be three warnings to the world. The warnings will be warnings on the earth. Mirjana will witness them. Three days before one of these warnings, she will advise a priest of her choice. Mirjana's testimony will be a confirmation of the apparitions and an incentive for the conversion of the world. After these warnings, the visible sign will be given for all humanity at the place of the apparitions in Medjugorje. The sign will be given as the testimony of the apparitions and a call back to faith.
# The ninth and tenth secret are grave matters. They are a chastisement for the sins of the world. The punishment is inevitable because we cannot expect the conversion of the entire world. The chastisement can be mitigated by prayers and penance. It cannot be suppressed...
# After the first warning, the others will follow within a rather brief period of time. So it is that people will have time for conversion.
# This time is a period of grace and conversion. After the visible sign, those who are still alive will have little time for conversion. For that reason, the Blessed Virgin calls for urgent conversion and reconciliation.
# The invitation to prayer and penance is destined to ward off evil and war and above all to save souls.
# We are close to the events predicted by the Blessed Virgin.
# Convert yourselves as quickly as possible. Open your hearts to God. This is a message to all mankind.
In addition to these remarks, Father Tomislav added the following observations in August, 1983: "They say that with the realization of the secrets entrusted to them by Our Lady, life in the world will change. Afterwards, men will believe like in ancient times. What will change and how it will change, we don't know, given that the seers don't want to say anything about the secrets."
A further clarification of the character of the initial secrets came from a series of interviews conducted by Janice Connell several years after Father Tomislav's report. In her interview with Marijana, she asked for any additional information about the secrets that Marijana was permitted to disclose. Marijana responded:
"The first two secrets will be warnings to the world - events that will occur before a visible sign is given to humanity. These will happen in my lifetime. Ten days before the first secret and the second secret, I will notify Father Petar Ljubicic. He will pray and fast for seven days, and then he will announce these to the world."
When pressed to give additional details, Mirjana stated:
"Well, the first secret will break the power of Satan, and that is why he is so aggressive now."
The message of Medjugorje has the same components as the earlier messages at Fatima, Garabandal and a number of previous Marian apparitions. The local Church's commission on the apparitions has yet to make a final determination on the events at Medjugorje. The strong and personal disagreements between the local Bishop and the local Franciscans ministering to the parish at the time of the initial apparitions combined with the outbreak of the civil war has made a full and fair evaluation of the events there quite difficult. The clerical disagreements appear to be related to the potent influence the Franciscans had when acting as spiritual counselors to the "visionaries". The local Bishop, Msgr. Zanic, thought the Franciscans were publicizing the events at Medjugorje much too quickly and too rapidly to properly evaluate and analyze what was happening there. The preliminary Church statement, finally issued in January, 1991 stated:
" The supernatural characteristic (in the miraculous sense) is not established, but it is not excluded either; the Episcopal Commission continues its work to get a decision, a decision the bishops do not want judged prematurely. The pilgrimage, of national and international dimension, is the bishops' responsibility."
The message of Mary at Medjugorje is one of peace and acceptance - acceptance of the will of God, acceptance of whatever suffering that may come as humanity moves closer to a self-induced catastrophe, acceptance of Mary's role as our loving Mother, and acceptance of God's desire for us to renew our faith in Him through prayer, conversion, fasting and love. If we convert ourselves with the help of God's graces, then and only then will we be able to achieve peace in our hearts, peace in our families, peace between neighbors and peace between nations.
The purported apparitions at Garabandal and Medjugorje have created some confusion and conflict among the various religious authorities who have investigated the occurrences. In Medjugorje, the scientific group headed by Dr. Korljan, seems to have been given short shrift in the process of evaluation by several members of the clerical evaluation group. In turn, the clerical evaluation group divided between backers of the former Bishop and backers of the local Franciscans. In short, the Commission seemed to reflect the chaotic state of affairs in Bosnia and Croatia. This type of conflict serves to reaffirm the Catholic Church's reluctance to affirm the reality of any apparition until a long-lasting and thorough evaluation takes place.
In Garabandal, one of the original "visionaries", Maria Cruz, recanted her original description of events and said she wasn't sure she ever had a vision of Mary. To further complicate matters, Conchita noted in her diary that the Blessed Virgin had warned the girls that they would have to experience trials and suffering.
and they would contradict one another. Further the Chancery of Santander, which is the local religious authority in the region, issued warnings about the apparitions shortly after they started thus giving the appearance of trying to quash these events before they were thoroughly examined. Within four months of the first apparition, the local Bishop had issued a statement calling events at Garabandal unproved.
The most troubling aspects of these two apparitions, aside from their marathon duration, is the predestination implied in the warning messages. Unlike previous apparitions, there is no contingency clause to the prophecies such as "Unless men convert...". The "visionaries" say that they know NOW the date that each of these events are to occur.
For example, at Garabandal Our Lady reportedly stated that the Miracle will occur on a Thursday evening at 8:30 PM (Garabandal time) between the 8th and 16th of either March, April or May. The Miracle will coincide with an important event in the Church and on a feast day of a martyr of the Eucharist. Russia will finally be converted after the Miracle occurs.
Looking at the calendar from now through the year 2000 shows two years, 1996 and 2000, when the conditions mentioned above appear to be met. April 11, 1996 is the feast day of St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow who was martyred while celebrating Mass and April 13, 2000 is the feast day of St. Hermenegild of Spain who was martyred because he wouldn't receive communion from a heretical bishop. There are several other martyrs whose feast day falls within the dates mentioned at Garabandal. One is St. John Ogilvie of England whose feast day is March 10th. St. John was martyred because he refused to renounce his Catholicism. The next March 10th that occurs on a Thursday will come in 2005; another is St. Pancras of Rome whose feast day is May 12th. He was martyred for his beliefs at the age of 14. However, May 12th does not occur on a Thursday until 2005. This level of precise predetermination is difficult to embrace since it seems to eliminate the efficacy of any response by humanity to the grace given to it by God.
In addition, the secrets of Medjugorje appear to indicate an almost fatalistic view of the future. Medjugorje is perhaps the most important Marian site in the last sixty years. Millions have returned to prayer and a sacramental life as a result of visiting or learning about the events reportedly occurring there. Nonetheless, as with all apparitions, each of us are required to be discerning as St. Paul has urged, "Test everything; retain what is good." (1 Thess. 5:21)
It is obviously possible for Heaven to choose specific dates for events to occur, but it seems to remove the hope that through repentence and changed behavior, humanity can petition God to relent as He did at Nineveh. This level of predetermination is not a characteristic of earlier Marian apparitions, nor does it appear to be consistent with other statements made about the end times,
"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father only." (Matt 24:36-37).
Only time and further evaluation and discernment will uncover exactly what occurred in these two mountainous parts of Europe. Clearly, the response of the tens of millions of the faithful around the world would appear to indicate that these two events should not be taken lightly.
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