34
14.March'96

PRESS BULLETIN




MEDITATION

During the season of Lent the word that we hear most often is conversion. Naturally, I am talking about Christian surroundings. Modern civilization will continue with its well known old course. That means conversion uproots us from this age in which we are living. Or is still not that way?

The converted man is a total personality. With him it will not happen that he places his selfish profits in the first place. He wants to unite himself with everyone and to build interpersonal relationships with respect. That effort will bless and advance his every day life. It will teach him how to overcome at every moment. For him no kind of books for it will be necessary and no kind of costly counsel of the experts. The only thing he needs is his firm decision.

Who could say that a man like that is rejecting his environment? He only enriches it and thereby has the right to say what he thinks. They should keep silent who cause it to regress. The call to conversion is, therefore, a call to think over which group we fall under.

Fra Miljenko


NEWS

NUMBER OF HOLY COMMUNIONS AND CONCELEBRANTS

During the month of February at the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Peace in medjugorje 12,500 Holy Communions were distributed and there were 618 concelebrations at holy mass by priests from the homeland and from abroad or an average of 21 daily.


SPIRITUAL RENEWAL IN THE PARISH IN MEDJUGORJE

This year on June 25, the fifteenth anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions will be observed at the shrine of the Queen of Peace. Fifteen years have passed since the visionaries brought us Our Lady's message: "I have chosen this parish..." We have lived with this choice already fifteen years and we know how many pilgrims have come, touched by the fervor of the faith of our parish. It is already a full fifteen years since God began speaking through Mary to mankind calling it to peace and reconciliation.

Therefore, that significant jubilee invites all of us to renew and become conscious of Mary's message first in ourselves and then in our families, the parish community, and, thereby, also in the whole Church, that is, in all those who have visited this holy place and have found peace in it, that is, in the message it bears. The fifteenth anniversary of the apparitions is an opportunity for us through a spiritual renewal of the parish to strengthen all the good and to eliminate that which is inconsistent with our choice.

For that purpose a parish mission was also conducted from February 29 - March 3 in the parish of Medjugorje. The mission program was developed in the course of the usual evening prayer program, accordingly, during the time from 5 - 8 pm. On Friday February 24, a great multitude of the faithful participated in praying the Way of the Cross on Cross Mountain, led by Fr. Vlado Kozina. The mission ended with a community praying of the rosary of peace and a prayer of consecration on Apparition Hill. At the prayer of the rosary on Sunday the visionaries were also present and on that occasion gave their own testimonies. Fr. Vitomir Slugi led the mission. He is a professor at the Franciscan School of Theology in Sarajevo and a man who spent the entire time of the war in Fojnica and Sarajevo.


THE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL "MEDJUGORJE 96"

A music spectacle entitled "Message Of Peace From Medjugorje To The World" will be held June 21, 1996, in the framework of the international music festival "Medjugorje 96" and of the fifteenth anniversary of Our Lady's apparitions in the parish of Medjugorje.

After lengthy preparations, on February 28 in Vienna an agreement was signed for the appearance and participation of the famous tenor Jose Carreras.

The premier performance of the work "Missa De Tempore In Aevum" by the Italian composer Flavio Colusso will be given. Participating along with Jose Carreras will be the soprano Cecilia Gasdia, twelve choirs from twelve countries from all the continents, four actors to read texts from the Gospel, and the Symphony Orchestra of Croatian Radio and Television. The concert will be directed by Mr. Vjekoslav Sutej, one of the most prestigious conductors of the younger generation in the world.

This very great musical-cultural event on Croatian territory has attracted great interest from TV companies throughout the world. Therefore, along with the live transmission by Croatian Radio and Television, this musical spectacle will be carried by a large number of foreign TV stations.


YOUTH PRAYER FESTIVAL

The seventh international youth prayer meeting will be held from July 31 - August 6, 1996. The theme of this year's youth prayer festival is: "Out of darkness into light." The seminar program will be announced later.


CROATIAN SOLDIERS IN MEDJUGORJE

At the end of February newly enlisted Croatian soldiers also made a pilgrimage to the Queen of Peace. At the end of their training seventy of them came on pilgrimage by foot to Medjugorje from Mostar. Upon arrival at the shrine they continued their climb on Cross Mountain together with their military chaplain, Fr. Miljenko Stojic.



Published by : INFORMATIVNI CENTAR MIR - Svetiste Kraljice mira
(Information Center MIR - Shrine of the Queen of Peace),
88266 Medjugorje, BiH, fax number: +387-88-642-339.
Director: fra Miljenko Stojic.
You can receive the latest issue of the Press Bulletin at any time on your own fax machine in the tone
mode by dialing the Robofax in our Information Center at +387-88-65-15-55.
Published every other Wednesday.


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Last Modified 04/25/96