Personal Testimonies - June 1-10, 2000
Joe Kiibler
My Queen of Peace Family,
As I walked the path to St. James Church, climbed Mt. Krizevac and Apparition Hill, visited Nedjo's grave, and prayed with and for our Queen of Peace Prayer Group, all that is asked of us, as a prayer group, became clearer to me. I would like to share with you the enlightenment as I understand it and, hopefully, this will give us a clearer view or understanding of what we are about.
The Gospa asked the visionaries to spread Her message of "Pray, Pray, Pray" to the entire world. They spend considerable time travelling and doing the Mother's work. This task has had and is having a great toll on their health and stamina but they do not complain because they see the eternal good that will happen because of their tireless efforts. In fact, as Vicka has said, "Give me more, give me more" is the strength of their conviction in responding to the Mother's call. A year ago Nedjo responded to the Gospa's call, to take advantage of new technology, and formed an internet prayer group that is directly tied to Ivan's prayer group in Medjugorje. At the Gospa's request we are called the "Internet International Prayer Group (IIPG) - Queen of Peace."
Our mission is to add spiritual strength to Ivan's prayer group and assist in spreading the Medjugorje message of the Gospa. To do this, we are asked to share in the sacrifices, prayers, and graces of the visionaries and their associated prayer groups. When we do this, we are in spiritually in Medjugorje. Now that I've been there physically, I want to stay there spiritually. So, let me try to explain our simple efforts, yet spiritually powerful labor of love.
1.) We are asked to pray during the time of apparition, which occurs at 6:40pm every evening in Medjugorje. For the folks in the United States that's 12:40pm Eastern Time, 11:40am Central Time, 10:40am Mountain Time, and 9:40am Pacific Time.
2.) In addition to that, we are also asked to pray every Friday evening during Ivan's 10:00pm (Medjugorje Time) apparition while with his prayer group at the Blue Cross. Using the time differences as previously stated, that will be every Friday (unless otherwise notified) at 4:00pm Eastern, 3:00pm Central, 2:00pm Mountain, and 1:00pm Pacific.
3.) Some will ask, "what do we pray?" My response is, "whatever your heart tells you to pray." I would suggest one Rosary (five decades); the "Peace Rosary" i.e. seven Our Fathers, seven Hail Marys, and seven Glory Bes; or, as a minimum one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. Let your surroundings and your available time dictate your prayer selection. As a suggestion, I set the alarm on my wristwatch to correspond with the apparition time.
4.) The visionaries and the prayer groups are requested to fast on Wednesdays, in preparation for Thursdays, the day the Eucharist was instituted by Jesus, and on Fridays, in thanksgiving for Thursday when the bread of life was given to us at the Last Supper. Work toward a bread and water fast. If, for health reasons, that is not possible, fast or eliminate something that will be a meaningful substitute sacrifice. e.g., no TV, no radio, pray the Stations of the Cross, willingly pray an extra hour of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. This can be anything that you dedicate to the Gospa in fulfillment of the request for special sacrifice on Wednesdays and Fridays.
5.) It goes without saying, attend Mass or the Eucharistic celebration every Sunday. If you can celebrate daily Eucharist, that is even better.
6.) Pray the entire 15 decades of the Rosary each day. The Joyful mysteries in the morning, the Sorrowful mysteries in the afternoon, and the Glorious mysteries in the evening.
For those who have not been to Medjugorje let me try to explain about the crosses you will read about in the various e-mails. Apparition Hill is where the Gospa made many of Her hillside appearances; most pilgrims climb Apparition Hill for special prayer and meditation. Blue Cross is where Ivan's prayer group meets and where he receives his Friday evening apparation. There is no significance to the cross being "blue." It's a wooden cross. They used blue paint, the only color available, to protect the cross from weather and deterioration.
The spiritual and God fearing people of Medjugorje erected the cement or concrete cross on Mt. Krizevac in 1933 to commemorate the 19 hundredth anniversary of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. I also heard that Medjudgorje was subject to severe rains and weather but that God promised them a respite if they would complete the cross symbol on their mountain. God, as always, has kept His promise.
The people of Medjugorje pray the Stations of the Cross on Mt. Krizevac every Friday afternoon at 3pm - regardless of weather conditions. Many cheerfully complete the 2½ hour, 1600 foot rock climb, in their bare feet. Many of these folks are in their 70's, or 80's, and maybe even into their 90's.
During the week the first Croatian (workers) Mass is at 7:30am. Thereafter, Mass is celebrated on the hour in a different language. The English Mass is at 10:00am. The main Croatian Mass celebration (at the Gospa's request) begins every evening at 6pm with the Joyful Mysteries followed by the Sorrowful Mysteries. Between the third and fourth Mysteries (6:40pm) the appartion ocurrs. The Rosary is completed and Eucharist is celebrated at 7:00pm. At this evening Croatian Mass, the Gospel is read in all languages present, ususally 7 or 8 different languages. Many locals and pilgrims celebrate two daily Masses.
The people of Medjugorje also pray the Angelus at 6am, 12 noon, and again at 6pm.
Confession in any language is available throughout the day. They began formally at 5:30pm and lasted as long as necessary, usually 9pm while we were on our pilgrimage. It is not unusual to have a 30-minute to an hour confession. Some poeple haven't confided to a priest for 20 or more years. Some even though they go to frequent confession still carry burdens and doubts that are lifted, through, the grace of God, during their spiritual pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
Hopefully, this has given us a glimpse of why I feel we are blessed to have been called by the Gospa to help spread Her message of prayer, love, reconciliation, and forgiveness. If we have anything but pure love in our heart and soul, if we have anything but freedom and love for our fellow man, and if we have anything but joy at praying and spreading the Gospa's message, then maybe we need to seek reconciliation with Jesus so we can be joyful in doing God's will and the Mother's work of spreading her message. As was said often during our pilgrimage, "Let us make a joyful noise, unto the Lord."
Queen of Peace, pray for us! Mother of life, pray for us!
Love, peace and joy! Joe
Tom Hubbard
Hello Prayer Group, God Bless each of you.
I understand that later my granddaughter Avery will be over, so I thought that it would be a good idea to go ahead and put my thoughts down now on the pilgrimage while I have a few minutes. Once Avery is here I become many things, limited only by her imagination. One thing that she doesn't allow, is for me to be stationary for too long.
First let me begin by saying that this pilgrimage included everyone in this prayer group. Those who were unable to go to Medjugorje "this time", were as much a part of this pilgrimage as those who were able to go. Each person in this prayer group was in Medjugorje, if not physically, then by prayer. Secondly, my thoughts that I will share with this post are just that, my thoughts on the pilgrimage. They in no way are meant to speak for anyone else. I'm sure that others will write with their own perspective of what the pilgrimage meant for them.
One of the real blessings from this pilgrimage was finally getting to actually meet the people behind the emails. Now, I know that when Joe, Mike, Ana, Gloria, MaryAnne, Chuck, Auji, Linda, and others write that they are real people. They have faces and families and experiences to share, and they have a deep love for Medjugorje and Our Lady. The time spent together in Medjugorje with all those in our group will always be cherished by me.
I cannot think of one defining moment in this pilgrimage that made that moment so special that it set this pilgrimage apart from the three previous pilgrimages I made. But, I do feel that this was from top to bottom, the best of my four pilgrimages to Medjugorje. Everyday, there were little things that happened that were just so special. No one single event dominated the pilgrimage. For example, there was the 2am climb up Mt. Krizevac last Monday morning. This wasn't mandatory, Mike Sepal and I were going up and invited anyone who wanted to go to come along. Well, almost half the group expressed an interest in going and then the logistical details with the taxis picking up folks at four different houses at 2am had to be worked out. Everything worked out great, we had no no-shows and we all began the climb at the base of the mountain around 2:30am. No complaints, no whining about it being too early, just a great group of people wanting to offer their early morning climb to Our Lord and Our Lady. We prayed the stations on the way up, and all reached the top about an hour before sunrise. Before we started down, Our Lady gave us a gift of a sunrise that we will not soon forget. But, this was only one event that happened and our days were full of those special touches that are so plentiful in Medjugorje.
The highlights of the pilgrimage were numerous, and included these: Daily Mass at St. James, Gloria making it to the top of Mt. Krizevac for the very first time. Meeting Nedjo's family and visiting his gravesite, Ivan and Vicka taking the time to come and visit our group. Lunch time at Columbos, and the special group lunch at St. Rita's restaurant arranged by Ante. Listening to Fr. Jozo, and watching several in our group feel the Holy Spirit in a special way from his blessing. Meeting Ante and our group meetings with him in the afternoons at the Blue Cross. Adoration at St. James and knowing that Our Lord was present and His Spirit was there in abundance. Talking and praying with each other and making new friendships. Getting to meet one of the original members of our prayer group, Silvia, who now lives in Medjugorje. Listening to the early morning sounds of Medjugorje, the roosters crowing, the dogs barking and hearing groups coming down from apparition hill or Krizevac praying the rosary. Learining a new word called "honkin", but I'm not sure if it's English or Croatian or Bostonian.
I could go on and on here, I'm really just skimming the surface of this pilgrimage. I do know that although it is good once more to be home, it was also difficult to leave Medjugorje this time. I wanted in many ways to remain. But, I could not stay, it was time to leave, and I feel this is what Our Lady wants. She wants us to leave and return home and share Medjugorje with others. This is our witness and this is what we must do to help Our Lady bring others to her Son. It will be difficult over the next several days to keep the feeling of Medjugorje in my heart, the everyday stuff will begin and sometimes it is very hard to keep the fire of Medjugorje burning. But, the thoughts and memories of this pilgrimage will be good to reflect on when the dry times arrive, as will this beautiful prayer group. I know now more than ever, that this group is Our Ladys work.
God Bless you all.
Tom
