Where Word Became Flesh

Basilica in Loretto

I was not excited to step foot back in Ancona since I did not have the most pleasant memories there.  But thankfully, we took a bus to Loretto where we were able to have mass and spend time in prayer in the Basilica.  Inside the Basilica there is the house of the incarnation, where Mary was visited by the Angel. There is literally a plaque that says in Latin, “Here is where word was made flesh.”  I got to pray inside this small brick house just 2 days before we were going to celebrate the feast of the Ascension and where I was going to finish my consecration to Jesus through Mary according to St. Louis De Montfort.  To pray in the house where the Holy Spirit overtook Mary and sent the Son of God to earth was incredible!  Afterwards we grabbed lunch and took the 3 ½ hour train ride back to Rome.  Before stepping into Bernardi, Emma, Savannah and I all agreed that we still didn’t know exactly why God wanted us to go to Medjugorje, but one thing was for sure: We all felt like something had changed.  Maybe it is what the priest was talking about? 

The Gang

Maybe it is a place to go to learn how to pray authentically and to hear people’s stories.  It gave definitely gave me a sense of urgency in prayer and I desired, once I processed things, to share all that I could remember that I had learned about Mary.  I found that I knew so little, and so I was worried that my consecration to her would be a failure.  But I had faith that the Lord would show his mercy and I felt determined to be open to receive whatever he wanted to show me through his mother. 

The next few days were filled with graces.  After I made my final consecration, I honestly felt like I had no clue what to do now.  I just signed my life away….what does being a servant of Mary actually mean?  The day of my consecration I kept receiving flowers (which I associate with Mary) and I kept feeling called to present them to the statue of Mary at the Ang.  Then, I received a rosary in my mailbox complete with the nuptial cross (my favorite) with a note that said, “use me well.”  Also, one of the guys who went to Germany and learned about Mary of Shoenstat there felt inclined to give me a small image of Our Lady that is popular there and explained to me all that it meant.  One seminarian also presented to me a book called “True Devotion to Mary” by St. Louis De Montfort (what the consecration is based off of) and some documents on the Church’s teachings on Mary.  I opened to the first page of the book and discovered that St. Louis De Montfort’s feast day is on my birthday!  How providential is that?  It was like Mary was saying, “ Do you want to learn how to love my Son?  Come to me and I will bring you to his side.  But first, you must learn more about my life and my love for you.”  So I continue on my pilgrimage even after Medjugorje to persevere in prayer, especially the Rosary, for all the unbelievers and that they may know Mary’s intense love for them.  Will you join me?   

My last 'unprecedented' words to Mary

Statue of the Risen Christ

 In the morning we attended a Croatian mass and visited the statue of the Risen Christ. The statue in Medjugorje was created in 1998, and from the year 2000 has been miraculously dripping from the right knee. Physisists have visited the site to investigate and no scientific explanation can be found.  The water is considered to be the tears of Mary, since that is about the spot where her head would be were she standing next to Jesus on the cross.  Before heading to the bus, we decided to visit the statue of the Queen of Peace right outside St.

Wiping "tears"

James Church to give our thanks to Mary.  We were standing a few feet from the statue in an area clearly marked “silence please.”  Savannah offered a cookie to Emma who bit into it.  I saw a crumb about to fall so naturally, I yelled, “SUCK IT!”  Seeing Emma’s horrified expression I clasped my hand over my mouth and ran with my rollie suitcase over the cobblestones into the street.  We were laughing hysterically that that was the last thing I said to Mary before leaving Medjugorje.  She shows us so much mercy I tell you! 

   We took a long 4 ½ hour bus ride in the rain back to Split in Croatia.  It

Split

cleared out and we had a few hours before our Ferry left so we walked around the beautiful port and town of Split.  It finally began to feel like Spring Break as we relaxed on a bench outside next to the clear blue water, boardwalk and palm trees.  We decided to grab lunch at a restaurant and we all strategically ordered “sweet corn salad.”  Much to our surprise and amusement, we were given a plate of corn.  That was it!  We laughed and realized then why the waiter gave us an interesting look when we ordered.  Not completely

Sunset at Split

satisfied we bought some gelato to take onto the Ferry (which we got on with no problem this time).  We raced up to the deck overlooking the nighttime lights of split and ate our ice cream.  Once we pulled away we joined the guys for some drinks on the ship and went to bed, rocked by the waves of the sea.

Castle and Cross Mountain

Part of the castle

Did you know there is a castle in Medjugorje?  That’s right, a legit castle.  The seminarians extended the owner’s invitation to us to hear them speak and have lunch with them.  The couple, Nancy and Patrick, are from Canada.  But after a big conversion they felt the need to be “Mary’s neighbor” and move out here and build a castle to house the religious pilgrims that pass through, as

Nancy and Patrick

well as host retreats.  They are an incredibly holy couple and you can actually feel the intense love they have for each other and for every single person that walks through their doors.  Patrick told us how he used to be Catholic as a child, but fell away from the church and became a car salesmen, where money became his god.  Meanwhile, he had two marriages, two divorces, and kids who were leading very troublesome lifestyles.  He never once prayed with his kids.  Then one day he opened up a Medjugorje book that someone had given him called “Messages from our Queen of Peace” filled with her messages to the visionaries.  The one he opened up to said, “Dear

Walking up Cross Mountain

Children!  I am calling you to conversion for the last time!...”  These words struck his heart and he began reading more about it and began to pray the rosary.  He began to see his mistakes as a father and decided to consecrate his children to Mary, so that she could be the parent he could never be.  Gradually his kids began to return to the faith through the rosary and the couple moved out to Medjugorje.  What hit me the most is that Medjugorje is a place where the supernatural is at your fingertips.  It is not uncommon to experience a miracle or a spiritual revelation while you are here.  But his holy couple who has lived here for years have never seen any spectacular event or experienced any spiritual consolation.  They just pray the rosary every day, open up the word of God every day, and trust in the Lord.  And that is how they manage having a castle with thousands of immigrants.  That is how they tell their story day after day, and that is how they keep their marriage together.  I walked away with a sense of urgency, knowing that there is no excuse not to pray adamantly.  Mary says our souls are like flowers, if we do not water them with prayer every single day, they will wither and die.  Great saints such as St. Therese of Lisieux never experienced any spiritual consolation, but served God in little ways with great love.          

         After a wonderful lunch we all headed to the base of cross mountain for another steep climb.  Thankfully, it was sunny out because the rocks were sharper and the hill was steeper.  We prayed the way of the cross on the way up to the top.  Cross Mountain has been the scene of many dramatic signs and miracles. The Cross was erected by the villagers of Medjugorje in 1933 to commemorate the 1900 anniversary of Christ’s death. Since then, the Way of the Cross has been prayed by millions of people. When Our Lady was asked if She is really appearing at the foot of the Cross, She responded: “…Almost everyday I am at the foot of the cross…” (December 31, 1981).  I learned that every morning at 6am Mary prays at the foot of the cross for the town and for the whole world.  Many pilgrims make the trek up the hill early

At the top of Cross Mountain

in the morning to pray with her there at that time.  It was a beautiful site of all of the surrounding mountains at the top of the mountain and a beautiful silent time of prayer.  We hiked down after a while and attended mass and tried our luck again at adoration.  Although it was still crowded and we were outside, there was still an indescribable beautiful presence there.  Surrounded by hundreds of pilgrims all packed in to adore Jesus in the blessed Sacrament in silent prayer was so fruitful.  I could definitely feel the holy spirit in that room.  We celebrated our day with a nice dinner before heading back to the hotel for the night. Although I was still unclear about why I was here, I do know that Medjugorje is a very special place.  Even looking up at the sky during mass I felt that this place is untouched by the world.  It was so still and so brightly white.  I didn’t know quite what it meant, but I finally began to feel more comfortable in this place and was sad that I already had to leave in the morning.

God has a sense of humor

St. James Church

The next morning we went to St. James church for the 10am english mass and afterwards, met David one of the seminarians.  He invited us to go to a talk being given at a nearby building by a famous priest who he knew personally.  David told us that one of the visionaries, Mirjana Soldo gave a very powerful talk that morning of Our Lady's messages.  We were given a slip from the informations office later that morning which showed the message of Our Lady's apparition given that morning:
"Dear children; I am calling you to be one with my Son in spirit. I am calling you, through prayer, and the Holy Mass when my Son unites Himself with you in a special way, to try to be like Him; that, like Him, you may always be ready to carry out God's will and not seek the fulfillment of your own.  Because, my children, it is according to God's will that you are and that you exist, and without God's will you are nothing. As a mother I am asking you to speak about the glory of God wit your life, because in that way you will also glorify yourself in accordance to His will.  Show humility and love for your neighbor to everyone.  Through such humility and love, my Son saved you and opened the way for you to the Heavenly Father. I implore you to keep opening the way to the Heavenly Father for all those who have not come to know Him and have not opened their hearts to His love. By your life, open the way to all those who still wander in search of the truth. My children, be my apostles who have not lived in vain. Do not forget that you will come before the Heavenly Father and tell Him about yourself. Be ready! Again I am warning you, pray for those whom my Son called, whose hands he blessed and whom He gave as a gift to you. Pray, pray, pray for your shepherds. Thank you." 

Queen of Peace Statue

     The talk by Fr. Svetovar focused on many things, but what stuck out to me was living in faith means risking something for God.  Every act of faith and every act of love requires risk in ones life.  Also, he told us that being in a pilgrimage is where we learn to pray.  It is training ground for prayer because it integrates everything about your life and your willingness to be there for the Lord.  It's authentic understanding of Our Lady.  
   After another lunch at Colombos and some shopping at the hundreds of spiritual goods stores they have around, we ventured off to find Apparition hill, the place where Mary first appeared to the 6 visionaries in 1981.  We ran into the Seminarians on the way and they gave us vague directions.  To go along with our not-so-good luck and unpreparedness, it took us abou an hour and a half to find the path to go up the mountain. The sharp rocks were slippery with red mud from the rain that fell that morning. We

Top of Apparition Hill

struggled to climb up as we prayed the joyful and sorrowful mysteries.  We saw many elderly making the climb, and even some people in bare feet.  At the top, there was a beautiful Marian statue and a statue of the crucified christ directly behind it.  We joined the other pilgrims up there in prayer and laid down a rosary we had bought for each of the Bernardians before Our Lady and prayed for each person.  There was a very sick lady who was up there as well, and it was very difficult to see her in so much pain, but also touching to see that she was laying it at the feet of Jesus through Mary. It started to rain again so we made the slippery trek down.  Meanwhile, my boot completely fell apart to the point where my entire heel and sole was flopping with every step.  I couldn't walk any futher once

Shoe Struggles

we got to the bottom, so I dragged my feet over to a shop keeper who spoke english and he tapped up my shoe.  I can't imagine how ridiculous I must have looked drenched from the rain, muddy, with a big wad of tape around my destroyed boots.  My tape broke a few steps in and a car hit a puddle and splashed me with water.  At this point, I knew God must have a sense of humor.  We searched for more tape among all the religious goods stores, and finally came upon a shoe store where the horrified shopkeeper fitted me for a basic tennis shoe.  AFter walking into a german restaraunt in my pathetic state, we headed over to St. James church to experience night adoration.  After all the things that had happened to day, good but mostly difficult, I was looking forward to some personal prayer time.  However, the church was entirely packed and the chapel was closed.  Feeling overwhelmed, we decided just to go back to our hotel and have some quiet time there.  Why did you bring me here Lord? I;ve been asking a thousand

times today.  And yet, my heart is still open for whatever you wish to show me.

working the system

We were greeted off the boat with strong winds and heavy downpour.  We ran into the bus station to buy a ticket, only to realize they only accepted the local currency, “Kruner.”  With the extra money we sat in a coffee shop for the next 3 hours trying to avoid the rain and smuggle our way into the expensive bathroom. We met up with Matthew, Kyle, Kyle, Joseph, David and Peter (who we had met on the ferry) and took the nearly 4 hour bus ride on the windy roads around the side of the mountain and ocean.  Although raining, it was a beautiful site.  I was a little bit nervous when we stopped at the Croatian/Bosnian-Hersgovina boarder, but it went smoothly.  When we arrived at the bus station a man approached us offering a taxi to our hotel.  He was a little shady but we didn't want to walk in the pouring rain to try and find our hotel outside the city, so I said a few prayers for safety and we climbed into his car.  Our hotel was farther out of the center of the town than we expected, but we had a nice room.  One of the owners, Mario, greeted us but he didn't know any english.  So he gave us a phone to call his brother, Dijo, in case we needed anything.  We worked out a system for the next couple of days where if we wanted to get dropped off into town or picked up, we'd call Dijo, he'd call his brother Mario, and Mario would come get us. It was a...unique system.   An hour later Mario dropped us off at St. James church in the center of the town so we could check it out.  The church was very packed with pilgrims, so we squeezed in the back.  We remained standing there as we prayed the joyful and sorrowful mysteries of the rosary, then had croatian mass where everyone responded in a chorus of whatever language they spoke, followed by more prayers.  Afterwards we grabbed a surprisingly delicious meal at "Columbus", complete with a huge fried omelette, fries and a salad.  It was nice to sit and have a nice meal after the rough travel and pouring rain we had experienced for the last 36 hours.  Mario picked us up and we crashed in our beds after a quick round of bananagrams and some market wine.  We had no idea what to expect for the next day.  

Regina Della Pace Saves the Day!

We’re not even on the ferry and we’ve already experience traumatic incident #1.  Watch this video to see the how close we were to not being able to go to the place I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little girl….

However, admist all these struggles there was a ray of hope.  Not only had God affirmed that we were indeed supposed to still go to Medjugorje, but he also placed some friendly American seminarians from the NAC (North American College in Rome) on the same Ferry who were also going to Medjugorje.  Of the 6 men, 4 were seminarians and at least 2 of them had been to Medjugorje multiple times.  Eager to run into them again, we rested in our cabin ready to wake up in another country with undoubtedly more challenges to be conquered: Croatia.