Medjugorje – First a Call to Prayer

February 10, 2014 A.D.

Prayer, as you may know, is the most frequent message of Our Lady in Medjugorje. It is rare not to have the word “prayer” in a message. Prayer is so important. But this world doesn’t know that. Our Lady says:

October 2, 1986

“…You, dear children, are not able to understand how great the value of prayer is as long as you yourselves do not say: now is the time for prayer, now nothing else is important to me, now not one person is important to me but God.’ Dear children, consecrate yourselves to prayer with special love so that God will be able to render graces back to you…”

October 25, 1989 - and so many other times!

“…dear children, pray, pray, pray…”

Medjugorje is: Pray! Pray! Pray! Prayer must be a daily offering to God:

May 30, 1985

“…Let prayer, dear children, be your everyday food…”

Prayer is a powerful weapon:

“…Through fasting and prayer, one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature…” (July 21, 1982)

“…In prayer you shall perceive . . . the way out of every situation that has no exit…” (March 28, 1985)

Over and over Our Lady asks us to pray. She asks us to understand the value and nature of prayer. Prayer is the first step in our spiritual life and everything else depends upon that. Prayer has to become a way of life. We have to discover prayer. We have to be persistent in our prayers:

January 14, 1985

“…Be patient and persevere in prayer. Do not permit satan to take away your courage. He works very hard in the world. Be on your guard.”

Yes! Prayer is a fight against the powers of darkness, against satan:

August 8, 1985

“…advance against satan by means of prayer…put on the armor for battle and with the Rosary in your hand, defeat him!…”

The “armor for battle” is the strength of our prayers. Our Lady asked the prayer groups in Medjugorje to pray at least three hours a day. Why so many prayers?

September 13, 1984

“…You wonder why all these prayers? Look around you, dear children, and you will see how greatly sin has dominated the world. Pray, therefore, that Jesus conquers…”

What are the prayers we should pray? Our Lady asks for the three parts¹ (now four with the Luminous Mysteries) of the Rosary every day, prayers to the Holy Spirit, prayers of consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Her Immaculate Heart, and, of course, the highest form of prayer, the Holy Mass. Prayer can change the very structures of our mentality. A real profound prayer life is a life of constant transformation. This is the key to everything Our Lady does in Medjugorje. The quality of prayer is important. We have to see prayer like a real encounter with the Living God. We should pray with a living faith. Prayer should be a joy:

June 12, 1986

“…today I call you to begin to pray the Rosary with a living faith. That way I will be able to help you. You, dear children, wish to obtain graces, but you are not praying. I am not able to help you because you do not want to get started. Dear children, I am calling you to pray the Rosary and that your Rosary be an obligation which you shall fulfill with joy. That way you shall understand the reason I am with you this long. I desire to teach you to pray…”

The apparitions of Medjugorje, the meaning of Our Lady’s presence: to teach us prayer. First, Medjugorje is a “school of prayer,” then a “school of holiness.” In this “school” Our Lady instructs us to “pray with the heart.” (February 25, 1989 and so many other times):

May 29, 1986

“…Without love, dear children, you can do nothing…”

Love is the “motor” of everything. Without love we are not really alive. Therefore, we cannot pray without love. The heart is the symbol of love. Pray with the heart means: put love in the first place when you pray. To pray with the heart must be a decision: I decide to set aside everything, to concentrate, and to persevere in pure prayer. I decide to abandon myself to God This is what we call prayer with the heart. Prayer must be something alive and active to be a joy. Praying with the heart also means “praying with joy.” There is no real spiritual life without joy:

March 20, 1986

“…Today I call you to approach prayer actively…. Prayer will be your joy. If you make a start, it won’t be boring to you because you will be praying out of joy…”

But the thing is we have to start, to decide for ourselves to pray. Then God will lead us. Just get started. Put prayer in your life:

August 25, 1995

“…Let prayer be life for you…”

This means let prayer be the activity which will bring real life in your lives, which will make you alive, really alive with the life of God Himself.

With Love and Prayer,

A pilgrim praying on Apparition Mountain in Medjugorje. Our Lady's call to prayer to basic: a conversation with God. It is common-place in Medjugorje to see pilgrims praying on the mountians, in the fields, on the trails, and even walking down the street, praying Rosaries out loud. Our Lady has built prayer as a 'normal' part of life in Medjugorje, and She wishes this to be established all over the world. In society it is not 'normal' to see people walking down the street praying a Rosary, but Our Lady is here to swing the pendulum the other direction. In the future world, that Our Lady is building in the present, those who are actively praying will be considered 'normal', while those who don't pray, will be considered 'abnormal'.

Footnotes:

1. When Pope John Paul II announced the new Luminous Mysteries, Marija Lunetti, the Medjugorje visionary who receives the 25th message, said that Our Lady immediately accepted the new mysteries.