It’s tough to say, to answer questions when it comes to Medjugorje, by far the most famous and secretive yet also most public apparitions of the Blessed Mother since those at Fatima.
On Saturday (as we reported 6/15/24), the seer Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti, one of three who still receive daily apparitions, reportedly looked a bit “shaken” when she came out of her ecstasy, saying that the Blessed Mother had temporarily altered her time of apparition and made it for 11:30 p.m. atop Apparition Hill just outside the village, the first place the seers spotted her on June 24, 1981.
Was there something urgent? Was the world on the cusp of a surprise crisis, a catastrophe, war?
Two conflicts already raged in Ukraine and Israel, threatening wider engegement, and Vladimir Putin of Russia was repeatedly threatening the West, as were his minions, with nuclear weapons.
Most recently, Russian battleships had sailed into Cuban waters, reviving memories of the great Cuban Missile Crisis during the dangerous Kennedy years.
Similar movements of military hardware and troops were logged in Scandinavia, while Western European leaders—countries like England, Poland, and France — took unabashed measures aimed at fortification. In the Far East, China rattled sabers in regard to Taiwan. And in former Yugoslavia itself, which saw horrible battles in the 1990s, once more there were rumblings, with the Serbian president outright warning of major conflict in the next several months and the potential for world war. It was Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Hercegovina (Yugoslavia) who were engaged during the 1990s in what was, with Kosovo, the last major conflicts in that volatile territory.
As one Medjugorje outlet reported, “Our Lady came tonight at around 6:46 p.m. to Medjugorje visionary, Marija, and the apparition lasted around seven to eight minutes. Afterwards Marija explained what happened in Croatian, Italian and English. Marija said when Our Lady came, Marija recommended all of us, all our needs, everything that we have in our hearts. Our Lady prayed over us and blessed us.” Continued the report about the change in apparition place and time, “Marija said that she was shocked when Our Lady said this.” She apologized for being so emotional. This set off a sort of frenzy among those following the site.
Was this finally the beginning of the famous “secret”: their unfolding? Was a world war imminent? Were other events about to transpire (see: gyrating weather)?
Our Lady has altered scheduled apparitions previously, and has requested apparitions atop the hill—and in the late evening—on other occasions.
But why the “shock” and “emotion”?
One novena to Our Lady of Peace is here in print and here in video (MaryTV). A Rosary recited each day fits the bill. What Mary requests most is simple prayer from the heart. One can particpate in the live apparition at four p.m. EST today here. Also here for previous apparitions.
Marija told those gathered she was sorry for being so emotional when Our Lady asked for a nine-day Rosary novena, starting tomorrow June 16th. That was when Our Lady asked the faithful to go up Apparition Hill every night at 11:30 p.m. for the next nine days. Thousands responded, and on Monday night, MaryTV reported, “Tonight Gospa came—it looked like she was a little more joyful compared to last night. This means that we listened to her and came in a larger number, but that doesn’t mean that there is enough of us praying for peace. ‘Gospa prayed over us in which language? In her Aramaic motherly language. Gospa prayed for a long time over us,'” Marija told the throngs.
Medjugorje draws special note due to the tens of millions who have visited there and the fact that a formal Vatican commission verified the first week of apparitions (1981), leaving an open question as to the thousands of ones since.+
