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“Fruit of Medjugorje”
. All testimonies (more than 500) are archived on the MaryTV.TV website under the menu option 'Fruit of Medjugorje'. “The good fruit of Medjugorje is unparalleled in the history of the Church!” Rev. Michael O’Carroll, author of “Theotokas”, an encyclopedia on Our Lady
My
Experience in Medjugorje
My name is James Culligan. On June 18. 2000 I had fallen
asleep when driving my car and I collided with a tree. I
was paralyzed from the waist down. I am now in a wheelchair
for the rest of my life.
Before June 18th, my girlfriend and I would always attend
Mass every Sunday, and my faith was very strong. I was raised
a Catholic and went to Christian schools all my life. But
after June 18th, I thought, why could God do this to me?
I suffered for 3 1/2 long years; I had completely lost my
faith in God and Catholicism.
One day not too long ago my Dad asked me if I would go to
Medjugorje. He had told lme that this place in Bosnia is
a place of healing physically and mentally. At this point
I was very skeptical, I didn't know what to think; I had
lost my faith in God. But after a while I thought to myself,
I might as well go. If anything, it would be a fun trip.
But little did I know that this place in Bosnia would change
my perspective on the Catholic faith and myself forever.
I had taken a close friend of mine along with me on this
trip to Medjugorje, her name is Kate. At first glance we
didn't know what to think of this place, it was so beautiful
there, I thought to myself this is going to be an awesome
trip. When we finally arrived in Medjugorje, I couldn't
believe how much the Croatian people would go to church.
You could really tell that there was something very mysterious
about this place and I hadn't quite grasped what was going
on.
One day during the trip I was telling a few people that
were also on on this journey to Medjugorje about myself
and how I had the accident. I was speaking with them for
about half an hour. It was a gorgeous day, when all of a
sudden this older man with white hair and a long white beard
came up to me and said in perfect English, " such is
life". Right after this Croatian man said that, I felt
complete serenity. It was the most exhilarating experience
I have ever felt!
After that experience, I knew that God had a plan for me.
For the rest of the week in Medjugorje, I attended Mass
every day. I had been completely overwhelmed by the Holy
Spirit. I now have a renewed sense of faith in God and the
Catholic Church. Medjugorje is absolutely the best, and
most self-fulfilling journey that I have ever been a part
of. I am so glad that I got to be a part of an experience
like that!
Thank you very much, James Culligan
My Experience in Medjugorje
Medjugorje is among many things, a place
of conversion. As Christians we continually undergo conversion
throughout our lives. Whether it is that first big turn
of faith or the small realizations that God loves us even
more than we thought, conversion is an ongoing process.
If I were to say that my trip to Medjugorje was a turning
point in my life I would be lying, but it did open my eyes
to a new aspect of my faith...Mary.
In my home Mary was never a prominent figure. We had no
statues, few images, and albeit an abundance of rosaries,
it was never prayed. Despite all this, my older sister,
now a Dominican Sister, had developed a deep devotion to
Our Lady. For years she had been urging me to love Our Holy
Mother but I always felt that I had a mother and wasn't
in need of another. When the idea of attending a trip came
up I felt compelled to find out why I needed Our Lady in
my life and why she was so important to Catholics. Although
my parents kept denying that we would go, deep down we all
felt an inner calling to this holy place.
It is said, "By their fruits, you shall know them"
(Matthew 7:20). It is impossible not to see the fruits of
Medjugorje: conversion, healings, increase in prayer, however
what amazed me most was the faith. It can't be put into
words, it just was. I've always disliked the say "I've
found Jesus". It always seemed so ridiculous to me.
He isn't hiding. He's right in front of you, is what I always
thought. In Medjugorje, I found Jesus. One night Eucharistic
Adoration had been moved into the church because of rain.
People came in masses as always and the church was packed.
Not only were the seats full, but the aisles, the back foyer
and every possible crack and crevice were cramped with people.
I was standing beside one of the side doors and I watched
in amazement as people moved from outside, who couldn't
fit in the church edged in to get a glinpse of Our Lord
hidden in the Eucharist and moved back to allow others in
to see. The meaning of those words hit me harder than ever
before...This is My Body, This is My Blood...I always believed
and knew that the Eucharist was Jesus, but for the first
time I saw Him. God is hiding. He hides Himself so well
that we don't even see Him. He hides Himself so well that
we forget that upon the altar, what appears as a little
piece of bread, is our God.
In Medjugorje Mary calls us to dreaw to the Eucharist, to
draw to her Son and find Him, to know Him, and most of all
to love Him. When I returned I felt so hopeless. I didn't
know how I would be able to continue the dedication I had
in Medjugorje in my everyday life. There is so much turmoil
and unrest inour world that all I wanted to do was flee
back to this haven. however, a popular song, Dare You to
Move, by the Christian band Switchfoot helped me put my
life back into perspective.
The song speaks of persevering in the midst of tension and
turmoil. A particular line of this song , struck me, "Where
you gonna go? Salvation is here". I realized that I
don't have to go back to Medjugorje to find God again. He
is here and it is my duty to continue the mission which
Mary calls us to, a call to conversion, faith and peace.
Mary points to her Son and says, "Here is your God,
now move". I realized why I needed Maryl She helps
us to see her Son and she understands the hardships and
trials we face in a world where God is hidden. She gives
us a starting point, a path, a way to find God and love
Him as she loves Him. It is comforting to know that I don't
have to go to another country to find Jesus, but that He
is right here in every tabernacle, in every church saying,
"Here I am", and I will move.
Jennifer Marsh
Medjugorje; A Wonderful Experience
August 2006 Carolyn and I went to Medjugorje
Bosnia/Herzegovina on a 9 day Pilgrimage.
Two reasons why we went were;
1) Our Godson Steven (21 years old) was going on this trip
and we thought it would be nice for Carolyn and I to spend
time with him. He had never travelled outside of North America.
2) The trip included going to Dubrovnik,
Croatia, an old wall city that we had always wanted to visit.
Medjugorje is a town where the Blessed Mother
appeared to six Children in June 1981.
Our last night in Medjugorje Carolyn and
I bought this statue of the Virgin Mary standing on some
clouds as a souvenir to take home (around 7:30 pm).
On our way back to the Hotel (Nada Pansion) where we were
to staying we met up with Father Moe (he just moved back
to Ontario from Newfoundland) one of the two priests that
were on this trip, Steven (our Godson) and Jacinta (a teenager),
Fr. Moe talked us into going to St. James Church with them
to see what they do at a healing service.
When we got there the service was outside,
there were several thousand people at it, the language spoken
was in Croatian, I said it was no use of us staying here
because we can’t understand what they are saying and
it was getting dark (8:05 pm) so you could not really see
what was going on.
Fr. Moe talked us into staying for a little
while anyway. He spotted some seats where we could all sit.
All this time I am still holding the statue of the Blessed
Mother in my arms. With-in five minutes of sitting there
something changed in me, I could hear out of my deaf ear
real clear after 55 years. I was shaking like a leaf, and
it was like I could understand Croatian, it was really weird.
I kept playing with my ears because it didn’t make
sense what had just happened. The others couldn’t
believe either. I thought the volume was turned up, but
they said it wasn’t.
The service was over in about another ten
mintues (the healing service had only started around 8:00
o’clock right after the Croatian Mass which had started
at 7:00). We all walked back to where we were staying spreading
the good news, but I kept saying to everybody I don’t
understand why me, it didn’t make sense because I
ddidn’t even ask for anything and I don’t recall
telling Mary that I was deaf in my left ear. It was hard
to believe.
When we got back to the Hotel, Fr. Chris
and Fr. Moe offered to bless any religious articles our
group had brought and make Holy Water to take home around
9:30 p.m. in the dining room.
Carolyn unwrapped the statue at this time (it is wrapped
up in bubble wrap in a plastic bag). This is where I couldn’t
hold the tears back anymore from all the excitement that
was going on.
The coulds on the statue were very warm as
if it was burning (quite warm to the touch). The body of
Mary was warm like a human person, yet Mary’s veil
and the base were cool. Fr. Chris and Fr. Moe could not
believe this, everybody there also felt the statue, it was
unbelievable.
Fr. Moe said I believe Mary is present with
us all, so everyone there started praying together to the
Blessed Mother for about twenty minutes. There were 44 of
us in that room who witnessed this wonderful experience.
After that everyone started congratulating
me one at a time and touching me. Some of them confessed
to me why they came on this trip, I was really getting scared
now. Why are they doing this, it was like I was a priest
and they had to tell me. I could not believe this. There
was only one person on this trip who everyone knew was looking
for a miracle. She was a young lady (Anne) who got burned
two years ago. She was burned on her left side leaving her
face, arm and body badly scared and still with some afflicted
wounds. She wears a big bandage on the left side of her
face. We all felt sorry for her, she should have been the
one healed, not me. Yet she took her turn congratulating
me and she was very happy for what happened to me. I am
in shock now, we hug each other and cry in each others arms
for about 10 minutes. Later another young girl(Sarah) around
sixteen tells me how happy she is for me, she also confesses
that the reason she is here, she is also deaf in her left
ear and by coming to Medjugorje she hoped it might be corrected.
This was just too much for me, if I could have given what
happened to me to her I would have. I have everything anybody
could ever want, I have a good life so why is this happening
to me? Again tears poured out as I gave her a big hug and
held her for a while. Later this girl talked to me for quite
awhile wanting to know how it was growing up with hearing
only in one ear. She loves music and finds a hard time because
she is unable to pick up any sound on her left side. A wonderful
young person.
When the owner of the house (Nada) congratulated
me with a big hug and kiss, said this is the second Miracle
that has happened with someone that has stayed here, brought
out bottles of wine and other drinks and said we are going
to have a celebration. We all celebrated until about 2:00
a.m. signing, drinking, laughing, etc., we were like one
big happy family. They were all having a lot of fun, I am
still not sure what was going on and is it just a dream.
It will be interesting if I can still hear from my deaf
ear in the morning yet.
I was so scared about the statue that I didn’t
want to take it to our room, so I left it in the dining
room over night. In the morning when we went to the dining
room I put my had out very carefully to touch it, the statue
was normal again, so we packed it up and brought it home
with us.
I have no explanation on what happened on
our last night but something special did!
I do believe a miracle did occur and what happened to the
statue was a sign to let everyone in the room witness something
special.
I don’t ever remember praying to the
Blessed Mother before, but I do now.
I thank her because through the power of God, I am positive
she had something to do with what happened (but I still
don’t understand why me).
There is something special about this place
Medjugorje, we will be going back again.
Some other notes;
For some unknown reason around 6:30 am before
leaving for home, I wanted to go and see the statue of the
Risen Christ one more time. Why I don’t know. It’s
a solid brass statue (about 25’ high) out behind St.
James Church on your way to the cemetery. A tear drop runs
out of his right knee every few seconds. The tear drops
have been analyzed as the same texture as a human tear (unexplainable).
The weather is hot and dry most of the time, but it does
not stop the tear drops.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but Carolyn reminded
me when we were at home that we had made a visit to the
Risen Christ statue the morning of my healing. I had touched
a tear drop for the first time only because I finally built
up the courage to do so (his knees are about 8’ above
the ground). Earlier in the week we visited that same statue
it actually freaked me out. I didn’t even have enough
nerve to touch or even take a picture of the tear drops,
I was scared and for some reason it just didn’t seem
right.
It is day #30 as of sept. 19th at 2:10 pm
our time, and I can still hear from my deaf ear.
I was deaf until November 1963 (12 years
old) in both ears but unknowingly I could understand voices
because I learned to read lips in my younger years. My only
problem was I didn’t speak very good, a lot of times
people really couldn’t make out what I was saying.
Up to this time I was seeing a Specialist for seven years
with many different things being done but no success. This
time I had tubes wired into each ear and when I cam out
of recovery and woke up my first words I heard were President
Kennedy was shot. I received about 80% hearing in my right
ear and only partial hearing in my left. I was in the Stratford
Hospital for two weeks, the last time I had tubes in my
ears I was in and out after several hours, quite a difference.
I have had tubes put in my ears about a dozen times over
38 years.
But in the last 10 years my left ear wasn’t picking
up any sound.
The last time I was at the Ear Specialist
was in 1994, I was told by the Dr. that there is nothing
more he can do for me and that the next step would be a
hearing aid for my good ear. He told me to go as long as
I can without one, because once I get one, I will start
depending on it for hearing all the time. Maybe he knew
something when he told me to go as long as I can without
a hearing aid.
I went to Dr. Rowe (until he retired) in
Stratford for 20 years from 1956 to 1976.
Then I went to Dr. Hutchinson in Guelph for 18 years from
1976 to 1994 who also retired.
Both of these Ear Specialists are now deceased.
It is quite a change for Carolyn, she can
now communicate to me in my left ear.
Before if I had my good ear covered I could not hear Her.
There are a lot of people who have not heard
of Medjugorje. I told my story to at least a couple hundred
people now, and in telling them I am amazed how interested
they are in hearing it.
I really did not think that to many people would believe,
other than the ones who know me personally. I can not believe
how after four weeks that I am still talking about a trip
that I didn’t think would match any of our other great
trips that we have been one. I have never talked about any
other trip this way. Out of all the people I told, only
seven of them were sceptical.
Before we went on our trip Father Voisin
our parish priest and Father Larry my first cousin told
Carolyn and I not to get caught up in what has materialized
over in Medjugorje. The Church does not recognize this place
where there Virgin Mary appeared to six Children and they
really encourage people not to go there other than for site
seeing.
I am amazed about the amount of people trying
to get into St. James Church for the next service before
the previous one is over. Because of so many tourists, Mass
was being celebrated seven times a day. A lot of them listen
to the mass from outdoor speakers; the church is too full
to get inside. The church seated appropriate 600 to 700
plus there were probably 300 standing in any available floor
space left in that church. Every English speaking was that
we attended there were 25 to 30 Priests celebrating it.
I am amazed how we wanted a statue with the
name Medjugorje on it, but picked the only one without this
name.
I am amazed that Father Moe talked
our Godson into going to the healing service and how they
met us on the way back from shopping.
Laura’s Testimony-
My story is not overly exciting –but
God is. He took a simple non-eventful life and turned into
a fun, exciting adventure where I long to know Him more,
to discern Him more, to love and serve him more.
Like many of you, my first really exciting
encounter with Christ came through COR, a Catholic retreat
for young people. I made new friends. I had a new zest for
life and especially a new love for God and His church.
In grade eleven I went to Dominican Republic
and experienced first hand how sincerely the poor loved
God. It seemed that because they had so little, they couldn’t
love Him so much more. What a witness to me. After high
school I started University, studying music at Western.
Following that year I decided I wanted to
take a year off and travel to El Salvador, Costa Rica, and
Nicaragua to work and live with the poor. This was my decision
and I didn’t put much prayer into it. I learned a
lot about the Central American culture, but my faith and
zeal began to fade. I became very worldly and pleasure seeking.
This was definitely not a spiritually fruitful time in my
life.
After I returned I enrolled in the Child
and Youth Worker Program at Fanshawe. I was so glad to be
home, but I really felt like I had hit rock bottom. My faith
wasn’t all that important to me anymore. I still attended
mass on Sundays and prayed occasionally. But, not much more.
I heard about the Medjugorje Pilgrimage from
Fr. Chris Gillespie and I was excited to try something new.
I began to pray if whether nor not I was called to this
place. In my heart I knew this is what God wanted me to
do.
In Medjugorje there is a huge monument of
the Risen Christ and I found myself sitting there often,
reflecting and praying. With some pictures of the Risen
Christ he looks so happy and free but not this monument.
Though risen He still liked batter, bruised, and beaten.
But He was raised. I connected deeply with this. If Christ
could get up and rise throughout the passion and journey
with the cross and then rise from the dead, I could surely
through His graces rise above my great spiritual bruises
and beatings, my sinfulness and pride. I experienced great
joy and peace in Medjugorje for reasons I can’t to
this day explain. I do know I received the grace to forgive
those who had hurt me deeply and also the graces of understanding
and knowing Christ more. The pilgrimage was like a huge
stepping stone for me- going from rock bottom to climbing
to reach the top. I felt like I was finally experiencing
Christ again. Since Medjugorje my life has changed. My love
for God and Our Blessed Mother has exploded-I love them
so much now. I love going to mass and understanding it.
My faith has been renewed. My heart and soul have not only
healed but filled with the love of God. I truly feel that
God is calling me to do something special. This continues
to excite me. After returning from Medjugorje I started
a Youth Group, attended two Opus Dei retreats and have continued
to be involved with COR as a big sister. Christ has inspired
me to share His love with others and to develop a more intimate
relationship with Him. Medjugorje is a special place. Before
I went I used to experience migraines once or twice a week.
I returned from Medjugorje in August of 2006 and have not
had one since. God is so good. I didn’t ask to be
healed of this cross. God simply gave me this grace and
sign of His love.
One of the greatest blessings of this pilgrimage
is the friendship in Christ that I share with my friend,
Anne Culligan. We experienced this pilgrimage together and
the great love of Our Father and can’t wait to return.
Thank you.
Anne Testimony
Some of you may know me. Many of you have been praying for
me. God Bless you for all your kindness.
In January 2006, I was involved in a house
fire as a result of an arsonist. Over 20% of my body was
burned. My injuries were so sever and the doctor’s
couldn’t be sure I would make it through the night.
My family was devastated.
How did this come about? It was an act of pure carelessness
and a complete disregard for human life. Yet God’s
grace won overall! The following months would consist of
struggling to regain basic bodily functions like breathing
on my own, speaking, walking and eating. These I pray to
never take for granted again. Intense physiotherapy then
ensued and still continues today.
That summer my parents mentioned Medjugorje. What is that?
I thought.
-A pilgrimage I was told. What the Lord had in store for
me in Medjugorje would be nothing short of a miracle, the
conversion of my heart. Because apart from what was physically
endured during this experience; my spirit had been broken.
I felt betrayed by my fellowman and I was emotionally and
spiritually wounded. Now back to Medjugorje. During the
pilgrimage I heard a personal testimony by a woman named
Nancy. Now Nancy said, in the simplest way, “You cannot
pray the Our Father, with any degree of confidence, asking
Him to forgive us our sins, as we forgive others, without
forgiveness in our own heart.” At that moment I realized
that God was revealing to me what must be done; forgive.
Forgive the man who left me with life long injuries. For
some reason, at that time, I was almost content with my
anger. I found I used it as an excuse to be angry, like
I was allowed and that I had the right to be angry. Spiritually,
I realized the overwhelming difference between God’s
forgiving love, and all the bitterness I felt in my heart.
My self-pity dissolved and the anger slipped away from me.
It was then that I was able to forgive.
Today, I thank God for my life, for my family and for my
faith. I know I am not perfect, I’m still growing.
However I now have a renewed spirit. Just as Christ has
risen from the dead, I too have risen from the dust of my
worldly ways.
As Christ looked down on me from the cross with His words
of Mercy, “Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do,” by His grace I am determined to pick
up my cross and truly forgive my brother. May we always
see with the eyes of Christ, for through His mercy comes
peace, joy and eternal life.
On a final note, I want to give thanks to Our Blessed Mother
Mary who drew me to Medjugorje, and closer to her Son Jesus.
And I thank Jesus for pointing me to His Father, Our Loving
God, without whom none of this would be possible.
Thank-you God and may He bless you
all.
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