About the Author
These prayers were said by Franciscans who were or are still serving in Medjugorje and they reveal the diversity of their personalities. What they have in common is the fact that they are experienced deeply within. They are simple and very concise, easy to be read and meditated upon. They were not written for us to reflect on their content. They want to bring the mystery closer to the worshipper and invite him to adore the mystery.
All of these texts are a fruit of a mind and a heart filled with faith. They were stimulated by the person of Our Lady and by her messages and inspired while kneeling in prayer. The messages of the Mother received in faith bear their fruit in the worship of the Son, which is one of the best-known features of the spirituality of Medjugorje.
About This Book
The Medjugorje messages call us repeatedly to adore Jesus. They do not call us to “devotion”, but to love, to friendship, to joy and to union with Jesus. Devotion can remain exterior – but not love. Love takes hold of the entire being. It is possible not to love someone we know just a little. It is not possible not to love someone we really know.
Mary told us to adore constantly (March 15, 1984). This does not mean that we must remain perpetually before the Blessed Sacrament or before the Cross, but that we should always desire God with our hearts. Adoration is not a matter of chosen words, is not repetition of sublime pious already known prayers, but a living relationship with the living God. The texts of the prayers that are published here were not written in advance. They are the fruit of a moment of sincere prayer that the priest humbly shares with the faithful. Precisely here lies the force of the attraction of adoration in Medjugorje.
Adoration is an inner disposition of the entire being: a holy fear before the greatness of God, admiration before the works of God, a desire to know God and to become His friend. My heart tells me: “Seek ye His face!” Your face, Lord, do I seek (Ps 27:8). In the Old Testament, God said to Moses: “My face you cannot see, for no human being can see me and survive” (Ex 33:18-23). Moses covered his face (Ex 3:6), Elijah covered his face with his mantle (1 Kings 19:13), Ezekiel fell to the ground (Ez 1:28). In the New Testament, God comes very close to us, He reveals His face in Jesus, but he remains God, before whom the Magi fall to their knees and worship: they adore the helpless child in a manger (Matt 2:11). Paul falls to the ground when, approaching the city of Damascus, the light of the Risen Christ shines on him (Acts 9:4) and his life changes completely.
Prayer is a relationship, and that is why it has thousands of forms. Through prayer we establish a strong bond, a relationship with God, and this relationship changes us. Essential is the inner and not the exterior attitude. Prayer is not the goal but a means. In prayer, God strengthens and changes us, so that we can promote what is precious and act in the spirit of the Gospel. The change does not happen overnight. Prayer and devotion will be useless to us, if we do not establish a living relationship with God in confident faith.
Themes
BEFORE THE CROSS (Veneration of the Holy Cross)
HEAL ME, O JESUS! (Prayers for healing)
FACE TO FACE (Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament)
Publisher: ICMM
Author: the Franciscans of Medjugorje
Original language: Croatian
Translation / Review: Lidija Paris / Paul Spencer
Edited in 2015
Size: 195 x 120
152 pages with photos
