About the Author
Fr. Marinko Šakota, ofm (1968) attended primary and first grade secondary school in Čitluk. He then decided on the Franciscan vocation and attended the Franciscan school in Visoko and the Jesuit school in Dubrovnik. On 15 July 1987 he entered the Franciscan novitiate in Humac. He studied philosophy and theology in Sarajevo (1989-1990) and Zagreb (1990-1992). In 1993 he made his final vows in Široki Brijeg. He completed his studies in Fulda in 1995. In 1996 he was ordained a deacon in Zagreb and a priest in Frohnleiten.
He served as an assistant in the Franciscan monastery in Innsbruck and Frohnleiten and as a parish vicar in Augsburg and Mostar. He was then pastor in Gradnići for seven years. From September 2010 he was parish vicar in Medjugorje, and from 2013 to 2022 he has been in charge of this parish.
He publishes articles in Glasnik mira and Naša ognjišta magazines. As a theologian and young priest, he closely followed the pastoral work of Fr. Slavko Barbarić. After Fr. Slavko’s death, he collected testimonies about him and studied his character and work. The fruit of this research is the book Living with the Heart, which has been translated into many languages.
About This Book
I am deeply convinced that any well-meaning reader who reads Fr. Marinko’s book will experience a real enthusiasm with Our Lady’s spirituality. This book is a fruit of Our Lady’s school, which should not be feared but entered with courage. The book is written in a simple and practical way, so that it can really serve as a textbook in this school, but also as a very suitable material for spiritual retreats or personal spiritual reading.
This book represents a real refreshment and enrichment of the literature dealing with the spirituality of Medjugorje. (Fr. Ivan Dugandžić)
The Author Speaks
This book was written over a period of several years. It is a fruit of my listening to the voice of our Heavenly Mother, the Queen of Peace, and of my lectures, catechesis and retreats that I have given and preached in Medjugorje and in the world. I would like to thank the Medjugorje monthly magazine Glasnik mira, in which I was able to publish my thoughts on various topics of the school of Mary almost every month for years, and which served as the basis for this book.
I have long wanted to write about the school of the Queen of Peace, but the intensive pastoral work in Medjugorje did not allow me to do so. However, serving the pilgrims has enabled me to discover new perspectives and gain precious insights. I particularly emphasise the prayer and fasting retreats, in which I was able to present various topics related to the school of Mary while also listening to the participants from different countries of the world. Their reactions and questions have encouraged me to search for the truth and to examine and deepen my insights. It is a wonderful experience to clarify old insights and gain new ones in exchange.
I dedicate this book to those pilgrims who are connected in some way to the Queen of Peace in the hope that it can facilitate their personal growth and spiritual maturation. I would be happy if it could also reach the hands of those who do not yet know this school, so that they are encouraged to reach out to the Mother and Teacher and help spread the Good News and peace around the world.
Themes
MEDJUGORJE – A CALL OF THE MOTHER OF GOD AND OUR ANSWER
Why does Our Lady appear?
What is special about Medjugorje?
Why was the parish of Medjugorje chosen?
The first day of the apparitions
John the Baptist: a role model
Parishioners and pilgrims
The meaning of the mountains
Heart and hands
MARY – MOTHER OF JESUS AND OUR MOTHER
Queen of Peace
Mary and the will of God
Immaculate Heart
Mary stands up for others
Totally focused on God
Mary’s prayer with the heart
The statue of the Queen of Peace
Becoming similar to the Heart of Mary
MARY – MOTHER AND TEACHER
Our Lady educates us
Medjugorje – a school of the Mother
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MARIAN EDUCATION
Learning
Conversion
Faith
Love and freedom
From the outside to the inside
Mary starts from what is small and insignificant
Every individual is important
The growth
Change yourself and not others
A school of life
Start now!
Bear witness
THE SCHOOL OF THE QUEEN OF PEACE
Mary educates us for peace
Mary educates us for the sacramental life
Mary teaches us to pray
Mary teaches us how to fast
Mary and our relationship to the will of God
Mary and our relationship with the cross
Mary and our work on our own heart
Mary educates us for forgiveness
Mary teaches us to live by the Word of God
ENCOUNTERS
Fr. Slavko Barbarić
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
Fr. René Laurentin
Cardinal Ernesto Simoni
Archbishop Henryk Hoser
Pope Francis
Youth Festival
Author: Fr. Marinko Šakota
Language: English
Original language: Croatian
Translation / Review: Lidija Paris / Snjezana V. Sego
Edited in 2023
Format: 205 x 135
272 pages
