OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE PRAY FOR US

NUMBER 252 : JUNE 2012 : FREE

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

MEDJUGORJE CENTRE NORTH EAST

www.medjugorjene.co.uk

OUR MINISTRY To spread the messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus,

given through the visionaries in Medjugorje. PEACE CONVERSION

FAITH PRAYER FASTING

MEDJUGORJE CENTRE NORTH EAST ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE 2012

Flying from Newcastle to Dubrovnic Travelling in conjunction with Medjugorje Pilgrimages Ltd

8th SEPTEMBER - 15th SEPTEMBER 2012

Cost £499 - Insurance £20

Single Room Supplement - £100

There are a limited number of places but a waiting list will be available

Ring Kath Ash 01670 733358

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ANNUAL MEDJUGORJE RETREAT Led by Fr Noel Colahan

19th - 21st OCTOBER 2012

COST £101 per person

MINSTERACRES RETREAT CENTRE CONSETT

CO DURHAM DH8 9RT

Booking forms available from

Mrs Marian Fletcher Tel 01914174413

MEDJUGORJE CENTRE NORTH EAST www.medjugorjene.co.uk

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W e are sad to announce the death of Father Ciaran

McDonnell, our Spiritual Director who passed away, after an illness bravely borne, in the Freeman Hospital on Ascension Day, Sunday 20th May. Our deepest sympathy goes to Fr. Ci-aran’s family. Let us keep them in our prayers. Father Ciaran McDonnell was born in Strabane, Co Tyrone on 16 November 1947, and ordained priest at Thurles Cathedral on 12 June 1976. After his Ordination to the Priesthood, Father Ciaran’s first appointment was as Cu-rate at Holy Rosary Church, Sunder-land until April 1989. He was then moved to St Aidan’s Church, Ashing-ton as Curate until November 1991. After this Fr Ciaran was ap-pointed Parish Priest to St Wilfrid’s, Bishop Auckland until July 2001. His next appointment was to St John Vian-ney, Hartlepool until September 2006 and finally Fr Ciaran was moved to St

Augustine’s Parish in Felling where he remained until going into hospital in February of this year.

T he following is a short extract taken from his Funeral Mass:

...we say farewell to Father Ciaran McDonnell, a much loved priest and friend to so many. We have been blessed by Father Ciaran’s holiness and commitment to the sacred ministry in which he gave unstintingly of himself. We shall miss this deeply committed pastor and faithful servant of God’s People, and our sympathy goes out to his parents, Kathleen and Gerard, and to all his family. We thank them for sharing with us such a good and hum-ble man of God. As Spiritual Director of the Medjugorje Centre North East we reiterate all that is written above and more.... We were blessed by his love, wisdom, holiness and commitment to our group and also of course to Our Lady. (I remember when He arrived at St Ai-dan’s Church, Ashington as curate, at the beginning of his first mass he intro-duced himself and said “I have come to love and serve you”. And he did

exactly that! Wherever he was placed! And now I am certain that Our Lord will say to him “Well done, good and faithful servant…. Come and join in your Master’s happiness” Editor) Merciful Lord, turn towards us and listen to our prayers: Open the gates of paradise to your servant and help us who remain to comfort one another with assurances of faith, until we all meet in Christ and are with you and with our brother for ever. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen (Extract from Prayer of Commendation) Father Ciaran’s funeral mass took

place at St Mary’s Cathedral, Newcas-tle upon Tyne on Friday 25th May and his internment was carried out at St Mary’s Church, Melmont, Strabane, Ireland on Sunday 27th May after Holy Mass which was celebrated by his two brother priests and concelebrated by another 20 priests with a congregation of about 450.

* We will be celebrating the 31st An-niversary of Our Lady’s apparitions in Medjugorje on 25th June. See advert below. We are hoping to offer the mass for the repose of the soul of Father Ciaran and also for Christ’s consola-tion for his family.

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CELEBRATE

31st ANNIVERSARY OF OUR LADY’S APPARITIONS IN MEDJUGORJE

Led by Fr. Martin Morris

MONDAY 25th JUNE 2012 beginning at 7pm

Rosary : Holy Mass : Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Refreshments afterwards

ST ALOYSIUS CHURCH 5 PRINCE CONSORT ROAD

HEBBURN NE31 1BE

(Nr the Metro)

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band would take it, but Fr Jude, a priest that I got to know, just told me to tell them that I had got a better of-fer, and I was going to God's band. One time we were playing at the Fi-esta club in Stockton in the north of England, and I went to the 12 o'clock Mass in the town and got chatting to the old parish priest there, Fr O'Cal-laghan. I told him I was thinking of being a priest. He said there was a shortage of priests in the diocese and asked me if would I come there. I was only 21 and said yes without hesita-tion. Thus although I trained at St Patrick's seminary at Thurles, I be-came a priest for the Hexham and Newcastle diocese in England.

I received the gift of healing

I got involved with the Charis-matic Renewal in the seminary,

which as far as I am concerned is one of the greatest graces in the life of the Church because of the way it leads to prayer and depth in relationship with God. It was one of my seminary pro-fessors, Fr Denis Talbot, who first

F r Ciaran McDonnell, who will be one of the main speakers at

this year's Irish national conference at Maynooth in June, shares his faith journey and how God called him from a career in show business to serve him as a priest and gave him a healing ministry.

I was born in Strabane in North-ern Ireland the third of thirteen

children. My parents who are both very devout are still alive in their 80s. I knew I wanted to be a priest when I was 11 years old. I didn't immediately do anything about it, however. We always enjoyed music in the family and I played the organ and piano and when I was 19 years old I joined a show band called the Drifters. We did well and one of our songs, "Make me an Island" got to number two in the Top of the Pops chart in 1969. All the time I was on the road with the band, however, I used to go to Mass. The more I prayed the more the desire to become a priest got stronger and stronger. I wondered how the

FROM SHOW BAND TO GOD'S BAND From the Goodnews archives, March/April 2004

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took me to a prayer group which was meeting in the Ursuline Convent in Thurles. I took to it immediately and it was here I was prayed with and received the gift of healing when I was baptised in the Holy Spirit. I re-member my hands were burning and I asked the Lord to show me if this was a gift he was giving me for the C h u r c h b y s e n d i n g someone to me who was in need of healing. He did the next day and I prayed with a man who was going to be operated on for haemorrhoids and he was healed. This healing gift was confirmed later by Fr George de Prizo, one of the early pioneers of the Charismatic Renewal from the United States, who gave me several pro-phetic words, which over the years have all come to pass.

Life in the Spirit Seminars

A fter I was ordained I was sent to a parish in Sunderland in the

North East of England. I wanted to bring renewal to the parish and prayed for about two months non-stop that God would show me whom to approach to start a prayer group. He pointed out two people, whom I asked and the three of us began. It was incredible, starting with just the

three of us, within two months we had 200 people coming, and we didn't even advertise it. One of the keys to its growth was doing the Life in the Spirit seminars which were very new at the time. This really brought peo-ple into conversion and the new life in the Spirit. People came from all over, and many of them then went back to their own parishes and started prayer groups. I stayed there for 13 years and saw the Lord healing lots of people. Then I was appointed a hospital chaplain and later I was sent as parish priest to Bishop Auckland. I have always had a bit of missionary calling and I have been to Uganda a number of times to give priests retreats, and to Slovakia and Croatia, and in 2002 I lived in Medjujorje for a year.

Call to Medjugorje

T he call to Medjujorje came in a strange way. I was parish priest

in Bishop Auckland at the time and had a dream. In it I saw Padre Pio looking at me. He told me "Get out and lay those healing hands on the people." Later I was told that Fr Slavko had died and I was asked by the Franciscans to come to Med-

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jugorje for a year to help with the English speaking pilgrims. I prayed about it and decided that if my Bishop would let me go, and if the Bishop of Mostar, who was not sup-portive of the visionaries at Med-jugorje accepted me, I would take it as God's will to go. The doors all opened up in an amazing way and I even ended up staying in Fr Slavko's old room. I loved it there, particularly the way of the cross and would go up the hill every morning. As a priest too, you hear very good confessions there, and it is certainly a place of great grace and prayer. I've been back in England and normal parish life about a year now. It's very busy and I have had a few health problems, so I haven't got fully back to the charismatic renewal scene yet, but I intend to. For me the main work of the priest is to promote devotion and understanding of the Eucharist. I have always been drawn to the Eucharist and as far as I am con-cerned everything - all the graces - come from it.

Dramatic healing

O ver the years I've seen quite a few healings, some quite dra-

matic, some quite ordinary. I suppose one of the most amazing was back in 1979 at a Catholic Charismatic Re-newal conference in Dublin. There was a lady in our group called Vera Johnson who was paralysed from the waist down and sitting in a wheel-chair. I prayed a couple of decades of the rosary

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you because the Heavenly Father is sending me so that, together, we can show the way of grace and salvation to all those who do not know Him. Do not be hard hearted! Have confi-dence in me and adore my Son. My children, you cannot be without the shepherds. May they be in your prayers every day. Thank you."

W on't you believe my story? Last April 27, at Medjugorje,

a man attended the Mass in French at noon: Jean, 35, from the Island of La Reunion (Indian Ocean). The evening before, he had given his testimony of conversion to his group of pilgrims, and everyone was overwhelmed by it. It needs to be said that, after having killed a man, Jean had just gotten out of prison. Here is the story:

O n May 2nd, 2012, Mirjana re-ceived her monthly apparition at

the Blue Cross. After the apparition of Our Lady to her, Mirjana gave us the following message: "Dear children! With motherly love I implore you to give me your hands, permit me to lead you. I, as a mother, desire to save you from restlessness, despair and eternal exile. My Son, by His death on the Cross, showed how much He loves you; He sacrificed Himself for your sake and the sake of your sins. Do not keep rejecting His sacrifice and do not keep renewing His sufferings with your sins! Do not keep shutting the doors of Heaven to yourselves! My children, do not waste time! Nothing is more impor-tant than unity in my Son. I will help

REPORT FROM SISTER EMMANUEL

of The Community of The Beatitudes Her monthly unofficial news report is read by more than 2.5 million people

www.childrenofmedjugorje.com

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fered him the trip and, on April 27, Jean was with us at the French Mass. Only the pilgrims in his group knew him and his background. That day, the celebrant did something I've never seen: during the homily, he called Jean to the pulpit and asked him to illustrate by his own witness the story of the conversion of Paul, who was struck blind, was healed of his blindness, and followed Christ. Jean delivered a few simple words and went back to his seat. Then the most unheard-of thing happened in this small chapel, thousands of miles from the Island of La Reunion. That very same day, that same hour, were present the relatives of Gilbert, the man whom Jean had killed! Seeing Jean in front of the microphone, they couldn' t help but r ecognize him! Imagine the shock! That day, once again, Heaven opened up in Medjugorje, because after the Mass, they fell into each other's arms and reconciled. They were weeping tears of joy, full with the emotion of having known Jesus and Mary. If I had not been present at that mass, I would not have believed this story!

Sr Emmanuel

Although he was of catholic origin, Jean had stopped practicing his relig-ion at 14. Then he got into drugs, al-cohol, hanging around bad company. He lived with his companion, Jessica. In 2003, in the course of a violent dispute with Gilbert, he felt threat-ened and hit him a little too hard... Gilbert died instantly. Jean was con-demned to 12 years of prison. His girlfriend Jessica went to Med-jugorje in 2008, and she had a major conversion. Upon her return, she taught Jean - still in prison - how to pray the Rosary. During his years of detention, Jean held on to praying the Rosary, though it was not always easy for him. But he carried on and realized that "it cured him of heart pains and head pains", as he said. He became a diligent reader of the Bible. Later, another person talked to him about the Rosary and about Med-jugorje. He came out of prison on Good Fri-day, April 6, 2012, and his first step was to go to confession after 17 years away from the Church. Then he asked for a Mass for the repose of Gilbert's soul. His deepest wish was to go to Medjugorje. A generous person of-

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R ebuilding Jerusalem… In his homily during a recent visit for

confirmations at Medjugorje, the Mo-star–Duvno bishop Ratko Peric warned the people of Medjugorje against the dangers of turning the village into a Babylon with its shops and accommo-dation catering for pilgrims. He urged the people to become rich in God and not be distracted with the pursuit of wealth created by the visiting pilgrims to the village. Let Medjugorje be a Je-rusalem and not a Babylon, he told the congregation attending the confirma-tion service in St James’ church on May 19. The bishop is not the fist cleric to warn against the dangers and distractions surrounding Medjugorje. The Francis-can priests, Fr Slavko Barbaric and Fr Jozo Zovko, often spoke on the same theme. Even Our Lady has warned of this danger in her messages. Dear children! These days you have experienced God’s sweetness through the renewals which have been in this parish. Satan wants to work still more fiercely to take away your joy from each one of you. By prayer you can completely disarm him and ensure

your happiness. Thank you for having responded to my call. January 24, 1985 Dear children! These days Satan is manifesting himself in a special way in this parish. Pray, dear children, that God’s plan is brought into effect and that every work of Satan ends up for the glory of God. I have stayed with you this long so I might help you along in your trials. Thank you for having responded to my call. February 7, 1985 Bishop Peric restated this call during his confirmation homily when he said: “You have the opportunity to make Jerusalem out of this parish, a place of action of the Spirit of God, where a multitude blends into unity, where each one understands everyone in God, and not in false wealth: where Peter’s word is heard: “Repent ... and you will re-ceive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And with these words the bishop also echoed the call of all prophets and the first call of Our Lady when she spoke at Medjugorje on June 26, 1981: “Reconcile with God and each other…”

Rebuilding Jerusalem By Jakob Marschner www.medjugorjetoday.tv/

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absorbed with material things. Thank you for having responded to my call.” Interestingly, just six days after bishop Peric’s homily in Medjugorje Our Lady’s message of May 25 spoke of the distance we create between our-selves and God when we become “attached to the earth and earthly things”. The bishop concluded his homily with these words: “Get rich in God, and not in wealth that passes away! – is the Lord's word to us.”

The Mostar bishop’s homily is summed up best by this message of Our Lady given to the Medjugorje vi-sionary Maria Pavlovic on April 17, 1986: “Dear children! You are absorbed with material things, but in the material you lose everything that God wishes to give you. I call you, dear children, to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit which are necessary for you now in order to be able to give witness to my presence here and to all that I am giv-ing you. Dear children, let go to me so I can lead you completely. Don't be

AN INVITATION TO PRAY FOR THE WORK OF THE VATICAN COMMISSION ON MEDJUGORJE

T he Vatican Commission investigating the Medjugorje phenomenon, accord-ing to reports, is aiming to conclude its work by the end of 2012, when it will

announce its findings. This is a special time to intensify our prayers for all those working on the Commission, to pray, daily, that all aspects of their work will be strengthened by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit. The Medjugorje prayer said every day in Medjugorje’s Parish Church of St James, offering up 7 Our Fa-thers, 7 Hail Marys, and 7 Glory be to the Father could be matched by ourselves wherever we happen to be. Then of course there is always the power of saying the Rosary.

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OUR LADY’S MESSAGE Given 25th May 2012

Dear children, Also today I call you to conversion and to holiness. God desires to give you joy and peace through prayer but you, little children, are still far away - attached to the earth and to earthly things. Therefore, I call you anew: open your heart and your sight towards God and the things of God - and joy and peace will come to reign in your hearts. Thank you for having responded to my call.

O ur Blessed Mother Mary wants to help us so much. Her invitation to

discover the things of God is ceaseless. In this month's message the call is to discover the kingdom of God in a real and insistent way. Mary re-echoes the call to conversion re-connecting us with her son's words when he first pro-claimed the Kingdom. "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand." (Matthew 5:17) Let us be clear here concerning the sense of urgency in Mary's words, an urgency that should quicken our spirits and alert our hearts to her call to receive peace and joy.

When I read this month's message I am reminded of the Lord's parables on the kingdom, particularly the parable of the sower in Matthew's Gospel 13:1-23. It is a beautiful parable and I invite you to take time to read it now. Our Lord had to explain it again and again so impor-tant was it to the disciples In the parable Jesus is inviting his peo-ple to the feast of the kingdom but he asks for a radical choice in doing so. To gain the kingdom of "peace" and "joy" one must renounce what is false in their own lives. This renouncing is not

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something negative or restrictive but is the one thing that opens our lives to him who is the way, the truth and the life. At the heart of the parable is God's desire to bring us peace and joy. What are the obstacles to our receiving afresh God's peace and joy? "If you only knew what God is offering to you", Jesus says to the Samaritan woman. (John 4:10) Jesus points out in the parable of the sower those earthly things that prevent our lasting joy and peace. "The evil one who comes and carries off what was sown in our hearts." (vs 21) Are we alert to the reality of the powers of darkness? Jesus then mentions shallow-ness of faith, those who have no root in them, "lest some trial come and they fall away at once." (vs22) Then he mentions the worries of this world and

the lure of riches, "and so they pro-duce nothing" (vs 23) Can we identify here in this parable the attachments that our heavenly mother refers to? "Open your heart and your sight towards God" Our Blessed mother calls. Where are we looking? What are we looking at?

I CALL YOU ANEW Mary calls us to a new horizon and a new perspective of God's reality. We can only have this new vision of God and his world filled with joy and peace if we have the humility and courage to identify those earthly things in the Sac-rament of Confession that do not bring us lasting happiness. Let us draw from Mary's immaculate heart renewed trust, the joy of her love, the peace of her hope, the fruit of her womb.

(Fr. Martin Morris)

PILGRIMAGE TO LADYEWELL

FEAST OF MARY QUEEN OF PEACE

MONDAY 9 JULY 2012 - COST £15 Approx

Pick ups at Heworth Metro, Central Station, Newcastle St Mark’s Westerhope and Hexham

Bookings and details contact Jose Blay - Tel 0191 2678693

Email blay.josepha@yahoo.co.uk

This pilgrimage is not organised by Medjugorje Centre North East

heartbeats, then what could we be witnesses to? If the Gospel is not leaven for our lives; if peace for us is mere absence of war; if love is not a synonym for self-denial and sacrifice; if hypocrisy prevails over truth… then how can we call ourselves Christian? If all of us who believe in Mary's pres-ence at Medjugorje had truly followed her calls, our lives and the lives of those near to us would have radically changed. Have mercy on us, Mother, and stay with us! Message of 25 April 2012 to Mirjana "Dear Children, Also today I call you to prayer, and to open up your heart to God; open your heart, my Children, as a flower does to the sun's warmth. I am with you and I intercede for you all. Thank you ….."

W ords of Old for a New Life In a world always on the look-out for

news, where yesterday's news is long forgotten, why do Mary's messages attract us, if they are repetitive and seem so similar? Even though many tire and move away, there are others, even more numerous, who come to Medjugorje. In fact, the number of pil-

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Message of 2 April 2012 to Mirjana Dear Children, As the Queen of Peace, I desire giving peace to you, my chil-dren, true peace which comes through the heart of my Divine Son. As a mother I pray that wisdom, humility and goodness may come to reign in your hearts; that peace may reign; that my Son may reign. When my Son will be the King in your hearts, you will be able to help others come to know him. When heavenly peace comes to rule over you, those who are seeking it in the wrong places, thus causing pain to my motherly heart, will recognise it. My children, great will be my joy when I see that you are accepting my words and that you desire following me. Do not be afraid, you are not alone. Give me your hands and I will lead you. Do not forget your pastors. Pray that in their thoughts they may always be with my Son who called them to witness him. Thank you."

M ary's goal is conversion; that the heart might have as its

King Christ Jesus! We cannot bring others to know Jesus by speaking about Him, or even worse, by speaking in His Name! If He does not live in us, if His Light does not shine in us, if our hearts do not beat with His own

When my Son will be King in your heart (Comments to messages by Nuccio Quattrocchi - Echo of Mary)

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grims present at Medjugorje continues to grow. Why would this be? We do not know if a s i n g l e r e p l y c o u l d b e truly satisfactory, and much could be said on the subject. However, in our opinion, it is because Mary's Work at Medjugorje is much more than a public manifestation; and that is why her call so attracts us. It is the encounter of a Mother with her children; even more so: with each one of us, singularly. Mary comes to Medjugorje to speak to you and to me, to meet you and me... and to draw us into her Son (cf. Jn 19:27). What Our Lady says might always be the same; but her words must be the same for each child, and for each gen-eration. Nothing else could be said, and it is up to each of us to put her call, her suggestions, into practice. What Our Lady says is fundamental for our life; and fundamentals are always few and precise. They cannot change according to circumstances or times since they do not depend on these; they reside in the relationship between man and God, between creature and Creator. This re-lationship is absolutely necessary for our life of faith, which can be realized in a thousand different ways, but is always founded on a few, clear

principles valid for all. Our Blessed Mother calls us to listen to the Word, to a sacramental life, to prayer, to fasting, to communion with God and with our breth-ren. She calls us to conversion and to surrender ourselves to God, and to do it all with the heart. It is up to us to respond, to try out her suggestions, to rediscover the impor-tance of the sacraments ... So, the fundamental words are the same, but each of us embodies them in an original way. No one's life coincides with that of another. Just as Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and always (Heb 13:8), so must that which draws us into Him be the same yes-terday, today and always; and be the same for me and for each other person in the world. There is one treatment for holiness (and how many times has Our Mother called us to be holy!), but the response is always personal: we can accept or refuse, respect or neglect the treatment. Today Our Mother renews her call to prayer and to open up the heart to God, as a flower does to the sun’s warmth. This is not just poetry - it clearly indicates how we cannot blossom without Him.

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Fruits of Medjugorje “Permit me, my children, to lead you.

Open your hearts to the Holy Spirit so that all the good that is in you may blossom and bear fruit one hundred fold.” 25th July 2011

C raig Lodge, Scotland: The effects of my family’s encounter with

Medjugorje continue to echo through our lives. My brother and I first visited in 1983 as part of a group of teenagers curious to find out more about the ap-paritions to six young people of our own age, in our own times. The hospi-tality and faithfulness of the people we met and their sincere accounts of all that had been happening in their village touched our hearts deeply. We accepted Our Lady was calling us to a deeper love. We returned home full of an evangeli-cal zeal. Our parents, Calum and Mary Anne MacFarlane-Barrow were the first to feel the full force of this. We urged them to go to Medjugorje as soon as possible as we were anxious Our Lady would stop coming and they would miss out. They too came home changed by their Medjugorje experi-ence. Their response to Our Lady’s call has been - and still is - a constant wit-ness to me, a real example of what it means to give your heart to Our Blessed Mother. Because so few peo-ple from the UK had been to Med-

jugorje at that time, we found ourselves initially busy, writing articles, giving talks and answering hundreds of letters from people wanting to know more. My parents ran Craig Lodge, our fam-ily home, as a guest house. They began inviting groups to come and stay for weekends of prayer and reflection on Our Lady’s messages. As these retreats attracted increasing numbers of people, my parents felt God was asking more from them. They decided to turn their guest house over to Him completely and open it as a retreat centre. Their decision caused great concern among well meaning friends and family who thought they had taken leave of their senses to risk their home and livelihood in this way. They weren’t deterred and trusted God would provide what was needed to keep going. He has done just that! As I write this we are in the midst of preparing for an Under 15’s Youth Re-treat Weekend here at Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer, the first in a whole programme of retreats and events that will take us up to Advent.

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Some are designed for families, and young people and others covering top-ics such as healing, the Eucharist, Scripture and the new evangelisation. Soon after they had taken the step to run Craig Lodge as a retreat centre, my parents invited a group of young people to come and form a community based on living out the messages of Med-jugorje through prayer, service and evangelisation. Twelve years on that little group has grown into Craig Lodge Community, a thriving mix of families and single people who have chosen to live near to Craig Lodge and join in the way of life, my own family among them. We still welcome young people who come and live here for a year in order to deepen a newly-discovered faith or to discern a vocation and we have had the joy of seeing former members go-ing on to enter religious life. Together we look after the guests who come here on retreat. Community life is a school that teaches us so much. De-spite our differences in personality and backgrounds we are united by a com-mon desire to answer Our Lady’s call and help each other live her messages as a means of growing in holiness. Our daily life includes Eucharist Adoration,

Scripture, Divine Office and the Ro-sary. We live out Community in honour of Our Lady Queen of Peace and we look forward to see where she will lead us next! www.craiglodge.org

C raig Lodge is also home to the charity Mary’s Meals. In 1992

Yugoslavia was engulfed in war. Two of my brothers, Fergus and Magnus decided that they had to do something to help. We started appealing for food and blankets and before long they were on their way to Medjugorje as part of an aid convoy. They delivered the aid to the refugees and flew home expect-ing to resume their jobs as fish farmers. However during the two weeks they had been away, donations had contin-ued to pour in. The sheds around Craig Lodge were stacked full and the Com-munity spent every spare moment packing and sorting. Faced with this astonishing generosity, Magnus de-cided to take a year out to drive the aid to Bosnia for as long as people contin-ued giving. People kept on giving! To-day the charity is known as Mary’s Meals in honour of Our Lady and through the school feeding movement over 600 000 of the world’s poorest children can rely on a daily meal in school. www.marysmeals.org

(Thanks to Echo of Mary)

One of our readers asked us to include this account in the newsletter. She says “the actual story of the beginnings of the web site, and all the graces received are too long to recount here… but we do believe this has been Our Lady’s work…”

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A site devoted to total consecration to Our Lady began on the 19th

March 2012…. The story of it’s beginnings is in itself remarkable as this site was neither fore-seen or planned and we believe Our Lady took over. On the 28th April it’s first members from all over the world made their act of consecration together after a 33 day

CONSECRATION TO THE HEART OF MARY preparation. (St Louis de Montfort) We journey on together as a prayer group - united in prayer, faith, sharing, conse-crations etc. We warmly welcome new members…. we are a family! … as Our Mother wants us to be … and conse-crated to her Heart in a special way. Here is the link … if you find it in your heart to join, please do! (we will be delighted and so will Our Lady) http://groups.yahoo.com/group/

OUR LADY’S MESSAGE GIVEN TO MIRJANA

2nd JUNE 2012 Dear children I am continuously among you because, with my endless love, I desire to show you the door of Heaven. I desire to tell you how it is opened: through good-ness, mercy, love and peace - through my Son. Therefore, my children, do not waste time on vanities. Only knowledge of the love of my Son can save you. Through that salvific love and the Holy Spirit He chose me and I, together with Him, am choosing you to be apostles of His love and will. My children, great is the responsibility upon you. I desire that by your example you help sinners regain their sight, enrich their poor souls and bring them back into my embrace. Therefore, pray, pray, fast and confess regularly. If receiving my Son in the Eucharist is the center of your life then do not be afraid, you can do everything. I am with you. Every day I pray for the shepherds and I expect the same of you. Because, my children, without their guidance and strength-ening through their blessing, you cannot do it. Thank you.

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MIDDLESBROUGH CENTRE FOR PEACE MEDJUGORJE EVENING

FRIDAY JUNE 8th FRIDAY JULY 13th

7.30pm to 9.30pm

Rosary : Holy Mass : Talk : Witness

JOHN PAUL CENTRE 55 GRANGE ROAD, MIDDLESBROUGH

For further details please contact: Mrs Marie Bedingfield

Tel: 01642 530739

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OUR LADY OF MOUNT GRACE OSMOTHERLY

A DAY OF REPARATION AND CONSECRATION Uniting the Marian Shrines of England, Scotland and Wales

in a National Day of Pilgrimage

SATURDAY 4th JULY 2012

Led by Fr Simon Broughton with the Benedictine Community

Pilgrims to assemble at 11.30am At St Peter’s Anglican Church, Osmotherly Village

Followed by silent walk to the Shrine.

To finish at 6.00pm approx.

For further details please contact: Mrs Marie Bedingfield

Tel: 01642 530739