August 27, 2013
[Source: Medjugorje Today]
Organizers estimate that visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic met a quarter of the Christian population during her one-week stay in Israel and Palestine. Devotion to prayer was revived and will continue, priest says. Mary assured attendees that she and Jesus never left The Holy Land.
Vicka greets the crowd of about 10,000 people in Bethlehem on August 25. Photo: Jeries Photography / Facebook
Medjugorje visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic was seen and heard by 25 percent of the Christian population during her August 19-26 stay in The Holy Land, organizers of the first international Maranatha pilgrimage are estimating.
“I am completely satisfied with the response. Having Vicka with us here fulfills my dream. Today, Medjugorje is present in every Christian family and community in The Holy Land. People are asking questions about how to connect to the Maranatha Movement for the healing of humanity. I do not have words to describe my feelings” Maranatha world coordinator Sabrina Covic-Radojicic tells the Croatian daily Vecernji List.
Vicka returned to Medjugorje on Monday, also very much pleased with the events of the week.
Procession before Vicka’s apparition in Maelia on August 21
“I am overjoyed. I have been in the Holy Land before, but I never could bring Our Lady’s message. I do not know why I could not, only God knows. Obviously it was time for people to hear. But, behold, the time has come. People have heard and will hear the message. But this should not stop here, prayer for the healing of people should continue. More than ever, humanity needs prayer” Vicka tells the Croatian paper.
And devotion to prayer will continue, says Fr. Nadeem Shakouri, the pastor of Maelia where Vicka’s apparition was attended by about 13,000 people on August 21.
“I am delighted. Only the Lord could muster this crowd. I thank Him for the gift of Vicka’s arrival. It gives us hope that peace is possible in these regions. He asks us to continue to pray not only during Vicka’s stay in the Holy Land, but also after her departure. Pray for all the sick hearts awaiting recovery, and for all who witnessed these precious days and who will themselves become carriers of the messages” Fr. Shakouri tells Vecernji List.
Vicka addressing the crowd in Bethlehem on August 25. Photo: Jeries Photography / Facebook
The priest was further uplifted by the message the Virgin Mary passed on from the apparition in Maelia.
“Our Lady’s message today encourages us because she told the faithful of the Holy Land that she has been with us all the time with her Son, and that they never left. We believers from Galilee will never forget these days. In her honor we bless the statue which we brought from Medjugorje one month ago, that we will be constantly reminded of this day” says Fr. Shakouri.
On August 24, Fouad Boutros Ibrahim Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, ”expressed his fraternal hospitality” and thanked for the devotion to recollection and prayer, and for the joy offered to all who met Vicka whom he welcomed to The Holy Land, Vecernji List further reports.
With Fouad Boutros Ibrahim Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem far right, Vicka’s visit united the highest ranking clerics in The Holy Land. Photo: Jozo Ivankovic / Facebook
Both he and Elias Shakouri, the Bishop of the Melkite Catholic Church, were invited by Maranatha organizers to participate in the international Youth Festival in Medjugorje next year, Maranatha world coordinator Sabrina Covic-Radojicic informs.
August 25, 2013
[Source: Medjugorje Today]
Massive turnout of people witnessed visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic’s public apparition in an auditorium in Bethlehem on August 25. Three days before, the atmosphere was more private during apparition in the biblical Gethsemane Garden. Vicka returns to Medjugorje on Monday.
Vicka during her apparition in Bethlehem, with Fr. Petar Ljubicic far left, and local organizer Charbel Maroun in the middle. Photo: Jeries Photography / Facebook
Medjugorje visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic’s public apparition in the auditorium of Terra Sancta College for Boys in Bethlehem on Sunday was attended by about 10,000 people with more standing outside.
“I guess there were 10,000. There were 5,000 seats and the scouts who were blocking the doors were overwhelmed with what seemed like double the amount arriving” Liam Driver, the leader of the British delegation with the Maranatha pilgrimage, tells Medjugorje Today.
Vicka with British delegation leader Liam Driver on Mt. Tabor. Photo: Rachel Adams
“They said to me ‘Really, we did not expect so many people. We prepared 5000 seats and thought that would be enough. Now many more are coming we are finding it hard to block the doors’” says Liam Driver.
“There was a big giant curtain like Our Ladys mantle and when Our Lady went, the mantle fell gracefully down on the people beneath it. Everyone bursted into applause” he says.
The apparition in Bethlehem was the last public one during Vicka’s week-long stay with the first international Maranatha pilgrimage. She will return to Medjugorje on Monday.
On August 22, only the 550 pilgrimage participants were present at Vicka’s apparition in the biblical Garden of Gethsemane.
In between, Vicka’s apparition on August 23 took place in St. Anthony’s Church in Jaffa. The Franciscan Monastery of San Salvatore in Jerusalem lent ground to the apparition on August 24 which took place in private.
“But Vicka told me that during the appariton on August 24, Our Lady blessed all of us and asked us to “pray for the heart of the Church, and for the entire Church” Brazilian delegation leader Gabriel Paulino tells Medjugorje Today.
August 21, 2013
(Source: Medjugorje Today)
About 13,000 Christians, Jews, and Muslims cried from joy together when visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic had her apparition in Mealia, Israel, on August 21. Earlier, Vicka’s pilgrimage group had visited Biblical sites by the Sea of Galilee. Apparition tonight in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The initial procession in Mealia on August 21, before Vicka’s apparition, Mass, and Adoration
Medjugorje visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic’s public apparition on Wednesday was attended by Christians, Jews and Muslims alike, and also brought together the three Bishops of Galilee along with Orthodox priests when Mass was celebrated. Organizers estimate 13,000 people were present.
“It was the biggest man-made event in the history of Galilee. Never before have we had this gathering with Our Lady and this huge number of people” Charbel Maroun, the President of the Marian Movement of Lay People in Galilee, tells Medjugorje Today.
Vicka’s apparition in Mealia
“Lots of people were crying of joy, crying because of the grace the experienced. They listened to what they heard about Medjugorje, and loved it. Thousands of young people were there. And one of my co-workers told me about a huge number of confessions” he says.
The Lebanese tv station Tele Lumiere broadcast the event live from a forest in Mealia where differences were set aside for a day.
“There were a lot of Muslims. They liked it so much, they started crying because they were so happy to be present. There were also many members of the Israeli army. Nevermind ethnicity or religious background, everybody was present and happy” Charbel Maroun reports.
“You could feel the Holy Spirit in the entire area. The people of Galilee will never forget this meeting. The majority of people here are weak in devotion and spirituality, and so for many it was the first time they saw such a huge manifestation of prayer.”
Part of the crowd in Mealia on August 21
During Vicka’s apparition, the Virgin Mary asked the attendees to pray for the Church in Galilee.
“Vicka was so, so happy, and so was Our Lady, to see so many people. She prayed over us, blessed us all, and told us to pray for the Church here” says Charbel Maroun.
Earlier on August 21, Vicka and the 550 other participants in the first international Maranatha pilgrimage had visited Biblical sites by the Sea of Galilee.
The Mass in Mealia on August 21 was concelebrated by all three Bishops of Galilee, and more than 40 priests
The group saw the setting of Jesus’ sermon on the Beautitudes (Matthew 5: 1-12), the place where Jesus called Peter, Andrew, John and James to follow Him (Matthew 4: 18-22), and the setting of Jesus’ handing over the authority of the Church to Peter (John 21: 15-19).
Vicka’s apparition on Thursday will take place in the Garden of Gethsemane, only attended by the Maranatha pilgrims. Earlier during the day, she will meet the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
(Source: Medjugorje Today)
Participating in an international pilgrimage, visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic came to Israel on August 19. For a week, she will have public apparitions in The Holy Land. Vicka climbs Mount Tabor on Tuesday when her apparition takes place in Nazareth’s Basilica of the Annunciation.
Vicka in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on August 19, with Fr. Petar Ljubicic (second from left), Oasis of Peace community founder Fr. Gianni Sgreva (third), and Maranatha coordinator Sabrina Covic-Radojicic (far left)
Medjugorje visionary Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic arrived in The Holy Land on Monday, landing in Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport in the evening. Until August 27, she will participate in the first international Maranatha pilgrimage and prayer meeting for the intention of humanity’s healing.
Vicka continued to Nazareth and will climb Mount Tabor on Tuesday morning, along with 550 pilgrims from 13 countries. In the evening, her apparition will take place in Nazareth’s Basilica of the Annunciation where Mass will be presided over by the local Bishop Marcuzzo. He will concelebrate with Archbishop André Leonard of Brussels, Belgium, the head of the Maranatha movement.
Vicka has been to the Holy Land before but this is the first time a Medjugorje apparition has been allowed to take place inside churches there, a fact she joyfully acknowledged when reminded on Monday by Charbel Maroun, the President of the Marian Movement in Galilee. He and his co-workers have been hard at work to obtain the permissions.
From Medjugorje, also present is Fr. Petar Ljubicic, the Franciscan priest chosen by visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo to reveal to the world the 10 prophetic secrets Mirjana says the Virgin Mary has entrusted to her.