Char Vance - Healed in Medjugorje

Spirit Daily

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After A Startling Vision Of Jesus On The Cross, Comedian Turned Into A Catholic

By Michael H. Brown

When life seems to be closing in on us, in a world that so often seems upside-down, there one way to exit, and that's through  humor. A sure cure for our ills is found in laughter!

Usually, we should be laughing at ourselves.

And one thing that should make us smile is how silly it is to worry when we have God. 

In the Light of His eternity and angels and watchfulness, there is nothing to fear but lack of prayer. We can even pray for a good sense of humor! 

Many of you have heard the experts talk about how laughter can help us recover from serious illnesses. That's because humor is a spiritual release and when we release something on that level, it goes to both our emotions and bodies. 

A great example of this -- of both healing and laughter -- is Char Vance, the television producer and comedian from New Orleans who is often out there speaking at conferences and causing people to roll in the aisles. Char had been in the radio business when she suffered a horrendous accident. It was on Halloween night at a farm she owned back in the 1980s. She and a group were riding on a tractor-pulled wagon when suddenly they caught sight of the barn on fire.

Char jumped off in hopes of running to the blaze but got caught underneath, injured so badly it looked like part of her leg would have to be amputated. The ankle was severely damaged.

Just crushed. No bone support at all. It looked like a lifelong handicap.

At the time, Char Vance was not a Catholic, but a friend got her to go to the apparition site of Medjugorje -- much besmirched these days by the devil. And for good reason: this is a place of enormous conversion. Ask Char. Her recounting of her trip and her conversion to the Catholic faith -- more importantly, to faith in Jesus -- is a hilarious excursion into deep spirituality. Finally, it has been captured on videotape.

At Medjugorje, where Char hobbled in a huge, lumbering cast, the Louisiana woman climbed the holy highland of Mount Krizevac despite those who thought it was crazy and despite her own skepticism. "I wondered why [after Apparition Hill], they wanted us to go up the mountain," she jokes. "I said, why do you have us climbing two hills, two mountains in one day? It's not like we're going to run out of fun things to do here!"

Here she was in a place with no TV and no hotels and no pools, drinking beer while everyone else was praying the Rosary in a way she saw as strange and obsessive.

But Char went up the "hill." As she walked a dirt road on the outskirts of the village, something had said to her, "You know, it will be just your luck if something big happens up there and you're gonna miss it." That's what had finally convinced her to go up. She and her companions caught a cab.  When they got to the mountain, many others were doing the same. 

"I didn't know a lot of prayers," says Char, who was not a Catholic at the time. "I knew 'Now I lay me down to sleep' and the Lord's Prayer, but that's the most wonderful thing you Catholics have: you have prayers for everything," she jokes. "You know, you got department heads. You lost something, you got St. Anthony. You got bad eyes you got St. Lucy..."

Heading up the mountain and praying at the Fourth Station of the Cross, Char propped up her cast on a boulder and here comes a monk -- a very unusual monk. "He had on this white robe and the hood up and he's carrying a tripod with nothing on it, no camera. And he's looking directly at me," says Char. "And coming to me. And he says, 'You know, when I was in Germany, I had the good fortune of meeting Theresa Neumann.' To me it was like saying, 'I met John Jones.' He said, 'You know who that is, don't you?' I said, 'No.' And he said, 'Well, she was a stigmatist.'"

Got me again, said Char.

"Don't you know what a stigmatist is?" the man asked.

Uh uh, replied Char.

He explained what a stigmatic was (someone who had received the wounds of Christ) and pulling out a rosary told her that he had put it on her stigmatic wounds and that it had since healed people of many problems, including cancer. "Here I am with this big cast on the rock, and he says, 'I would like your permission to put this on your head!'"

It's hard to convey how Char tells this story. Her inflections, her timing, her side comments are hilarious. The tape shows an audience in constant  stitches. But she was telling a serious story. "When something like this happens, you think 'somebody has tapped into your thoughts' -- and you better start thinking some holy pious thoughts QUICK!"

The mysterious stranger told Char to say seven Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Bes, and when she got to the top, the Creed. "When he left he would talk to others," she recounts. "If they were French he would begin talking in French. If you were Spanish he would start speaking Spanish. It was like he knew what you were before he got there."

At the seventh Station, the comedian noticed the "monk" was kind of winded. Char offered him a canteen of water. "He smiled a smile that went all the way through me," she says. 

Medjugorje is famous for the reports of mysterious strangers -- including monks or nuns in white. When Char got to the top, the seers were ready to have an apparition. Char didn't want to see anything -- afraid there would be hysteria and she would fall off the mountain! They were at the large cross there. "All of a sudden it's gets quiet, quiet, quiet. All of a sudden, that cross lit up, and it lit up, best I can describe it, like those old strobe lights, quick, and I see Jesus on the cross. I saw him like I have never seen a person before or since. He looked horrible -- horrible -- his nose was laying over, and He had this enormous crown, not this little crown like you see. This thing was like a big bird's nest. That quickly it lit up again and I saw it again."

Vance wasn't alone. Others in her group were astonished to witness the same thing. The mountain is known for a wide array of phenomena -- although this particular type we had not previously encountered. It is the cross where the Blessed Mother says she prays each day.

A woman next to Char said, "Did you just see Christ on that cross?"

Char felt "totally zapped." She now knew without a doubt that God and the Blessed Mother existed. When she got back, she had to go to the doctor for x-rays. She went in the waiting room "and all of a sudden the technician comes out with all these x-rays and he says [in a loud voice], 'Charlene Vance, you've been healed, you've been healed!'"

"You should have seen the people in there with their People magazines!" she jokes.

But it was true: the nurse ran in too, and then the doctor arrived -- gracing them with his "presence." "When's the last time you saw a doctor come into the waiting room!" she recalls with a roll of her eyes. "The nurse said, 'Did you hear about?'" The doctor said he had to take a look at it. It looked like there was bone growth! He asked Char to slowly try to see if she could move her toes. She could do more than that. She could rotate her whole ankle! She was with her mother. "I started dancing around and saying, 'Ma, ma, I can walk, praise God I can walk!' He runs out and brings out another doctor and they look at the x-rays and my mother says, 'Doctor, doctor, what is it,' and he says -- direct quote -- 'There's absolutely no correlation in her x-rays before she went and when she got back. There's total bone growth everywhere.'"

Jesus is the same as He was 2,000 years ago, she tells those who see her. "Miracles do happen. Believe in miracles. Expect a miracle. Miracles do happen," says Char, who now helps produce videos for Focus International, headed by retired Archbishop Phillip Hannan. "The real miracle was when God healed my head with the gift of faith. Miracles do happen, but they happen in God's time and in His way."

Char had some medals from Medjugorje and started walking all around and passing them out to the people in the waiting room. "Have a medal! Have a medal!" She walked out of that office and never needed crutches like they said she would need crutches and never received a day of therapy. 

And of yes: Charlene Vance became a Catholic six months to the day that she had climbed the mountain.

[Footnote: she also was to learn that Theresa Neumann, the stigmatic, had been born on Friday, April 8, which is Char's birthday -- in fact she too was born on a Friday -- and was injured trying to put out a fire in a barn. It was her ankle that was injured, and the mystic was healed a year later!]

[Resources in the Spiritdaily Bookstore: Char's video is No Phones in Medjugorje; see also Our Lady Speaks From Medjugorje, Medjugorje and the Church, and Queen of the Cosmos]
http://www.spiritdaily.net/char.htm

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Vatican hears Ivan & Jakov and two more visionaries of Medjugorje

http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/4773/guide-vatican-hears-the-male-seers-now/
Rome hears Ivan, Jakov and two more

Vatican Comitee hears four Medjugorje visionaries | MEDJUGORJE TODAY

By Jakob Marschner on Feb 19, 2012

Experienced Medjugorje guide Anita Pehar says the Vatican Commission has called visionaries Ivan Dragicevic and Jakov Colo to be questioned on Monday. Bosnian news portal confirms this, adding that Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti and Mirjana Dragicvevic-Soldo will join them, in line with the guide’s report that more of the seers are in Rome.

“The Medjugorje Commission is to meet tomorrow, February 20 in Rome. The meeting was postponed for a couple days due to the Cardinal consistory meeting held since Friday” she writes on her blog, Medjugorje Web Journal.The testimonies of visionaries Ivan Dragicevic and Jakov Colo form part of the agenda when the Vatican Commission on Medjugorje meets on February 20 in Rome, pilgrim official guide Anita Pehar informs from Medjugorje.
“We do know that Jakov and Ivan are to give their testimonies but they are not the only Medjugorje visionary in Rome for the same period of time” Anita Pehar also reports.
Early on February 20, Bosnian news portal Dnevnik likewise reported to have learned that Ivan and Jakov were to testify later on Monday, and that visionaries Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti and Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo had also been called.
For both Marija and Mirjana, a meeting on Monday will be their second audience with the international Commission headed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini. Both visionaries first gave their testimony in Rome in late November 2011.
After the audiences of Jakov and Ivan, all six Medjugorje visionaries will have appeared before the Commission. Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez opened in early June 2011, followed by Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic in early October.
The Commission will report its findings to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) before the end of 2012, Commission member Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Sarajevo told a press conference in Rome on February 14. It will be for CDF to issue a final report to Pope Benedict XVI who initiated the investigation on March 17th 2010.
Anita Pehar notes that, like everyone else involved with the Commission, the visionaries have taken an oath of silence. But from watching the seers, Anita Pehar thinks to have a good feeling of how work is moving forward in Rome:
“As I look at them, how they smile, I guess it must be all well.”

Mary of Medjugorje comes to save young man through apparition on the Internet!

Jan 23, 2012 - MEDJUGORJE MIRACLES WITH CHRISTINE WATKINS
I have heard many beautiful stories of Mary coming to a person and pulling them out of darkness in an instant, with her overwhelming embrace of love, and this is perhaps the most immediate conversion I’ve encountered. And, of all ways, it happened through the Internet!

The visionary Ivan and Cardinal Schönborn

As incredible and doubtful as it may be, Mary seems to be blessing people through her live apparitions, live-streamed through Mary TV. This wouldn’t make sense, except for the fact that God can do anything, and testimonies are verifying it. According to the Medjugorje visionary Ivan, Mary blesses those present to the live-streamed apparition, and any objects they bring to be blessed, just as she would those standing next to the visionary. (The next apparition to be broadcast will be January 31st through www.marytv.tv. Click on the link for details.) The theological assistant to Cardinal Schönborn, primary author of the Catholic Catechism, who supports the Medjugorje visionaries, clarified the Church’s teaching: “Section 12 of the ‘Enchirdion Indulgentiarum’ (the ‘Handbook of Indulgences’) can be taken analogically: Through broadcasts or digital transmissions, blessings will be received by those who participate ‘piously and devoutly’ and this includes also religious items brought with them, in the same way as if they had participated personally.” It would follow the mercy and kindness of God to bring His mother close to as many people as possible. The blessings may be an answer to the prayers those who lament not being able to travel to Medjugorje themselves.

I have no doubt that many would balk at this, or at least wonder; but before you assume God would somehow ignore modern day telecommunications to impart His grace in this way, read this story . . .

Coming Home through the Intercession of Our Lady

Scurrying down the steps, I frantically found myself in search of my gym shoes, which I’d misplaced the night before. I was due at the gym in five minutes to meet friends for a Thursday evening workout. Yes, once again, I was running late. At that exact moment, my phone rang. It was my mother: “Did you get a chance to watch Ivan’s and Marija’s apparition yet?” she asked. Responding impatiently, I replied “No mom, I’m already late as it is. I’ll watch it when I get back.” Sitting down to tie my shoes, I suddenly stopped. Feeling drawn towards the webcast of the Medjugorje visionaries’ apparition, and guilty for being reluctant with my mother, I gave in. It was the evening of September the 23^rd, 2010, and my life, as I knew it, was never going to be the same.

My senior picture at Bryan High School in Omaha, Nebraska, back in my "cool" days

Growing up I attended St. Bernadette Catholic grade school. Although tuition was expensive, the sacrifice my parents endured was worth the Catholic-based education my siblings and I received. Their sacrifice instilled in me a foundation I would newly discover later in life. When I was in grade school, we attended weekly Mass, including Sundays. After my eighth grade year, I decided to enroll in a public high school, solely for athletic reasons, and found myself going to Mass on Sundays only. And to be honest, the only reason I went is because my parents forced me and my twin brother to go; if I’d had it my way, I would have slept in until noon.

Life at this time was going as planned. I graduated from high school and entered my first year of college. College was exciting: new friends, new environment, living away from my parents. However, with this newly acquired freedom came the element of choice. I suddenly found myself choosing not to attend Mass. At this stage in my life, I became distant from God and the Catholic Church. I obtained a job working security at a downtown club and started traveling down a dead-end path. I found myself going home with various women whom I met at work. On several occasions, I ended up at strip-clubs until the early morning hours. With after-hour parties taking place weekly, there wasn’t a weekend when I was in bed sleeping before the sun came up. I would drive home intoxicated, past the church I used to attend, observing families arriving at morning Sunday Mass. The devil had me right where he wanted me, and I was only adding fuel to his fire. My life continued on this path for the next several years.

One evening my mother invited me to attend a speaking engagement at our local parish, where a man, having returned from the pilgrimage site of Medjugorje, gave a testimony of his recent trip to the small town located near Bosnia and Herzegovina. I reluctantly went, only because it would make my mother happy. As I sat there that night, I heard the man talk about a place where six visionaries were experiencing apparitions of Our Blessed Mother. I had no clue about Medjugorje, and to be completely honest, I didn’t care and wasn’t really paying attention. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Myself and one of God's greatest gifts to me, my twin brother. We were born on December the 8th, the feast day of Our Lady's Immaculate Conception

Time passed until last September, 2010. As a gift, my mother gave me a book that left a great impression on me. The book was titled, Queen of the Cosmos: Interviews with the Visionaries of Medjugorje. I took the book to work where it sat on my desk for several weeks, collecting dust. One day while sitting at work, with an hour or so to spare, and nothing else to do, I did something that would forever impact the depths of my soul. I opened the book and began to read. In this book, the visionaries shared how they saw the Virgin Mary, as I’ve never heard Her described, comparing Her beauty to beyond our comprehension. As I continued to read, I began to fall completely in love with the lady whom they were describing. After reading the book in just two days, I knew nothing but understood everything. This young, pure, loving, vibrant woman was my Mother, and I was Her son. I developed a passion and curiosity for the apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje, and this marked the beginning of what I call my miraculous conversion through her intercession.

A week after I’d read the Queen of the Cosmos book, my mother informed me that an apparition would be streamed live through the internet to various parts of the globe; and not only this, but according to the visionary Ivan, special graces would be granted to those witnessing the broadcast of the apparition, no matter where they were located. Although I felt somewhat reluctant to take time to observe the apparition, I was extremely excited to see the visionaries Ivan and Marija communicate with the Mother of God.

The visionaries Marija and Ivan at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna for their September 23, 2010 apparition

The date was September 23, 2010, at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. As I sat witnessing this live event on the Internet, I felt someone surround me with her presence, as though she had entered the room. I quickly looked up, expecting to see someone standing there. I didn’t see anyone, yet the person’s presence was becoming more and more intense. I describe it as if someone were standing with their face inches from yours, but you’re unable see anyone. At that moment, I felt a love that was not of this world, a love more pure that anything I’ve ever experienced. I was so overcome with the love radiating from this person in the room with me that I began to cry. In my humanity, I couldn’t comprehend the love that was being bestowed upon me. I could feel it radiating off of me. I compare it to someone running a high fever, being able to physically feel the heat emanating from his body. And I knew exactly who was in the room with me. I yelled out, “Mary!” “Mary!” “Mary!” while crying uncontrollably. My heart expanded like fire, “Mary!” I exclaimed. “Mary, I love you!” “I love you, Mary!” This love became so intense I put my hands over my face and continued crying. I asked aloud, “What’s happening to me?” “What is happening?” and cried, “Mary!” “Mary!” “Mary!” in between sobs. Finally, unable to stop my tears, I yelled out, “Show me yourself!” “Let me see you, Mary!” “Mary, please. I know you’re here. Please allow me to see you with my eyes!”

That night of September 23rd, 2010, I was twenty-four years old, still very young, and with my whole life ahead of me. However, after feeling the love of Mary, I was truly ready to die. I never saw her with my eyes, but I felt her with my whole being. Knowing that I could never receive that same love from anything or anyone here on Earth, I was ready to leave this world and go with Our Blessed Mother. It was a love so indescribable that at one point I cried out, “Mary, I’m ready to go. Mother, if you want to, take me with you, I’m ready.” And I meant this from the depths of my soul.

Growing up Catholic, I had received the Sacrament of Reconciliation many times, confessing my sins, not out of sorrow, but due to the fear of hell. As I sat wondering if my tears were ever going to cease, I realized that for the first time in my life, I was truly sorry for everything I’d done. I mean I was truly sorry from the bottom of my heart. I managed to pick my head up, and with tears streaming down my face, for the first time, I looked to God and said, “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” And I truly meant it.

After experiencing this miraculous conversion, I did one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life. I gave my yes to God; I gave Him complete control over my life. I figured I’d messed things up enough; and by turning the reigns over to Him, I couldn’t go wrong. Ever since giving God and Mother Mary my yes, I’ve been blessed with many gifts. Six months after my conversion, my mother and I flew to Sacramento, California, for a Medjugorje conference. To our surprise, the Medjugorje visionary, Marija, was present there. If you recall, Marija was one of the visionaries I observed at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. At the conference, I was able to meet and receive a hug from Marija: an incredible gift from God and Our Blessed Mother!

My Mother and I at the 2011 Sacramento Marian Conference. Here I was able to meet and be present with Medjugorje visionary Marija Pavlovic during her apparition with Our Blessed Mother.

My life hasn’t been the same since the evening of September 23, 2010. I have taken Our Lady’s messages to heart: fasting, praying the rosary, receiving the sacraments. I also recently joined a Bible study on campus. I have to laugh because growing up I was always extremely close to my mother. God saw that I was slipping away from Him and knew exactly what to do. He sent His Mother to bring Me back to Him. There isn’t a day or hour that goes by when I’m not thinking about Mary. I love her so much, and I’m so happy to have her as my Mother. I recently heard a man quote a wonderful phrase that I knew directly related to me. He said, “When my time comes. When I die and leave this world and am standing in front of Jesus at Heaven’s gates, Jesus will look at me and say, “Oh yes, My Mother has told Me all about you.” I’m so thankful for Our Lady’s intercession. She saved my life and healed my soul, bringing me closer to Her Son. I can’t help but feel excited, as I sit in anticipation, wondering where this new found love will lead me next.

Adam Holubar (Omaha, NE), edited by Christine Watkins

Read more stories, such as this, in the book, Full of Grace: Miraculous Stories of Healing and Conversion through Mary’s Intercession.

Teresa Fama's Medjugorje Testimony - 1987

ALWAYS PROTECTED
UNDER HER MANTLE

MY PILGRIMAGE TO MEDJUGORJE SAVED MY HUSBAND’S LIFE

By Teresa Fama  -- THE MEDJUGORJE STAR

Little did I know that my trip with St. Aidan’s group would be life-transforming, not only for my husband,

Augie, but for me as well.

When our group arrived in Yugoslavia in 1987, we were delayed by authorities, which was quite upsetting. Sr. Marci kept us peaceful and was determined nothing was going to take away from our visit. In 1987, there were no hotels, motels or restaurants in the area. We shared a home with nine people, with only one bathroom. Nothing could take away from the mission we had so looked forward to.

The week we spent away was phenomenal! The church was crowded with people at the 6:00 pm Mass, where the Blessed Mother would appear to the visionaries. Flashing lights would signal her arrival and again when she left. I kept praying for some proof to bring back home to those who did not believe in the daily appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. My prayers were answered when I looked up at the choir loft and saw her image, from floor to ceiling, in pale pink. I was astounded. I asked the Lord, “Is this Your mother?” She took a step closer and be- came a deeper, brighter pink. My friend, Lynn, who was standing with me also saw her. We were so stunned, we started crying. It was incredible!

The visionaries told us when the Blessed Mother would be appearing to them on Mt. Podbrdo, which would be an evening event. The weather was rainy on that particular night, but, as we climbed the small mountain, we all sang, “Ave Ave, Ave Maria.” It was a struggle to keep from falling on the wet, muddy and slippery rocks, while carrying umbrellas and flashlights. When we reached the top, we were disappointed to find that the Blessed Mother had already spoken to the visionaries with Baby Jesus in her arms on a huge rock, and then she left. Standing by the rock, we felt it was so sacred! While on the mountain, I offered my umbrella to a woman who was there for hours. She looked up at me and said, “I’m not getting wet.” Also, the candles were still burning during this very wet night. It was such a humbling experience.

The next day, the visionaries showed us the rock the Blessed Mother stood on. Her message was ... Peace, peace, peace ... only achieved through personal and universal repentance, prayer and fasting, plus a deeply-rooted faith. This will lead to true peace in oneself, as well as peace in the world.

The peace we felt all week was amazing. I lost ten pounds that week. Food did not interest me. That alone was a little miracle. We witnessed the miracle of the sun. It was pulsating like a beating heart, coming down toward us and then returning to the sky again. 

The people we saw included a blind man climbing Krizevac barefooted. I kept thinking, “What must heaven be like,” when this awesome feeling of the presence of Jesus and His beloved mother is so great here in this rural village.

The day we were to fly home, I felt that I had to go back to Mr. Podbrdo to touch the “rock” the Blessed Mother had stood on. I had this uneasy feeing. My friends tried to talk me out of going back. They were petrified that I would miss the bus taking us to the airport. I prayed that I could do it all in time, running up the hill, never falling. When I got to the very huge “rock,” I noticed a piece of rock on the ground. I picked it up and molded it into the “rock” like a puzzle peace. This I took with me when I left the mountain. I did get back in time to go to Mass. My intention was to break the stone into small pieces and give them to my fellow travelers, but they had other thoughts. 

They told me that the stone was my reward for going back, plus it had the letter T etched all over it. My name is Teresa.

On the plane home to New York, I was deep in thoughts of the supernatural events that had occurred in Medjugorje. I felt very close to Jesus and His beloved mother, looking out the window and thinking that just above the clouds is heaven! Then a very strange thing happened: I kept hearing a voice saying, “Take him to the doctor, take him to the doctor.”

My husband, Augie, was only 60 years old at the time. He seemed to be in good health. He never smoked, drank or ever complained of pain. Why would he need to go to a doctor? I could not let this go. He made an appointment to see a cardiologist who could not understand why we were insisting on a test to check his heart. During the test, it was found that Augie had five blocked arteries in his heart. The cardiologist would not let him get out of bed and performed surgery the next day. The doctor was astonished and told us that my husband could have had a fatal heart attack if the surgery was not performed immediately. That was 24 years ago. Augie is now 85, we are retired, live in Florida, enjoying the extra years the Blessed Mother gave us.

I share my story with you now because I experienced the heavenly intercession of our Blessed Mother. She is only interested in bringing the faithful back to her Son. Her blessing remains alive not only within my heart, but with all who feel her love. The urgent message is to reconcile with Jesus Christ and bring peace to a dangerously troubled world. God bless you.

In God's Company 2: The Virgin Mary Appears In Prison.

In God's Company 2: The Virgin Mary Appears In Prison.: The Virgin Appears In Prison The Medjugorje Sentinel, by Padraig Caughey In 1982, when I was 26 years old, I was captured by the Britis...

I said in despair, "Padre Pio, go to God, and ask Him to prove to me that He really exists in the space of one 'Hail Mary.' If He does not, I will know for certain that He does not exist, and I can go ahead and kill myself."

Our Lady Appeared! As soon as I had said, "Hail Mary," my

In God's Company 2: The Disappearing Priest

In God's Company 2: The Disappearing Priest: Saint Elijah's Church The Disappearing Priest By Tony Zuniga Fr. Jozo is considered by many to be a living saint. He went to prison t...

At the moment of Consecration, when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Mass, Fr. Jozo repeated Jesus’s words, “This is My Body!” As he slowly raised the Sacred Host, I heard two loud thumps to my right. Startled, I turned my head in that direction. Two women who were standing nearby had just dropped hard on their knees, as if hit by a two by four. I found out later that one of them did not believe in Jesus, and the other one did not believe in Mary. Apparently their conversion took place in an instant. tant. 

Gril cured of tumor in Medjugorje

http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/2738/girl-was-cured-from-tumor-during-apparition/

10 year old Italian girl Chiara Zoccante suffered from a pituitary tumor when she attended visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo’s apparition on January 2nd 2006. Afterwards Mirjana told Chiara’s parents that the Virgin Mary had put her hands on their girl. One month later doctors discovered that the tumor was gone.

Patrizia and Mariano, the parents of Chiara Zoccante who was healed from a pituitary tumor during an apparition in Medjugorje in January 2006

The cure must be immediate, permanent and unexplainable by medical treatments. When The Catholic Church investigates claims of miraculous healings, these three criteria must be met before a cure can be declared a miracle.

And so, when the medical experts assigned by the Vatican Commission charged with investigating the events in Medjugorje sift through the more than 400 case files of claimed healings, they might set aside the case of the Italian girl Chiara Zoccante, now in her seventh year of good health.

At age 10 Chiara was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor. She was first hospitalized on June 24th 2005, on the 24th anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugorje.

“By chance, at the hospital we met a friend who told us about the apparitions. We promised to take Chiara to Medjugorje as soon as she felt good enough physically. And we kept our word”, Chiara’s parents, Patrizia and Mariano Zoccante, told the weekly Italian magazine Oggi in June this year.

“We kept our word. On December 31th 2005 we arrived in the town of Virgin. We were excited by the grace of the place where everyone invited us to pray. Meeting with Father Jozo (Medjugorje’s parish priest by the time of the first apparition) was as a balm, but the most touching moment was the meeting with Mirjana during her monthly apparition”.

“On January 2nd 2006, Chiara was taken near the visionary. After the apparition Mirjana told us that the Virgin had put her hands on Chiara.”

“Exactly one month later, on February 2nd 2006, we went to the hospital for a routine MRI. The cancer had completely disappeared. And not only that: her hair also came back though the doctors told us that Chiara would remain bald, as a consequence of chemotherapy.”, Chiara Zoccante’s parents told Oggi.

Though Chiara’s story is only now breaking in English, it has been known for a while in Italy. On April 18th 2010 she testified before about 20,000 people gathered for a Medjugorje prayer meeting in Milan.

ARTHUR BOYLE - HEALED IN MEDJUGORJE, SEPT. 2000

Stories of miraculous healings from Medjugorje are definitely one of the most mysterious happenings in the past thirty years parallel to the claims of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Over 600 cases of healings have been recorded.  The Holy See observes with caution but the documentation only increases the observer’s curiosity of the Medjugorian happenings.
Actually, nobody really talks about or announces the healings in Medjugorje, but the belief that they occur stemmed from the apparitions, blessings, prayers, trips to Apparition Hill or on the high hilltop of Cross Hill some five hundred meters away.

  

Recorded cases of the healings of people from all over the world are kept in the Information center “Mir” run by the Franciscans of the St. James parish in Medjugorje along with all the given documentation which is then forwarded to medical and theological examiners.

Among the hundreds of cases, one that definitely stands out is of Arthur Boyle, an American from Hingham near Boston.  He was diagnosed with kidney cancer which spread to his lungs. Doctors sadly predicted a speedy death.

“I was diagnosed with cancer in 1999. They removed my kidney.  I thought the operation took care of everything, but eight months later during a follow-up exam, doctors found three tumors in my right lung. They gave me a less than a 5% chance that I’ll survive.  Radiation and chemotherapy was out of the question. Only an operation to remove my right lung was possible. At that time, my best friend asked me if I’ve heard of Medjugorje.”  recollects Arthur Boyle.

“I remembered then years back how my daughter, while studying medicine, brought me a book from Medjugorje titled ‘The Messages of Medjugorje’. My wife read me the messages but I didn’t pay much attention to it.  However, after my friend asked me about Medjugorje, I went home and asked my wife: ‘What is this Medjugorje? What did you tell me about Medjugorje?’ she told me all that she knew about that place of prayer, love, peace, and healing.”

One week later in September of 2000, Arthur Boyle, emotionally crushed by the progressing illness traveled to Medjugorje. At first, he felt a great power after confession, then he had an impressive meeting with the visionary, Vicka and father Jozo Zovko at Široki Brijeg, not far from Medjugorje. That gave him the strength to attempt climbing up Cross Hill.

“It was raining. As I was climbing, I felt tired. I had a strong pain in my legs and I felt as if everything was getting worse. My chest hurt like never before, but we climbed to the top. We were the only three adult men on Cross Hill.  I prayed with all my heart and soul for God to forgive me and to help me to get well. We cried as we prayed.  After that I called my wife on my cell phone, because my friends and I had a feeling that something strange happened to me up on Cross Hill. She then told me that she scheduled an operation to remove my right lung four days upon my return from Medjugorje. I asked her if she could ask the doctors to examine me one more time before I go into surgery. I also asked her to organize everything if it was possible when I got back to America.

Shortly after that, the doctor’s secretary called me and said: “Mr. Boyle, we know that you are in Medjugorje and we know why. That is really great, but you have cancer and it’s not going to go away all by itself, believe me. I assure you that you need this operation.” Arthur Boyle told his story.

He arrived home in America convinced that he was healed.

“God healed me. I am healed in my heart. I am spiritually healed. All that was rotten and unhealthy in me, I got rid of in confession in Medjugorje.” he repeated.

He then went to his doctor who showed him the old and new CAT scans.

“He told me to wait outside for five minutes then he called me into his office. He was scratching his beard while looking stunned.  He concluded that the cancer has just disappeared, that it was gone. We called all the attending doctors who had to operate on me and told them about it.  Astonished, they all accepted the fact that I was cured,” described Arthur Boyle. That day, September 14, 2000, instead of going into surgery to remove his right lung, he went to play golf.


There were hundred of cases like this one collected throughout these past three decades in Medjugorje. Evidence is recorded and stored in the “Mir” Information center in Medjugorje awaiting further processing from medical and theological experts.

SOURCE - MINISTRY VALUES

DEAF MAN HEARS IN MEDJUGORJE 09-27-2011

87 years old Domenico Mascheri from Italy had been using hearing devices since the 1970s.  But during a Mass in Medjugorje on September 27, 2011 he suddenly started to hear the priest still more clearly. One week into his new life with good, un-aided hearing, his wife still cannot understand she does not have to shout anymore.

Thousands of pilgrims gathered for Mass on the outdoor altar behind St. James Church in Medjugorje. It was here Domenico Mascheri regained his hearing after 40 years

Domenico Mascheri has gone to Mass all his life. But the 87 years old Italian from Cesena will never forget the outdoor Mass he attended on September 27 in Medjugorje.

During this Mass he started to hear by himself after 40 years when he was totally dependent on hearing devices to hear the little he could.

When Domenico Mascheri went to Mass that Tuesday evening, it was after two days when he had lived in a completely silent world, his hearing devices having run out of battery, he tells the Bologna-based local newspaper Il Resto del Carlino:

“We arrived at the sanctuary on Sunday, September 25. The next morning I realized that I had lost the batteries for my two hearing devices. I found myself in a world of my own because I saw others moving their lips, but I could not hear them.”

“I phoned my wife at home, but I could not talk to her. She told me upon my return that I had not heard her screaming. There was no possibility of finding spare batteries, and I resigned myself to continue my pilgrimage in total deafness”, Domenico Mascheri says.

After two days in a world without a sound, what should become the great day of the 87 years old dawned on September 27:

“On Tuesday I climbed Apparition Hill with the help of a stick. Then, in the evening, what I had never expected happened”, Domenico Mascheri tells Il Resto del Carlino.

“At 6 o’clock in the evening, together with five people in my group, I went to the open air Mass in the large square in front of the sanctuary. I sat on a bench, but not hearing what the priest said, I prayed for myself, so I could not answer the celebrant. Then suddenly, while reciting the Ave Maria, about halfway I started to hear the pastor’s voice that gradually got stronger.”

“I did not know what to do. The intensity of the celebrant’s voice increased, and at one point became so strong for me, accustomed to not hearing, that I thought I was dreaming. When I realized I was hearing through my ears without any artificial help, I started to cry, but I did not have the courage to say anything to my traveling companions.”

“At the evening dinner I loudly told everyone that I had found the batteries. They all asked me where I found them and I said, “they rained down from Heaven.” Everyone understood, stood up, hugged me and then we partied. We came home on Thursday and my wife still does not believe it because shouting to talk has ceased now after 40 years”, Domenico Mascheri tells.

“For me it is a miracle, but establishing it shall be to doctors and religious personel. I only know that after many years of suffering, I do not need the equipment. On Monday I will go to my doctor and my specialist, of course without the devices stuck in their ears, and carry out all the tests I have been through in these forty years.”

It was a long life of faith that culminated that evening in Medjugorje:

“Even as a child. I had a devotion to Jesus, Mary and the saints. I have had an adventurous life and always maintained a steadfast faith. I have always seen the apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje on television and felt the desire to go there. From the first time I heard of the miracles, I said that I had to go there”, Domenico Mascheri says.

“I am rejuvenated and I feel the weight of my 87 years even less. And all this thanks to the Madonna.“

source - http://www.medjugorjetoday.tv/2417/deaf-man-starts-hearing-in-medjugorje/

Spirit Daily  is circulating this story.