Father Livio from Radio Maria tells us about the ten secrets of Medjugorje

The ten secrets of Medjugorje

The great interest of the apparitions of Medjugorje does not only concern the extraordinary event that has been manifesting since 1981, but also, and increasingly, the immediate future of all humanity. The long stay of the Queen of Peace is in view of a historical passage full of deadly dangers. The secrets that Our Lady has revealed to the visionaries concern upcoming events which our generation will witness. It is a perspective on the future which, as is not uncommon for prophecies, risks raising anxiety and perplexity. The Queen of Peace herself is careful to urge our energies on the path of conversion, without giving anything to the human desire to know the future. However, understanding the message that the Blessed Virgin wants to convey to us through the pedagogy of secrets is fundamental. Their revelation in fact ultimately represents a great gift of divine mercy.

First of all, it must be said that the secrets, in the meaning of events that concern the future of the Church and the world, are not new to the apparitions of Medjugorje, but have their precedent of extraordinary historical impact in the secret of Fatima. On July 13, 1917, Our Lady to the three children of Fatima had roughly revealed the dramatic Via Crucis of the Church and humanity throughout the twentieth century. Everything he had announced was then punctually realized. The secrets of Medjugorje are placed in this light, although the great diversity in relation to the secret of Fatima lies in the fact that each one will be revealed to them before it happens. The Marian pedagogy of secrecy is therefore part of that divine plan of salvation which began in Fatima and which, through Medjugorje, embraces the immediate future.

It should also be stressed that the anticipation of the future, which is the substance of secrets, is part of the way in which God reveals himself in history. All Sacred Scripture is, upon closer inspection, a great prophecy and in a special way its conclusive book, the Apocalypse, which sheds divine light on the last stage of the history of salvation, the one that goes from the first to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In revealing the future, God manifests his lordship over history. Indeed, he alone can know with certainty what will happen. The realization of secrets is a strong argument for the credibility of faith, as well as a help that God offers in situations of great difficulty. In particular, the secrets of Medjugorje will be a test for the truth of the apparitions and a grandiose manifestation of divine mercy in view of the advent of the new world of peace.

The number of secrets given by the Queen of Peace is significant. Ten is a biblical number, which recalls the ten plagues of Egypt. However, it is a risky combination because at least one of them, the third, is not a "punishment", but a divine sign of salvation. At the time of writing this book (May 2002) three of the visionaries, those who no longer have daily but annual appearances, claim to have already received ten secrets. The other three, however, those who still have the apparitions of each day, received nine. None of the seers know the secrets of the others and they don't talk about them. However, secrets are supposed to be the same for everyone. But only one of the visionaries, Mirjana, received the task from Our Lady to reveal them to the world before they happen.

We can therefore speak of ten secrets of Medjugorje. They concern a not too distant future, as it will be Mirjana and a priest chosen by her to reveal them. It can reasonably be argued that they will not begin to be realized until after they have been revealed to all six visionaries. What the secrets can be known is summarized as follows by the visionary Mirjana: «I had to choose a priest to tell the ten secrets to and I chose the Franciscan father Petar Ljubicic. I have to tell him ten days before what happens and where. We must spend seven days in fasting and prayer and three days before he will have to tell everyone. He has no right to choose: to say or not to say. He has accepted that he will say everything to all three days before, so it will be seen that it is a thing of the Lord. Our Lady always says: "Don't talk about secrets, but pray and whoever feels me as Mother and God as Father, don't be afraid of anything" ».

When asked if the secrets concern the Church or the world, Mirjana replies: «I don't want to be so precise, because the secrets are secret. I'm just saying that the secrets are for the whole world. " As for the third secret, all the visionaries know it and agree in describing it: «There will be a sign on the hill of the apparitions - says Mirjana - as a gift for all of us, because we see that the Madonna is present here as our mother. It will be a beautiful sign, which cannot be done with human hands. It is a reality that remains and that comes from the Lord ».

As for the seventh secret Mirjana says: «I prayed to Our Lady if it was possible that at least a part of that secret was changed. She replied that we had to pray. We prayed a lot and she said that a part has been changed, but that it can no longer be changed, because it is the will of the Lord that must be fulfilled ». Mirjana maintains with great conviction that none of the ten secrets can be changed by now. They will be announced to the world three days before, when the priest will say what will happen and where the event will occur. In Mirjana (as in the other visionaries) there is the intimate security, not touched by any doubt, that what the Madonna has revealed in the ten secrets will necessarily be fulfilled.

Apart from the third secret which is a "sign" of extraordinary beauty and the seventh, which in apocalyptic terms could be called "scourge" (Revelation 15, 1), the content of the other secrets is unknown. Hypothesizing it is always risky, as on the other hand the most disparate interpretations of the third part of the secret of Fatima demonstrate, before it was made known. When asked if the other secrets are "negative" Mirjana replied: "I can't say anything." And yet it is possible, with an overall reflection on the presence of the Queen of peace and on all her messages, to reach the conclusion that all the secrets concern precisely that supreme good of peace that is at risk today, with great danger for the future of the world.

It is striking in the visionaries of Medjugorje and in particular in Mirjana, to whom Our Lady has entrusted the serious responsibility of making the secrets known to the world, the attitude of great serenity. We are far from a certain climate of anguish and oppression that characterizes many supposed revelations that proliferate in the religious undergrowth. In fact, the final outlet is full of light and hope. It is ultimately a passage of extreme danger on the human path, but which will lead to the gulf of light of a world inhabited by peace. The Madonna herself, in her public messages, does not mention the secrets, even if she does not keep silent about the dangers that lie before us, but prefers to look further, to the spring time towards which humanity wants to lead.

Undoubtedly the Mother of God "did not come to frighten us", as the visionaries like to repeat. She urges us to conversion not with threats, but with a plea of ​​love. However his cry: «I beg you, convert! »Indicates the seriousness of the situation. The last decade of the century showed how much peace was in danger in the Balkans, where Our Lady appears. At the beginning of the new millennium, threatening clouds have gathered on the horizon. The means of mass destruction risk becoming protagonists in a world crossed by unbelief, hatred and fear. Have we come to the dramatic moment when the seven bowls of God's wrath will be poured out on the earth (cf. Revelation 16: 1)? Could there indeed be a more terrible and more dangerous scourge for the future of the world than a nuclear war? Is it correct to read in the secrets of Medjugorje an extreme sign of divine mercy in the most dramatic if in the history of humanity?

Analogy with the secret of Fatima

It was the Queen of Peace herself who claimed to have come to Medjugorje to accomplish what she had started in Fatima. It is therefore a single plan of salvation that must be considered in its unitary development. In this perspective, it will certainly help to understand the ten secrets of Medjugorje, a combination with the secret of Fatima. It is a matter of grasping analogies that help to grasp in depth what the Madonna wants to teach us with the pedagogy of secrets. And in fact it is possible to grasp similarities and differences that illuminate and support each other.

First of all we must answer the questions of those who asked themselves what the third part of the secret of Fatima had revealed after it had already been fulfilled. Prophecy has a great apologetic and salvific value if it is revealed before and not after. On May 13, 2000, when the third secret was disclosed in Fatima, a certain sense of disappointment spread to public opinion, which expected revelations regarding the future and not the past of humanity.

Undoubtedly the fact of finding indicated in a revelation of 1917 the tragic Via Crucis of the world and in particular the bloody persecution of the Church, up to the attack on John Paul II, contributed greatly to give further prestige to the message of Fatima. However, it is legitimate to ask why God allowed the third part of the secret to be known only at the end of the century, when by now the Church, in the year of grace of the Jubilee, turned her gaze towards the third millennium.

In this regard it is reasonable to think that divine Wisdom allowed the 1917 prophecy to be known only now, because in this way it wanted to prepare our generation for the imminent future, marked by the secrets of the Queen of peace. Looking at the secret of Fatima, its content and its extraordinary realization, we are able to take the secrets of Medjugorje seriously. We are faced with an admirable divine pedagogy that wants to spiritually prepare the men of our time to face the most serious crisis in history, which is not behind us but in front of our eyes. Those who have listened to the revelation of the secret, made on May 13, 2000 in the great esplanade of the Cova da Iria, will be the same ones who will listen to the revelation of the secrets of the Queen of peace three days before they come true.

But it is above all as regards the contents that it is possible to draw useful lessons from the secret of Fatima. In fact, if we analyze it in all its parts, it does not concern the upheavals in the cosmos, as usually happens in apocalyptic scenarios, but the upheavals in human history, crossed by the satanic winds of denial of God, of hatred, of violence and of war . The secret of Fatima is a prophecy about the spread of unbelief and sin in the world, with the harmful consequences of destruction and death and with the inevitable attempt to annihilate the Church. Negative protagonist is the great red dragon who seduces the world and incites him against God, trying to bring him to ruin. It is not for nothing that the scenario opens with the vision of hell and ends with that of the cross. And Satan's attempt to bring the greatest number of souls to ruin and at the same time is Mary's intervention to save them with the blood and prayers of the martyrs.

It is reasonable to think that the secrets of Medjugorje echo in substance these themes. On the other hand, men have certainly not ceased to offend God as Our Lady of Fatima complained. Indeed, we can say that the muddy wave of evil has only grown. State atheism has disappeared in many countries, but an atheistic and materialistic vision of life has progressed everywhere in the world. Humanity, in this beginning of the third millennium, is far from recognizing and accepting Jesus Christ, the King of peace. On the contrary, unbelief and immorality, selfishness and hatred are rampant. We have entered a phase of history in which men, driven by satan, will not hesitate to pull the most terrible instruments of destruction and death out of their arsenals.

To affirm that some aspects of the secrets of Medjugorje may concern catastrophic wars, in which weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear, chemical and bacteriological ones, are used, basically means making humanly based and reasonable predictions. On the other hand, we must not forget that Our Lady presented herself in the small village of Herzegovina as the Queen of peace. You said that wars can be stopped with prayer and fasting, however violent they may be. The last decade of the century, with the wars of Bosnia and Kosovo, was a general test, a prophecy of what could happen to this humanity so far from the God of love.

«On the horizon of contemporary civilization - says John Paul II -, especially of the more developed one in a technical-scientific sense, the signs and signs of death have become particularly present and frequent. Just think of the arms race and the inherent danger of nuclear self-destruction "(Dominum et viv 57). "The second half of our century - almost in proportion to the errors and transgressions of our contemporary civilization - carries within itself such a horrible threat of nuclear war that we cannot think of this period except in terms of the incomparable accumulation of suffering, up to to the possible self-destruction of humanity "(Salv doloris, 8).

However, the third part of the secret of Fatima, rather than the war, intends to highlight the fierce persecution of the Church with dramatic hues, represented by the Bishop dressed in white who climbs Calvary accompanied by the people of God. It is legitimate to wonder if an even more brutal persecution don't wait for the Church in the near future? An affirmative answer at this moment may seem exaggerated, because today the evil one achieves his most striking victories with the weapon of seduction, thanks to which he extinguishes the faith, cools the charity and empties the churches. However, growing signs of anti-Christian hatred, accompanied by summary executions, are spreading around the world. It is to be expected that the dragon will "vomit" (Revelation 12, 15) all his fury to persecute those who have persevered, in particular he will try to annihilate the ranks of Mary, who has prepared herself in this time of grace that we are experiencing.

«After that I saw the temple containing the Tent of Testimony open in heaven; from the temple came the seven angels who had the seven flagella, clothed in pure linen, shining, and girded on the chest with gold belts. One of the four living beings gave the angels seven sets of gold bowls full of the wrath of God that lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke that came from the glory of God and his power: no one could enter the temple until the seven scourges of the seven angels were finished "(Revelation 15, 5-8).

After the time of grace, during which the Queen of Peace has gathered her in the "Tent of Testimony", will the period of the seven scourges begin, when the angels pour out the cups of divine wrath on earth? Before answering this question, it is necessary to understand the true meaning of "divine wrath" and "scourge". In fact the face of God is always that of love, even in those moments when men can no longer see it.

«Satan wants hatred and war»

There is no doubt that the image of God punishing because of sins often occurs in Sacred Scripture. We find it both in the Old and in the New Testament. In this regard, Jesus' admonition to the paralytic who had healed at the pool of Betzata impresses: «Here you are healed; do not sin any more, lest something worse happen to you "(John 5, 14). It is a way of expressing that we also find in private revelations. Suffice it in this regard to refer to the sorrowful words of Our Lady in La Salette: «I gave you six days to work, I reserved the seventh, and you do not want to give it to me. This is what makes my Son's arm so heavy. Those who lead the wagons cannot swear without mixing the name of my Son with it. These are the two things that weigh down my Son's arm so much ».

The arm of Jesus, ready to strike this world immersed in sin, as it should be understood so that the face of the God of revelation is not clouded, which, as we know, is prodigal and boundless love? Is the God who punishes sins different from the Crucifix who, in the solemn moment of death, turns to the Father saying: "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they do" (Luke 23, 33)? It is a question that finds its solution in Holy Scripture itself. God chastises not to destroy, but to correct. As long as we are in this lifetime, all crosses and afflictions of various kinds are oriented towards our purification and sanctification. Ultimately also the punishment of God, which has our conversion as its ultimate goal, is an act of his mercy. When man does not respond to the language of love, God uses the language of pain to save him.

On the other hand, the etymological root of "punishment" is the same as "chaste". God "punishes" not to avenge the evil we have committed, but to make us "chaste", that is, pure, through the great school of suffering. Is it not true that an illness, an economic setback, a misfortune or the death of a loved one are life experiences through which we feel the precariousness of all that is ephemeral and turn the soul to what is truly important and essential ? The punishment is part of the divine pedagogy and God, who knows us well, knows how much we need it because of our "hard neck". In fact, what father or mother does not use a steady hand to prevent imprudent and careless children from taking a dangerous path?

However, we must not think that, even for pedagogical reasons, it is always God who sends us "the punishments" with which to correct us. This could also be possible, especially with regards to the upheavals of nature. Was it not through the flood that God punished humanity for universal perversion (cf. Genesis 6, 5)? Our Lady in La Salette also places herself in this perspective when she says: «If the harvest goes badly, it is only your fault. I showed it to you last year with potatoes; you didn't notice. On the contrary, when you have found them faulty, you swore and interleaved the name of my Son. They will continue to rot, and this year there will be no more at Christmas ». God rules the natural world and it is Heavenly Father who makes it rain over the good as well as over the bad. Through nature God gives his blessing to men, but at the same time he also addresses his pedagogical calls.

However, there are punishments that are directly caused by the sin of men. Let's think, for example, of the scourge of the fa me, which has at its origin the selfishness and greed of those who, having the superfluous, do not want to reach out to the poor brother. We also think of the scourge of many diseases, which persist and spread due to the selfishness of a world that invests resources in weapons instead of health. But it is above all the most terrible of all the scourges, the war, to be directly caused by men. War is the cause of countless evils and, as regards our particular historical passage, it represents the greatest danger that humanity has ever had to face. In fact, today a war that gets out of hand, as it is possible to happen, could cause the end of the world.

As for the huge scourge of war we must therefore say that it comes exclusively from men and, ultimately, from the evil one who injects the poison of hatred into their hearts. War is the first fruit of sin. Its root is the rejection of the love of God and neighbor. Through war sa tana he draws men to himself, makes them partakers of his hatred and ferocity, takes possession of their souls and uses them to melt God's mercy plans towards them. "Satan wants war and hatred," warns the Queen of Peace in the aftermath of the tragedy of the two towers. Behind human evil is the one who has been a murderer from the beginning. So in what sense can we say, as Our Lady said in Fatima, that "God is going to chastise the world for his crimes, through war ..."?

This expression, despite the apparent punitive meaning, in reality still has, in its deep meaning, a salvific value and is attributable to a design of divine mercy. In fact, war is an evil caused by sin that has taken over the heart of man and as such is an instrument of satan to bring humanity to ruin. Our Lady of Fatima came to offer us the chance to avoid a hellish experience like that of the Second World War, which was undoubtedly one of the scariest scourges that has ever struck humanity. Not having been listened to and not having ceased to offend God, they fell into an abyss of hatred and violence that could have been fatal. It was no coincidence that the war stopped just when nuclear weapons had been developed, capable of causing irreparable destruction.

From this tremendous experience, caused by hardness of heart and refusal to convert, God has drawn what good I know his infinite mercy could obtain. First of all the blood of the martyrs, who with their charity, their prayers and the offering of their lives have obtained divine blessing on the world and saved the honor of mankind. In addition, the admirable testimony of faith, generosity and courage of countless people, who have stemmed the overwhelming flood of evil with the dams of good works. During the war, the righteous shone in the sky like stars of incomparable brightness, while the anger of God poured out on the unrepentant, who remained obstinate until the end on the path of iniquity. However, for many the same scourge of war was a call for conversion, because it is typical of man, the eternal child, to realize satanic deception only when he feels the terrible consequences on his skin.

The cups of divine wrath that God sheds on the world (cf. Revelation 16, 1) are certainly plagues with which, directly mind or indirectly, punishes humanity because of its sins. But they are aimed at the conversion and eternal salvation of souls. Furthermore, divine mercy mitigates them because of the prayers of the righteous. In fact, the golden bowls are also the symbol of the prayers of the saints (see Revelation 5, 8) who solicit divine intervention and the effects that derive from it: the food of good and the punishment of the powers of evil. In fact, no scourge, however provoked by satanic hatred, can achieve its goal of bringing humanity to total ruin. Not even the current critical passage of history, which sees the powers of evil "untied by chains", cannot be considered hopeless. The ten secrets of Medjugorje must therefore be seen in the classical perspective of faith. Even if they allude to frightening and fatal events for the very survival of humanity (such as catastrophic wars with weapons of mass destruction), they remain under the rule of merciful love which, with our help, can bring good even from the greatest evil.

The secrets of Medjugorje, biblical prophecies

The revelation of the future, which comes to us from heaven, must always be interpreted as an act of God's fatherly love, even if it is a question of dramatic events. In fact, in this way the divine Wisdom wants to indicate to us what consequences sin and refusal to convert lead to. It also offers the possibility to the good people to intercede and to change the course of events with their prayers. Finally, in the case of impenitence and hardness of heart, God gives the righteous a way of salvation or, even greater gift, the grace of martyrdom.

The ten secrets of Medjugorje are a revelation about the future that perfectly reflects the divine pedagogy. They are not meant to frighten, but to save. As times get closer, the Queen of Peace does not tire of repeating that we must not be afraid. In fact, whoever is in the wake of her light is aware that she is preparing a way out of the infernal trap that the evil one has designed to drag humanity into the dark abysses of despair.

To understand the seriousness and credibility of the secret of Fatima as well as those of Medjugorje it is necessary to keep in mind that they reflect the fundamental structure of the prophecies of Sacred Scripture. In them God, through his prophets, foretells an event that will take place if the appeal to conversion falls on deaf ears. In this regard, Jesus' prophecy on the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem is very instructive. Of this grandiose building he says that stone by stone will not remain, because the moment in which the grace of salvation has passed was not accepted.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times have I wanted to gather your children, like a hen picks up the chicks under the wings, and you didn't want to!" (Matthew 23, 37). Here Jesus indicates the root of the ma who afflict humanity throughout its history. It is about unbelief and hardness of heart in the face of the calls of heaven. The consequences that derive from it are not attributable to God, but to men themselves. To the disciples who approached him to make him observe the construction of the temple, Jesus replies: «Do you see all these things? Truly, I say to you, there will not remain stone upon stone which will not be torn down "(Matthew 24: 1). Having rejected the spiritual Messiah, the Jews have traveled the path of political messianism to the end, thus being annihilated by the Roman legions.

We are here faced with the essential scheme of biblical prophecy. It is not an abstract speculation about the future, in order to satisfy morbid curiosities or to cultivate the illusion of dominating the time and events of history, of which only God is the Lord. On the contrary, it makes us responsible for events whose realization depends on our free choices. The context is always that of an invitation to conversion, to avoid the inevitable catastrophic consequences of evil. In Fatima Our Lady had heralded an "even worse" war if men had not ceased to offend God. There is no doubt that if the invitation to penance had been accepted, the future would have been different. The overall framework in which to place the secrets of Medjugorje is the same. The Queen of Peace made the most pressing call for conversion that has ever occurred since the dawn of redemption. Future events are characterized by the response that men are giving to the messages that she gives us.

The secrets of Medjugorje, gift of divine mercy

The biblical perspective in which to place the ten secrets of Medjugorje helps us to free ourselves from a psychological climate of anguish and fear and to look to the future with the serenity of faith. The Queen of Peace is working on an admirable plan of salvation, whose beginning dates back to Fatima and which is in its full development today. We also know that there is an arrival point that Our Lady describes as the blossoming of a spring time. This means that the world will first have to go through a period of winter frost, but it will not be such as to jeopardize the future of humanity. This light of hope that illuminates the future is certainly the first and greatest gift of divine mercy. In fact, men endure even the most difficult tests if they have the certainty that in the end they will have a positive outlet. The castaway doubles his energy if he sees the long-awaited gulf of light on the horizon. Without prospects of life and hope, men throw in the towel without fighting or resisting anymore.

It cannot be forgotten that although the revealed secrets will now necessarily come true, however one of them, presumably the most impressive, has been mitigated. The seventh secret created a strong emotion in the visionary Mirjana who asked the Madonna to be canceled. The Mother of God asked for prayers for this intention and the secret has been mitigated. In this case, what the Bible tells about the preaching of the prophet Jonah in the great city of Nineveh, which completely avoided the punishment announced by heaven by accepting the call for conversion, was not realized.

However, how can we not see in this mitigation of the seventh secret the maternal touch of Mary which shows a future "catastrophe" in vision, so that the prayer of the good can at least partially remove it? Some may object: "Why on earth did the Lord not allow the power of intercession and sacrifice to completely erase it? ». Perhaps one day we will realize that what God has decided to happen has been necessary for our true good.

In particular, the way in which Our Lady wanted the ten secrets to be revealed appears as an admirable sign of divine mercy. The event in the world three days before each event takes place is an extraordinary gift of which perhaps only at that moment we will know how to appreciate its invaluable value. Let's not forget that the realization of the first secret will be a warning for everyone regarding the seriousness of the prophecies of Medjugorje. The following ones will undoubtedly be looked at with increasing attention and openness of heart. The immediate public disclosure of each secret and subsequent updating will have the effect of strengthening faith and the value of credibility. It will also prepare the souls who are open to grace to face what must happen without fear (cf. Luke 21, 26).

It should also be stressed that revealing three days before what is about to happen and in what place it will occur, also means offering unexpected opportunities for salvation. We are unable to understand now in all its extraordinary greatness and in its concrete implications this gift of divine mercy, but the time will come when men will realize it. In this regard, it should be emphasized that there is no shortage of very eloquent biblical precedents, where God reveals a catastrophe in advance, so that the good can be saved. Was this not so on the occasion of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, when God wanted to save Lot and his family who lived there?

"When dawn appeared, the angels took care of Lot, saying:" Come on, take your wife and daughters that you have here and go out so as not to be overwhelmed in the punishment of the city. " Lot lingered, but those men took him, his wife and his two daughters by the hand, for a great act of mercy from the Lord towards him; they brought him out and led him out of the city ... When the Lord rained sulfur and fire from the Lord upon Sodom and Gomorrah from the sky. He destroyed these cities and the whole valley with all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the soil "(Genesis 19, 15-16. 24-25).

The concern to give a chance of salvation for the righteous who believe we find it also in the prophecy of Jesus on the destruction of Jerusalem which, as we know from history, was realized among unspeakable cruelties. In this regard the Lord expresses himself thus: «But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its devastation is near. Then those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, those who are inside the cities go away, and those in the countryside do not return to the city; in fact, they will be days of revenge, so that everything that has been written may be accomplished "(Luke 21, 20-22).

As is clear, it is part of the divine pedagogy of the prophecies to offer salvation possibilities to those who believe. As for the ten secrets of Medjugorje, the gift of mercy lies precisely in this three-day advance. It is therefore no wonder that the visionary Mirjana stressed the need to make the world known what will be revealed. It will be a real judgment of God that will pass through people's response. We are faced with an unusual fact in Christian history, but with roots that sink into Scripture. This too gives the dimension of the exceptional moment that looms on the horizon of humanity.

It has been rightly pointed out that the third secret, regarding the visible, indestructible and beautiful sign, that the Madonna will leave on the mountain of the first apparitions is a gift of grace that will illuminate a panorama where dramatic scenes will not be missing and this is already a visible proof of the merciful love. However, it is useful to note that the third secret will precede the seventh and others whose contents we do not know. This too is a great gift from the Madonna. In fact, the third secret will strengthen the faith of the weakest and above all will support hope in the moment of trial, being a lasting sign, "which comes from the Lord". Its light will shine in the dark of the time of affliction and will give the good people the strength to persevere and to testify to the end.

The overall picture that comes out of the description of the secrets, as far as we are able to know, is such as to reassure the souls who allow themselves to be illuminated by faith. To a world that slips on the inclined plane that leads to ruin, God offers extreme remedies for salvation. Of course, if humanity had responded to the messages of Medjugorje and even earlier to the appeals of Fatima, it would have been prevented from passing through the great tribulation. However, even now a positive outcome is possible, indeed it is certain.

Our Lady in Medjugorje came as Queen of peace and will eventually crush the dragon's head of hatred and enmity who wants to destroy the world. What will happen in the future is presumably the work of men, increasingly at the mercy of the spirit of evil because of their pride, unbelief in the gospel and unbridled immorality. However, the Lord Jesus, in his infinite goodness, decided to save the world from the consequences of his iniquities, also because of the correspondence of the good. Secrets are undoubtedly a gift from his merciful Heart which, even from the greatest evils, knows how to draw an unexpected and undeserved good.

The secrets of Medjugorje, proof of faith

We would not grasp the richness of the divine pedagogy that is expressed through the secrets of Medjugorje if we did not highlight that they constitute a great test of faith. The word of Jesus, according to which salvation always comes from faith, also applies to them. In fact, God is ready to open the cataracts of merciful love, provided that there are those who believe, intercede and welcome in trust and abandonment. How could the Jewish people before the Red Sea have been saved if they had not believed in the power of God and if, once the waters were opened, they had not had the courage to cross them with total confidence in divine omnipotence? However, the first to believe was Moses and his faith awakened and supported that of all the people.

The time marked by the secrets of the Queen of Peace will need unshakeable faith, first of all on the part of those whom Our Lady has chosen as her witnesses. It is no coincidence that Our Lady often invites her followers to be "witnesses of the faith". In their own small way, the visionary Mirjana in the first place, therefore also the priest chosen by her to reveal the secrets to the world, will have to be the heralds of faith in that moment when the darkness of unbelief will envelop the earth. We cannot underestimate the task that Our Lady has assigned to this young woman, married and mother of two children, in indicating to the world events that it is not an exaggeration to consider decisive.

In this regard, a reference to the experience of the shepherd children of Fatima is instructive. Our Lady had heralded a sign for the last apparition of October 13 and the expectation of the people who had rushed to Fatima to attend the event was great. Lucia's mother, who did not believe in the apparitions, because of the crowd feared for the life of her daughter in the event that nothing had happened. Being a fervent Christian, she wanted her daughter to go to confession, so as to be prepared for any eventuality. Lucia, however, as well as the two cousins ​​Francesco and Giacinta, were very firm in believing that what the Madonna had put in would have been achieved. She agreed to go to confession, but not because she had doubts about the words of the Madonna.

In the same way, the visionary Mirjana (we do not know what role the Madonna will assign to the other five visionaries, but they too must all support her together) must be firm and unshakable in faith, revealing the content of each secret at the time established by the Madonna. The same faith, the same courage and the same trust must have the priest you have already chosen (this is the Franciscan friar Petar Ljubicic), who will have the difficult task of announcing every secret to the world with precision, clarity and without hesitation . The firmness of mind that this task requires explain why the Madonna asked them for a week of prayer and fasting on bread and water, before the secrets are made public.

But at this point, alongside the faith of the protagonists, the faith of the followers of the "Gospa", that is, of those whom she has prepared for this time, having accepted her call, must shine forth. Their clear and firm testimony will be of utmost importance for the distracted and incredulous world in which we live. They can't just stand by the window and act as bulls to see how things turn out. They will not be able to stand diplomatically away, for fear of compromising themselves. They will have to testify that they believe in Our Lady and take her admonitions seriously. They will have to shake this world from torpor and arrange it to understand the passage of God.

Every secret, thanks to the serene mobilization of Mary's army, must be a sign and a reminder for all humanity, as well as an event of salvation. How can we hope that the world will grasp the grace of the revelation of secrets if Mary's witnesses are paralyzed by doubt and fear? Who if not will help the indifferent, unbelievers and enemies of Christ to save themselves from the rising tide of anguish and despair? Who, if not the followers of the "Gospa", now spread all over the world, will be able to help the Church to live in faith and hope the most difficult times in the history of humanity? Our Lady expects a lot from those whom she prepared for the moments of the trial. Their faith must shine before the eyes of all men. Their courage will have to support the weakest and their hope must instill confidence during the stormy navigation, until the shore is reached.

To those who, within the Church, love to argue and argue about the ecclesiastical approval of the apparitions of Medjugorje, one must respond with a statement that Our Lady made from the earliest times. She said that we didn't have to worry about it, because she would take care of it personally. Our commitment should instead have focused on the path of conversion. Well, the time of the ten secrets will be the one in which the truth of the apparitions will be demonstrated.

The sign on the mountain, announced by the third secret, will be a reminder for everyone, as well as a reason for reflection and with a win for the Church. But it will be the subsequent events that manifest Mary's maternal love and her tickle udine for our salvation. In the time of trial, in which the Mother of Jesus will intervene in the name of her Son to indicate a way of hope, all humanity will discover the kingship of Christ and his lordship over the world. It will be Mary, working through the testimony of her children, to manifest to men what the authentic faith is, in which they will be able to find salvation and hope for a future of peace.

Source: Book "The woman and the dragon" by Father Livio Fanzaga