What Has Our Blessed Mother Said at Medjugorje About Recent Events?

Disconcerting and troubling events continue to occur in this month of October 2023.  The war in the Ukraine continues unabated.  Israel is preparing to launch ground operations in Gaza in response to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s devastating surprise attack that left thousands of Israelis dead and wounded and over 200 being held hostage by Hamas. Iran is making threats against the U.S. and Israel.  A devastating earthquake hit Afghanistan earlier this month and a Category Five Hurricane Otis just struck Acapulco, Mexico.  So what has Our Blessed Mother said at Medjugorje about these recent events?

Our Blessed Mother’s appearances at Medjugorje are among the most well-known of the Marian apparitions of modern times.  Since June 1981, six young people in this small village in the Bosnia-Herzegovina region of the Balkans have received numerous messages of dire warnings about the future of humanity, ie. the End Times.  Our Blessed Mother’s appearances at Medjugorje are an urgent call for humanity to return to God before the fulfillment of the End Times.  It is a call to prayer, penance, fasting, reading the Bible and receiving the Holy Eucharist.  Early in her appearances to them, Our Blessed Mother informed the six seers / visionaries that they would each receive ten secrets about the coming events.  Three of the seers have received all ten secrets; the other three have received nine secrets.  The ninth and tenth secrets pertain to serious chastisements for the world’s sins.  Being that they are secrets, little has been publicly revealed about the exact content of the ten secrets.

You can find more about Medjugorje online at Wayne Weible’s website https://www.weiblecolumns.org/story-of-medjugorje/medjugorje-messages  ; Mark Mallet and Daniel O’Connor’s website https://www.countdowntothekingdom.com/why-the-visionaries-of-our-lady-of-medjugorje/  ; and https://www.markmallett.com/blog/the-truth-of-medjugorje-you-may-not-know/  and Michael H. Brown’s books on Marian apparitions including The Final Hour, The Trumpet of Gabriel, and Sent to Earth. 

Our Blessed Mother’s messages are often serious warnings but also encouraging.  For example, in her 25 September 1987 message, Our Blessed Mother said:

 "Dear children, today also I want to call you all to prayer. Let prayer be your life. Dear children, dedicate your time only to Jesus and He will give you everything that you are seeking. He will reveal Himself to you in fullness. Dear children, satan is strong and is waiting to test each one of you. Pray, and that way he will neither be able to injure you nor block you on the way of holiness. Dear children, through prayer grow all the more toward God from day to day. Thank you for having responded to my call."  (See https://www.medjugorje.org/msg87.htm  )

On 25 June 2021, Our Blessed Mother gave her monthly message to visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti.  This happened to also be the 40th Anniversary of the first Medjugorje apparitions.   To Marija, Our Blessed Mother said,

 "Dear children! My heart is joyful because through these years I see your love and openness to my call. Today I am calling all of you: pray with me for peace and freedom, because Satan is strong and by his deception, wants to lead away all the more hearts from my motherly heart. That is why decide for God so that it may be good for you on the earth which God gave you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”  (See https://www.medjugorje.org/msg21.htm  )

To be fair, the alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have generated a great deal of controversy and even outright hostility.  Several local bishops in Bosnia-Herzegovina have denied their authenticity and there are many prominent persons including Catholic leaders who reject them.  Significantly, the Vatican has taken over evaluating the authenticity of the apparitions.  In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed a commission to study the authenticity of the Medjugorje apparitions.  Chaired by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Commission released its findings in May 2017.  (See https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/36051/medjugorje-the-findings-of-the-ruini-report  )  Among its findings was the recommendation that the first seven apparitions be deemed authentic and of supernatural nature.  

 To date, the Vatican has not ruled on whether the apparitions are legitimate or not.  This is not surprising as the Vatican tends to wait until after the alleged apparitions have ended before making such determinations.  Significantly, though, in May 2019, Pope Francis I authorized dioceses and local parishes to organize and conduct official pilgrimages to Medjugorje whereas previously only privately-run pilgrimages were permitted. (See https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-05/medjugorje-the-marian-faith-and-the-decision-of-the-pastor.html  ). 

At some point, Our Blessed Mother will stop appearing to the Medjugorje visionaries.  Over time, the frequency of Mary’s appearances have decreased.  The visionaries continue to receive periodic visits from Our Blessed Mother varying from daily to annually.   Reportedly she told the visionaries that her appearances at Medjugorje will be the last such appearances.  After Our Blessed Mother’s appearances come to an end, there will be three warnings and a visible supernatural sign on Apparition Mountain authenticating the apparitions.  According to the visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo, after that there will be little time left for conversion. 

It is very difficult to summarize and analyze the Medjugorje apparitions and Our Blessed Mother’s messages in this short article.  There is much to be believed and there are strong indications of the supernatural nature and authenticity (to borrow the Ruini Report’s verbiage) of the Medjugorje phenomenon.  Therefore I highly encourage you (if you have not done so already) to research further into the Medjugorje apparitions and to pray for God’s discernment. 

Within the last several days, Our Blessed Mother gave messages to two of the Medjugorje visionaries that speak specifically about these turbulent times and the violence and evil gripping our world.  

On 20 October 2023, Our Blessed Mother told visionary Ivan Dragicevic:

“Dear children! Today I invite you to pray for peace. At this time, peace is threatened in a special way, and I ask you to renew fasting and prayer in your families and to encourage others to pray for peace. Dear children, I want you to understand the seriousness of the situation and that much of what will happen depends on your prayer and perseverance. Dear children, I am with you and I invite you to seriously start praying and fasting, Thank you for responding to my call!”  (See https://medjugorje.com/another-astounding-message-from-our-lady-october-20-2023/  )

On 25 October 2023, Our Blessed Mother told visionary Marija Pavlovic Lunetti:

“Dear children! Winds of evil, hatred and peacelessness are blowing through the earth to destroy lives. That is why the Most High sent me to you, to lead you towards the way of peace and unity with God and people. You, little children, are my extended hands: pray, fast and offer sacrifices for peace – the treasure for which every heart yearns. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

(See https://medjugorje.com/latest-25-message/our-lady-of-medjugorjes-october-25-2023-monthly-message-for-the-world/  ; https://www.medjugorje.org/  ; and https://www.weiblecolumns.org/story-of-medjugorje/medjugorje-messages 

Again as I mentioned in a previous article, the faithful are not required to believe in private revelations such as those at Medjugorje; nevertheless, there are strong reasons for us to pray, discern and consider them.  Heaven is calling out to us and we would do well to listen and heed. 

At Medjugorje and various other places, Our Blessed Mother has repeatedly told us to pray for peace, to fast, and to make reparations for sin and sinners.  Her most recent messages at Medjugorje continue this theme.  Our Mother’s latest messages at Medjugorje might indicate that the events of this month are precursors to the rise of the anti-Christ and the triumphant return of Our Savior and they might not be such precursors.  Even if we are not on the brink of the events prophesied in the Book of Revelation, we would do well to act upon Our Mother’s admonitions, for the good of all souls and of our own souls. 

May the Holy Spirit guide us to carefully and faithfully discern these messages and the signs of the times and empower us to act accordingly.