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"Mary, give me your heart: so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate; your heart so full of love and

humility that I may be able to receive Jesus in the Bread of Life and love him as you love him

and serve him in the distressing guise of the poor." -Blessed Mother Teresa

Mary, the Mother of Christ and our Holy Mother, is the very reminder of how we can

always stay close to her Son, Jesus. Through her message, we learn how to become better

disciples of Jesus and how to always please Him. We learn so much from Mary. One of the many

lessons we learn from Mary is how to convert and open our hearts to Gods love, forgiveness,

and grace. She reminds us that we can all change the world if we turn to God with all the love in

our hearts. But, it is our job to take it upon ourselves to make that conversion. We have to decide

if we want to live in Gods love through obedience or hide in fear through disobedience. We

have to determine if we want to become Marys visionaries and Gods missionaries.

In a small village called Medjugorie, many apparitions have occurred there. The first

apparition of Mary that occurred there happened on June 24, 1981. Mary first appeared to six

children in a small village in the country of Bosnia and Hercegovina, a place called Medjugorje.

Mary appeared to the visionaries on a hill. Since then, Our Lady of Peace has continually

appeared, sometimes daily, to the six visionaries, one of whom is a holy woman named Mirjana.

The other visionaries are Ivanka, Marija, Ivan, Vicka, and Jakov. Usually, the apparitions of

Mary take place of the 25 day of each month around 6:40pm. The visionaries then translate

Marys messages, spread the messages, and live the messages out themselves. (Medjugorie 36

Years of Apparitions.)
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One specific example of an apparition of Mary happened on December 9, 1531. Mary

appeared to an Aztec named Juan Diego, who was baptized and converted into the Catholic faith.

While he was walking 2.5 miles to the Church for Mass, he heard beautiful music and a womens

voice calling him. Juan Diego then sees the beautiful Virgin Mary appear on the top of Tepeyac

Hill in Mexico. Mary tells Juan Diego to go to the bishop and tell him to build a temple at the

bottom of the hill in Marys honor. Juan does what he is told and goes to the bishop. The bishop

kindly greets him, but he does not believe Juan Diego. Instead, the bishop asks for a sign of

proof. Juan Diego returns to the hill and notifies Mary of what happened. Later on, Juan Diegos

uncle becomes ill and Juan does not return to Tepeyac Hill for a couple of days. When Juan

Diego has to leave his uncle to go find a priest, he passes the hill where he saw Mary. On that

day, December 12, 1531, Mary appears to Juan Diego again, tells him his uncle will be healed

through God, and to return to the bishop with proof. The Blessed Virgin Mary tells Juan Diego to

pick roses, put them in his tilma, and show the bishop. When Juan Diego does as Mary had told

him, he reveals to the bishops his cloak. The roses in his tilma fall and reveal a beautiful image

of the Queen of Peace. The bishop drops to his knees and prays for forgiveness. Today, the

blessed tilma is still conserved at the temple at the bottom of Tepeyac Hill, where many people

visit.

In the book, Left To Tell, it retells the incredible story of Immacule Ilibagiza and how she

survived the Rwandan Holocaust by strengthening her faith in God and in Mary. For three

months, while Immacule was hiding in the bathroom of a fellow neighbor and friend, she spent

many hours praying and meditating. Immacule also prayed the rosary her father gave to her. In
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the bathroom where she and seven other women were hiding, Immacule strengthened her faith

and her beautiful relationship with God and Mary. God and Mary were with Immacue through it

all and They never left her side. They protected and blessed her and always answered her

prayers. Immaule says that God is her loving Father and Mary is her loving Mother. Immacule

credits her life to both God and Mary; she thanks them from the bottom of her heart for letting

her forgive and love, and loves them both with all her being. To the Holy Mother, the Blessed

Virgin Mary: I feel you with me always. Words cant convey the depth of my gratitude for your

love and care. Keep my heart close to yours, Mother you make me whole, and I will love you

forever. Thank you for appearing in Kibeho to warn us of the danger ahead it only wed

listened to you. (Ilibagiza 227)

Through the apparitions, Mary reveals her ten secrets about the world and explains her

message. Mary spreads her message of faith, forgiveness, and love through the visionaries in

order for the messages to be spread, lived out, and used to help and save the future of our world.

By reading the book, Left to Tell, I learned that Immacule is one of Marys visionaries;

Immacule survived one of the most horrific and gory events in history by the grace of God. By

surviving that experience, Immacule continues to live out Marys message of the power of

forgiveness and love, even towards those who hurt you.

Some of the ways we are called by Mary to live out her messages and Gods will are

through daily prayer, fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays, daily reading of the Bible, monthly

confession, and Holy Mass. Our Blessed Mother also tells us to love and show mercy to one
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another, just like her son, Jesus Christ, has shown us. We must live by Her Sons holy example

of how to live and love.

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Work Cited:
Marypages, Foundation. "Medjugorjie - 36 Apparitions." Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in
Medjugorje. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
Overview of Medjugorje. N.p., 22 Jan. 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
Marypages, Foundation. "The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary." Apparitions and
Pictures of Virgin Mary. Foundation Marypage, 30 Apr. 2017. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.