The First Stone
The Statue of Our Lady on Apparition Hill! I took this picture for all of you!! June 30, 2019Dear Family of Mary! When I mentioned the 5 Stones of Our Lady the other day, I got many responses from our shipmates, asking me to explain what the 5 Stones are!! I was surprised!! So I am transcribing Fr. Leon’s talk to pilgrims, in which he explains the 5 Stones!! We will do one stone a day! Here is the First Stone: Fr. Leon Periera – English Speaking Chaplain in Medjugorje (View his talk at https://marytv.tv/fruit-of-medjugorje/ Fruit show 265) Our Lady said years and years ago, I think back in 1987, “I give you your five stones against your Goliath.” You remember King David, when he was still a shepherd and he went out to meet Goliath, he had to pick five pebbles from the stream, and with his slingshot, he defeated Goliath. And Our Lady gave us five stones, she said, against our Goliath, whatever our Goliath is. Here is my own take on the 5 Stones: #1 – Pray with the heart! They always say that here in Medjugorje, “Pray with the heart.” What does that mean? It means praying in your own words to God like He is your best friend. Praying with the heart means praying with out what the Americans call “B.S.” It means praying without b—s—t. Think about how you pray. Lot’s of people say nice things to God. They put it in nice language and then they have distractions. They are distracted by all these things going on in Church or by all the things they have to do when they get home. Praying with the heart is telling God exactly what is in your heart. Oh God, don’t let me forget to take the laundry out of the machine, or did i leave the door open and the oven on?? Or why is this gentleman making such a noise? And these things are exactly what we need to tell God because they matter to us and so they matter to Him. And this is what praying with the heart means. If you have distractions it means that you are not telling God what is important to you. You are hiding it from Him. And what’s the point, He already sees it, He knows it. But you need to tell Him. And Our Lady says above all, pray the Rosary. When we were children, our parents went out one night, and we took out the old photo albums, you know the black and white pictures. And we were looking at it, my sister and me and my brother, and we were thinking how come we are not in some of these pictures. You know, like my Grandparent’s wedding, my mother’s baptism…things like that. And so, we took orange crayons and we drew ourselves in, like stick figures. So, at my mother’s baptism there is this giant orange version of my sister peering at my mother being baptized. And me at my parents’ wedding…And we got into a lot of trouble. But this idea of an orange crayon, drawing yourself into black and white pictures, that is what the Rosary is. If you think about a Renaissance painting sponsored by the Italian gentry, you have the Birth of Our Lord – angels – shepherds – Our Lady – St. Joseph – and Don Giovanni and his wife, Isabella… Or the Crucifixion of Our Lord, and who is there, Thomas Aquinas, Mary Magdalene, St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Sienna, with her stigmata, and all sorts of things. That is what the Rosary is. It is taking ourselves and inserting ourselves into the Mysteries of Christ. Because the mysteries of Christ must come with power into my life, now and today. So, is the Rosary difficult to pray? No, it is a big orange crayon, and you are drawing yourself in. So, you just imagine yourself in these scenes. You don’t have to come away with some wonderful inspiration. Just imagine yourself there as the Archangel Gabriel greeting Our Lady. Say the words, “Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you.” And what that means. Because Gabriel knows it also means that the Lord is with you when you die on the Cross and when your heart is torn in two with the sword piercing it, when you are standing at the foot of the Cross. He knows that. And yes, he says that because God told him to. Or imagine yourself as a shepherd, or an angel or one of the Characters. Put yourself in the scene. That’s praying with the heart. (View his talk at https://marytv.tv/fruit-of-medjugorje/ Fruit show 265) In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!Cathy Nolan©Mary TV 2019 P.S. I was able to climb Apparition Hill on Saturday with our group! It was wonderful! I prayed for all of you and your intentions. There is peace on that Hill. Deep peace that comes from Our Lady!