June 24, 2024 Reflection – Anniversary Novena with Marija, Day 9

Marija and Ivan greet Our Lady together!

June 24, 2024
Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist
The day Our Lady first appeared to the Children in Medjugorje
Anniversary Novena Day 9

Dear Family of Mary!

Well we have made it to the 9th day of the Novena!! And 43 years ago today, Our Lady first appeared to the visionaries in Medjugorje! She came, holding Baby Jesus in her arms! She was introducing herself to them. But they ran away!! It was terrifying to them. I am always so intrigued by the choice of days for Our Lady to first come. Why would she choose the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist as the first day to come to us?

In the Magnificat for June, there is a very succinct description of why John the Baptist is so amazing. It reads: “John the Baptist is the only figure other than Mary and Jesus whose birth is celebrated in the Church’s liturgy. John the Baptist had the unique and awesome vocation of being the Forerunner, the one whose preaching and witness prepared the way for Christ. He had the incomparable privilege of baptizing the Lord and was called to anticipate Christ’s Passion by shedding his own blood for the truth.”

Why would Our Lady be sent on this day to the children? I believe it is because she has been given the same role that John the Baptist had all those years ago. She is now coming to prepare the way for Christ, in His second coming!! She is the forerunner for Jesus’ coming anew!

Now let’s think about these special apparitions on Apparition Hill during these nine days before the 43rd Anniversary. Our Lady initiated these times of prayer, specifying that Marija meet with all who would come on Apparition Hill, at 10:00 pm each night for nine days, ending on this day, John the Baptist’s feast day. It can’t be an accident. God and Our Lady are trying to tell us something. Could it be that today there will be a fulfillment of what Our Lady was sent to do all those years ago. Could it be that God’s plan is going to move forward now? It does seem that God’s plan is being manifested by the joy and faith of the people that are joining on Apparition Hill and augmented by the thousands of people joining through our live stream, in these 9 days. Our Joy and prayer together is a manifestation of God’s plan through Our Lady!

We have been invited for one more night at 10:00 pm to meet on Apparition Hill with Marija and Ivan, whether physically or by live stream, to pray for peace! And that is enough to know! Let’s be there!!

A brief recap of last night’s prayer gathering:

There were many people on Apparition Hill! The prayer started early, at about 9:30 pm. Marija was joined by fellow visionary, Ivan Dragicevic. The presence of Ivan was a great joy for us all! To see Ivan and Marija sitting next to each other before the statue of Our Lady was a great comfort! Ivan helped Marija lead the prayer. It was like old times!!

Marjia gave some opening remarks:

“Good evening, this is the 8th Day of Our Lady’s Novena! Please don’t take any photos, turn off your cell phones, sit down, kneel, open your hearts to be ready to pray for Gospa’s intentions…”

We prayed and prayed and prayed! And at 11:30, Marjia and Ivan knelt to prepare for Our Lady’s coming. And she came quickly. It was such a great joy to see both visionaries interacting with Our Lady!! Each one had their own conversation with her, but she was before them both at once! It was so exciting.

Marija shared about the apparition with Our Lady in this way:

“At the time of apparition when Gospa came, I recommended to Gospa all of us, all our intentions, everything that we have in our hearts. Gospa prayed for a long time for peace in her motherly language and blessed us all, and then she left in peace to Heaven.”

You can view the whole pray time at this link:
https://video.marytv.tv/watch/mm1UpKsgzpt?ctx=it33avdcsqd%2CiMSYvzasA6z

See if you can find the tired cameraman in the pictures below! Tony!! He is tireless actually!! Pray for our team, they are working extremely hard!!!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV

PS.There was a wonderful singer who began our prayer, Stjepan Glen Markos! We realized that Stjepan had given a wonderful testimony at the Youth Festive in 2022, and we have the video on our website. You might like to hear his testimony. Here is the link:
https://video.marytv.tv/watch/itl71Ss4q01?ctx=iTE6xGiEsqR%2CyBJupVFsqdf