Daily Reflections
by Cathy

March 1, 2023 Reflection – “Clothe yourselves in penitential garments…”

“Clothe yourselves in penitential garments…”

 

March 1, 2023

Dear Family of Mary!

February 25, 2023 “Dear children! Keep converting and clothe yourselves in penitential garments and in personal, deep prayer; and in humility, seek peace from the Most High. In this time of grace, Satan wants to seduce you; but you, little children, keep looking at my Son and follow Him towards Calvary in renunciation and fasting. I am with you because the Most High permits me to love you and lead you towards the joy of the heart, in faith which grows for all those who love God above all. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

“Clothe yourselves in penitential garments…”

As far as I can tell, this is the first time Our Lady has mentioned “penitential garments”. I do believe she is referring back to her own days as a Jewish woman, when there were prescribed times for fasting, prayer, and repentance, along with wearing rough garments as a sign of mourning, repentance and turning back to God.

There are many accounts of penitential garments being worn as a sign to God of repentance. A famous one is in the book of Jonah:

Conversion of Nineveh
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth.

Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he cried, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Then tidings reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he made proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them cry mightily to God; yea, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we perish not?”

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God repented of the evil which he had said he would do to them; and he did not do it. (Jonah 3: 1-10)

The use of penitential garments was an expression of repentance and self-denial. It showed that the people of Nineveh understood that they had offended God and wanted to change. It made that desire physically present to them. It was an outward sign of an inner desire.

So how can we express outwardly our desire to repent as Our Lady asks this Lent? We could change the way we dress, being simple and modest and poor, etc. Or we could wear something that signifies our repentance, like a Crucifix or a Rosary around our neck. A big sign we often see in Medjugorje is climbing the rocky mountains in bare feet! That is penitential!!

But there may be an additional way to clothe ourselves in penitence that has more to do with our actions than with our appearance. We could put on the garments of love and forgiveness, of service and humility. These garments are seen in our actions. They appear when we put ourselves last, and serve others instead.

This message might be helpful for us in finding our penitential garments:

January 2, 2010 “Dear children, Today I am calling you to, with complete trust and love, set out with me because I desire to acquaint you with my Son. Do not be afraid, my children, I am here with you; I am next to you. I am showing you the way to forgive yourselves, to forgive others, and, with sincere repentance of heart, to kneel before the Father. Make everything die in you that hinders you from loving and saving, that you may be with Him and in Him. Decide for a new beginning, a beginning of sincere love of God Himself. Thank you.”

Maybe our penitential garments can be made of love of God and neighbor?

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV

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Mary TV is a lay apostolate founded to put at the Gospa’s service (Our Lady’s service) modern communication technologies to bring her presence in Medjugorje – and her school in Medjugorje – to the world.

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“Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world!”

Pope St. John Paul II – February 24, 1990

“Dear children, my real, living presence among you should make you happy because this is the great love of my Son. He is sending me among you so that, with a motherly love, I may grant you safety!”

Our Lady of Medjugorje – July 2, 2016

“Rejoice, little children, because God is merciful and loves you all with His immeasurable love and leads you to the way of salvation through my coming here!”

Our Lady of Medjugorje – June 25, 2018

“My Son promised me that evil will never win, because you, the souls of the just, are here!”

Our Lady of Medjugorje – November 2, 2014

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Our Lady Speaks

Vicka's Note MaryTV

Vicka, one of the visionaries in Medjugorje, wrote the note (above) after Our Lady spoke with her during an apparition in Medjugorje in April, 1999, about Mary TV’s  plan to build a television facility in Medjugorje.

Vicka wrote to Denis: “Our Lady says that the plan is good – but you need to wait a little.  Now you can get prepared little by little, until Our Lady tells when the right moment is.  You don’t need to hurry, make haste, but to be patient.”

When Our Lady said this to Vicka, the technical genius in Medjugorje that she had her eyes upon, who would begin Mary TV’s live streaming from Medjugorje, was seven years old.

Totus Tuus (Totally Yours)

Immaculate Conception, Mary my Mother, Live in me, Act in me, Speak in me and through me, Think your thoughts in my mind, Love through my heart, Give me your dispositions and feelings, Teach, lead me and guide me to Jesus, Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior, Possess my soul, Take over my entire personality and life, replace it with Yourself, Incline me to constant adoration, Pray in me and through me, Let me live in you and keep me in this union always.

Our Lady gave this prayer 25 years before She started appearing in Medjugorje. This prayer is being answered through Our Lady’s presence in Medjugorje and through Her messages. Mother Immaculata writes: “This is Mary’s hour and She is about to crush Satan’s head. Her very being is like incandescent heat in the center of the Trinity and the manifestation of Her power is growing daily. The Immaculate Conception prayer (which is what Our Lady called the prayer she gave me for union with Her) has been used by exorcists who have told me that the devil reacts violently to it and is subdued by it. We are praying daily for the success of Mary TV!“

Our Lady Gives A Sign…

Mary_with_Sun

MARY TV was LIVE STREAMING Ivan’s May 24, 2013 apparition on Mt. Podbrdo (Apparition Hill) in Medjugorje. My wife, Cathy, was praying in front of her computer in the US, connected through the Internet, welcoming Our Lady along with everyone gathered on the mountain. She couldn’t see anything on her computer screen because it was late at night and Ivan had said, “No lights.” She found herself asking Our Lady for a sign – a little light – as a sign that MARY TV was on the right track and really serving her. Just after the apparition, when she went to give an account on Mary TV’s Facebook page, the page opened with this picture that she had never seen before, captioned: “MARY APPEARS OVER BUILDING IN MEDJUGORJE, PHOTO TAKEN BY PILGRIM.” Our Lady is standing directly over MARY TV’s studios, her feet right where we have two POV cameras STREAMING 24/7 LIVE TO THE WORLD Apparition Hill & Cross Mountain!

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Our Lady spoke to Vicka during an apparition in Medjugorje in April, 1999, about the importance of Mary TV’s mission. At that time she told Vicka that she herself (Our Lady) would begin Mary TV! She did! But she didn’t do it alone. The generosity of her children made Mary TV a reality for her. Your generosity is needed now for it to continue!