Our Lady is the Queen of the Prophets. All the prophets call for conversion, fasting and prayer, which are the conditions of peace. “Mary has neither better nor other means than those by which the prophets called for peace, and these are once again and only conversion, prayer, fasting and strong faith.” – wrote Father Slavko Barbarić.

In the last message of January 25, 2023, Our Lady connects the Fatima Message with the Medjugorje Message calling us, “You are my hope!” Unfortunately, we did not respond to her call in Fatima immediately and as She requested. Today we can remedy this, Our Lady counts on us.

In the messages in the first years of the apparitions in Medjugorje, She said, “Much of what will happen depends on your prayer; in particular, fast, because by fasting you will achieve the realization of the whole plan that God has for Medjugorje; I have come to call humanity to conversion for the last time.” Even wars and natural disasters can be stopped by prayer and fasting. The words of Her first message of June 26, 1981, echo. Peace in the heart, in the family, in the world depends on our prayer and fasting.

Our Lady invites not only individuals but also families to pray and fast for evil to cease. Her call is serious because what happens in the world depends on how much we pray and fast. It concerns all that God has entrusted to Her at this time. „I call you to renounce for nine days so that, with your help, all that I desire to accomplish through the secrets I began in Fatima may be fulfilled. I call you, dear children, to grasp the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I want to save all souls and present them to God. Therefore, let us pray that everything I have begun be fully realized.“ (August 25, 1991) Her call remains to this day the urgent cry of God for our salvation.

“Keep converting and clothe yourselves in penitential garments and in personal, deep prayer; and in humility, seek peace from the Most High.“ The prophet Jonah called the people of Nineveh to prayer, fasting, repentance, and God was merciful when He saw that they were sincerely changing and the city was saved. Let us also allow God to speak to us through the meditation of this chapter in the Book of Jonah 3:1-10.

There are dresses for different occasions, for a wedding, for a funeral, for school, for a trip. Our Heavenly Mother wishes us to be visibly clothed in repentance and deep personal prayer. In the First Letter of Peter, we read, “And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: “God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5) And in the Letter to the Romans 13:14, we read “Put on the Lord Jesus”.

“In humility, seek peace from the Most High“, calls us Our Lady. Through St. Faustina, the Lord Jesus revealed to us the fountain of mercy, the mercy of the world, which is poured out only through humble souls. In her Diary, St. Faustina writes, “In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw an Angel, the executor of divine wrath. I found myself pleading with God for the world with words heard interiorly, ‘Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us.’ As I was praying in this manner, I saw the Angel’s helplessness: he could not carry out the just punishment which was rightly due for sins.”

Only a humble heart that loves Jesus can beseech the precious gift of peace. “Keep looking at my Son and follow Him towards Calvary in renunciation and fasting.” Our Lady teaches us that true humility and love for Jesus is obtained by frequent contemplation of the Stations of the Cross, by adoration at the foot of the Cross. Jesus kissed and embraced His Cross after a deep all-night personal prayer in Gethsemane. He gave us an example of how not to be deceived by Satan. He prayed even harder when anguish came upon Him. In the midst of the hell that surrounded Him on the Way of the Cross, He did not lose His peace, He was with the Father.

So that Satan does not deceive us and suffering does not break us, Jesus sends His mother to earth. “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.”

   In spite of all that is happening around us, war, unrest, fear, Our Lady focuses our eyes on the Cross. She has the experience, She has gone through so many trials, She remained faithful to Jesus till the end.

“Little children, open your hearts and give me everything that is in them: joys, sorrows and each, even the smallest, pain, that I may offer them to Jesus; so that with His immeasurable love, He may burn and transform your sorrows into the joy of His resurrection.“ (February 25, 1999)

May not one, not even the smallest suffering pass us by. Let us embrace it with Mary and offer it in unity with Jesus’ suffering for peace. Suffering offered with love is the most powerful prayer.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima and Medjugorje. You are the Lord! Do not let us choose to disobey your voice calling us to repentance even today through her. Mother, clothe us with your humility so that with you we may beseech the precious gift of peace. Whenever we suffer, whisper into our hearts that it is the most powerful prayer if it is united with you for your plans of peace. Amen.