What makes today’s message different from the others is that for the first time there is a note at the end – With Ecclesiastical approval. The Church agrees that the messages of the Queen of Peace help us in our spiritual growth. And this is one more reason for us to rejoice and be thankful to walk on the path of holiness with Mary. All the good fruits have grown in Medjugorje out of Our Lady’s love.

Let us thank the Lord that the Church has come to recognize and accept with gratitude this tree whose branches are spreading throughout the world. The fruit is harvested all over the world.

Today, Our Lady repeats to us again, “Out of love towards you, God has sent me among you, to love you“. We never grow weary of a loved one repeating to us words “I love you”. Even after 43 years of daily apparitions of Our Lady, it is still difficult for visionaries to describe the beauty of the love with which Our Lady loves us. The one who has experienced it has accepted the transformation and wants to respond to God’s love with love. Jesus said, “Whoever loves me will keep my word.“ Whoever loves Mary will respond with joy to her invitations.

Let us decide this month specifically to return her love. More than ever, let us give her what always brings her great joy – the prayer of the Rosary. She tells us so beautifully and so often about praying the Rosary, “The rosary, little children, is especially dear to me. Through the rosary open your heart to me and I am able to help you.“; “Dear children, Pray! Pray the Rosary every day-that wreath of flowers which, as a mother, directly connects me with your pains, sufferings, desires, and hopes.“. “And to me, my children, give the gift of the rosary, the roses which I love so much. My roses are your prayers pronounced with the heart and not only recited with the lips. My roses are your acts of prayer, faith and love. When my Son was little, he said to me that my children would be numerous and that they would bring me many roses. I did not comprehend Him. Now I know that you are those children who are bringing me roses when, above all, you love my Son, when you pray with the heart, when you help the poorest. Those are my roses.“ (December 2, 2017). “If you so wish, grasp for the rosary. Even the rosary alone can work miracles in the world and in your lives. I bless you and I remain with you for as long as it is God’s will. Thank you for not betraying my presence here and I thank you because your response is serving the good and the peace.” (January 25, 1991).

The Rosary is a prayer that brings us peace from God through the heart of Mary. The Holy Father John Paul II, in his Apostolic Letter ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE, writes, among other things, of his great love for the Rosary and the means that brings peace, “The grave challenges confronting the world at the start of this new Millennium lead us to think that only an intervention from on high, capable of guiding the hearts of those living in situations of conflict and those governing the destinies of nations, can give reason to hope for a brighter future. The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the contemplation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is ‘our peace’ (Eph 2:14). Anyone who assimilates the mystery of Christ – and this is clearly the goal of the Rosary – learns the secret of peace and makes it his life’s project.” (40)

Let us obey the mother, let us obey the Church and let us renew the common prayer of the Rosary in our families, in our communities. Let us offer the Rosary for peace in our hearts, in our families and in the world.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the love with which you allow Our Lady to love us. Thank you for the grace of knowing this. Our Lady, we ask you to love us, love us even more, let your love overflow into every heart of our brothers and sisters around the world who have not yet come to know God’s love. We bring to you in the prayer of the Rosary this month all those who are living in turmoil, violence, fear, hatred, may they be touched and transformed by your love. In a special way, we present to you the world authorities who make decisions on war and peace in the world. We pray for them that they may also experience God’s love, which alone has the power to stop the turmoil and madness of war. Help us, Our Lady, to abide in prayer for peace in our hearts, in our families, in the world. Amen.