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Mother's Pilgrims
Pilgrimage to Medjugorje
April 25 – May 4, 2013
Our Lady is Waiting just
for you.
If you hear her call, let Nothing stand in Your
way.
"Thank you for responding to My call.
If you knew how much I love you, you'd cry of joy."
Hostesses: Cathy Howe
and
Medjugorje Visionary Mirjana Soldo
Spiritual Director: Very Rev. Brian J. Welding
Cathy Howe will be taking a group to Medjugorje from
Thursday-April 25 through Saturday-May 4, 2013.
For further information, please contact:
Chuck Wysor or Mary Ann Sarver
Ambassador Travel Services
1409 Duncan Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
412- 366-7200 / 800-924-4300
and
Mrs. Cathy Howe 412-278-4673.
Dear Fellow Pilgrim,
After returning from our recent Pilgrimages to Our Heavenly
Mother in Medjugorje, we feel refreshed and greatly blessed and grace-filled.
We are living in an incredibly special time in history! Much pain and suffering is all around us but also an Ocean of Grace has been given us, a Bridge to Heaven!
Since June 24, 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary has been reported to visit daily with several young adults in Herzegovina, bringing messages on how to achieve peace in our hearts, home, and the world.
In 1986, the Holy Father said, "Let the people go to Medjugorje if they convert, pray, confess, do penance, and fast." Some 15 million laity and clergy have visited and returned home spiritually renewed. You, too, are invited!
In the documents of Vatican II, we read, "Mary advanced on Her Pilgrimage of faith and faithfully persevered in Her union with Her Son unto the Cross." (Lumen Gentium) This sentence makes us realize that Mary, like ourselves, walked in faith. She is, as Pope John Paul II described Her, a Pilgrim of love. Mary shows us, by Her example, what it means to be a pilgrim and stranger on this earth, ever longing for the final destination of our Pilgrimage: the new and eternal Jerusalem.
On Her pilgrimage, Mary chose to walk in the footsteps
of the great faith-filled figures of the Old Testament. On our
Pilgrimage to Medjugorje, let us ask Mary, Our Blessed Mother, and Our
Lady of Medjugorje, to be Our Guide! Let us put our hand in Her
hands and walk in Her Footsteps on Holy Ground in Medjugorje.
Let us pick up our cross and walk with Our Lady, for Her only desire
is to truly bring us to Her Son, Jesus, the Source of Life itself and
all our blessings.
It is indeed a privilege and honor for us to once again
make a pilgrimage to Our Heavenly Mother in Medjugorje. As Her
little children we so need Her Love and Embrace and place all our needs
and those dear to us in Her Immaculate Heart. Our great hope is
that you will join us and we will become a family ever united to Jesus
through Mary, Queen of Peace and Mother of all God's children.
May the Lord bless you! We so hope you can join
us on this most special pilgrimage with Jesus and Mary in March-April
for the Feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord.
With love and great hope,
Cathy Howe
For more information about the Pilgrimage, please call:
Ambassador Travel Service
1409 Duncan Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
412-366-7200
412-366-2114 fax
Ambassador@AmbassadorTravelPghPA.com
Ambassador's Agent is Mary Ann Sarver
412-486-8874
maryatravel@comcast.net
Mother's Pilgrim's Pilgrimage Group Organizer is Mrs. Cathy Howe
Please direct all questions to her at 412-278-4673
God bless you!
MY PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
In Thanksgiving for my physical healing in Medjugorje
on October 5, 2007; but most of all for my spiritual healing through
the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary; I am privileged to share
this prayer with you.
Catherine Mary Howe
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin:
(Never Known to Fail) Oh, most beautiful flower of Mt. Carmel, fruitful
vine, splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God. Immaculate
Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh, Star of the Sea, help me and
show me, herein you are my Mother. Oh, Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen
of Heaven and Earth! I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart
to succor me in this necessity. There are none that can withstand
your power. Oh, show me herein, you are my Mother. Oh Mary, conceived
without sin, pray for us who have recourse in thee (3x). Holy Mother,
I place this cause in your hands (3x). Say this prayer 3 consecutive
days. After 3 days the request will be granted. This prayer must be
published after favor is granted. CMH
MY PILGRIM JOURNEY
by Cathy Howe
I feel compelled to share what Our Lady told the visionaries
in Medjugorje at the onset of the apparitions when they asked Her, "Why
us?" Our Lady said, "God does not always look for the
best."
My life and my family changed in 1991 when I was diagnosed
with a very rare blood disease called mastocytosis, which has no cure,
and led to an ever more rare manifestation of malignant non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma. The disease seemed to take hold of me 26 years ago when I
began to experience great fatigue and chronic infections, but the doctors
did not diagnose the disease until biopsies were done in 1991. At that
time the disease was truly a death sentence because it took me away
from all I loved in life, especially time with my family the way I knew
it before.
My spiritual healing did not begin until I went to Medjugorje
and I was in a very long dark night. I look back at this time and know
that only God's grace and Our Lady's intercession and constant care
of me allowed me not to shut down emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Simple tasks like making my bed, taking a shower, or cooking a dinner,
became huge mountains for me to climb, each moment of each day. I spent
the majority of my time in bed every day. During this time, on January
11, 1994, my mom, my best friend and soul mate passed on. Our immediate
family had a long history of serious illness and just before my mom
passed on I truly was asking Our Lady why there was SO much pain and
suffering. I went to a Catholic grade school and an all girl Catholic
high school, but the part of my journey that I was about to embark on
was not taught to me through my Catholic education or faith-walk, but
taught ever so gently and sweetly by the Blessed Virgin Mary whom I
loved so very much and a great spiritual gift given to me, in my spiritual
director. It was the Blessed Mother I went to, since I was a young child,
to go to God for me because in ways I can now only begin to understand,
I did not feel worthy to ask God. At the hardest, most challenging time
of my life thus far, I received an answer in a way that would begin
a new chapter in my life and life would never be the same again.
At my mom's viewing at the funeral home, I requested that
her rosary beads be put in her hands. These rosary beads turned from
crystal beads and links and crucifix to a beautiful rose gold from 8:05
to 9 PM. My pastor, Fr. Ward, who was at the funeral home that evening,
said that it was a message from the Blessed Mother telling me my mom
was OK and not to worry about her. This was witnessed not only by family,
but friends there that evening. Truly, Heaven touched earth that evening
and I turned into a "little child" of God feeling loved as
never before. This experience, coupled with continued gifts of spiritual
phenomena through Our Lady, led me, very ill, to Medjugorje in June
of 1994, not seeking a physical cure, but to thank Our Lady for the
gift of the rosary beads.
So very much happened since that time, and I truly learned
that God so much wants to touch us, heal us, speak to our soul in so
many miraculous ways. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are being poured
forth, I believe as never before, to a world so urgently in need of
healing at the darkest time in history as I see it.
It was at this time I was called to Medjugorje by my Heavenly
Mother, who had heard all of my prayers and could see as only Jesus'
Mother could, all of the pain I was in. That first pilgrimage was truly
Heaven on earth for me and I came home and asked Our Lady to please
let me share Medjugorje with the whole world, and I didn't want anyone
to heal me but Her Son, Jesus. My spiritual director said to be careful
of what you ask for -- because you might just get it. At that time,
I truly did not understand what I was asking -- it was just loving words
to my Heavenly Mother who I came home from Medjugorje more in love with
than ever before.
Much has happened spiritually in my life since the onset
of my illness and my first pilgrimage to Medjugorje in June of 1994.
It is only through God's grace, Our Lady's constant care, and spiritual
direction since 1995, and Pope John Paul II, in a most special way,
that I am here today. The fruits of these years, and the suffering I
was asked to endure, I believe, are blossoming in "Mother's Prayer
Family" -- prayer group, "Mother's Hope Foundation" --
an organization aiding sick and disadvantaged children, and "Mother's
Pilgrims" -- a travel group to Medjugorje. These were established
while I was homebound and in bed, and each, I believe, directed by Our
Blessed Mother and the great gift that I received on First Friday, October
5th, 2007, in Medjugorje.
In 1994, after I returned from Medjugorje, I was given
the spiritual gift of inner locution, which is an inner voice written
on my heart and at times heard in my ears. It took me many years to
understand and accept, claim and feel comfortable with this gift, and
to share this gift in THIS WAY is truly a miracle for me - one in which
I truly believe Our Lady wishes to be shared at this time. My spiritual
director always discerns these inner locutions. When I asked him years
back, amid many tears and physical pains, and seeking much needed spiritual
guidance, why God was asking me to start a prayer family and lead Mother's
Hope when I was so sick, something I would have never chosen for myself,
he said simply, "God never asks us to do what we want to do,
but what He wills us to do -- thus it is a cross for us!"
Holding onto my mom's rosary beads and Our Lady's hand,
that cross turned into Easter joy on October 5th, the feast day of St.
Maria Faustina, Apostle of Divine Mercy, who came into my life in a
very special way years back. On October 2nd, Mirjana Soldo, one of the
six visionaries in Medjugorje had her monthly apparition from Our Lady;
Mother's Pilgrims is always present and graced to be very closed to
Mirjana at the time of her apparition. I was taken back when asked to
lead a decade of the Holy Rosary and truly felt we were all in Heaven's
arms. During the apparition I heard the words very clearly and softly
written on my heart. "Climb Cross Mountain." I immediately
felt it to be Our Lady's request. I told our spiritual director on our
pilgrimage what I heard written on my heart, and knew I must try to
do it because Our Lady asked me to do something I would never have thought
to do on my own. Two days later, our group was scheduled to climb Mt.
Krizevac. This was my 14th pilgrimage to Medjugorje and the majority
of the time I spent back at my room. A couple of times I waited at the
bottom of the hill and prayed. I remember feeling very scared as we
all gathered at the bottom of Cross Mountain and saying to Our Lady,
"I'm scared, so You have to hold my one hand." And with my
mom's rosary beads held so tightly in my other hand, I said to Our Lady,
"And my mom has to hold my other hand and we have to climb Cross
Mountain for Jesus." With a body that could not climb Apparition
Hill alone, I embarked on another part of my spiritual journey trusting
what I believe I learned through so much suffering and yet so much joy
at times led by Our Lady. I let go of my fears and thought with my heart
and not my head, and gave them to Our Lady. I made it to the top of
Cross Mountain. No words can describe the feelings I felt and still
do, as I remember kissing the palm of my hand and touching the cross,
then closing my eyes and putting my head on the cross for a long time.
We were one, the Cross and me. The huge white Cross loomed ever so high,
and the sweetness I felt in my soul was indescribable. That big Cross
and all the endless huge boulders on the way up reflected all of our
lives. At that moment, I felt like I had made peace with my cross of
poor health, and it was taken from me. But I had to learn, one must
climb the mountains of life, one step at a time, never looking up, as
I had been taught ever so gently by the Mother of God, and was able
to do that special day.
The sun shined so brightly and the blue sky and clouds
seemed to lead me back down the mountain, taking one rock, one step
at a time, like I had done it many times before. With inexpressible
joy I found myself running over to St. James Church that morning and
gazing up at the statue of Our Lady in front of the church. We had been
through so much together, Our Lady and me, all my life. We climbed so
many mountains together and at times, so many times, She and Jesus carried
me. I went inside St. James Church, the Italian Mass had just begun
and I was able to walk easily up front and stand right in front of Our
Lady's statue. After I received Jesus, I knelt looking up at Her --
feeling blessed beyond words and as the miracle of my physical healing
had been given me, I felt for a moment sadly, "What could I now
offer to Jesus that would be worthy?" I felt compelled after Mass
to go to the rectory to tell Fr. Svetozar, the assistant pastor at St.
James Church in Medjugorje. Father and I have become very close since
1995, and he knew well about my ongoing illness and my physical limitations.
When I told him what I had experienced at Mirjana's apparition, and
my climb of Cross Mountain he said, "Praise be Jesus and Mary!
Only Heaven could have done this!" He also said, "What I respect
the most about you is your courage and for just being Cathy." I
said, "Father, it is not my courage but was given to me by Jesus
and Mary, truly."
After I climbed Cross Mountain, the energy I had not had
for 26 years was instantly given back to me and I knew that deep inside
of me I could stop taking all of my medications. After returning home,
my husband and I went to a prescheduled check-up with my oncologist
at Hillman Cancer Center. I felt compelled to bring him rosary beads,
medals, a picture of the Infant Jesus, and Our Lady, and a rock from
Medjugorje. After sharing my experience in Medjugorje with my doctor,
and the reality of the symptoms I had experienced for so long all being
gone, the doctor told me he would write on my chart that "Today
the patient shows no signs of disease and is in remission." I said,
"That is not true because there is no cure for mastocytosis and
my malignant non-Hodgkins lymphoma has not come back." He said,
"You are right -- there is no cure, and I know I did not do anything."
I said, I know it is a MIRACLE," and he said, "Well, I guess
you could say it is a miracle, but I want you to come back and see me
in one year." I believe it is gone, never to come back.
EVERYONE who goes to Medjugorje receives a miracle, and
one is not bigger than another. I learned the greatest healing God can
give you is a spiritual healing. I learned that you don't have to climb
any mountains for God. If you can climb Apparition Hill or Cross Mountain,
that's great, but some people climb mountains everyday of their lives.
A very wise priest told me that, in 1994, when I felt so sad and sick
and everyone in our group was going to climb Cross Mountain and I couldn't.
If God had healed my body in 1994, I would not have understood what
He did or why He did it.
I learned healing comes in steps and God works in each
person differently: spiritual healing, which if we cooperate can continue
on forever; the healing of peace and joy; and physical healing if Almighty
God deigns it. Medjugorje is an Oasis of Peace, where miracles flow
like an unending river for all who seek to know Jesus and Mary and Their
loving embrace.
I just returned home from Medjugorje, and just like Our
Heavenly Mother, She embraced me once again as Her dearly beloved chosen
daughter. Medjugorje visionary Mirjana invited me to kneel beside her
at her 2nd of the month apparition. Again, no words can describe the
peace and joy I felt as I thanked Our Lady with each beat of my heart.
Our Lady is calling us to be Her "Dear Little Children."
Don't ever be afraid to answer Her call. Please share what Our Lady
has done for you, as people need to know that miracles exist. I believe
more today than ever before.
PRAYER REVELATED BY OUR LADY
To the Venerable Father F. Cyril OCD
O Infant Jesus, I have recourse to You and ask You through the intercession of Your Holy Mother to help me in my need, ( mention it here ) for I firmly believe that Your Divinity can help me.
I hope, in complete trust, to obtain Your holy grace. I love You with all my heart and with all the strength of my soul. I am truly sorry for all my sins, and beg You, O good Jesus, to give me strength to conquer them. I shall never offend You and I am ready to suffer rather than to cause You pain.
From now on I want to serve with complete faithfulness and for love of You, O Divine Child, I will love my neighbour as well as myself. Omnipotent Child , Lord Jesus, again I implore You, help me in this need of mine ( mention it ).
Grant me the grace of possessing You eternally, with Mary and Joseph and of adoring You with the holy angels in Your heavenly court.
Amen.
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