Time to say goodbye🙏🏻❤️

                ‘The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes’. (St. Teresa of Avila)

Back home once again after my amazingly beautiful prayerful rest and renewal week in magnificent Medugorje. There are no words!!

On my final day 7.30 Croatian Holy Mass in St. James. Pared back reverence. No distractions.

Afterwards sitting beside Holy priest at Mother Mary’s statue I told him that my toe hurt bad and my piercing mouth ulcer did too. He gazed on me through Jesus beautiful eyes uttering: ‘You are doing so much good that you are getting up the devil’s nose. He will make your time here uncomfortable. Take Jesus Hand and simply say: “Where are we going today Jesus”.  Deeply moved. I cried. 

‘My spirit, permeating every part of your being, drives out all selfish irritability, while fortifying all the weak parts and attuning your being to Heaven’s music’. (Jesus/God calling)

In the afternoon I could share dear Father’s words with hurting lady. Instantly her burden lighter as both of us praised and thanked Holy Trinity One God from our deepest hearts. Everything we receive is meant to be shared!! Nothing is for ourselves only.

Countless encounters. Many tales of wonder and woe. Barrels of laughs. Maybe best time ever!!

‘Everything I say to one of my children is for all of them. Each soul is my favourite. If only you knew My love for each one’. (Jesus to Gabrielle Bossis)

Dear Veronica gifted me beautiful book of delightful prayers. I hope we meet again when I return next May, God willing🙏🏻

‘Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know You, a heart to seek You, wisdom to find You, conduct pleasing to You, faithful perseverance in waiting for You, and a hope of finally embracing You’.

 (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Words whispered in my heart as I slept soundly last night: ‘ Realising that I am not alone’

‘I will always be with you. I will never abandon you’. (Joshua 1:5)

Sunday☀️🙏🏻

Four priests led us in prayer at 7.30AM this morning as we walked the Via Dolorosa with Jesus and Mary. Thank you Jesus for walking with me in the pleasant person of Ger. ‘Duine le Dia’. Incredibly beautiful every step of the sorrowful way.

One of my fellow-pilgrims upset and anxious that all pharmacies in the village were shut, it being Holy Sabbath day. I enquired what her need might be and embarrassedly she whispered that her dentures had cracked. Wouldn’t you know! I had fixodent in my bag. Awesome Holy Spirit!! (I never use it! In my bag just in case!)

Anna and I thrilled to catch up again. Last May I gifted her my pretty umbrella. Too cumbersome to haul back to Ireland.☂️ Working in gift-shop, Anna overheard Father blessing Christine and me. She came and prayed silently near us - and that is how our surprise Holy Spirit encounter came about today. Alleluia.

Every time I meet a Priest in this Holy place I ask for his Priestly Blessing. What a gift from God. Forevermore more and wherever, I will do likewise. We must never forget that our Holy Priest is in persona Christi! ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’. (Genesis 32:22)

Looking forward to spending precious moments with beautiful Jesus in Blessed Sacrament but sadly could not remain long in His gentle healing presence. Really tired (hardly any sleep last night) and my poor toe really painful. On way home two charming ladies on seeing my predicament shed some light on my plight.

I am reminded of my dear Dad’s prayer each time he departed from Holy alter: ‘Come with me Jesus. Sanctify all I do since ALL is for You’. Amen

Resting now and all is well with the world.

I love Medugorje 🌟

‘May the Holy Spirit enkindle you with the fire of His love so that you may persevere, unfailingly, in the love of His service. Thus you may merit to become, at last, a living stone in the celestial Jerusalem’.

(St. Hildegard Von Bingen)

                                                     True Friend and fellow pilgrim Christine.☀️

               

Happy day☀️

‘When we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. More than performing works of mercy, we are paying a debt of justice’. (Pope Saint Gregory the Great)

                        Precious time spent with Jesus this afternoon in this inviting tiny Chapel.💒 

                                       ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here’. (Matthew:17:4)

Beautiful light-filled Veronica has still not returned to her own country. When we parted company here in Medugorje last May, I hoped we would meet again one day! Tea tomorrow please God. I am so pleased and grateful to God.

As I left Adoration Chapel, lady approached asking for help. She must have uttered the word ‘sorry’ one hundred times! I asked her name. She replied: ‘Marina’. Wow!! You could have knocked me with a feather!! My dear friend Marina who went to God only a few short weeks ago danced merrily into my ❤️. Right then the realisation came to me like a light into the centre of my being. My dear Marina gazing joyfully from Heaven above, as lady (Marina) and I walked to nearby foodstore for supplies☀️

Gentle lady selling pretty things from her basket called out as I walked towards her: ‘Bridget, my Holy Soul’s friend’. What a greeting! I shared my widow’s mite, gentle lady gifted me pretty pink sun hat from her basket. I love it☀️

Thank you dearest Jesus for leading me every time, in every place, to Your own precious folk!!

 (‘Daoine le Dia’ - God’s folk)

        

                 This evening we prayed Holy Rosary Mysteries of Light. (Marriage Feast of Cana)

                     ‘His Mother said to the servants: ‘Do whatever Jesus tells you’. (John 2:5)

                Tonight, open-air Adoration of the most Blessed Sacrament. Heaven on earth🌟

Dearest Jesus, You are first place always and forever in my life. Amen

‘Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee’.

                 (St. Augustine)

Medugorje ☀️🙏🏻

‘Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin’. 

         (St. Mother Teresa)

To be here in Medugorje for one whole week!! Rest and renewal wrapped in Mother Mary’s comforting arms. Mother Mary turns our lives the right way up.

Always she is leading us to her beautiful Son Jesus through the power of wonderful Holy Spirit. At journey’s end we will be safely home in Heaven forever with our dear Father God. Holy Trinity one God!! Mother Mary, angels and saints too, all of us happy together forever. Allelulia!

Countless prayer-sharing encounters. Already far too many to recount, all of them forever in my heart and prayer. Like gentle lady selling pretty items from her basket: ‘I used to be really shy’, she told with her incredible smile - ‘But Jesus healed my heart’.

Leaving home I still hadn’t purchased gifts for two friends here in Medugorje. As we drove along in the pouring rain somebody spied a roadside stall selling jam and honey. ‘They have St. Brigid crosses too’, uttered Christine. I hopped out (with driver’s permission) and purchased two. Oh what delight my roadside gifts bestowed on my friends. Awesome Holy Spirit!

Holy Mass this morning in St. James, Father reminded us that: ‘We have a Mother looking out for us every minute of our lives’. Our own dear mothers are praying for us always, our dear Mother Mary is not alone praying for us, She walks with us every step of our life-journey. Jesus and Mary never leaving our sides. Somebody one time remarked that we are in a ‘Witness protection program’.😀

I am reminded right now of words I received in a dream: ‘Nothing to fear. Jesus is here’!!

‘When we appeal to the throne of Grace we do so through Mary, honouring God by honouring His Mother, imitating Him by exalting Her, touching the most responsive chord in the Sacred Heart of Christ with the sweet name of Mary’. (St. Robert Bellarmine)

Dearest Mother Mary, Queen of peace. Keep our troubled minds at ease. Amen

I’m outa here ✈️ 🇨🇦

Impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time!!

‘Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds it’s rest in Thee’.

(St. Augustine)

All will be well☀️

‘Sometimes it seems after praying a long time that we have received no answer. We should not let this disturb us. God simply wishes us to wait for a more suitable time, or for more Grace, or for a better gift. (All will be well/Julian of Norwich)

Never to be forgotten, Killian running down the hall shouting: ‘I got the job-offer’. Oh how often we had dreamed and imagined that very moment!!

Two months watching, waiting and praying for a good result. Moments of high-reaching hope, many more of dark despair. 

Last weekend ‘lightbulb’ moment. Clarity! My prayer going forward would be one of acceptance;

‘Father God, I want with all my heart what Killian wants dearly - that he would secure a job-offer in Vancouver and return to normal life once more. He is so tired of it all and I am too. But now I see that Your plans for Killian are above and beyond my puny paltry ones. Mine mere sawdust by comparison! I am blocking Your way dear Father God and now I am bowing out and letting You be God coz I am not!!

Three days later job-offer touches down!

Yesterday I rang Killian asking his whereabouts and he replied: ‘Sitting in Church. I am very grateful’.

‘If we do not trust as much as we pray, we do not honour God fully, and we place obstacles in our path’. (Julian of Norwich)

Another beautiful Barbara book☀️ gifted to me after the ‘job-offer’ exhilarating event took place. Life certainly is lived forward but can only be understood backwards!!

Lord teach me to pray and trust more fully in You. Give me assurance that You are with me always and teach me to be content with the plan You have for me and all Your creatures. Amen

Holy Moments☀️

My dear friend Barbara has gifted me yet another hugely insightful book and I am absolutely thrilled to bits. ‘Holy moments’. What a wonderful title!

As always, myriad ‘Holy moments’ as I went about my day today. 

Elderly couple holding hands strolling along in the morning sunshine pause for a moment letting me know that the pretty photograph I randomly took of them some time ago is now fondly framed on their nightstand. ‘Holy moment’ indeed.

Singing ‘Bind us together Lord’ at end of Holy Mass and everyone present joining in. Movingly beautiful!!

Lady requesting two rosary beads for her boys beginning College soon. ‘You’re the only one I could think to ask’, she said. What an honour for me! Perfect timing too! Please God I will be returning from Medugorje week after next, laden down with Mother Mary blue Rosary beads.

Guy delivering my brand new iPhone phone (old one fell to the ground shattering the screen) happily accepted my prayer with the words: ‘Every day is a good day to receive a prayer’. Terminally ill guy’s wife told me her poor husband might begin praying my prayer today please God. I pray that he does🙏🏻

Young guy enjoying his beer and tome ‘Game of thrones’ in afternoon sunshine told me he prays ‘now and then’ but perhaps he will pray my prayer every morning. Placing it in his book I thought to myself even if my ‘powerful prayer’ is simply his bookmark for now…..Who knows what might come to pass!!

Derm’s text lit up my day: ‘I listened to his audiobook on his life, He lived a crazy life in a beautiful way. Like you Mam’. (Bob Mortimer’s life). That my lovely son would grant me such an undeserved compliment! ‘Holy moment’ indeed!

In St. Anne’s Holy Rosary this afternoon, Liz (95yrs) upset and anxious about much. After we prayed Holy Rosary together she took my hands in her own, uttering: ‘When you came in here today, God came in’. My heart!!

Smashing encounter with adorable retired Indian couple. Their’s an arranged marriage, getting wed one week after they first met over fifty years ago. What a tale of sheer delight! ‘God takes care of us’, they told me - meaning every single one of us and not just themselves. They loved my ‘powerful prayer’ too. Holy moment!

                                             ‘I have God for my help’. (Psalm 54:6)

‘Holy Moments are the solution to the world’s problems. This great collaboration between God and humanity is the untested solution to our problems. Unholy moments got us into this mess and only Holy Moments will get us out of it’. (‘Holy Moments’/Matthew Kelly)

Barbara sent me this right now with the words: ‘Today’s Holy Moment’. ☀️🙏🏻

‘Holy moments remind us that the future can be better than the past. They fill us with hope. They show us that we have a vital role to play in bringing about that better future. Holy moments empower us to give others the gift of Hope, and the ability to give other people hope is profoundly beautiful’.

 (‘Holy moments’/Matthew Kelly)

Holy moment! Killian received job-offer. Vancouver next week please God. Of course I will be sad to see him go but over the moon for him.☀️

It is impossible to be grateful and unhappy at the same time🙏🏻