Sister tells of Medjugorje's message of love

By BILL GLEN
WCR Staff Writer
Stony Plain

Speaking to about 150 people who packed the chapel at Ephphatha House May 23, Maillard described the wonders of a tiny village called Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina (formerly part of Yugoslavia).

On June 24, 1981, six teenagers were walking along a hilly path near the village when they say the shining silhouette of a woman holding a baby in her arms appeared before them. The following day she returned and revealed her identity. "I am the blessed Virgin Mary," she said.

The teens were regarded as visionaries and every day, the apparition returned giving them messages for themselves, for the parish and for the world. They were messages of peace and the need for conversion and love in order to bring humanity back to God.

"A message she gave was to open a school, and to open it with all our hearts," said Maillard, who has lived in Medjugorje since 1989.

"It is a school of love and a school of prayer. It is amazing."

Maillard described Mary as "a very mystical lady" who will lead you to perfect love in a short time if you live her messages of prayer.

While Maillard has never seen an apparition, she said Mary's plan for the school was to educate and form the children ultimately to become apostles of Christ.

"We have got to find Jesus and be holy." - Sr. Emmanuel Maillard

"She wants to form people who are totally dedicated to her and to Jesus, without reservation. She is calling us to holiness. She wants to be our guide."

The daily apparitions are a means for a gradual conversion to holiness, Maillard said.

"And she is very merciful because when she chose the six children, she definitely did not choose the best. They were poor. She told them she was giving them messages as never before in the history of the Church. The messages were to reconcile the world with God."

The visionaries were told they were to be Mary's instruments on earth. If they gave themselves to her, people they speak to will recognize her voice. "Our Lady is inviting us to pray. She is inviting us to holiness, to have in our hearts the fullness of love," Maillard said.

"When we choose to do the will of God, we are choosing the right path."

The greatest disease in North America is the want of people to be entertained. Those people have stopped listening to the heart of Jesus, she said.

"People just want to feel good, and that is wrong. That is not the Gospel. We have got to find Jesus and be holy."

Many people are afraid to make the decision to follow God. Maillard said that is the work of Satan.

"When there is love, there is an intimacy with God. There is no room for fear," she said.

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