The Visions of the Children

When reviewing a book or movie, especially one concerning the apparitions in Medjugorje, I generally take a stance much like the Catholic Church.

The Church, when deciding upon the validity of reported apparitions and miracles, waits until they have ceased before making a final decision. They like to gather all of the facts first.

Much in the same way, I generally like to read an entire book before deciding whether or not it's one I want to recommend, but in this case I'm changing things up a bit.

The book I'm currently reading, The Visions of the Children, by Janice T. Connell, is one of the most interesting books on the Medjugorje apparitions I have come across. I'm currently only a couple of chapters in but the book is like a magnet to my intellect and I felt the need to share some of it with all.

It features a wonderful introduction to the miracles and visions that have occurred in Medjugorje over the past 26 years. But I think the book's most valuable treasure is the question-and-answer format with each of the visionaries.

Check out some of these excerpts. The first one is from an interview with Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo, one of the visionaries to whom ten secrets about the fate of the world have been revealed. The questions are posed by the author of the book, Janice T. Connell.

"Q. Mirjana, you certainly seem to have great responsibilities. You are the one who has been chosen to announce the day and date of the unfolding of the ten secrets that the Blessed Mother has given for the whole world. Do you carry the responsibility for the unfolding of the final days of the planet?

A. I will anounce each secret to Father Petar. He will make whatever public announcement is to come..."


This excerpt is from an interview with Marija Pavlovic Lunetti:

"Q. How serious are the effects of sin?

A. Sin wounds us gravely. It separates us from God, who is our source of love and goodness and abundance and joy.

Q. How does this happen?

A. Sin darkens our capacity to choose wisely.

Q. Do many people live in darkness today?

A. The Blessed Mother says a cloud of darkness has enveloped the whole planet.

Q. What can be done?

A. Heed the messages of Medjugorje: prayer, fasting, reconciliation, peace, and conversion are a call from the Mother of God to all people on earth to restore God's kingdom of light and love and peace and joy to all people on earth."


This excerpt is from an interview with Ivan Dragicevic:

"Q. How does Satan get involved in marriages?

A. Many ways. One of his favorite ploys is to divide a husband and wife, then go after the children one by one.

Q. That sounds like the age-old divide-and-conquer theory of war, Ivan.

A. Satan is very smart. He has a large intellect. He knows all of our weaknesses."


These are just some of the pages and pages of interviews with the visionaries. It's at the same time fascinating and educational. The words from the mouths of the visionaries to the pages of this book are about as blunt as it gets. If you want to know how to live, if you want to understand the times in which we live, if you want to protect yourself from Satan's power and live in the good graces of God, I highly recommend this book.

It can be purchased new or used from Amazon:

The Lost Book of Nostradamus

I watched an interesting History Channel program, titled "The Lost Book of Nostradamus", last night. Here is the teaser for the program, as advertised at history.com (The History Channel's official Web site):

"In 1994, Italian journalist Enza Massa was at the Italian National Library in Rome when she stumbled upon an unusual find. It was a manuscript dating to 1629, titled: Nostradamus Vatinicia Code. Michel de Notredame, the author's name, was on the inside in indelible ink. The book contains cryptic and bizarre images along with over eighty watercolor paintings by the master visionary himself. Follow the investigative trail of how the manuscript was found in the archives and exactly how it got there. New insight is given into the life of Nostradamus and his relationship with Pope Urban VIII, who knew about this manuscript and in whose possession it was for many years."




I caught the program about halfway through but was immediately sucked in. I love stories of prophecy, as I think most who are interested in the Medjugorje apparitions do. I think we like knowing what our fate as a human race will be, and seeing more of the power of God. To me, I think there will be some vindication in End Times events, showing unbelievers or casual Catholics that there is a God and it WAS important to live a good life and not go through the world uncaring and acting selfishly. But that's an aside.... :)

The program got into how this "lost book", allegedly authored by Nostradamus, went into detail about the End Times, specifically mentioning the apocalypse will occur when the planets are aligned with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, scheduled to happen on that famous date in 2012. The Mayans also predicted the world would end in 2012, giving the date more significance.

The jury on the authenticity of the book is still out, but it's intriguing, nonetheless. There certainly will be this celestial event. What it means is uncertain. We should probably assume nothing, but who knows? And, after all, we know from the Medjugorje visionaries themselves that they have received at least some secrets about the end of the world, and that there will be something supernatural that will occur when the apparitions come to a close.

But I'd like to stress one thing, and that's this: Don't stress.

If you watch the video in my last posting, you'll see Mirjana, one of the visionaries, talking a little about what the Virgin Mary hopes to achieve through Her apparitions and how She wants us to respond. And one of the key things Mirjana says is that the Virgin Mary does not want us to be concerned with secrets or the end of time. She wants us to live holy lives, and to serve God. And when we do that, we don't have a whole lot to worry about. We will be taken care of.

The thing with these programs about Nostradamus or End Times prophecy is they're intended to get your blood pressure up. It's like watching a horror movie. You're scared but you kind of like being scared.

I think the most appropriate mindset after watching shows like this is to take it as information. Sure, it's intriguing. But use it as a motivator to live an even holier life than you have previously. Look at it as an opportunity to incrementally improve your life before it IS too late. Don't worry about when it will happen, because all you'll do is spend your life in fear. Make progress and spread peace and love and we'll all be a lot better off!