Mary prepares us for her Son’s return

Sister Emmanuel Maillard, from Medjugorje, will give her testimony on Sunday in Milan, guest of the Daily Compass. Here sce will introduce us to the theme of the day, "Mary prepares us for the future."

Mary is the queen of prophets and is the forerunner. Just as John the Baptist prepared the way for the first coming of Jesus, so Our Lady is preparing us for the second coming of her Son. In fact, it is not a coincidence that when the Queen of Peace first appeared in Medjugorje, June 24, 1981, it was precisely the day of the feast of John the Baptist. That day the Madonna arrived holding the Child Jesus in her arms, His face was covered by a small veil. She lifted the veil to show Jesus to all present, then covered it and uncovered it again. This gesture had a precise meaning: to reveal her Son and to make the whole world understand that she came only for her Son, so that everyone could know Him, serve Him and adore Him.

During the apparitions of the last thirty-eight years in Medjugorje, Our Lady has told us how to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus, she has taught us to walk in the footsteps of her Son and to live an authentic Christian life. But, primarily she has spoken to us about Heaven and Eternity and all her teaching is precisely this: to give us her breast milk so that we can prepare for eternal Life. That is why she always repeats: "Dear Sons, never forget that the purpose of your life is Heaven! Talk about Heaven, think of Eternity!" We must never forget that Mary's words are always prophetic because she knows our future.

In this sense, Our Lady gave us a fundamental message last summer (June 25, 2019). She said: "I prepare you for the new times", times that she herself has defined "as peace and spring", which is the exact opposite of today. One cannot help but wonder: how is it possible to pass through these times of ours, in this darkness devoid of peace, to the new times of which Our Lady speaks? She herself replied: "Priests are the bridges between these two very different times." That is why Our Lady constantly encourages us to pray for them, because "if the bridges collapse how can we pass to the other side?" Not only that, she added: "I prepare you for the new times so that you are persevering in prayer and firm in your faith, so that the Holy Spirit may renew the face of the earth." So Mary sees the trials in which we are immersed, the sufferings, the crosses we have to carry, as she has said so many times. Still, she always talks about the future and tells us "there will be trials." But why?

It is because although we are already in a time of trial, we must expect bigger trials to come. Moreover, in the same message, Our Lady adds: "The trials will come and you will not be strong enough." Again, we need to ask ourselves: why won't we be ready? The answer is there before us: because many people consider the purpose of life is not an authentic Christian life, it is not eternal life, it is not union with God. For many, life’s goal is to possess material and earthly goods, to live life for one's self and not for God. That is why she comes to prepare us!

But the most terrible and at the same time most prophetic aspect of this message is when she says: "Sin will reign": Our Lady has never envisaged such a terrible scenario! What will happen when sin reigns and when darkness appears to envelop everything? Mary did not answer, but she told us something much more important: "If you are mine you will win, because your refuge will be the Heart of my Son Jesus!" Here we have the true Light of lights. In the midst of darkness, Our Lady prophesies where our Salvation is to be found: Jesus in the Eucharist.

It won’t be easy, we will have to work hard for this Salvation because, before the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, there will be a truly terrible period. In fact, the message of Medjugorje finds confirmation and provides continuity to the message of Fatima, when Our Lady in Cova d’Iria said: "In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph." By using the term "triumph" she made it perfectly clear that there will be a war first. There can be no triumph without war. So if we are here, if we listen to these words, if we speak of this ... we should know that we have been chosen by Our Lady to be hers, to win and to prepare the victory with her. But above all, if we have been chosen by Mary, we must know that we have enormous grace. Therefore there are trials and it will be very hard, but even greater than this is the Hope that the Mother of God brings us: the Heart of her Son. If we put Jesus in the Eucharist first, we will triumph in the end and, even in the storm, we will have peace and joy.