[Awe+wonder]

I have just realised that Our Blessed Mother first started to appear at Medjugorje in the same year that the internet started. The start of the internet was a worldwide significant event historically and has changed life for many people. Could the timing of the start of BVM's messages and her visitations be in any way linked to this.
The internet can be a tool for great good but also for great evil.

I have also read that the number 6 can translate to the letter W in Hebrew. Hence WWW and 666.

Have there been any other theories as to why Our BVM started to appear at Medjugorje in 1981?

[bluecross]

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[bluecross]

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[leo daly]

I don't believe that. The internet really started much before that. see http://www.internetsociety.org/internet ... y-internet
Windows 95 was the first time the internet really became readily available.

[Medjugorjeprayers]

When I first came to Medjugorje it was 1990 and I personally did not have an internet connection. It wasn't until the end of 1990 that I even had an email account. The internet was not a factor early on but it sure is now. If you have children you will know the powerful influence it has on them and us and I personally think the bad influence outweighs the good. Seems everyone is going around with bent necks looking down these days totally mesmerized with their machines and content. This definitely doesn't help with prayer time.

In 1981 communism had a powerful grip on the world and many Christians and Jews where being persecuted behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains. The US and the Soviet Union were at the brink of a Nuclear War. The world was in great danger and through God's great mercy and love for us, he sent Mary to help us. Just look at all the changes that have taken place since her first appearance. The Soviet Union doesn't even exist now with the maps of Europe completely rewritten including the former Yugoslavia where the apparitions first took place.

Now the forces of evil have just changed into another type of holocaust with terrorist groups reeking havoc on all faiths throughout the world. Secular ideologies have replaced Christian principles and look what the results have been. We now kill our own babies in the womb and somehow justify this barbaric act. We promote vile movies throughout the world full of pornography and blasphemous acts against our Lord. We are taught in our schools that we are only accidents of evolution, random change events that are responsible for all creation without the need of a creator God. Many have bought into this and have lost their faith. The list goes on and on... Satin does not rest as he knows his time is short and God is well aware of this and is why He has sent us special help.

I hear many critics asking why the Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared for so long. For many, this has even caused them to not believe in the apparitions. For myself and others, it is obvious why Mary has appeared for so long. We need the help now more than ever. Instead of embracing this and offering thanks to our Lord, we have become bogged down in the details, debating this and that and the other instead of fulling embracing this special gift from God by listening and acting out what Our Lady is asking us to do which is to Pray, Pray, Pray.

Here is the question we really need to ask ourselves: What would the world be like now if Mary had not come at such a crucial point in history?

[Awe+wonder]

Interesting answers, thank you.
Leo, I'm no expert on the internet or computers. I got the 1981 date for the internet as most people know it from the Wikipedia time line for the internet. 1981 is shown as the year in which the individual networks joined together. I realise that Wikipedia is only as good as the authors but the Internet Society link does seem to back up 1981 as the year in which the networks joined up.

[maryannlucy]

The apparitions in Rwanda also started in November 1981. See http://kibeho.org/en/mary.php If you look at the Virgin Mary's Medjugorje messages from 1985, Our Lady was quite insistent throughout most of the year for the parishioners of to pray to defeat some evil thing satan was trying to do....She was so very insistent, you should look at her messages... http://www.medjugorjeusa.org/1985.htm

Finally on September 5, 1985 She gave this message
"Dear children! Today I thank you for all the prayers. Keep on praying all the more so that Satan will be far away from this place. Dear children, Satan's plan has failed. Pray for fulfillment of what God plans in this parish. I especially thank the young people for the sacrifices they have offered up. Thank you for having responded to my call."

[Biggles]

Do you think Our Lady would be so cryptic in the timing of her appearances? Her messages have been so simple and obvious over the past 34 years (and we're STILL struggling to do as she requests!) that it's highly unlikely she'd chuck in some crypticism with regard to their timing (or indeed their content) just for good measure. Surely we should take her messages on board with the innocence and simplicity of a child and not try to interpret them into giving us clues as to when the secrets might happen. Furthermore, shouldn't we just be grateful for each and every message, as and when they occur, and not be so presumptious as to expect them as a matter of course? My sincere apologies if I've offended anyone with my opinion, but I'm a firm believer in focusing on the here and now and not the past or future (hmm, this might well explain my aversion to anything to do with dinosaurs and sci-fi!)

[aoise]

I agree Biggles. We should be profoundly grateful for each and every message, for Our Lady's continued presence among us and not speculate too much about the future. If we live the messages, we should be so fully occupied as not to have time to dissect them looking for 'hidden' meanings.

[gtc]

Here is more around the message above. It comes from Medjugorje.org, which has a complete listing of all the messages from Medjugorje.

August 1, 1985 "Dear children! I wish to tell you that I have chosen this parish and that I am guarding it in my hands like a little flower that does not want to die. I call you to surrender to me so that I can keep on presenting you to God, fresh and without sin. Satan has taken part of the plan and wants to possess it. Pray that he does not succeed in that, because I wish you for myself so I can keep on giving you to God. Thank you for having responded to my call."

August 8, 1985 "Dear children! Today I call you especially now to advance against satan by means of prayer. Satan wants to work still more now that you know he is at work. Dear children, put on the armor for battle and with the Rosary in your hand defeat him! Thank you for having responded to my call."

August 15, 1985 "Dear children! Today I am blessing you and I wish to tell you that I love you and that I urge you to live my messages. Today I am blessing you with the solemn blessing that the Almighty grants me. Thank you for having responded to my call."

August 22, 1985 "Dear children! Today I wish to tell you that God wants to send you trials which you can overcome by prayer. God is testing you through daily chores. Now pray to peacefully withstand every trial. From everything through which God tests you come out more open to God and approach Him with love. Thank you for having responded to my call."

August 29, 1985 "Dear children! I am calling you to prayer! Especially since satan wishes to take advantage of the yield of your vineyards. Pray that satan does not succeed in his plan. Thank you for having responded to my call."

September 5, 1985 "Dear children! Today I thank you for all the prayers. Keep on praying all the more so that satan will be far away from this place. Dear children, satan's plan has failed. Pray for fulfillment of what God plans in this parish. I especially thank the young people for the sacrifices they have offered up. Thank you for having responded to my call."

Biggles and Aoise, I understand your point. But I don't think it is a bad thing to have an understanding of the history of what is going on and to learn from it. From what I see in the messages above, it is clear that she was sending a message to the locals to pray for the church there. I find it encouraging that the prayer was able to thwart off what Satan was planning. It gives me hope and an appreciation for the power of prayer. Further, it encourages me to pray more.

[bluecross]

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[ministryvalues]

I always thought Our Lady came to Medjugorje in response to the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II which took place on Wednesday, 13 May 1981. This date was an anniversary date of Fatima. This also connects Fatima with Medjugorje (Medjugorje is the continuation and fulfillment of Fatima.)

It has been said that Our Lady came to Fatima in response to the direct attack against Christianity by communist atheisim. It has also been written that St. John Paul II spoke about how the Blessed Mother miraculously guided the assassin's bullet away from his heart which surely would have killed him. The Pope also credited the miracle to encouraging him to study the events at Fatima which led the Pope to consecrating Russia to Our Lady's Immaculate heart thus fulfilling the desires of Our Lady Fatima. Pope John Paul II told his friend (and great friend of Medjugorje)Bishop Hnilca while in his hospital bed recovering from the bullet wounds that: "I have come to understand that the only way to save the world from war, and to save it from atheism is the conversion of Russia according to the message of Fatima.
These events took place just days before Our Lady appeared at Medjugorje.

Monsignor Angelo Kim, President of the Korean Bishops’ Conference, once wrote about his encounter with John Paul II in the Korean national weekly newspaper, Catholic News, in 1990. Prior to the conclusion of the last Bishops’ Synod in Rome, the Korean bishops were invited to a lunch with John Paul II. Msgr. Kim addressed the Holy Father directly and said, “Father, thanks to you, Poland was able to liberate itself from Communism.” To this, the Holy Father responded, “No, this is not my merit. This is the work of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as She had predicted in Fatima and in Medjugorje.”

[Awe+wonder]

Thank you everyone. It is interesting to hear different view points.

Thank you BC. Yes , I do a lot of " pondering" .