- Tue Jun 22, 2010 9:27 am
#165877
Two years ago I went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje and I think of it everyday. For thirty years I have kept a prayer journal so in keeping with my journal history I recorded my trip and thoughts in detail. I will post the first few pages and if there is interest, I will post the rest in segments as it is 35 pages long counting pictures, but my pictures are too large to attach and I lack the knowledge to reduce their size. If there is interest in the pictures, I will continue my attempts to reduce their size.
God Bless,
Les
Les’ Journal III – Medjugorje And Beyond
May 26, 2008 – Monday – Memorial Day
Next week I begin my pilgrimage to Medjugorje. How different a person I will be when I return I do not know? How my faith and devotion to God in three persons, Mary and prayer are unknowns? I only know that I will be impacted by this pilgrimage more than I can imagine. My life is at a crossroads. My second job change in less than six years after not changing companies for almost thirty years. The security that my family and I have enjoyed for so many years has given way to a world where change occurs in the blink of an eye. I do not worry because of my great faith in God and his protection, but my family does.
At this juncture of my life, I ask what does God want me to do with the rest of my life and is the answer to be found in Medjugorje? Will this be a life-changing event and if so how will it impact my family, our current state in life and where and how we live? Is the turmoil in the world going to continue to increase and what impact does that have on my family? I go to Medjugorje to meet God on his mountaintop just like the apostles and prophets of old. I go to Medjugorje to look through heavens door. I go to Medjugorje to praise and honor God.
January 27, 2008
Last week I made the reservations of a lifetime – a trip to Medjugorje. I have long dreamed of going and now with so much turmoil surrounding me I prepare for my journey. My mother passed away September 7, 2007 after a long illness. My father had a massive stroke on Palm Sunday or the day after 2007 and he is paralyzed and unable to speak. In December he had three seizers and is a shell of his former self. He was moved last week from Wingate Nursing Home to the Soldiers Home and is struggling with the move. Visits are difficult. I am President of LB Furniture, a struggling business that has been in financial trouble since day one. We are on the verge of going Chapter 11 and it is a miracle that we have lasted this long.
I go to morning Mass almost daily. I am addicted to it. I try to say a daily Rosary and have a rather lengthy prayer list. In spite of all the turmoil, I live a normal life with a beautiful wife of almost thirty years and four great kids, three beautiful daughters (they get that from my wife) and a great son. We have always been richly blessed and live in the house of our dreams, which we built and have added on to over the years.
My life before LB was one of much travel and responsibility. After almost thirty years at Sonoco Crellin, five and one half years ago, I was let go. I went from a company where everything worked to one where nothing worked. The Lord sent me to my Purgatory on earth - a chance to regain humility and put God in his rightful place as the center of my life. My spiritual life was a series of ups and downs – a roller coaster ride of intense encounters with God followed by long periods of wandering in the desert.
On July 7, 2006, I started anew, determined to eliminate the dramatic spiritual roller coaster experience. Daily Mass and prayer have had a huge effect. Now, my ups and downs are slight and the overall spiritual progress has been one of a steady climbing to a higher plane. This does not mean that all of a sudden I have had a great spiritual awakening. No my encounters with God have always been spectacular and the depth of prayer intense, but throughout my life sin, materialism, ambition – in other words – things of this world have seeped in robbing my life of the deep love of God and replacing it with love of self.
So God sent me to Purgatory to get myself straightened out – interestingly enough I love LB and its people. Re-conversion - that took time. I told the Blessed Mother and God that if LB can be saved, I will go to Medjugorje, but last week I said I am going anyway. I’m signed up for June 4 – 12 and am extremely excited.
My faith is on sure ground – this experience is to visit a little piece of heaven on earth. This journal will record the journey.
March 11, 2008
Yesterday, I paid for the rest of my trip. Today is the anniversary of Carol and my first date. Kristen was born on this day and Jon tomorrow and about this time in 1979 we lost Matthew Alexander through a miscarriage. It is a special day and time. - I long to go on my pilgrimage.
June 5, 2008 – Thursday 12:30 PM
I am currently flying on Croatian Airlines, the second leg of a three-leg trip to Split. My pilgrimage has begun. I decided to try and only drink water – so far I have passed on wine, coffee and assorted other drinks. I started yesterday and miss that coffee shot in the morning.
Last Friday May 30th, we shutdown production at LB – it was a sad day. We came so far, accomplished so much. That morning, I had breakfast with David and he offered me a three-month position beginning June 16th. Kristen’s wedding shower is the 14th when I return and I have not shaved since Sunday morning. Dad died April 21st and Mom died September 7th. A lot has happened in the past year and I look forward to a great pilgrimage. We flew out of Boston last night at 7:45 PM. My brother Bill was kind enough to bring me to the airport. Before I left this morning, they asked me to read (I love to read the Lord’s word) at Daily Mass on Wednesday morning in Hudson. I was showered with prayer requests to bring to Medjugorje and was prayed over by five plus Father Bath – it was very touching. Father Bath heard my confession and offered to buy me breakfast but I declined since I had much to do at the plant.
The trip has been tiring. I did not sleep well the night before and hurried here and there to prepare to leave. I have been catching up on sleep and reading newspapers and not much else.
What do I want from this trip? My faith is strong without signs and wonders. The Lord speaks to my heart and through all this turmoil I have remained at peace. So why go? I have dreamed of this trip for years – to go and see history being made in my time, in my life. How many chances does one get in their lifetime to do that? I want more – I want to meet God face to face on his mountain, in his place – that is why I travel half way around the world. I want to take back from this place the power to turn hearts back to God - the power to be a beacon of light and hope and help show the way to those who have lost their way. My testimony needs that touch from God. What it is I do not know but I will receive it on this trip.
This journey yesterday and today is a purging of the world so I will be open to God and Mary’s voices in a special way in Medjugorje. So far on this trip I have met Barry (RI), Will (Great Barrington), Mike (NM Connecticut), and Allen (PA) – a young man in college paying for the trip himself with his brother. Barry and Mike have been here numerous times. Mike comes ever six months to recharge his batteries. They say there is indescribable peace there. I also met Kathleen and Vicky from Idaho.
7:45 PM
Still driving on the bus to Medjugorje – Scenery is spectacular as the road winds up and down the cliffs. It is too bumpy to write.
11:45 PM
We arrived after 9:00 PM, maybe closer to 9:30. Checked into our rooms and had dinner. We are staying in a house of one of the cousins of the visionaries – very nice people. The room is clean but sparse and with a bathroom. I am in a two-person room with no roommate at this moment.
After dinner, I could not pass up the opportunity to go to Apparition Hill. It is close and while everyone else was going to bed, I was going to climb the hill, which turned out to be very rocky and steep in sections. The bronze mysteries of the rosary had great detail in them.
I have prayed the Rosary on Apparition Hill – finishing the Sorrowful and Glorious in front of her statue and the cross where she first appeared. There was a family here also saying the rosary for a member of their family that recently died – a son I think. They were not English speaking. I prayed with them off on the side.
I have been alone on the hilltop for the last thirty minutes or so. I have said my prayer list and will probably head back.
They lost my luggage. The ride from the airport was spectacular and three hours long. Tomorrow is a full day. We said a rosary on the bus coming here. It is quiet up here at night alone with Mary and Her Son - time for bed.
Journal addition – When I looked at my pictures when I got back I found this picture at the left of four round objects which turned out to be orbs which many people say are angels. The amazing thing is that I did not see them and do not even remember taking the picture.
June 6, 2008 – Friday – 12:00 PM
E-mail To Family
All,
I am safe and alive in Medjugorje. They lost my luggage and we survived some rainstorms.
The ride from Split to Medjugorje is along the coastline with small roads overlooking long cliffs down to the sea. The three-hour ride was breath taking but not high speed, the rest was through mountains with tons and tons of rocks everywhere.
We finished eating dinner at 10:20 PM and everyone headed to bed, well almost everyone, I climbed Apparition hill with the Mysteries of the Rosary and stayed there till after Midnight.
Today we have a full day. The English Mass was at 10:00 and was very emotional. The first song got to me bad - Here I Am Lord.
We have dinner in half an hour at 2 PM today - dinner-lunch. So far so good on only water for drinking, but they have great homemade wine with dinner-lunch so I guess I will miss. Today being Friday I am doing bread and water only. Tonight services are three hours and I may climb Cross Mountain afterward if my gear comes. These are some kind of mountains I need my gloves and the miner's flashlight. I still would like to spend one night up there.
My beard is quite a sight especially since I still have the same pants from yesterday. I had to buy some toothpaste, brush, etc. Hopeful by the time I get home it will look good. However, I am not starting a fad, as I am the only one not shaving.
Wish you all were here. I'll try to check my e-mail daily. Sign up for three Masses - $15 per Mass.
Love,
Dad
The trip was a long journey – still no luggage. Last night the family on the mountain prayed for a lost one, a death – the mother wept inconsolable at the end of the rosary and prayers and her husband gently put his arms around her after five to ten minutes of weeping and took her down the mountain. They left behind his hat, many prayers and many tears.
Here you walk through the vineyards to get to church. The English Mass this morning had fifteen priests (they run a Mass every hour in different languages) and was packed - the singing beautiful. The first song was ‘Here I Am Lord’ and I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t stop crying. The Spirit of the Lord just totally overcame me. It was something I had looked for last night, but it was not there. Yet at Mass, my favorite prayer, it was. For five minutes, I was overcome by God’s Spirit. Then before the gospel, they sang ‘Yahweh I Know You Are Here’ and the same thing happened.
This is my third day on just water to drink, plus food although today I am fasting on bread and water. I woke up at 7 AM and walked to the church. I started to pray on the walk but the Lord said, “Listen in silence – observe what lies around you”, and I did. I bought toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, soap and shampoo. The shower in the morning felt good.
After 10 AM Mass, a two-hour talk and tour then 2 PM dinner. A 4 PM talk by Mike Brown and 6 – 9 PM services at the church. Maybe I’ll get my luggage and I’ll climb Cross Mountain at night.
6:35 PM
We are just beginning the Sorrowful Mysteries after doing the Joyous. In five minutes Mary will appear to three of the six visionaries. All my prayer requests from Hudson and my prayer list are in the room to be given to Mary. After that they will be burned.
6:45 PM
At 6:40 PM, everyone went on their knees and for another time today I felt God and Mary’s spirit upon me and my eyes welled up with tears. The bells rang and the rosary continued.
(to be continued)
God Bless,
Les
Les’ Journal III – Medjugorje And Beyond
May 26, 2008 – Monday – Memorial Day
Next week I begin my pilgrimage to Medjugorje. How different a person I will be when I return I do not know? How my faith and devotion to God in three persons, Mary and prayer are unknowns? I only know that I will be impacted by this pilgrimage more than I can imagine. My life is at a crossroads. My second job change in less than six years after not changing companies for almost thirty years. The security that my family and I have enjoyed for so many years has given way to a world where change occurs in the blink of an eye. I do not worry because of my great faith in God and his protection, but my family does.
At this juncture of my life, I ask what does God want me to do with the rest of my life and is the answer to be found in Medjugorje? Will this be a life-changing event and if so how will it impact my family, our current state in life and where and how we live? Is the turmoil in the world going to continue to increase and what impact does that have on my family? I go to Medjugorje to meet God on his mountaintop just like the apostles and prophets of old. I go to Medjugorje to look through heavens door. I go to Medjugorje to praise and honor God.
January 27, 2008
Last week I made the reservations of a lifetime – a trip to Medjugorje. I have long dreamed of going and now with so much turmoil surrounding me I prepare for my journey. My mother passed away September 7, 2007 after a long illness. My father had a massive stroke on Palm Sunday or the day after 2007 and he is paralyzed and unable to speak. In December he had three seizers and is a shell of his former self. He was moved last week from Wingate Nursing Home to the Soldiers Home and is struggling with the move. Visits are difficult. I am President of LB Furniture, a struggling business that has been in financial trouble since day one. We are on the verge of going Chapter 11 and it is a miracle that we have lasted this long.
I go to morning Mass almost daily. I am addicted to it. I try to say a daily Rosary and have a rather lengthy prayer list. In spite of all the turmoil, I live a normal life with a beautiful wife of almost thirty years and four great kids, three beautiful daughters (they get that from my wife) and a great son. We have always been richly blessed and live in the house of our dreams, which we built and have added on to over the years.
My life before LB was one of much travel and responsibility. After almost thirty years at Sonoco Crellin, five and one half years ago, I was let go. I went from a company where everything worked to one where nothing worked. The Lord sent me to my Purgatory on earth - a chance to regain humility and put God in his rightful place as the center of my life. My spiritual life was a series of ups and downs – a roller coaster ride of intense encounters with God followed by long periods of wandering in the desert.
On July 7, 2006, I started anew, determined to eliminate the dramatic spiritual roller coaster experience. Daily Mass and prayer have had a huge effect. Now, my ups and downs are slight and the overall spiritual progress has been one of a steady climbing to a higher plane. This does not mean that all of a sudden I have had a great spiritual awakening. No my encounters with God have always been spectacular and the depth of prayer intense, but throughout my life sin, materialism, ambition – in other words – things of this world have seeped in robbing my life of the deep love of God and replacing it with love of self.
So God sent me to Purgatory to get myself straightened out – interestingly enough I love LB and its people. Re-conversion - that took time. I told the Blessed Mother and God that if LB can be saved, I will go to Medjugorje, but last week I said I am going anyway. I’m signed up for June 4 – 12 and am extremely excited.
My faith is on sure ground – this experience is to visit a little piece of heaven on earth. This journal will record the journey.
March 11, 2008
Yesterday, I paid for the rest of my trip. Today is the anniversary of Carol and my first date. Kristen was born on this day and Jon tomorrow and about this time in 1979 we lost Matthew Alexander through a miscarriage. It is a special day and time. - I long to go on my pilgrimage.
June 5, 2008 – Thursday 12:30 PM
I am currently flying on Croatian Airlines, the second leg of a three-leg trip to Split. My pilgrimage has begun. I decided to try and only drink water – so far I have passed on wine, coffee and assorted other drinks. I started yesterday and miss that coffee shot in the morning.
Last Friday May 30th, we shutdown production at LB – it was a sad day. We came so far, accomplished so much. That morning, I had breakfast with David and he offered me a three-month position beginning June 16th. Kristen’s wedding shower is the 14th when I return and I have not shaved since Sunday morning. Dad died April 21st and Mom died September 7th. A lot has happened in the past year and I look forward to a great pilgrimage. We flew out of Boston last night at 7:45 PM. My brother Bill was kind enough to bring me to the airport. Before I left this morning, they asked me to read (I love to read the Lord’s word) at Daily Mass on Wednesday morning in Hudson. I was showered with prayer requests to bring to Medjugorje and was prayed over by five plus Father Bath – it was very touching. Father Bath heard my confession and offered to buy me breakfast but I declined since I had much to do at the plant.
The trip has been tiring. I did not sleep well the night before and hurried here and there to prepare to leave. I have been catching up on sleep and reading newspapers and not much else.
What do I want from this trip? My faith is strong without signs and wonders. The Lord speaks to my heart and through all this turmoil I have remained at peace. So why go? I have dreamed of this trip for years – to go and see history being made in my time, in my life. How many chances does one get in their lifetime to do that? I want more – I want to meet God face to face on his mountain, in his place – that is why I travel half way around the world. I want to take back from this place the power to turn hearts back to God - the power to be a beacon of light and hope and help show the way to those who have lost their way. My testimony needs that touch from God. What it is I do not know but I will receive it on this trip.
This journey yesterday and today is a purging of the world so I will be open to God and Mary’s voices in a special way in Medjugorje. So far on this trip I have met Barry (RI), Will (Great Barrington), Mike (NM Connecticut), and Allen (PA) – a young man in college paying for the trip himself with his brother. Barry and Mike have been here numerous times. Mike comes ever six months to recharge his batteries. They say there is indescribable peace there. I also met Kathleen and Vicky from Idaho.
7:45 PM
Still driving on the bus to Medjugorje – Scenery is spectacular as the road winds up and down the cliffs. It is too bumpy to write.
11:45 PM
We arrived after 9:00 PM, maybe closer to 9:30. Checked into our rooms and had dinner. We are staying in a house of one of the cousins of the visionaries – very nice people. The room is clean but sparse and with a bathroom. I am in a two-person room with no roommate at this moment.
After dinner, I could not pass up the opportunity to go to Apparition Hill. It is close and while everyone else was going to bed, I was going to climb the hill, which turned out to be very rocky and steep in sections. The bronze mysteries of the rosary had great detail in them.
I have prayed the Rosary on Apparition Hill – finishing the Sorrowful and Glorious in front of her statue and the cross where she first appeared. There was a family here also saying the rosary for a member of their family that recently died – a son I think. They were not English speaking. I prayed with them off on the side.
I have been alone on the hilltop for the last thirty minutes or so. I have said my prayer list and will probably head back.
They lost my luggage. The ride from the airport was spectacular and three hours long. Tomorrow is a full day. We said a rosary on the bus coming here. It is quiet up here at night alone with Mary and Her Son - time for bed.
Journal addition – When I looked at my pictures when I got back I found this picture at the left of four round objects which turned out to be orbs which many people say are angels. The amazing thing is that I did not see them and do not even remember taking the picture.
June 6, 2008 – Friday – 12:00 PM
E-mail To Family
All,
I am safe and alive in Medjugorje. They lost my luggage and we survived some rainstorms.
The ride from Split to Medjugorje is along the coastline with small roads overlooking long cliffs down to the sea. The three-hour ride was breath taking but not high speed, the rest was through mountains with tons and tons of rocks everywhere.
We finished eating dinner at 10:20 PM and everyone headed to bed, well almost everyone, I climbed Apparition hill with the Mysteries of the Rosary and stayed there till after Midnight.
Today we have a full day. The English Mass was at 10:00 and was very emotional. The first song got to me bad - Here I Am Lord.
We have dinner in half an hour at 2 PM today - dinner-lunch. So far so good on only water for drinking, but they have great homemade wine with dinner-lunch so I guess I will miss. Today being Friday I am doing bread and water only. Tonight services are three hours and I may climb Cross Mountain afterward if my gear comes. These are some kind of mountains I need my gloves and the miner's flashlight. I still would like to spend one night up there.
My beard is quite a sight especially since I still have the same pants from yesterday. I had to buy some toothpaste, brush, etc. Hopeful by the time I get home it will look good. However, I am not starting a fad, as I am the only one not shaving.
Wish you all were here. I'll try to check my e-mail daily. Sign up for three Masses - $15 per Mass.
Love,
Dad
The trip was a long journey – still no luggage. Last night the family on the mountain prayed for a lost one, a death – the mother wept inconsolable at the end of the rosary and prayers and her husband gently put his arms around her after five to ten minutes of weeping and took her down the mountain. They left behind his hat, many prayers and many tears.
Here you walk through the vineyards to get to church. The English Mass this morning had fifteen priests (they run a Mass every hour in different languages) and was packed - the singing beautiful. The first song was ‘Here I Am Lord’ and I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t stop crying. The Spirit of the Lord just totally overcame me. It was something I had looked for last night, but it was not there. Yet at Mass, my favorite prayer, it was. For five minutes, I was overcome by God’s Spirit. Then before the gospel, they sang ‘Yahweh I Know You Are Here’ and the same thing happened.
This is my third day on just water to drink, plus food although today I am fasting on bread and water. I woke up at 7 AM and walked to the church. I started to pray on the walk but the Lord said, “Listen in silence – observe what lies around you”, and I did. I bought toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, soap and shampoo. The shower in the morning felt good.
After 10 AM Mass, a two-hour talk and tour then 2 PM dinner. A 4 PM talk by Mike Brown and 6 – 9 PM services at the church. Maybe I’ll get my luggage and I’ll climb Cross Mountain at night.
6:35 PM
We are just beginning the Sorrowful Mysteries after doing the Joyous. In five minutes Mary will appear to three of the six visionaries. All my prayer requests from Hudson and my prayer list are in the room to be given to Mary. After that they will be burned.
6:45 PM
At 6:40 PM, everyone went on their knees and for another time today I felt God and Mary’s spirit upon me and my eyes welled up with tears. The bells rang and the rosary continued.
(to be continued)
