Medjugorje Forum

When are people going to listen ?

2. The Italian mamma

The foreign priests who hear Confession in Medjugorje sometimes come across unusual situations. One of them told this story: As he was waiting in a Confessional that read "Français" on the outside, an Italian lady came in, knelt down, and started talking to him in speedy Italian. Not understanding anything, he told her, in French, to go instead to an Italian priest in a Confessional with the sign "Italiano" on the outside, because he simply did not understand what she was telling him. But the mamma ignored the priest's advice and continued her Confession, telling him many things very fast. Silently, the priest asked Jesus for help: what could he do? According to Church teaching, the Confession is not actually valid if one of the two persons does not understand anything.

Just at that moment, an incredible thing happened. The priest started to see, like in a movie unfolding before his eyes, all that the woman told him in Italian, and he could understand everything! But the story does not end there. In fact, as the priest answered the woman, he found himself speaking perfect Italian, a language that he never learned and did not know! This event left him deeply touched. He added that, when he hears Confession in Medjugorje, he is able to remain several hours at a time without getting tired or hungry.

God frequently encourages his children to make a good Confession by giving overwhelming signs of his presence. However the most astonishing aspect of this Sacrament resides in the fact that two sinners meet together to celebrate the infinite mercy of God! One of them has received the power to forgive sins and the other one humbly comes to him and puts his misery in the light. Behold, in the human poverty of this encounter between the confessor and the penitent, the very Blood of the Savior starts flowing, purifying the soul of the faithful in a degree far beyond what he can understand, and then the great miracle happens.

"I invite you to go to Confession once a month", the Blessed Mother tells us. "For there is no one on earth that would not need a monthly Confession. Monthly Confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West." Of course, Our Lady means a sincere Confession. St. Padre Pio, who could read souls, would not hear the Confession of someone who would come to him without repenting from his sins.