Note: Since the above video was made, “in 2024, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the Pope’s assent, gave its approval to devotion to Mary under the title ‘Queen of Peace’ associated with Medjugorje. This approval allows for pilgrimages to the site and acknowledges the spiritual fruits that have come from it, such as conversions and increased faith, while remaining neutral on the authenticity of the apparitions themselves…. The approval allows for organized pilgrimages to Medjugorje, acknowledging the site as a place of spiritual significance.”
Eucharistic Miracle of Ludbreg – pdf
The Eucharistic miracle of Ludbreg, Croatia, is a reported event in 1411 where a priest, during the consecration of the wine at Mass, doubted the doctrine of transubstantiation and the wine transformed into blood. The blood relic is preserved in a precious monstrance and is a site of pilgrimage, with the annual celebration held during the first week of September.
- In 1411, a priest in Ludbreg, within the chapel of Count Batthyany’s castle, experienced a crisis of faith during the consecration of the wine. (19) EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE Ludbreg,… – St. Stephen Catholic Church Ona WV | Facebook
- He doubted the doctrine of transubstantiation, which states that the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ during the Eucharist. Eucharistic miracle – Wikipedia
- In response to his doubt, the wine in the chalice miraculously changed into blood.
- The priest, unsure of what to do, hid the relic behind the main altar and swore the workman to secrecy.
- He revealed the miracle only on his deathbed.
- The event was investigated and recognized by the Church.
- Pope Leo X issued a papal bull in 1411 permitting veneration of the relic.
- The relic was later returned to Croatia.
- The blood relic is housed in a precious monstrance since the 18th century, and frescoes in the chapel depict the miracle.
- The miracle is celebrated annually during the first week of September.
- The miracle of Ludbreg is considered one of the most important Eucharistic miracles, alongside those of Lanciano and Santarém.
- It is a site of pilgrimage for those seeking to venerate the relic and learn more about the miracle.
- The miracle serves as a testament to the power of faith and the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Source: https://ivanmerz.hr/english/
Banja Luka, Dec. 16, 1896 – Zagreb, May 10, 1928
A “EUROPEAN-SIZED”
APOSTLE OF YOUTH
Ivan Merz is a young layman from Croatia, who lived in an age full of big political changes that transformed Europe and left a strong mark on his life.
He was born on December 16, 1896, in Banja Luka from a liberal family when Bosnia was occupied by Austria-Hungary. He had his secondary education in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment of his native town. He finished his studies at the same time when in Sarajevo the crown prince Francesco Ferdinando was murdered (June 28, 1914).
According to his parents’ will, and not to his own, he joined the military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, but, disgusted by the corruption of this environment, he quit after three months. In 1915, he started his university studies in Vienna, but in 1916 he was called by the army to be sent, later on, to the front lines, where he spent almost all of 1917 and 1918. At the end of the First World War, he was in Banja Luka, where he experienced the radical political change and the birth of the new Yugoslav State. In 1919 and in 1920, he was back in Vienna, studying at the Faculty of Philosophy. In October 1920, he set off for Paris, where he attended some lessons at the Sorbonne University and in the “Institute catholique”, preparing in the meantime his doctoral dissertation.
He earned his doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Zagreb in 1923 with the thesis “The influence of liturgy on the French writers.” Having passed the state exam, he was qualified to teach French and German language and literature. He became a professor at the archiepiscopal gymnasium in Zagreb until his death (May 10, 1928).
Still little known outside his native country, the character of Ivan Merz, whose canonization cause is proceeding after his beatification, fascinates those who approach it. A Catholic student and soldier, then an intellectual layman with a wide culture who, because of his love for God, employed all his own energies serving other people and educating the Croatian youth.
What is most striking about Ivan Merz is his spiritual itinerary, which is, especially in the first period (a period of formation) very uncommon: without a family, without novitiate, without seminary, without a permanent spiritual guide, he found by himself his way to sanctity, so that he was defined as a “Spontaneous spiritual fruit”, where the presence of the Grace is experimentally proven. There are only a few saints – and we don’t know if we can find some among lay man and women – whose spiritual itinerary we can follow as closely as in the case of Ivan Merz, and this is due to his personal diary that he started writing while he was preparing his school-leaving examination and that he went on writing in the army at the front, and during his university days…
The character emerging from this diary is not that of a “born saint” man, but rather that of a young man fighting for the Good and winning his battle and therefore, with his example, swaying all those striving to accomplish the Christian ideal of perfection. He was afflicted with the question of love and then with pain and death, which he overcame in the light of faith. In his diary, in the period of the War, it is possible to feel the depth of his soul where material and spiritual poverty of life in the army are mirrored and mingled together with the light of Grace. “There is no Holy Eucharist”, he wrote on September 19, 1917, “I am living as a pagan or as a beast, as if the Agnus was no more in the centre of the universe, as if He did not exist at all”.
“Oh God the Comforter, come and pervade me and my nature with atoms of eternity, so that, more similar to you, I can understand the developing of existence. The present state is busy with rum, while the Holy Eucharist is of minor importance. Where are the military chaplains? Why are they deserting their flock now when they need God the most? “.
“Oh God, the best would be if I was already with You, so, please, burn all the parasites of sin that crept into my soul with the flame of your Mercy, so that I can appear before You good and holy; or at least, to be inspired, while leaving, with a holy joy and an extraordinary will” ( July 13, 1918).
Even at the front, Ivan was fasting: “ ‘Memento mori – bacon is waiting there to set me a trap! Those who think that fasting is just a little something, do not really know what they are talking about. There is no spiritual life without fasting… Oh God, provide me with a strong will, even if I were barefoot and naked!” (August 23, 1918). A spiritual athlete arose out of the moral ruins of the war, stronger and fortified.
“Never to forget God! Always wishing to join Him. Devoting every day, a better dawn, some time to meditation, to prayer, if possible, being close to the Eucharist or during the Holy Mass. At that hour, all the projects for the day have to be planned, all the faults have to be examined, and ask for the Grace to overcome weaknesses. It would be terrible if this war could bring no benefit to me! … I must start leading a new life… May God help me, because there is nothing a man can do single-handedly. (February 5, 1918).
Merz emerged from the war as a mature man and Christian, and as such, he renewed his studies in Vienna and continued them in France, devoting himself more and more to the Croatian Catholic Movement.
Once back in Zagreb, he gave a new direction to the youth’s movement of the “Eagles’, according to the Catholic Action’s principles. As a mature man he became an example of apostle and thus a model for every priest or religious. Finally, Merz was the “catholic man” par excellence, whose heart was beating together with the heart of the Church, that has no national or political frontiers; the Church that is the Mystical Body of Christ, gathered around the real presence of Christ in Eucharist, represented by his vicar on earth, the Pope. The Church, the Eucharist and the Pope: three loves, or rather one only love, according to Merz, who was trying with all his might to instill it in the Croatian youth.
He, a layman, was the promoter of the liturgical movement in Croatia and was also a pioneer of Catholic Action according to Pius XI’s instructions, to assemble “elite” apostles to work for the “renewal of everything in Christ”. For a little longer than five years, he was working, fighting and suffering for the establishment and strengthening of the Kingdom of God in his country. With this purpose, he became the moving spirit of the youth’s “Eagles” movement, to which, on his deathbed, he offered his own life. His wide culture, his experience of life and his deep Catholic sense, make him a “European Saint”, close to the German, Latin and Slavic world. Although almost eighty years have passed since his death, his character has lost no relevance, or better, from a certain point of view, it has increased, because in the meanwhile the world has become more secularised, and is in greater need of witnesses of the “supernatural”.
As a layman consecrated to God, for six years he devoted himself to the apostolic work of forming Catholic youth in Croatia. He promoted the liturgical revival and the Catholic Action of Pope Pius XI. Completely devoted to the Church and the Vicar of Christ in Rome, Ivan lived a holy life imbued with the worship of the Eucharist. Although he was a layman, he is called “the pillar of the Church” in Croatia.
In 1928, Merz passed away, leaving an example of how a man can live, fight and suffer for God’s cause. Merz tried hard to give his life the “full meaning”, heading for sanctity, and all his pedagogical tasks were devoted to the formation of apostles of sanctity. He died on May 10, 1928, with a reputation as a saint. His shrine is located in the Basilica of the Heart of Jesus in Zagreb, Croatia. The fame of sanctity soon surrounded him, advancing his cause for canonization, which was started in 1958. Pope John Paul II beatified him in his birthplace, Banja Luka, Bosnia, on June 22, 2003, and referred to him as an example of Christian life, especially to the young and lay believers. The Lord has granted numerous prayers and graces through the intercession of Blessed Ivan Merz.
SOME OF IVAN MERZ’S THOUGHTS
- From Paris, when he was a student, he was writing to his mother: You should know that the university life in Vienna, the war, my studies and Lourdes have persuaded me completely about the truth of the Catholic religion. That is the reason why my life is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Catholic faith is my life’s vocation.”
- Why do I love the Catholic Church and the Pope? Because in the Church I can see a clear image of the beloved Saviour, the God-man, Jesus Christ, with all his perfections, and in the figure of the Pope I can see my God and my Lord.
- If I did not believe, my existence would come to an end.
- The route of every apostolate is the fight against sin.
- Suffering is more useful to the Kingdom of Christ than a long work, erudite discussions or wonderful speeches and articles.
IVAN MERZ’S TESTAMENT
The last lines he wrote before his death: “Died in the peace of the catholic faith. My life was Christ, and my death was my gain. I am expecting the Mercy of the Lord and undivided, complete, eternal possession of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Happy in joy and peace. My soul will reach the goal for which it was created.” This text is the epitaph on Ivan Merz’s grave in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Zagreb.
PRAYER
God, our Father, Blessed Ivan, faithful to his baptismal call for sanctity, worked hard in the field of forming youth in the faith and Christian life. Grant us the grace that we may, strengthened by his advocacy and inspired by his example, faithfully and bravely continue to announce the Gospel and be witnesses of it. With the help of Christ our Lord. Amen.
Granted prayers and graces by the advocacy of Blessed Ivan Merz, address to:
POSTULATURA IVANA MERZA
Palmotićeva 31, pp. 446 HR-10000 ZAGREB, Croatia
telephone: 00385-98-546.806
Information about Blessed Ivan Merz can be found at the Internet address: http://www.ivanmerz.hr
For any information on Blessed Ivan Merz, please contact:
e-mail postulaturaim@gmail.com
Source:
English – Blaženi Ivan Merz
A post from admin on Blaženi Ivan Merz provided by: https://ivanmerz.hr
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