There is this sense of something coming. It is not to say this week or this month or this year, but there is this sense. From Medjugorje, the most attended apparition since Fatima, there have been what seem like signals. In the past few months, the Blessed Mother has been using terms such as "signs of the times," and began one message with the word "Courage," instead of "Dear Children."

That's unusual for Medjugorje -- where the Blessed Mother has gone years without such striking phraseology, and unusual events have lately occurred. An Irish woman went missing there (she still has not been found), and last July came reports, in Croat Daily, that Muslim terrorists planned to bomb a cross on a mountain overlooking the closest major city, Mostar. Rumor was there also had been a plan to bomb St. James Church in Medjugorje, and whatever the case, police swarmed the village.

This past month, there was more movement still. A priest associated with the secrets of Medjugorje, Father Petar Ljubicic, began a visit to the United States and while circumspect about prophecy -- which both clerics and seers from there are loathe to discuss -- he offered the opinion that events might happen soon, according to one unofficial and as yet unconfirmed report. What "soon" means is another issue, although it can be noted that Father Petar -- who was chosen by seer Mirjana Soldo to announce the events in her first secrets, when the time comes -- is in his sixties.

The latest message from Medjugorje, meanwhile, is one of the sternest ever. "Dear children!" it said in part. "Today the Lord permitted me to tell you again that you live in a time of grace. You are not conscious, little children, that God is giving you a great opportunity to convert and to live in peace and love. You are so blind and attached to earthly things and think of earthly life."

This came at the same time that a major prelate, Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul-Minneapolis, wrote a detailed commentary in his diocesan newspaper, The Spirit, reporting on a recent trip he took to Medjugorje and offering a powerfully positive endorsement. It is extremely rare for a sitting U.S. bishop to comment on the apparitions, which are controversial in a number of circles. While the local bishop in charge of the area (Mostar) has been strongly negative, the issue has been taken from his hands and is currently under the authority of a national commission in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Archbishop Flynn recalled a lunch with Pope John Paul II during which the late great pontiff was asked about the apparitions.

"The Holy Father kept eating his soup and responded: "Medjugorje? Medjugorje? Medjugorje? Only good things are happening at Medjugorje.  People are praying there.  People are going to Confession. People are adoring the Eucharist, and people are turning to God.  And, only good things seem to be happening at Medjugorje."

And at the same time as that, a statue from Medjugorje that was declared as supernatural by an archbishop in Italy began exuding blood again in the city of Civitavecchia, while photos from the village, where a large bronze corpus is likewise exuding a mysterious fluid (from a knee "wound"), have shown especially powerful sun miracles, including the ones at left that indicated a striking dark dot in the center of the sun, a dot that spun and was surrounded by a pinkish color. (They were taken by a New York-area woman, Loretta Kassimatis, see below too, during the 25th anniversary last June 25).

It is foolhardy to set a time frame on future events, but there is the same sense of matters coalescing among the common Marian devotees, if mail received here is any measure.