When we designed this site, it was with the intent of it being more a gateway to all the information available about Medjugorje than an encyclopedia of everything. We were hoping to simplify and provide basic information for those just beginning their journey and still unfamiliar with all people and terms research will bring. Gospa has frequently called us to prayer and fasting. It was easy enough to find good, solid references to teach people how to pray formally.. such as the Rosary, but the real challenge turned out to be how to teach people to fast.

To date, we've been unable to find a medical professional willing to advise so many people in a general way about the proper way to approach a fast and to break a fast. There are so many factors involved. Is the person about to fast healthy? Have they had a recent physical? Are they taking vitamin supplements? Are they living a lifestyle that will allow fasting without injury or harm to themselves? Are they taking medication? You see our dilemma.

We asked many that have fasted for their advice. And those that do fast for spiritual purposes seem to all give the same advice. Fast if you can, when you can. The Blessed Mother asks us to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water. But, if this is not possible, then the most important thing is do give up or do something special for the love of God.

When fasting on bread and water is not possible (and this should only be practiced by those in good health), then give up a bad habit for the day.. such as sweets or smoking or television. Replace it instead with a specific act to honor God. Additional prayers, readings from the Bible or Adoration. The important thing is that we learn the joy of sacrificing for God and do so on a regular basis.

So, keeping all that in mind, perhaps the best way to teach fasting is to allow our Lady to do it. Below are the messages received from the Gospa through the years that remind us of her request to fast.

AUGUST 14, 1984: This apparition was unexpected. Ivan was praying in his house and then started getting ready to go to church for the evening service, when Our Lady appeared to him and asked him to relate this message to the people: "I ask the people to pray with me these days. Pray all the more. Fast strictly on Wednesday and Friday. Say every day at least one Rosary: Joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries." Our Lady asked the people to accept this message with a firm will. She asked this in a special way from the parishioners and believers of the surrounding places.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1984: "Dear children; Today I ask you to start fasting from your heart. There are many people who fast, but only because everyone else is fasting. It has become a custom which no one wants to stop. I ask this parish to fast out of gratitude to God for allowing me to remain this long in this parish. Dear children, fast and pray with your heart. Thank you for your response to my call."

SEPTEMBER 26, 1985: "Dear children; Thank you for all the prayers. Thank you for all the sacrifices. I wish to tell you, dear children, to renew the messages which I am giving you. Especially live the fasting because, with fasting, you will bring happiness that the whole plan which God plans here in Medjugorje will be realized. Thank you for your response to my call."

SEPTEMBER 4, 1986: "Dear children; Today, again, I am calling you to prayer and fasting. You know, dear children, that with your help I can do everything and force Satan not to seduce people to evil and to remove him from this place. Satan, dear children, watches for every individual. He particularly wants to bring confusion to every one of you. Therefore, dear children, I ask that your every day becomes prayer and complete surrender to God. Thank you for your response to my call."

DECEMBER 4, 1986: "Dear children; Today also, I invite you to prepare your hearts for these days when the lord is about to purify you in a special way from all the sins of your past life. Dear children, you cannot do it by yourselves; and, for that reason, I am here to help you. Pray, dear children! That's the only way you will be able to recognize all the evil that dwells in you and abandon it to the Lord so that He may purify your hearts completely. So, dear children, pray without ceasing and prepare your hearts in penance and fasting. Thank you for your response to my call."

JULY 25, 1991: "Dear children, today I invite you to pray for peace. At this time, peace is threatened in a special way and I am seeking from you to renew fasting and prayer in your families. Dear children, I desire you to grasp the seriousness of the situation and that much of what will happen depends on your prayers; and you are praying a little bit. Dear children, I am with you and I am inviting you to begin to pray and fast seriously, as in the first days of my coming. Thank you for having responded to my call."

AUGUST 25, 1991: "Dear children, today, also I invite you to prayer, now as never before, when my plan has begun to be realized. Satan is strong and wants to sweep away plans of peace and joy and make you think that my Son is not strong in His decisions. Therefore, I call all of you, dear children, to pray and fast still more firmly. I invite you to renunciation for nine days, so that, with your help, everything that I wanted to realize through the secrets which began at Fatima may be fulfilled. I call you, dear children, to grasp the importance of my coming and the seriousness of the situation. I want to save all souls and present them to God. Therefore, let us pray that everything I have begun will be fully realized. Thank you for having responded to my call."

MARCH 25, 1992: "Dear children, today, as never before, I invite you to live my messages and to put them into practice in your life. I have come to you to help you and, therefore, I invite you to change your life because you have taken a path of misery, a path of ruin. When I told you, "Convert, pray, fast and be reconciled", you took these messages superficially. You started to live them and then you stopped because it was difficult for you. Know, dear children, when something is good, you have to persevere in the good and not think, "God does not see me, He is not listening, He is not helping." And so, you have gone away from me because of your miserable interests. I wanted to create of you an Oasis of Peace, Love and Goodness. God wanted you, with your love and His help, to work miracles and, thus, give example. Therefore, here is what I say to you, "Satan is playing with you and with your souls and I cannot help you because you are far from my heart." Therefore, pray, live my messages and then you will see the miracles of God's Love in your everyday life. Thank you for having responded to my call."

APRIL 25, 1992: "Dear children, today also I invite you to prayer. Only by prayer and fasting can war be stopped. Therefore, my dear little children, pray; and by your life give witness that you belong to me, because Satan wishes, in these turbulent days, to seduce as many souls as possible. Therefore, I invite you to decide for God and He will protect you and show you what you should do and which path to take. I invite all of those who have said "yes" to me to renew their consecration to my Son, Jesus, and to His Heart and to me, so we can take you more intensely as instruments of Peace in this unpeaceful world. Medjugorje is a sign to all of you and a call to pray and live the Days of Grace that God is giving you. Therefore, dear children, accept the call to prayer with seriousness. I am with you and your suffering is also mine. Thank you for having responded to my call."

JUNE 25, 1992: Ivanka's yearly apparition on Our Lady's Anniversary Feast Day: Our lady pleaded with us to pray and fast. This is the only weapon against Satan. Satan wants to destroy everything good within us. Through prayer and fasting, we can conquer evil and resist all temptations. (Our Lady was dressed in gold). Ivanka raised her hands during the apparition and later explained that she was touching Our Lady's hands.

JULY 25, 1993: "Dear children, today I invite you to pray for peace. At this time, peace is threatened in a special way; and I am seeking from you to renew fasting and prayer in your families. Dear children, I desire for you to grasp the seriousness of the situation and that much of what will happen depends on your prayers, and you are praying a little bit. Dear children, I am with you and I am inviting you to begin to pray and fast seriously, as in the first days of my coming. Thank you for having responded to my call."

IVANKA'S YEARLY ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE: Ivanka said that Our Lady stayed 8 minutes and was filled with joy throughout the whole apparition (unlike last year when she wept so much). Our Lady said, "Dear children, my heart is filled with love because so many hard hearts have opened to my Son Jesus so that He may guide them on the right path." Our Lady then invited everyone to continue to pray and fast and finally, she spoke to Ivanka about the secrets.

NOVEMBER 25, 1996: "Dear children! Today, again, I invite you to pray, so that through prayer, fasting and small sacrifices you may prepare yourselves for the coming of Jesus. May this time, little children, be a time of grace for you. Use every moment and do good, for only in this way will you feel the birth of Jesus in your hearts. If with your life you give an example and become a sign of God's love, joy will prevail in the hearts of men. Thank you for having responded to my call."

MARCH 25,1998: "Dear children! Also today I call you to fasting and renunciation. Little children, renounce that which hinders you from being closer to Jesus. In a special way I call you: Pray, because only through prayer will you be able to overcome your will and discover the will of God even in the smallest things. By your daily life, little children, you will become an example and witness that you live for Jesus or against Him and His will. Little children, I desire that you become apostles of love. By loving, little children, it will be recognized that you are mine. Thank you for having responded to my call."

OCTOBER 25, 1998: "Dear children! Today I call you to come closer to my Immaculate Heart. I call you to renew in your families the fervor of the first days when I called you to fasting, prayer and conversion. Little children, you accepted my messages with open hearts, although you did not know what prayer was. Today, I call you to open yourselves completely to me so that I may transform you and lead you to the heart of my son Jesus, so that He can fill you with His love. Only in this way, little children, will you find true peace - the peace that only God gives you. Thank you for having responded to my call."