TESTIMONIES
An Enormous Adventure
Hi my name is Helen Eldridge, and I have never travelled outside of Australia before. It was an enormous adventure for me as I set off on October 2nd 2008 with other pilgrims to go to Rome, Medjugorie and Dubrovnik. Kathryn O'Connor was so helpful whenever I rang before the trip, sometimes very apprehensive to ask for advice. I was very touched that Kathryn came to the airport to see us off. What an incredible time I had, and I am sure all of my group would agree. So many blessings, so many lovely new friends and an excellent leader in Denise Fowler from Horsham. I would recommend O'Connor Travel World to any person comtemplating a pilgrimage.
Hi my name is Helen Eldridge, and I have never travelled outside of Australia before. It was an enormous adventure for me as I set off on October 2nd 2008 with other pilgrims to go to Rome, Medjugorie and Dubrovnik. Kathryn O'Connor was so helpful whenever I rang before the trip, sometimes very apprehensive to ask for advice. I was very touched that Kathryn came to the airport to see us off. What an incredible time I had, and I am sure all of my group would agree. So many blessings, so many lovely new friends and an excellent leader in Denise Fowler from Horsham. I would recommend O'Connor Travel World to any person comtemplating a pilgrimage.
Godparents of the Bosnia - Hercegovina Children's Fund
Dear Kathryn,
Once again many thanks to you and Eileen for the superb job you did in coordinating our 6th Pilgrimage to Rome & Medjugorje for the Godparents of the Bosnia – Hercegovina Children’s Fund. I can honestly say all in our group experienced an overwhelming spiritual journey of peace, love and joy during our special time in Medjugorje.
I would like others to know that “when they hear Our Lady’s call to go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje” they can contact you and be assured of competent and caring assistance with all their travel arrangements for a pilgrimage that will start in Medjugorje and continue for the rest of their lives.
Once again many thanks and I look forward to our next B.H.C.F. Pilgrimage planned for October 2010.
God Bless
Kindest Regards
Denise P Fowler
Treasurer – Australian Division
Bosnia – Hercegovina Children’s Fund
Dear Kathryn,
Once again many thanks to you and Eileen for the superb job you did in coordinating our 6th Pilgrimage to Rome & Medjugorje for the Godparents of the Bosnia – Hercegovina Children’s Fund. I can honestly say all in our group experienced an overwhelming spiritual journey of peace, love and joy during our special time in Medjugorje.
I would like others to know that “when they hear Our Lady’s call to go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje” they can contact you and be assured of competent and caring assistance with all their travel arrangements for a pilgrimage that will start in Medjugorje and continue for the rest of their lives.
Once again many thanks and I look forward to our next B.H.C.F. Pilgrimage planned for October 2010.
God Bless
Kindest Regards
Denise P Fowler
Treasurer – Australian Division
Bosnia – Hercegovina Children’s Fund
A Big Thank You
I would like to say a big THANKYOU for your apostolate to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it has made it possible for many people to travel to these Holy places which would otherwise be quite difficult and I shall pray that your good work may continue to grow even stronger.
Love from,
Clydella
I would like to say a big THANKYOU for your apostolate to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it has made it possible for many people to travel to these Holy places which would otherwise be quite difficult and I shall pray that your good work may continue to grow even stronger.
Love from,
Clydella
Within My Modest Budget
Having recently made a pilgrimage to France with O'Connor Travel World, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Everything was done so well, from accommodation to meals, choice of sites to be visited and not least, choice of Airline. Singapore Airlines has not been voted best Airline in the world for nothing! An additional and important factor for me was the cost of the pilgrimage which was within my modest budget. In commending O'Connor Travel World to others, I would like to mention Kathryn O'Connor who so ably runs it with kindness, understanding and efficiency. As a final testimony, I am about to go on another pilgrimage to Rome and Medjugorje.
Robyn Marxsen
Having recently made a pilgrimage to France with O'Connor Travel World, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Everything was done so well, from accommodation to meals, choice of sites to be visited and not least, choice of Airline. Singapore Airlines has not been voted best Airline in the world for nothing! An additional and important factor for me was the cost of the pilgrimage which was within my modest budget. In commending O'Connor Travel World to others, I would like to mention Kathryn O'Connor who so ably runs it with kindness, understanding and efficiency. As a final testimony, I am about to go on another pilgrimage to Rome and Medjugorje.
Robyn Marxsen
My Medjugorje Journey
I never expected to be a pilgrim. I have a strong faith in God, but I have always kept it fairly private, feeling a little embarrassed to be considered too ‘religious’ amongst my friends and family many of whom are very secular. For a long time I had felt an ever stronger calling to open my heart to God and deepen my faith, however it was a call that I consciously resisted. Making a decision to leave my four young children at home with my husband to go on a pilgrimage with 26 strangers was quite a radical one for me personally, and I found it a very difficult and almost tortuous one to make.
For me it was much more than just saying "YES, I will go on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje". I was really saying "YES, I will make my faith more public", "YES, I will be prepared to stand out from the crowd", "YES, I will begin a new life of putting God in the first place where He belongs", and begin to really accept the call from God and Our Lady to lead me and take control of my life.
Arriving in Medjugorje I discovered a beautiful new upside down world where God was the number one priority and He was adored and honoured. Faith was the first topic of conversation. Mary and Jesus were words commonly on people’s lips, and you were more out of place if you were walking around without your rosary beads, than if you had them hanging around your neck. Instead of feeling always the pressure to conform and be molded to the secular and materialistic world, I was in a place and amongst people where I was free to be myself and express my faith in God and this gave me a deep sense of relief and joy.
I loved having hours to meditate and to pray. I loved going to beautiful masses, with the church full of people who really wanted to be there, who sang and prayed and responded with joy and pride in their faith. I loved being surrounded with people who loved God, and wanted to talk about Him and their experience of His love, and I had many wonderful and inspiring spiritual conversations with new friends in my group.
I had wondered how I would feel if I arrived in Medjugorje and felt somehow that the apparitions weren’t real and Our Lady was not here at all. I felt my whole trip would have been a complete waste of time. Six days in Medjugorje though, led me on an unexpected spiritual journey to a destination that surprised me. I had hoped and expected to feel or perhaps even see, signs of Gods love for me. I had presumed that in Medjugorje of all places I would be flooded with a special sense of heaven’s love and comfort. But nothing of that sort happened to me, and at first I became discouraged as everything I craved to feel continued to elude me. But it was in those few days of feeling apart from God, at times almost desolate, that my own personal little miracle occurred.
I finally realised what FAITH really means. It means believing in God without seeing Him, sometimes without even really feeling Him. I realised that faith would be easy if we were constantly nourished with lovely feelings of comfort and that what God was asking of me for now, was to love Him through faith and not feeling. It was only after this revelation hit me, that I finally felt the pure and intense peace that so many feel in Medjugorje. I understood Mary’s constant urgings to us not to focus on the apparitions or the visionaries, or supernatural signs but to listen instead to what she is saying, which is to pray, open our hearts and allow her to change us.
Since coming home from my pilgrimage I have endeavored to keep saying yes to God. I said yes when asked to speak to classes at the local Catholic secondary school about my pilgrimage. I will say yes to God if He wants me to start up or join a prayer group, and I’m sure He will have other challenging plans for me as well but I believe with his help I can conquer anything. The easiest and yet the most difficult part is that very first YES!
Angela De Grandi
Melbourne, Australia
I never expected to be a pilgrim. I have a strong faith in God, but I have always kept it fairly private, feeling a little embarrassed to be considered too ‘religious’ amongst my friends and family many of whom are very secular. For a long time I had felt an ever stronger calling to open my heart to God and deepen my faith, however it was a call that I consciously resisted. Making a decision to leave my four young children at home with my husband to go on a pilgrimage with 26 strangers was quite a radical one for me personally, and I found it a very difficult and almost tortuous one to make.
For me it was much more than just saying "YES, I will go on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje". I was really saying "YES, I will make my faith more public", "YES, I will be prepared to stand out from the crowd", "YES, I will begin a new life of putting God in the first place where He belongs", and begin to really accept the call from God and Our Lady to lead me and take control of my life.
Arriving in Medjugorje I discovered a beautiful new upside down world where God was the number one priority and He was adored and honoured. Faith was the first topic of conversation. Mary and Jesus were words commonly on people’s lips, and you were more out of place if you were walking around without your rosary beads, than if you had them hanging around your neck. Instead of feeling always the pressure to conform and be molded to the secular and materialistic world, I was in a place and amongst people where I was free to be myself and express my faith in God and this gave me a deep sense of relief and joy.
I loved having hours to meditate and to pray. I loved going to beautiful masses, with the church full of people who really wanted to be there, who sang and prayed and responded with joy and pride in their faith. I loved being surrounded with people who loved God, and wanted to talk about Him and their experience of His love, and I had many wonderful and inspiring spiritual conversations with new friends in my group.
I had wondered how I would feel if I arrived in Medjugorje and felt somehow that the apparitions weren’t real and Our Lady was not here at all. I felt my whole trip would have been a complete waste of time. Six days in Medjugorje though, led me on an unexpected spiritual journey to a destination that surprised me. I had hoped and expected to feel or perhaps even see, signs of Gods love for me. I had presumed that in Medjugorje of all places I would be flooded with a special sense of heaven’s love and comfort. But nothing of that sort happened to me, and at first I became discouraged as everything I craved to feel continued to elude me. But it was in those few days of feeling apart from God, at times almost desolate, that my own personal little miracle occurred.
I finally realised what FAITH really means. It means believing in God without seeing Him, sometimes without even really feeling Him. I realised that faith would be easy if we were constantly nourished with lovely feelings of comfort and that what God was asking of me for now, was to love Him through faith and not feeling. It was only after this revelation hit me, that I finally felt the pure and intense peace that so many feel in Medjugorje. I understood Mary’s constant urgings to us not to focus on the apparitions or the visionaries, or supernatural signs but to listen instead to what she is saying, which is to pray, open our hearts and allow her to change us.
Since coming home from my pilgrimage I have endeavored to keep saying yes to God. I said yes when asked to speak to classes at the local Catholic secondary school about my pilgrimage. I will say yes to God if He wants me to start up or join a prayer group, and I’m sure He will have other challenging plans for me as well but I believe with his help I can conquer anything. The easiest and yet the most difficult part is that very first YES!
Angela De Grandi
Melbourne, Australia
VIC Lic. 31747
Inc. Pilgrimages Australia & NZ
SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NOT TOURS