Rateb Rabie, KCHS, HCEF President/CEO will connect the Medjugorje experience with the Holy Land experience as he shares with the faithful his personal story of the Blessed Mother during his Medjugorje pilgrimage.

Every year around the world, hundreds of thousands of the faithful take a pilgrimage to Medjugorje where the Blessed Mother Mary appeared. During this season,  Medjugorje 'Anniversary Committees' insure that Eucharistic Adoration occurs, Masses are celebrated; prayers are recited and stories of miracles are shared. 

Monday, June 25, 2012 the faithful will gather from all over the world to celebrate the blessed apparitions of Medjugorje at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. This year, the story told by one recent pilgrim to Medjugorje will be decidedly personal and local.

Sir Rateb will share the 'awakening moment' that occurred during his January 2012 Medjugorje pilgrimage as he connects the importance of and similarities between the Holy Land, the birthplace of Mary and Medjugorje, the place of Mary's apparitions, and educates Christians about the plight of Palestinian Christians and their living conditions in the Holy Land.

Following his Medjugorje pilgrimage experience, Sir Rateb was compelled to ensure that faithful pilgrims to Medjugorje also experience this connection, and take a pilgrimage journey to visit the birthplace and homeland of Mary, Joseph and Blessed Jesus.

In 2013, in partnership with the Sacramento Peace Center, HCEF will open its Peace Center in Medjugorje in Bosnia & Herzegovinato link this holy site with Holy Sites written of in the Bible. The HCEF Peace Center will serve as a resource Center to raise awareness about the Holy Land and the Christians there, to highlight the importance of maintaining our Christian heritage and roots and presence of the Mother Church, and to encourage pilgrims to 'See the Holy Land in a New Way' through participation in an HCEF organized Living Stones Pilgrimage.  Additionally, HCEF will organize religious pilgrimages to connect travel to Medjugorje with travel to the Holy Land.

Please join Sir Rateb Rabie, KCHS as he connects Bethlehem with Medjugorje, and hear the moving testimonies of pilgrims on Monday, June 25, 2012 at Our Lady of Lourdes, 7500 Pearl Street, Bethesda, MD 20814 from 10:00 am – 5:30 pm.

 

To learn more about the day's activities and logistics, please click here for more information.

To learn more Religious Pilgrimages connecting Medjugorje and the Holy Land, click here.

To learn more about HCEF and its programs visit us at WWW.HCEF.ORG