The red carpet was rolled out on Monday, July 22nd as we were blessed to host the screening of the film, “The Triumph”in our auditorium. It was through the generosity of special guest, Executive Producer Zaid Jazrawi that this film, currently only available in theaters, was brought to us. Zaid wanted the Residents and Little Sisters, who could not travel easily to a theater, to be able to see his film.
As an extra blessing, Zaid arrived not only with the film, but with a Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (http://jkmi.wsiefusion.net/the-missionary-image).We had the great grace of having the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe stay with us for the entire week, including for the Feast of St. Anne and St. Joachim.
Word spread quickly that this film would be shown here. So many guests arrived that we soon ran out of seats. Scrambling to find more chairs, we were finally able to fit everyone! The auditorium was packed to capacity with excited viewers. Zaid opened with a prayer, setting the mood for the entire film-watching experience. He told us a brief history of the making of the film and shared some amazing stories of the blessings and miracles that have happened during the screenings.
“The Triumph” follows the journey of a 20 year old Ben, who travels to Medjugorje, the site of apparitions of Our Lady. When Ben arrives in Medjugorje, there is an astounding number of Catholic youth gathered at the scene of the apparitions. He is intrigued at the excitement and joy of the young people he encounters. Most traveled long and far for the great privilege of witnessing the Virgin Mary appear to Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo, a woman who has been receiving Our Lady’s messages for years. Thousands surrounded Mirjana during the apparition. Even though she was the only one who could see Our Mother, it is clear by the look on her face that the Virgin Mary is certainly present in front of her.
What makes this movie truly unique, however, is Ben’s story that is being documented in the film. Our protagonist is not the first person we would picture to go on this pilgrimage. He is not a religious man, but an average Joe who is suffering from addiction. So many of us suffer from an addiction of some kind and find ourselves putting other things before God. Having someone who is so human, like ourselves, as the main character made the film much more relatable and inspirational. We were very blessed to be able to have it shown in our Home.
While we respect the Church’s ongoing investigations into the formal approval of these apparitions, we also recognize that the Vatican has said that Catholics are free to travel to Medjugorje. Zaid Jazrawi’s film, “The Triumph” (www.thetriumph.org) is truly moving and thought provoking.
Special Showing of The Triumph