A
SHORT HISTORY OF OUR LADY'S APPARITIONS IN MEDJUGORJE
For quite a while now, in Medjugorje (Citluk,
Bosnia-Herzegovina) six trustworthy witnesses,
testify firmly under oath, that since the 24th
of June 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the
"Gospa", as she is affectionately known
as here, appears to them every day up to the present.
The first day
On the said date at approximately six o' clock
in the evening, on the area of Crnica hill known
as Podbrdo, the children, Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana
Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic,Ivan Dragicevic, Ivan
Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic saw an incredibly
beautiful young woman with a little child in her
arms. She didn't say anything to them but indicated
with gestures that they should come closer. Surprised
and frightened they were afraid to come near,
even though they immediately thought her to be
Our Lady.
The Second day
On the second day, the 25th of June 1981, the
children agreed to meet once again at the same
place that Our Lady had previously appeared, in
the hope of seeing her again. All of a sudden
there was a flash of light. The children looked
up and saw Our Lady, this time without the child.
She was smiling and joyful and was indescribably
beautiful. With her hands she gestured to them
to come closer. The children braced themselves
and went up to her. They immediately fell to their
knees and began to pray the "Our Father,
Hail Mary and Glory Be". Our Lady prayed
together with them except for when they prayed
the "Hail Mary".
After the prayer she began to speak with the
children. Ivanka, first of all, asked her about
her mother who had died two months previously.
And Mirjana asked Our Lady for some sign to be
given to show to the people that they were neither
lying nor crazy, as some people had said.
Our Lady finally left the children with the words,”
God be with you my angels!" Before that,
when the children asked her if they would see
her the following day, she replied by nodding
her head.
According to the visionaries the whole encounter
was indescribable. On that day two of the children,
which made up the previous group were missing:
Ivan Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic. They were replaced
by two others: Marija Pavlovic and Jakov Colo.
And from that day onwards according to these six
children, Our Lady regularly appears to them.
Milka Pavlovic and Ivan Ivankovic, who were present
on the first day of apparitions, did not see Our
Lady again, even though they returned to the apparition
site, in the hope of seeing her.
The third day
On the 26th of June 1981, the children full of
anticipation waited at around six o' clock, which
was when she previously appeared. They were going
towards the same place, to meet her there. They
were very happy, although their joy was mixed
with fear wondering what would be the outcome
of all this. Despite all this, the children could
feel some sort of inner strength attracting them
to meet with Our Lady.
Suddenly, while the children were still on their
way a light flashed three times. To them and to
those following them, it was a sign indicating
Our Lady's whereabouts. On that third day Our
Lady appeared even higher up than on the previous
days. All at once Our Lady disappeared. But when
the children began to pray, she reappeared. She
was cheerful and smiling serenely and once again
her beauty was overwhelming.
As they left their houses some older women advised
them to carry holy water with them to make sure
that it was not of Satan. When they were with
Our Lady Vicka took the water and splashed it
in the direction of the vision saying, “If
you are Our Blessed Mother, please stay, and if
you are not, go away from us". Our Lady smiled
at this and remained with the children. Then Mirjana
asked her name and she replied, “I am the
Blessed Virgin Mary".
On the same day, coming down Podbrdo, Our Lady
appeared one more time, this time however only
to Maria saying, “Peace, peace, peace and
only peace”. Behind her, Maria could see
a cross. After which Our Lady repeated, in tears,
the following words, “Peace must reign between
man and God, and between all people!” The
area where this took place is about half way up
to the Apparition Site.
The fourth day
On the 27th of June 1981, Our Lady appeared three
times to the children. On that occasion the children
asked all kinds of questions and Our Lady responded.
For priests, she gave this message. “May
the priests firmly believe and may they take care
of the faith of the people!" Once again,
Jakov and Mirjana asked for a sign, because the
people had begun to accuse them of lying and of
taking drugs. "Do not be afraid of anything",
Our Lady replied.
Before parting, when asked if she would come
again, she indicated that she would. On the way
down Podbrdo, Our Lady appeared one more time
to say goodbye with the words, “May God
be with you my angels, go in peace!"
The fifth day
On the 28th of June 1981, big crowds were gathering
from all parts even from the early hours of the
morning. By noon there were about fifteen thousand
people. On the same day, the Parish Priest, Fr.
Jozo Zovko, examined the children on what they
had seen and heard in the previous days.
At the usual time Our Lady appeared again. The
children prayed with her, and afterwards they
questioned her. Vicka, for example, asked "My
dear Lady, what do you want from us and what do
you want from our priests?” Our Lady replied,
“The people should pray and firmly believe”.
Regarding priests, she replied that they should
believe firmly and help others to do the same.
On that day Our Lady came and went many times.
During one of these times the children asked her
why she doesn't appear in the Parish Church for
every-one to see. She replied," Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet believe".
Even though the crowds were pushing them with
their questions and curiosities and the day was
heavy and sultry, the children felt as though
they were in heaven.
The sixth day
On the 29th of June 1981, the children were taken
to Mostar for a medical examination after which
they were proclaimed "healthy". The
statement of the head doctor was: "The children
aren't crazy, the person who brought them here
must be though"....
The crowds on Apparition Hill that day were greater
than ever. As soon as the children arrived at
the usual place and began to pray, Our Lady appeared.
On that occasion the Blessed Mother exhorted them
to have faith saying," The people should
believe firmly and have no fear."
On that day, a doctoress who was following and
observing them, during the apparition desired
to touch Our Lady. The children guided her hand
to the place where Our Lady's shoulder was, and
she felt a tingling sensation. The doctor, even
though an atheist had to admit that, "Here,
something strange is happening!".
On that same day a child was miraculously healed
by the name of Daniel Šetka. Her parents
had brought her to Medjugorje, praying specifically
for a healing. Our Lady had promised that this
would come about if the parents prayed and fasted
and strongly believed. The child thereupon was
healed.
The seventh day
On the 30th of June 1981 two young girls suggested
to the children to go by car further away to be
able to stroll in peace. Really their intention
was to bring them away from the area and keep
them until after the normal apparition time had
passed. However, even though the children were
far away from Podbrdo, at the usual time of the
apparition, it was as if an interior call prompted
them to ask to be let out of the car. As soon
as they did, and said a prayer, Our Lady drew
near to them, from the direction of Podbrdo, which
was now over a kilometre away. She prayed seven
"Our Fathers" etc. And so the girl's
trick had no effect. Soon after this the police
began to hinder the children and the pilgrims
going on Podbrdo, the site of apparitions. The
children, and soon afterwards even the crowds
were forbidden to go there. But Our Lady continued
to appear to them in secret places, in their homes
and in the fields. The children had already gained
confidence, and openly spoke with Our Lady, eagerly
seeking her advice, listening to her warnings
and messages. The events of Medjugorje continued
in this fashion up until the 15th of January 1982.
In the meantime, the Parish Priest began to host
the pilgrims in the Church, enabling them to participate
in the rosary and to celebrate the Eucharist.
The children also gave out the rosary. Our Lady
sometimes appeared to them in the church at that
time. Even the Parish Priest himself once while
praying the rosary, saw Our Lady. Immediately
he broke off praying and spontaneously started
to sing a popular hymn: "Lijepa si, lijepa,
Djevo Marijo" - "O how beautiful you
are, Most Blessed Virgin Mary". The whole
church could see that something unusual was happening
to him. Afterwards he stated that he had seen
her. And so, he who up until then had not only
been doubtful, but openly against even rumours
of the apparitions, became their defender. He
testified his support of the apparitions even
to the point of serving a prison sentence.
From the 15th of January 1982 onwards the children
saw Our Lady in a closed off area of the Parish
Church. The Parish Priest arranged this because
of the newly arisen difficulties and sometimes
even dangers, which provided themselves for the
visionaries. Previously the children had ensured
that this was in accord with Our Lady's wishes.
Because of the prohibitions of the Diocesan Bishop
however, from April 1985 onwards the children
ceased to use the area of the church as an apparition
site. Instead, they went to a room in the Parish
house.
All this time, from the beginning of the apparitions
up until today, there have only been five days
when none of the children saw Our Lady.
Our Lady didn't always appear in the same place
either, nor to the same group, nor individuals,
nor did her apparitions always last a specified
period. Sometimes the apparitions lasted two minutes,
sometimes an hour. Neither did Our Lady appear
at the children's will. Sometimes they prayed
and waited but Our Lady didn't appear until a
little while afterwards, unexpectedly and unforewarned.
And sometimes she appeared to one and not to the
others. If she hadn't promised an appointed time,
nobody knew when she would appear, or if she would
appear. Neither did she appear always to just
the aforesaid visionaries, but to others also
of different age, stature, race, education and
walks of life. All this suggests that the apparitions
are not a product of the imagination. It depends
neither on time nor place, nor desire nor the
prayer of pilgrim or visionary, but moreover on
the will of He who permits it.
MESSAGES
According to the united testimony of the visionaries,
Our Lady on the occasion of her apparition gave
a series of messages, to be transmitted to the
people. Even though there are many messages, they
can however be summarized in five themes, because
all the messages basically underline or lead up
to these five.
General overview of the messages
PEACE
Already on the third day, Our Lady stressed peace
as the first of her messages: "Peace, peace,
peace and only peace!", after which she said
twice, "Peace must reign between God and
man and between people". Considering that
Maria could see a cross, when Our Lady gave this
message, the obvious conclusion is that this peace
comes from God. God, who through Our Lady in Christ
became our peace.(Ephesians 2:14)"For He
is the peace between us"...This peace, “the
world cannot give"(John 14:27)and that's
why Christ commanded His apostles to bring it
to the world(Matthew 10:11) so that all men could
become "sons of peace"(Luke 10:6). That's
why Our Lady as "Queen of Apostles"
in Medjugorje specifically refers to herself as
"Queen of Peace". Who better than she
can more successfully convince today's world,
which is faced with the threat of destruction,
how great and how necessary peace is.
FAITH
The second of Our Lady's messages is faith. Already
on the fourth, fifth and sixth day of apparitions,
Our Lady exhorted those present to have strong
faith. Understandably, she repeated this message
many times. Without faith we cannot arrive at
peace! Not only this but faith is itself an answer
to God's Word, which he not only proclaims but
actually gives to us. When we believe, we accept
God's Word, which in Christ became "our peace"(Ephesians
2:14). Accepting it, the individual becomes a
new creature, with a new life of Christ within,
and a share in God's nature (1 Peter 1:4, Ephesians
2:18) In this way the individual ensures peace
with God and with others.
Once again there is no one who can better understand
the necessity and efficaciousness of faith than
Our Lady. That's why she stressed it on every
occasion and charged the visionaries to bring
the light of faith to others. Our Lady presented
faith as an answer to everything, no matter whatever
people were looking for. She presented it as the
pre-requisite of all prayer, desires and demands,
relating it to health, wholeness and to all other
human necessities.
CONVERSION
Conversion was another one of Our Lady's frequent
messages. This presupposes that she noticed either
a weakness or a complete lack of faith in humanity
today. And without conversion it is impossible
to achieve peace. True conversion means, the purifying
or cleansing of the heart,(Jeremiah 4:14), because
a corrupt or 'deteriorated' heart is the basis
of bad relations, which in turn brings social
disorder, unjust laws, base constitutions etc.
Without a radical change of heart, without the
conversion of the heart, there is no peace. For
this reason, Our Lady continually suggests frequent
confession. The request is directed to all without
differentiation because, “not one of us
is just"...."all have wandered, not
one does right"(Romans 3:11-12).
PRAYER
Almost daily, from the fifth day of apparitions
onwards Our Lady recommends prayer. She requests
everyone to "pray without ceasing" just
as Christ himself taught.(Mark 9:29, Matthew 9:38;
Luke 11:5-13) Prayer, therefore stimulates and
strengthens our faith, without which our relationship
with God is disordered;-as is our relationship
with each other. Prayer also reminds us of how
close God is to us even in our daily lives: In
prayer we acknowledge Him, we give Him thanks
for His gifts to us, and we are filled with a
hopeful expectancy of that which we need, but
particularly our redemption. Prayer solidifies
the equilibrium of the individual, and aids us
in our 'ordered relationship with God', without
which it is impossible to maintain peace either
with God or with our neighbour.
The Word of the Lord acquainted itself with all
humanity and awaits humanity's response. It is
precisely this which gives prayer it's "justification".
Our response should be "spoken faith",
or "prayer". In prayer, faith animates,
renews, strengthens and sustains itself. In addition
to this, man's prayer really bears witness to
the Gospel, and to the existence of God, thus
provoking a response of faith in others.
FASTING
Already on the sixth day of the apparitions,
Our Lady often recommended fasting because it
aids faith. That is, the practice of fasting aids
and ensures control over oneself. Only the person
who can dominate himself is truly free, and is
capable of abandoning himself to God and to his
neighbour, as faith demands. Fasting guarantees
him that his abandonment to faith is secure and
sincere. It helps him to free himself from every
slavery, but especially to the slavery to sin.
Whoever is not in the possession of oneself is
in some way enslaved. Therefore fasting helps
the individual to restrain himself from disordered
pleasure seeking which in turn leads him to a
futile and useless existence often wasteful of
the very goods which are necessary to others just
for basic survival.
With fasting we also retrieve the gift, which
creates within us a realistic love for the poor
and the destitute, which up to a certain point
eases the difference between rich and poor. It
therefore heals the wants of the poor and also
heals the excesses and over-indulgence of others.
And in it's own way, it gives a dimension of peace
which today in a special way, is threatened by
the difference in the lifestyles of the rich and
the poor. (e.g. North and South).
To sum up, we can say that Our Lady's messages
underline that v peace is the greatest good, and
that faith, conversion, prayer and fasting are
the means by which we can attain it.
Special Messages
Outside of the five messages which, as we have
said are the important messages which Our Lady
immediately gave to the whole world, she started
from the 1st of March 1984, every Thursday, mainly
through the visionary Marija Pavlovic to give
special messages to the Parish of Medjugorje and
to the pilgrims who come. Our Lady therefore,
outside of the six visionaries chose the Parish
of Medjugorje together with the pilgrims who come
here to be her collaborators and witnesses. This
is clear from the first of the Thursday messages,
where she says: “I am choosing this Parish
in a special way and I want to guide it."
She emphasized this once again when she said,"
I am choosing this Parish in a special way, which
is dearer to me than others, where I joyfully
went when the Almighty sent me."(25th March
1985). Our Lady gave a reason too for her choice
saying: “Convert, you in the Parish, this
is my second wish. In that way, all those who
come here will convert."(8th March 1984)."
I am asking you, especially the members of this
Parish, to live my messages"(16th August
1984). First of all the parishioners and the pilgrims
should become witnesses of her apparitions, and
her messages, so that we can then unite with her
and the visionaries in the realization of her
plan for conversion of the world and reconciliation
with God.
Our Lady well knows the weaknesses and the nature
of the parishioners and pilgrims with whom she
wishes to collaborate in the salvation of the
world. She is aware of the need for supernatural
strength. That's why she leads them to the fount
of that strength. This primarily is prayer. She
ardently and continuously exhorts us to pray.
Of all prayer, she especially stresses the Holy
Mass, (7th March 1985, 16th May 1985) and recommends
continuous devotion to the Blessed Sacrament (15th
March 1984). She also encourages devotion to the
Holy Spirit (2nd June 1984; 9th June 1984; 11th
April 1985; 23rd May 1988, etc.) and the reading
of Sacred Scripture (8th Sept. 1984; 14th Feb.
1985).
With these special messages to the Parish and
it's pilgrims, Our Lady wishes that the first
messages, which in the beginning were intended
for the whole world, are deepened, made more acceptable
and understandable to others.
From the 25th of January 1987 Our Lady began
to give the message on the 25th of every month
instead of every Thursday, through the visionary
Marija Pavlovic. This still continues today.
Fr. Ljudevit Rupcic.
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