The first thing he did after his arriving in Medjugorje was going to the church to thank God. He says that he is not a bit tired, in spite of his age of 69. “I was always practicing sport. With my bicycle, I crossed millions of kilometers. I have been all over Europe with my bicycle.”

He heard about Medjugorje for the first time something around 15 years ago, while he was still working. “When I was retired, I went on a pilgrimage to Spain, to Santiago de Compostela in 2002. I walked 82 days and crossed 2,500 km. Two years later, I walked to Mariazel, 1350 km in 43 days. And now – Medjugorje. I am a Croat, but never visited either Croatia, or Medjugorje.”

His ancestry moved from Gospić to Stikapron 300 years ago. He also lived the first years of his life in Stikapron (Steinbrunn) in Austria. He graduated in Mathematics in Vienna, and moved to Zürich, Switzerland, where he was working in the computer technology.

His family: two daughters, one son and seven grandchildren. He says that he always was religious “I`m a believer since my childhood, I love to meditate and to pray. Prayer is for me a dialogue with God who feeds the hungry and gives drink to the thirsty”. And he loves good communication with people. One very important thing in his family is tolerance, because his wife, his son and one of his daughters belong to other denominations. “We reach to one another, this is important. God is one, we only approach him differently”.

He says that young people often aspire to fun, and not to God. “They live without God, but when something goes wrong, they do aspire to Him”.

He described this pilgrimage to Medjugorje with following words: “Walking alone is so good for meditation. I aspire to answers to different questions: Why am I on earth, What are my intentions? What do I want? What do I have to do? When you live, you have to act. This is my life, and my life is important. This is my moment, and in this moment, I have to do what God want me to do. He wants me to work for peace with Him and with people and peace is possible if I accept other people as brothers and sisters. People that I meet – I consider them brothers and sisters, I cannot do differently. For me, it is important to know that God is here, all around me.”
Medjugorje became an important place for Jožef. “I pray for my wife’s health, and whatever happens will be the will of God. I want to tell Mother Mary that I am here and ask her what I have to do”. He will go back to Zürich by bicycle. He said:”It will take around two weeks, because I want to visit Gospić to investigate the origins of the Ratković family”.

He made many experiences as a pilgrim who walked many weeks in silence and he says: “We need to walk alone, to be alone, this is when ideas and visions come. It is different when we drive a car. In this ways, we have time to think. It is great to be alone, to have time. It is a little school of life.”
If you also want to make a special experience visit Medjugorje, stay at one of its beautiful Medjugorje and feel the magic.

I decided to walk to Medjugorje because I believe that the Mother and the Queen of Peace is appearing here. Of course, She is everywhere, but she is presenting herself in a special way in Medjugorje, where She wants to prepare the humanity for the encounter with Jesus, with God.

We are living in a very difficult time, and I think that the time has come for the reconciliation of the whole world. I have received this intention in prayer. We are all children, God`s children. The humanity is in pain, and we have to be conscious of it. We are all brothers and sisters and this is why I wasn`t carrying neither bread nor water. I consciously and intentionally wanted to depend on those I would encounter and their goodness. Sometimes they wanted me to take bread or water along, but I did not take anything. It is great to ask, to request and people are happy when they can give, when they can offer something to somebody. Then we can see them like members of our own family and God works through them.

Of course I was rejected sometimes, but this was also a very good experience. How many times did God knock at the door of our heart, and we refused Him. Sometimes we just have to knock several times until someone open his door. We can encounter Jesus in the homeless or the poor, and if we don`t recognize this, we are completely blind. All humans are members of our family, including the sick, including those who don`t have anything and including those who lost their mind. Sometimes it might happen that someone wants to steal something from us and we should allow even this. Let us not close our heart, open them and people will be less aggressive.

Sometimes we want to be better then the others, but God doesn`t want us to be better then the others, he just wants us all to be good. To be good doesn`t mean to be better then the others, good means that we don`t differentiate between us and others. We have to ask God for His help and we have to ask people for their help. Only God can open human hearts. We cannot change ourselves without His help, only God can give us the power to change ourselves, and this is why we have to pray for all of us.

I am not poor at home. My husband is a painter and he gave me money for this journey, but I left it in Poland. I didn`t want to take anything along. Once we, my husband, a friend of ours and myself walked together from Poland to Rome, but this time I felt that I have to go alone, exactly like God inspired me to do it: with empty hands, without any protection. We should all make the experience that He is always taking care of us. Here is an example: It was autumn when I started the walk to Medjugorje, wearing a raincoat, and during the first ten days, it was raining non-stop. When I decided to leave this completely wet and torn raincoat,the sun began to shine!Yes, it is really true, God can make it raining all around, except on the way where you are walking! This experience made me extremely happy and i felt stronger. I really feel sorry for all those who don`t believe in God. They think that they have to do everything by themselves, and this is why they cannot find peace.

I slept in parish houses. From Poland, I went through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia. In Bosnia I went through a region inhabited by the Muslims. I talk to them and found out that they don`t know that God is a Father. This is what I told them: that we have a common Father and that they are our younger brothers, born several centuries after us. In a small town near Zenica I went to a mosque where I asked them to find an accommodation for me; they did it and they also gave me to eat. I told them that I was on my way to Medjugorje. When I left this town, many people there were greeting me and telling me to take this or that, but I went with empty hands. They were glad that I was going to Medjugorje to pray for peace, and they were telling me that they also want peace, peace and only peace.

Some years ago, I was walking to Czestochowa with 25 kg baggage on my back. At that time, I thought that I will need all that… After my walk to Medjugorje I understood how funny and a kind of stupid it was. Mary told me: if you want to follow my Son, you don`t need anything. He will take care of you. And it was true, he took care of me.

One day later Mother Mary appeared again, but only to one of the girls and she said the words:
“Mir, mir, mir – peace, peace, peace…”
This is still the marrow of all her messages, which should be suppressed by tanks ten years later.

The mountain was barricaded and the church was closed. Exactly ten years later, on 26 June 1991, Yugoslavia the war broke out. When the war captured one place of Yugoslavia after another and devastated all of them, only this small place Medjugorje was in a strange way completely spared of all atrocities. Not even a bullet has been fired.

Meanwhile, countless reports about all these curiosities went through numerous countries all over the world.

Medical examinations of the Visionaries
Even the young viewers had to undergo medical examinations during the apparitions of Mother Mary. It was in 1984 when medical scientists put them electrodes on their body to observe their brain waves, their ears, their eyes and their larynx during an apparition. The result was that the ecstasy brought forth an elimination of sensual perceptions of the external world. A noise of 90 decibels for example wasn`t realised by Ivan. The Visionaries also don`t feel no pressure, no tricks, no pinching or otherwise during an apparition.
It is also veryfascinating to note that at the moment when Virgin Mary appears, the brain activity of every single Visionary jumps to 100% and stays at this level until Our Lady leaves while most of people are able to use around 15% of their brain during normal activities.

If Medjugorje arouses interest in you now, visit this small town . You will find helpful information about accommodations, a map, messages of Virgin Mary, everything about the Visionaries, videos, pictures, etc.

On Midsummer Day of 1981 six children saw a floating woman on a hill in the small, at that time Yugoslavian village. The woman was pointing to a newborn baby, she wore in her arm. Out of fear the children ran away. The next day, the 25th of June, the woman appeared again at the same place, this time alone, and this time the children ran to her and they started a conversation with her. This conversation has not ended until today. This
woman is Virgin Mary and she still appeares to the six people and talks to them. She was wearing a light gray dress with a white veil and they told that she had blue eyes and was surrounded by a wreath of twelve stars.

One day later Mother Mary appeared again, but only to one of the girls andshe said the words: “Mir, mir, mir – peace, peace, peace…” This is still the marrow of all her messages, which should be suppressed by tanks ten years later.

The mountain was barricaded and the church was closed. Exactly ten years later, on 26 June 1991, Yugoslavia the war broke out. When the war captured one place of Yugoslavia after another and devastated all of them, only this small place Medjugorje was in a strange way completely spared of all atrocities. Not even a bullet has been fired.
Meanwhile, countless reports about all these curiosities went through numerous countries all over the world.

Beside these apparitions a lot of other miracles and mysterious phenomena happen in Medjugorje. One example: It happend a few times that someone in Medjugorje or in other places in the world has made a picture and instead of the original motive there was an entirely different picture, namely the Virgin Mary. Of course, it is surely possible to fake a photograph, but this happend to people who didn`t know each other.They are from totaly different countries but the motive on the picture was always the same. After a while the motiv changed. It was always Virgin Mary, but sometimes it was just her and sometimes you could see her holding Jesus. A picture which was made in Medjugorje didn`t show the original motiv after the development. Instead of the original motiv something entirely different
was shown: in this case the image of Mary with the child Jesus.

Priest Slavko reported that he saw a mysterious celestial sign in the sky, but it didn`t seem to be something good. That was at the beginning of August in 1981: “About 150 people were on the mountain of appearances (Apparition
Hill), and many of them have told and testified that they all have seen the same, and some of them have been scared about that. And finally, in Medjugorje and in all other places where Mary has appeared, people are talking about miraculous recoveries and miracle cures.

When Bosnia-Hercegovina was at war Jacque Bousquet asked the Franciscans in Medjugorje what he could do to help in this difficult situation. Fr.Ivan Landeka asked him for shoes.Shoes for all the refugees.
So Mr. Bousquet and his wife bring the humanitarian association ” Le defi” into being. This association was improvising convoys and bringing shoes to Medjugorje once a month.He sent altogether more than 20.000 pairs of shoes and he`s still happy that he was able to help and to do something good.

The parish of Medjugorje was founded in 1892 and also placed under the protection of St. James, patron of pilgrims. Five years later, the old parish church of St. James in Medjugorje was completed.The church was completed and blessed on 19.1.1969. So there was a beatifull church which attracted no attention, not even from the people of the nearest surroundings. The story of Medjugorje started in the summer of 1981.

It has become well known all over the world, because of six young people who claim to have seen visions of our Lady.

Beginning on June 24, 1981, the Madonna appeared to, and later told the visionaries God sent her with messages for the world to help us convert our hearts and lives back to Him. Our Lady’s mission is one of love,peace and faith.
She told them that these years she is spending with us are a time of Grace granted by God.

Her words has been:”I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God”.

Our Lady continues to give messages to the six visionaries: Ivan, Jakov, Mirjana, Marija,Vicka, and Ivanka.
Here is a part of some messages our Madonna gave us:

“Do not allow satan to gain control of your hearts, so you would be an image of satan and not of me.” (January 30, 1986)

“You are ready to commit sin, and to put yourselves in the hands of satan without reflecting.” (May 25, 1987)

“Dear children, this is the reason for my presence among you for such a long time: to lead you on the path of Jesus. I want to save you and, through you, to save the whole world. Many people now live without faith; some don’t even want to hear about Jesus, but they still want peace and satisfaction! Children, here is the reason why I need your prayer: prayer is the only way to save the human race.” (July 30, 1987)

“Children, darkness reigns over the whole world. People are attracted by many things and they forget about the more important.”

“Light won’t reign in the world until people accept Jesus, until they live His words, which is the Word of the Gospel.”
Since 1981,when the apparitions began, 25 millions of people of all faiths, from all over the world, have visited Medjugorje. Many come back home with stories of miracles in the form of healings (of mind, body and soul), supernatural visual events, and deep conversions back to God. You can get more informations about the location and pictures of Medjugorje on Medjugorje Map