Christianne Claessens – the first witness of healing of woman from Switzerland Joelle Beuret – Devanthery in Medjugorje, in October 2010, as she describes the pilgrimage and all of the events.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
On Saturday, October 16, 2010, forty six people, mostly from the parish of St. Frances de Sales and St. Therese, began their private pilgrimage to Medjugorje. It was our twentieth private pilgrimage that was taking place at the time when we remembered twentieth anniversary of forming the prayer group of Queen of Peace. For our group, that was a wonderful opportunity to thank the Lord, since Mary took each one of us by our hand, and guided us despite all of the difficulties that we had throughout these last twenty years. Indeed, Satan cannot stand Virgin Mary and he therefore hates all of the prayer groups that she desires to be founded in every single parish. Through God’s grace, we remained faithful and we used to gather every Monday for prayer, meditation of Christ’s life, all accompanied with the messages that Mary gave and is still giving every month in Medjugorje.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
We spent two days in the bus praying and introducing ourselves to the events that were taking place in Medjugorje since 1981 up to today. It was Sunday evening, around 8 p.m. when we arrived to Medjugorje. On Monday, October 18, even though it was raining, with great joy in our hearts, we climbed the slippery pathway that leads to the Hill of Apparitions. We were all helping one another. Joelle, completely blind 50 years old woman was amongst pilgrims, together with her daughter Vinciane, as well as their modest and cheerful friend Claudia, who followed Joelle everywhere with such love and gentleness. Joelle was so happy, she seemed as she was floating over rocky pathways.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
As she arrived to the site of Apparitions, right under the Statue of Our Lady, she said beautiful prayer full of love and trust to Heavenly Mother. The whole group stayed for around twenty minutes in silence on the Hill, and descended together so they would meet again in the church around 5 p.m. for the evening prayer programme. That is where Joelle felt something strange, she felt as there was a hand choking her, and it was exactly once she had received Holy Communion, she heard some criticising voice telling her: “You wanted to have a child, you got your daughter. You asked for a job, you got one. It is enough now, are you finally going to shut up? When it is cold, you have nice, warm apartment, when you are hungry, you always have something to eat, when it is snows, you always have warm clothes, are you finally going to stop now and forever, it is really enough!” Joelle seemed to be very disturbed and she spoke to Fr. Fabian in that same evening. He told her that it is only God in the host and He wants us only good, and that could not be coming from God. He told her to pray to God, to pray to Him that she is able to fulfil His will. That seemed to calm her down.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
On the following day, October 19, we decided to pray the Way of the Cross, all the way to the top of the Cross Mountain. Elderly people and Joelle prayed the Way of the Cross with Fr. Olivier down in the valley, while the rest of the group in light rain, and in steeper and more difficult pathway than the previous day, climbed their way to the top of the mountain. We stopped and prayed before every station, we prayed long and for all of our intentions. Luc suggested to us that we unite ourselves in the prayer with that smaller group of our pilgrims who could not come and climb with us. In a special way that we present this Way of the Cross for Joelle, to pray special graces for her, why not even to pray for healing, for nothing is impossible to our God. It was very intensive Way of the Cross; it was a profound prayer in which we meditated upon Christ’s suffering that he presented for all of our sins. Prayer lasted from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Again, we all met in the church at 5 for evening prayer programme.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
That is where the great miracle took place. In the moment when Joelle received Holy Eucharist, she was able to see priest with his white alb. She was all surprised, she looked up and saw lamps, high ceiling of the church, stained glass windows… As if she was thrown out of her black covering, she was not feeling good at all, and she said to Claudia who stood next to her: “Please take me out of here, I am not feeling good.” As they walked out of the church, she said: “I can see the light!” They continued their way to the Sacristy and Fr. Olivier was on his way out, asking them: “What are two of you doing here?” Joelle only replied, saying: “I can see!” He was deeply touched with what happened and suggested to two of them to go back to the church, the third part of the Rosary was just finishing in the church. As people were coming out of the church, we all surrounded Joelle.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
Our priest, as a true and genuine sheppard suggested to her to thank the Lord, so they went together towards the steps in front of the main Alter, they knelt down and thanked God for that great gift he had just given to her. That gesture reminded us of the Gospel extract where Jesus healed ten lepers and only one came back to thank Him. Afterwards, we went towards the Statue of Our Lady so we would thank Her as well for Her intercession. At the end, we came back to our pension. Couple of women from Italy and some pilgrims from Plymouth told us that they were behind Joelle as she was receiving Holy Communion and they could all strongly smell the scent of roses radiating from her. Joelle told us how that scent followed her for days and she can still smell it. Vinciane, who was at the Mass, came back to pension in the mean time and did not know anything about the grace her mother had received. We also need to emphasise that Joelle had never seen her daughter since she had been blind for the last forty-two years.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
Fr. Olivier, full of joy, ran back to pension and invited all of the people to come down to the lobby because he wants to share good news with them. When Joelle came in, all of the pilgrims were already gathered. Joelle walked in, saw her daughter and told her: “You washed your hair?” Vinciane, without noticing anything different, just said: “I did”, and asked “Why is that that we all had to come down here?” Joelle said: “Can’t you see any change on me?” Vinciane looked again, and said: “No” “Look better”, her mom told her, and Vinciane shouted with joy: “You can see!”

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
It was really a breathtaking moment. They ran to one another and remained in each other’s arms for about five minutes. Vinciane told us afterwards that she constantly prayed that her mom receives her sight back and she even said to Mary that she is not planning to leave until her mom is able to see again!

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
What a wonderful faith! Mary hears weeps and cries of her children. The whole group was so happy and praised the Lord and His Mother with their prayer and song. Although it was already around 10 p.m., we all went towards the Blue Cross, together with Joelle, to the place where Our Lady appears regularly to Ivan and Mirjana.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
I cannot hide the profound joy we all feel, joy for having received such a precious sign that Mary gave to us for our twentieth anniversary of our prayer group. That is indeed a sign that she gives to us, Our Mother, sign that helps to us to persevere in the future.

Most of us are afraid when we think about our own death, or the death of those who are close to us.But we should remember what Virgin Mary Virgin Mary told us in Medjugorje : “Death does not exist”! It is more like a veil that falls or like the curtain of the temple in Jerusalem that was torn in the middle and revealing what was invisible hidden there, the Holy of Holies!
Mary is leading us, she is strengthening us, holding us by our hands, she loves us and she wants her messages to be spread through the prayer groups that we are to form. Whenever we go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje, we are going to Mary’s school and through that school she is going to lead us to Her Son Jesus.

“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Mt 19,26)

1) Banality or Lack of Dignity.

According to the “Treatise on Mystical Theology,” by Fr. Farges (1923), “Whereas the divine vision always conforms to the gravity and majesty of heavenly things, diabolical figures will infallibly have something unworthy of God, something ridiculous, extravagant, disorderly, or unreasonable about them.”

A) Thursday, June 25, 1981: “(The seer) Mirjana asked Our Lady to leave us a sign…and the hands of Mirjana’s watch turned.” (book of Fr. Yanko Bubalo, p.22-25)

B) Saturday, June 27, 1981: The seers stated that the Virgin had disappeared several times because people had trod on her veil. (Bubalo, p.29-32)

C) Aug. 2, 1981: That evening during the apparition, those present followed one another in order to touch “the veil, the head, the hand, the dress” of the apparition. “At the end the Virgin seemed dirty, full of stains.” (Bubalo, p.73-74)

D) Sept. 4, 1981: Seer Vicka in her diary writes: “We questioned her (the Virgin) about the man who saw Jesus in the street, when he was driving in his car. He met a man who was all bloodstained – this man was Jesus – who gave him a bloodstained handkerchief, telling him (the driver) to throw it in the river. Going on his way, he met a lady – it was the Blessed Virgin Mary; she asked the driver for the bloodstained handkerchief. The man gave a handerchief belonging to himself, but the Virgin asked for the bloodstained one. ‘If he had not given it to me, it would have been the last judgment for all.’ The Virgin said that that (event) was true. (report of Bishop Zanic, 1990, in whose diocese of Mostar, the apparition took place.)

E) Autumn, 1981: Jakov asked the Virgin whether Dynamo, the soccer team from Zagreb, would win the title. This gave rise, during the apparition (in the supposed presence of Our Lady) to mad laughter on the part of the other seers. (Bubalo, p.154-157)

F) Sept. 8, 1981: Jakov shook hands with the Virgin. “Dear Holy Virgin, I wish you a happy birthday.” (“The Virgin Mary is Appearing in Yugoslavia,” by Fr. Marian Ljubic, p. 42)

G) August 5, 1985: Mirjana says that she has received from Heaven a white sheet on which the secrets will become legible in due time. But she won’t show the sheet. (Report of Fr. Rene Laurentin)

H) “One day, as she (Mirjana) was waiting for the Virgin, she saw the light, and out of the light came the devil, disguised in the features and clothes of Mary, but he had a dark, hideous face…After a while, the Holy Virgin came and said to her: ‘I am sorry about that…’” (“Yugoslavia and the BVM” by Tequi)

(…who is really appearing there?)

2) An Apparition Teaching Error and Heresy

A) Fr. Tomislav Vlasic: “Do you feel the Virgin as she who gives graces (which is the traditional Catholic doctrine of Mary, the Mediatrix of All Graces) or as she who prays to God? (true also, but in conformity with some Protestant theology and not the fulness of Catholic teaching.) Vicka: “As she who prays to God.” (“Is the Virgin Mary Appearing at Medjugorje? by Fr. Rene Laurentin, 1984, p.135-136, 154)

B) The Virgin was accustomed to reciting the Our father with the seers. (But how could Our Lady say: “Forgive us our trespasses,” since she has none? At Lourdes, Our Lady was careful to keep her lips closed during all the Paters and Aves, reciting only the Gloria Patris.)

C) Mirjana: “I recently asked the Virgin this question (whether many souls are damned), and she told me that nowadays most souls go to Purgatory.” (book by Fr. Faricy, p. 64)

(…a comforting thought, perhaps, but opposite to the teaching of Fatima, St. Louis de Montfort, Pope Gregory the Great, St. Alphonsus, St. Anthony Claret, St. Augustine, etc., etc.)

D) Oct. 1, 1981: “All religions are equal before God,” says the Virgin. (Chronological Corpus of Medjugorje, p. 317)

E) The Virgin: “I do not dispose of all graces…Jesus prefers that you address your petitions directly to him, rather than through an intermediary.” (Chron. Corp. p.181, 277-278)

F) “In God there are no divisions or religions; it is you in the world who have created divisions.” (Faricy, p.51)

G) “God directs all denominations as a king directs his subjects, through the medium of his ministers” (“The Apparitions at Medjugorje,” by Fr. Svat Kraljevic, 1984, p.58)

H) “Each one’s religion must be respected, and you must preserve yours for yourselves and for your children.” (Kraljevic, p.68)

I) “The Virgin added: ‘It is you who are divided on this earth. The Muslims and the Orthodox, like the Catholics, are equal before my Son and before me, for you are all my children.” (Fr. Ljubic, p.71)

(…unbaptized Muslims equal to the baptized, who by this fact are the adopted children of God?)

3) The Undermining of Church Authority

A) June 21, 1983: The Virgin states: “Tell the Father Bishop (Zanic) that I request his urgent conversion to the events of the Medjugorje parish…I am sending him the penultimate warning. If he is not converted, or will not be converted, my judgment as well as that of my Son Jesus will strike him.” (Seer Ivanka writing to Bishop Zanic)

B) Dec. 26, 1983: …But the Virgin takes the side of the chief propagandist for Medjugorje: “Our Lady prays for this work (i.e., the writings of Fr. Rene Laurentin.) May he who undertakes it do so in prayer, which is where he will find his inspiration.” (Laurentin, p.105-111)

C) August 1, 1984: The Virgin says: “Make the priests read the Abbe Laurentin’s book and spread it.” (A Franciscan from Belgrade received this reply, when he had the seers bring up the matter to the Virgin.)

D) From August, 1984, to April, 1985, the apparitions continued to take place in the parish church despite the Bishop of Mostar’s former prohibition. (A certain sign of a false apparition, when Church authority is disobeyed by the apparition itself.)

E) Jan. 1982: The Virgin states that two Franciscan priests, removed from their order and under suspension by the bishop, one of whom later fathered a child by a nun, may continue to say Mass and hear Confessions. Vicka the seer is asked “If the Lady said this, and the Pope says that they cannot…” Vicka answers: “The Pope can say what he wants. I’m telling it as it is.” (from Bishop Zanic’s document, 1990)

(…obedience to an apparition greater than obedience to the Pope?)

Miscellaneous:

Medjugorje ignores the great hope of Fatima: the consecration of Russia and its conversion, followed by peace, with the triumph of the Immaculate Heart.

Dec. 8, 1984: Fr. Gobbi, founder of the Marian Movement of Priests, receives a locution from “Mary,” informing him that she has been appearing at Medjugorje.

Therefore, if Medjugorje is a fraud, so are Fr. Gobbi and his locutions.

Finally, Medjugorje has heavy overtones of Charismaticism, a movement which infiltrated the Church from Protestantism in the late 1960′s; Medjugorje is still in progress, as of this writing (1999), its length resembling the nonsense apparitions of Bayside, NY, and Necedah, Wisc. rather than the succinctness of Fatima or Lourdes.

A reminder to all:

The official Church teaching concerning private revelation is explained by Pope Benedict XIV (18th century.):

“[The Church] simply permits them [private revelations] to be published for the instruction and the edification of the faithful. The assent to be given to them is not therefore an act of Catholic Faith but of human faith, based upon the fact that these revelations are probable and worthy of credence.

“St. John of the Cross asserts that the desire for revelations deprives faith of its purity, develops a dangerous curiosity that becomes a source of illusions, fills the mind with vain fancies, and often proves the want of humility, and of submission to Our Lord, Who, through His public revelation, has given all that is needed for salvation.

“We must suspect those apparitions that lack dignity or proper reserve, and above all, those that are ridiculous. This last charcteristic is a mark of human or diabolical machination.”

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Here are most famous places, where Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared:
Fatima, Lourdes Medjugorje

Our Lady of Fátima is the title given to the Holy Virgin Mary by those who believe that she appeared to three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal. It started on May 13th in 1917, the Fatima holiday, and recured on the 13th day of six consecutive months. The three children were Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto. The children related that the Lady identified herself as “the Lady of the Rosary”.That`s why the title “Our Lady of the Rosray” is also sometimes used for the same apparition( this title was first used in 1208 for the apparition in the church of Prouille)Lúcia described the appeared lady as “brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun.”
The lady confided to the children three secrets, called the Three Secrets of Fátima. She told the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. And the children did it: they wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. But Lucia said that the most important mission the lady gave them was saying the Rosary every day, reiterating many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace.

The apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes began on 11 February 1858, when the 14-year old farmer girl from Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous admitted that she had seen a “lady” in the cave of Massabielle, about a mile from the town, while she was collecting firewood and bones with her sister and a friend. When she was about to wade through the water near the Grotto of Massabielle, she heard wind noises but the trees and bushes nearby did not move. She saw a light in the grotto and a lady, as small as she was, dressed all in white, apart from the blue belt fastened around her waist and the golden yellow roses, one on each foot.
Bernadette didn`t want to tell anybody about this happening, but after parental cross-examination, she underwent corporal punishment for this unusual story. After three days, Bernadette returned to the Grotto with two other girls, who became afraid when they saw her in ecstasy and run away.
Bernadette remained ecstatic when she returned to the village. On February 18th the Lady allegedly said to Bernadette: “I promise to make you happy not in this world but in the next” and she was told to return to the Grotto over a period of 14 days. Afte the local interest was aroused, the police and city authorities got involved and Bernadette was interdicted by her parents and the police to ever go there again, but she went anyway. On February 25th she was asked to drink from the water, which at first was very muddy, but became increasingly clean when she started to drink it. This water was given to medical patients of all kinds, after which numerous miracle cures were reported.
Similar appearances of the “lady” took place on seventeen further happenings that year.
Bernadette Soubirous was canonized as a saint, and many Catholics believe her visions to have been real. Pope Pius IX authorized the local bishop to permit the veneration of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes in 1862.

From the beginning of Medjugorje apparitions in 1981, Medjugorje (in Bosnia and Herzegovina) became an important source of God’s grace and encouragement for faith for millions of people.
Medjugorje Apparitions started on June 24th, 1981, when six young people – Ivanka Ivankovic,
Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Ivan Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic, saw on the
hill Crnica( now called Apparition Hill) several hundred meters above the place called Podbrdo, a young woman with a child in her arms, who gave them a sign with her hand to come nearer.
Surprised and scared, they did not approach her, they ran away.The next day, June 25th, 1981, four of them: Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic and Ivan Dragiceviæ, felt strongly drawn towards the place where they had seen the person the day before which, they had recognised later as Our Lady. Marija Pavlovic and Jakov Colo joined them and the group of Medjugorje visionaries was formed. They prayed and spoke with Our Lady. This is why June 25th is celebrated as the Anniversary of the apparitions and not the 24th . According to the testimony of the visionaries, from that day onwards, they had daily apparitions, together or separately, wherever they were. Milka Pavloviæ and Ivan Ivankovic never saw Our Lady again.
Medjugorje became a place visited by thousands of pilgrims from all over the world. A lot of hotels and guest houses have come since this happening and the streets in the center of the town are lined with cafes and a lot of souvenir shops.

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.

On March 1, 1984, Our Lady began giving, every Thursday evening, a weekly message for the parish of Medjugorje. It was Marija through whom Our Lady entrusted these messages for the parish. Through these messages, Our Lady desired to spiritually form the parish because of the special role it would play in helping to bring conversion to all the people who would come to Medjugorje from all over the world. Eventually, this weekly message evolved into the monthly message for the world, given on the 25th of each month. It was January 25, 1987, when the first monthly message was given from Our Lady. Marija is the only visionary who receives the 25th message. It stays within her memory only until she writes it down. After it is written, she no longer can repeat the message word for word. Marija has said that satan causes “great confusion” in her life on the 25th of each month. He strikes back at the one who delivers Our Lady’s healing words to a sick world. This gives evidence that Our Lady’s words each month are causing havoc to satan’s evil designs for the world.

As Our Lady began to initiate the parish of Medjugorje into an intense spiritual life through the young visionaries, Marija began to feel the pull to the religious life. She, with Ivan, under the direction of Our Lady, began a prayer group of young people, and through the years Our Lady led them towards a profound love of Jesus and the Holy Mass. It was the decision of Marija to enter a religious order, but as she began to look at possible orders to join, she began to realize that to accept the Rule of the orders meant she would lose the freedom to openly witness to the apparitions and spread Our Lady’s messages. In her heart, there was no question of what her responsibility was in regards to being a chosen witness of the apparitions in Medjugorje. She could not join a religious order if it meant having to stop spreading the messages of Our Lady.

Also, as Our Lady’s plan became clearer to the visionaries, they began to understand that vocations to the religious life were best filled by those who were raised in holy families. With holy families there will never be a lack of good and plentiful vocations. Our Lady also spoke in Her messages about returning to the beginnings, or the foundations. John Paul II said that if a religious order is languishing and needs to be restored, the members should return to the order’s founding. All vocations materialize from the family, which is the “foundation.” Good, solid families birth good, solid vocations. The crisis of so many wrecked vocations can generally be traced back to disordered and dysfunctional family life or no family life at all.

With Our Lady’s guidance, it was at that point that Marija became opened to marriage for the first time. She eventually did marry a young man from Milano, Italy, who had been a good friend of hers for approximately five years. Their wedding took place on September 8, 1993. They live in Monza, Italy, but are often in Medjugorje, especially during the summer months. Paolo and Marija have four young sons, all whom were given Marija as their middle name: Michele Marija, Francesco Marija, Marco Marija, and Giovanni Marija. It is interesting that Marija ended up marrying an Italian man, as one of the more incredible gifts Our Lady gave to her early in the apparitions was, in an instant, the ability to understand and fluently speak native Italian. She received it in an apparition on her birthday. Marija entered the apparition without being able to speak fluent Italian, Our Lady gave Her the gift of the language, and Marija left the apparition speaking it better than one who has studied to learn to speak it as a language. It is like a native language for her!

Another great grace Our Lady has bestowed upon the world through Marija is the Special Blessing. It is a blessing of conversion that once we receive it, helps to lead us towards conversion our entire life. Our Lady once said that conversion is a process that ends only after we die. The gift of this blessing is that we can pass the blessing on to others, and it will help them in the same way it helps those who have already received it. No other visionary was given knowledge of the Special Blessing. Only Marija has details concerning it, just as only Mirjana and Vicka were given the special prayers for non-believers. *see below

The Special Blessing helps Our Lady reach hearts that in many ways are unreachable, but through an act of love from one of Her children who is moved to bestow Her blessing upon them, it is enough to open a heart to grace. Marija, in an interview with A Friend of Medjugorje on July 20, 2008, said Our Lady wants the Special Blessing to be used. She wants it to change our mentality that we, as laity, should understand we are to bless others. She wants us to do this through Her Special Blessing.

Of all of Marija’s gifts, one who is close to her believes the gift that Our Lady has given her above all others is the gift of “love.” Our Lady has given Her love specifically five different times in known messages ,as of July 2009, and three of these five times have occurred at Caritas in Alabama. The first time Our Lady gave Her love at Caritas was in the Bedroom of Apparitions before the Community began. During the apparition, the host family and those present felt love intensely. After the apparition, Marija relayed Our Lady’s message:

“Dear children, I give you my love, so you give it to others.” December 3, 1988

“Marija’s voice was beautiful, gentle, full of love and intensity when she talked about the apparition just after Our Lady left. All felt Our Lady’s presence and sensed that She was happy in a special way. Those gathered really felt Our Lady gave them Her love.” Love filled the room so much that “One witness said he felt as though love permeated even the walls of the Bedroom.”

The other two times, also were in the Bedroom, in which Our Lady gave a message saying She was giving Her love.

Marija seems to be an extension of Our Lady’s love to the world. Marija gave insight to this when Fr. Slavko asked her to choose the most beautiful and the most difficult of all messages. She told him that once she had asked Our Lady if She had something concrete to give her. Our Lady answered,

“Yes, I give you my love, so that you give it to others.”

Marija then said to Fr. Slavko, “To experience the beauty of Our Lady’s love, and to know that it is that love which gives itself to you, is the most beautiful thing in life. But, when I try to love others and try to give that love to them, then that is difficult and I often feel shame for my insufficiencies to love in the light of Our Lady’s all encompassing motherly love.” He asked her, then what can be done? Marija responded, “I pray every day that I may be all the more open to this love of Our Lady, and that I may be able to pass it onto every person, and I pray for others that they may be able to feel this love and in turn give it to others. We are so far from loving one another and this is a sign that we are also far from God’s love. And the closer we are to God’s love, the easier we will be able to live that love and bear witness to others.”