April 15 – 22, 2014
On Holy Tuesday, April 15th, we departed early in the morning from Athens for Split, Croatia, where Vassula had been invited by Nada Prskalo, Director of the “Ave Maria Pilgrimage” to give her testimony in Medjugorje. Prior to her arrival, Vassula is usually given a detailed program by the organizers of what she would be doing on a daily basis, but Nada was constantly traveling, so she never sent us a program. As we had no idea of what we would be doing during Holy Week, Vassula and I were both looking forward as to how God would unfold His plans for Vassula’s visit to such a blessed place as Medjugorje where our Virgin Mother first appeared on June 24, 1981 to six young children, [Ivanka Ivankovic (15 years old), Mirjana Dragicevic (16 years old), Vicka Ivakovic (16 years old), Ivan Dragicevic (16å years old), Ivan Ivankovic (10 years old) and Mika Pavlovic (16 years old)], and has been appearing to them since then for 28 years.
Upon our arrival in Split, Sabrina, a very good friend of ours, along with her friend and colleague Michele, picked us up from the airport to take us to Medjugorje. It was a good two-hour drive to reach Medjugorje, but the beautiful scenery of the landscapes paid off.
Medjugorje is located in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the former Yugoslavia, across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. The messages given to the visionaries are to be transmitted to the Medjugorje parish and to the world. Even though there are many messages, they can be summarized in six themes: conversion, prayer, fasting, faith, peace and reconciliation.
The six visionaries are receiving ten secrets each. The secrets are of future chastisements because of sin. The visionaries say that the 10 secrets will remain secrets until an appointed time. Only the visionaries know the day and time the messages will be revealed.
From the beginning of the apparitions, Medjugorje became an important place of pilgrimage for millions of people. Many people testify that they experienced special graces from God and our Lady by coming to Medjugorje, as well as receiving Their presence in their hearts. After their visit here, they also often feel motivated to lead a better life: a life of prayer, a life with love and an open heart for God and people.
Upon our arrival in Medjugorje, I felt such joy in my heart, knowing that we were at this humble, but so blessed place. Sabrina was kind enough to take us to our pansion, which was not in the center of Medjugorje, but some kilometers further out with a wonderful view of the Apparition Hill.
Nada welcomed us warmly. To our surprise, we saw that most of the pilgrims who had registered for the “Ave Maria Pilgrimage” were TLIG friends and that they attended this Pilgrimage because they had heard that Vassula would be there. It was lovely to see familiar faces. One of them was Sara Annunziata from the USA who also arranged to ship TLIG books to Medjugorje from the USA for Vassula’s speech. Later on, we found out that not only people from the USA attended the Ave Maria Pilgrimage, but also TLIG friends from Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Brazil. In total there were about 32 people.
Once we had settled into our guest room, Nada invited us to have dinner with the group and informed Vassula that her speech would take place the next day in the afternoon, at the pansion where we would be staying. Fr. Petar had also been invited to make a speech. She additionally informed Vassula that she was not obliged to follow the “Ave Maria Pilgrimage” program, and that she was free to arrange her own daily program. This allowed Vassula to spend some time with other True Life in God friends who had come to Medjugorje mainly because they knew that Vassula would be there. These friends did not register with the “Ave Maria Pilgrimage” as they had made their own arrangements.
After lunch, Vassula wanted to go to the center of Medjugorje, as she wished to meet with the TLIG friends. We found out that instead of 32 people, there were in total about 35 TLIG people who had come to Medjugorje from various countries, such as the Czech Republic, Romania, Scotland, England, Brazil, France, Croatia, Denmark, Poland and the USA.
Within the 35 count, we knew which motel the Greek people were staying at, so Sabrina took us there. We also happened to see Heidi from Denmark and Yannick from France, so we told them about Vassula’s meeting and asked them to spread the word. Later on, we also met with Marija from Croatia, and asked her as well to spread the word.
Late in the afternoon, Sabrina took us back to Nada’s pansion where Vassula spent some time with the Ave Maria group. Our day ended with a pleasant and relaxing visit with friends.
April 16th, Holy Wednesday
Holy Wednesday or Spy Wednesday: Judas made a bargain with the high priest to betray Jesus for 30 silver pieces.
The next day, Holy Wednesday, Sabrina picked us up early in the morning, as she had arranged that Vassula would meet with Vicka, one of the visionaries, in private.
Vicka welcomed us very warmly and joyfully. She had a beautiful smile that continuously spread across her face. Vicka told Vassula that she had heard about her from Fr. Petar. Vassula had the chance to tell her a few things about her mission, about the messages and also showed her an original notebook (no 111) that Vassula happened to have brought with her. Vicka showed a great interest in what Vassula was telling her and seemed very pleased about this meeting. She shared with Vassula thoughts about our Lady’s urgent call for prayer, fasting and reconciliation.
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After our pleasant meeting with Vicka, we departed with Sabrina, her husband and Michele for the Apparition Mountain. On our way, Sabrina, who has a publishing company and has published several books related to Medjugorje and the visionaries, gave us extensive information about the visionaries: things that I hadn’t known and was happy to learn. Sabrina told us that each Visionary had been assigned a special mission by our Lady. She also told us that they all have their own character and personality. Vicka’s mission is to pray for the sick. Ivan’s prayer mission is to pray for priests, families and the youth of the world. Mirjana’s mission is to pray for all the unbelievers. Ivanka’s mission is to pray for the families. Jakov’s prayer mission is also to pray for the sick and Marija’s prayer mission is to pray for all the souls in Purgatory.
On our way to the Apparition Mountain, we walked by the house where Vicka lived when the apparitions started, and also saw Marija’s house.
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Sabrina told us that the mountain where the apparitions took place was formerly called Mount Podbrdo; however, now, after the apparitions were seen there it is known as Apparition Mountain. There is a steep and rock-strewn path that ascends to the actual location where our Lady appears. Vassula told me that 20 years ago when she first came to Medjugorie the rocks were not so steep and sharp. The sharp stones testify to the existence of the millions of pilgrims who have walked this mountain through all these years; they have worn the rocks to a marble-like finish.
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On our way up the hill we recited the rosary; at the completion of each mystery we took a small break before making that extra effort to ascend. When we got to the actual location where our Lady appears, we silently said a prayer. It is indeed a grace and a blessing to be at a place where there have been literally thousands of apparitions of our Lady, apparitions that continue even to this day.
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On our way down the hill, we were all silent, trying to contemplate these wonderful moments.
At around 12:00pm that afternoon, we went for Mass at St. James’s Church: a beautiful Church which combines imposing architecture with simplicity. Sabrina told us that St. James’s Church was not originally planned to be built at this spot, but at a different location. The architectural plans for the construction of the church were designed for the church to be built much smaller. However, when the builders started building the Church, the ground was not solid and the foundation of the church began to sink. Years later, even though the parish of Medjugorje was not huge, the architects drew the plans for a much larger Church. No explanation was given as to why the Church was built so big, but once the apparitions began, the church was filled to overflowing with pilgrims on a daily basis. It was then understood that God had inspired the designers and builders to overbuild St. James’s Church.
Another reason why St. James’s Church is very special, as in the early years of the apparitions, our Lady also appeared there. The first apparitions that were seen in the church were actually in the sanctuary, right above the altar.
After Mass, we went back to the Pansion so that Vassula could get ready for her speech. The first people that arrived for the meeting were some Franciscan sisters who seemed to be very happy to meet with Vassula. Vassula had some time to share some thoughts with them and also showed them the original notebook that she had happened to have with her.
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A few minutes later, more and more people assembled, and we were happy to see that about 100 people were in attendance at this meeting. Taking into consideration that no official announcement had been made to the community about this meeting, having about 100 people through word of mouth is a great accomplishment. As Fr. Petar would speak first, we recited the rosary while waiting for him to arrive.
Fr. Petar arrived at about 2:30 with another young man. We found out that this young man had cancer, so Fr. Petar privately asked Vassula to pray over him, which she did.
Fr. Petar opened his speech by referring to Medjugorje and stating that we are living in days of grace and salvation. He said: “We are here at this Holy Place where our Lady has come. We are living days of grace and salvation. God is doing everything to show that He loves us. He is doing everything to show us that He has a plan for us. He is talking to us through the chosen people. That is why we have to open our hearts and accept what He is giving us. This is really the time of our spiritual purification. This is the time for our decision for Jesus. To be a Christian means that we have to be open and to decide for Jesus. Decision is very important for the faithful. So, we have to answer to this call. God is talking to us all the time. When God is talking through a person, Fr. Petar said, that is also some kind of calling for us. God is talking to people and He awaits for the answer. So at this place also God has sent His Holy Mother… She came as a Queen of Peace. That is why she said on the first day, “peace, peace, peace”, three times. That peace should be between us and God, but also among us people. Peace is one of the greatest gifts. A man can have everything, but without peace people are not happy, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit because you can’t buy peace, it could be given only by God, and that gift is the gift that God is giving to everybody because we are His children, the only condition is that we are ready to accept it. …”
He went on and talked about the importance of our spiritual conversion. We have to decide to have intimacy with God now because our eternal salvation depends upon that deciding moment. That is why he said these meetings are important: they help us love God. He also added that for many people we are the road to God; that is why our Lady asks us to pray from our heart for other people. When we pray, we have to pray with a pure heart, ask first for the Kingdom of Heaven and everything else will be given to us.
He then brought as an example: a story of two ladies that had serious illnesses. Both of them left everything in God’s hands; when they prayed to our Lord they asked that His Will be done in their lives. Finally, they were both healed. He closed his speech by saying that “We are all called to be witnesses in this world: Witnesses of God’s love.”
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