This is a compilation of two talks given by the Medjugorje visionary Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo on September 12/13 at the 1998 Chicago Marian Conference• September 12, 1998 In the beginning I would like to greet you all very warmly, and I would like to thank you for a beautiful welcome. We are all here to thank our heavenly Mother and to thank her for everything she is doing for us, to greet her and thank her for everything she does for us.
I will attempt to convey to you everything she wishes to say because her desire is that we do only those things that will bring us to her Son.
I will begin from the very beginning. The apparitions in Medjugorje began June 24, 1981. We were children at that time. And Medjugorje is a small village and in this village God was always in the first place in peoples' lives and [in] every home people prayed together in the evenings. And so we children grew up in the faith, but we never had the opportunity to hear about previous apparitions of Our Lady like at Lourdes or Fatima because we were raised in a different system than you were raised in; we were raised in communism. For us it was possible only to pray in our homes and only once a week to go to church. But about Lourdes and Fatima or apparitions of Our Lady, we couldn't speak about these things because of the fear.
And that day, June 24, 1981, I went out for a walk with Ivanka. It was the Feast of St. John the Baptist, and so that day no one was working. The two of us went for a walk below the hill that is now called the Hill of Apparitions, and we talked about ordinary things, the kinds of things young girls talk about. And in one moment Ivanka said to me, “I think Our Lady is on the hill.” She said that very matter-of-factly. I said, “Well, she has nothing better to do than come to the two of us.” Because I thought that was [an] impossible thing. And I returned home and left Ivanka there. And when I came to the first houses of the village, I felt a need to return to the place. I needed to see what she was doing. And when I returned, I saw Ivanka in the same place. And she said to me, “Look, please, I am begging you.” And I looked and I saw a woman with a long grey dress and she was holding a child in her arms. It was very strange because on that hill nobody ever went up there, especially with a child in their arms. The two of us just stared because all of our emotions were all confused within us.
And in that moment, Ivan, one of the other visionaries, came also because that was the way he would normally walk to get to his home. I remember it like it was today. He was carrying apples in his arms and when he saw what the two of us were looking at, like every brave man, he dropped everything and ran. And then I said to Ivanka, "Who knows what this is; maybe it is better we leave also."
We returned home right away, and we told everyone that we have seen Our Lady but nobody believed us. My grandmother said, “Take a rosary and pray and leave Our Lady alone.” I had the desire within me to be alone to pray. And so that entire night we spent in prayer, so that God could help us understand what was happening to us.
And the next day Jakov and Marija were the only ones who said, “How lucky you are, we wish we could have seen Our Lady also.” And the next day we all found ourselves at the Hill of Apparitions without having called one another there. And with us came our parents or our uncles. I could say to you that it was probably the entire village gathered there because everyone wanted to see what was happening to the children. And we saw Our Lady in the same place, but this time she didn't have a child in her arms. And that second day, June 25, 1981, is the first time we went to Our Lady, and that day many people from the village saw many signs from Our Lady, so they believed us because without them we could not have endured some of the stuff we endured later. I think that might have been Our Lady's plan, to help them understand that it was true. And in the former Yugoslavia it was not easy to be a believer but especially not easy to be a visionary.
After a few days, the army immediately encircled the hill, and they said if anyone would go up on the hill, they would go to jail immediately. And so, we had to have the apparitions in secret places, and many of the people in our village helped with this. And so, I think it was Our Lady who truly helped them to understand and believe we were speaking the truth because we needed their help. My parents at that time were in Sarajevo. My aunt felt a responsibility, and she called my parents. My aunt said, “Something is happening to her.” And my mother got very scared and she said, “Well, what is it?” And my aunt said, “Well, she is saying she is seeing Our Lady.” And my mother asked, “Is she normal?” And my aunt said, “Well, she looks the same as she looked before.” And then my mom said, “Well, then she is speaking the truth.”
The daily apparitions lasted for me through Christmas Day 1982 and on Christmas Day 1982, I received the tenth and last secret. And Our Lady told me then that I would no longer have daily apparitions with her. She told me that I would have an apparition of her on the 18th of March every year of my life. And she also told me that I would also have some extraordinary apparitions also. And that is what happened to Ivanka also when she received the tenth secret; her daily apparitions ended. And now she has apparitions once a year on the Anniversary of Medjugorje for the rest of her life.
And now I need to tell you something that happened last night. I was with Jakov last night during the apparition. When the apparition ended, he asked me to go and talk with him alone. He said, “I need you.” Because he knows I have passed through this, and he said, “Our Lady tomorrow will tell me the tenth secret.” And she told Jakov to prepare himself. And so we prayed a lot last night that the Lord would help him to understand that that is the way it must be. And when he receives the tenth secret, then his daily apparitions will cease.
I needed to choose a priest to whom I would tell the ten secrets. And I chose Fr. Petar Ljubicic, and I need to tell him what will happen and when it will happen. And he is to announce it to everyone. He cannot choose whether he will or will not tell the secret, he must tell the secret. Our Lady always says, “Do not talk about the secrets, pray,” because the one who experiences me as their mother and God as their father, should have fear of nothing. Those who do not believe are the only ones who have fear. I always say to people, we don't need to be like Fr Petar, this priest to whom I will reveal the secrets. He always says to me, “Come to confession to me and at least tell me one of them right now.”
I can tell you this, that Our Lady’s heart will conquer. I want to tell you that I have heard about lots of different apparitions, some here in America, where reportedly Our Lady is talking about some horrible times to come where there is going to be floods and all kinds of disasters. And I always say, with a full heart, that that's not truly Our Lady speaking because Our Lady is our mother and she loves her children, and it is not her desire that people love her because they fear. That is not true faith. She changes us with her smile and with love. And so we don't need to fear anything, but we need to place our lives in her hands and we must not think about what will happen tomorrow. Our Lady desires that we think about what is going to happen now, in this moment, because who amongst us here can say in ten minutes we will still be alive. Our Lady desires that every second of our lives we're prepared to return to God.
As I already said, Our Lady told me that I would also have some extraordinary apparitions as well. And those apparitions began on August 2, 1987, and they still continue today. And I don't know how long these apparitions will last. In those apparitions, we pray for nonbelievers, but Our Lady never says “nonbelievers”, she always says “those who have not yet experienced the love of God.” And she asks for our help also, and when I say “our help”, I don't mean just the six of us visionaries. I mean the help of all those people who experience Our Lady as their mother because she says we are able to change nonbelievers, but only with our prayers and only with our example. She asks in our daily prayers that we place as a priority prayers for unbelievers because she says most of the evil things that happen in the world, like drugs, war, abortion, divorces, that these things stem from unbelievers. So Our Lady says, “My dear children, when you pray for them, you really pray for yourselves and for your future.”
And in addition to our prayers, she is also asking for our example. She is not asking that we give lectures and talks; I don't mean to imply that priests are not allowed to give lectures and talks. Our Lady desires that we speak through our lives, that unbelievers can see God and the love of God in our lives. I would like to ask you most sincerely that you understand this with your whole hearts. Because if only once you saw the tears that Our Lady cries because of unbelievers, I think you would pray immediately. And her only desire that she told us in an apparition is that she present us all to her Son as a bouquet of flowers. She will not be happy as long as there is even one unbeliever. And so I always say that we don't need to tell Our Lady about the things that we desire because she is our mother and can read our hearts. Let us pray so we can help her, so that we can change our brothers and sisters who have not been as lucky as we have to have encountered the love of God.
Each one of us six visionaries has a special mission in these apparitions. Our Lady chose me to pray for unbelievers, Vicka and Jakov pray for the sick, Ivanka prays for families, Marija prays for sisters and souls in purgatory, Ivan prays for young people and priests.
The most important message that Our Lady constantly repeats is the Holy Mass, which shouldn't be something we just do on Sundays. Our Lady once said that if you have to choose between having visions of me and going to the Holy Mass, always choose the Holy Mass because during the time of the Holy Mass my Son is with you.
Because Our Lady has never said in these 17 years of apparitions, she has never said, “Pray, and I will give you your answer.” She always says, “Pray, so that I can intercede to my Son for you.” Jesus is always in the first place.
Our Lady desires that we return the rosary into the family. She said that nothing can unite a family like family prayer. When parents pray with their children, children are never too young to understand what their parents are doing. I want to tell you an example that I typically tell to pilgrims. This example touched me. When my older daughter was only two-and-a-half years old, I had never spoken to her to that point about the apparitions because I thought, “What could she understand at her age?” Then one day, she was playing with a friend of hers and I went in to check on them, and I heard that this friend of my daughter said to my daughter, "Well, my mom drives a car,” and my Marija said to her, “Well, what is that? My mom talked to Our Lady every day.” And then I understood that she understood, even without me having told her. Because Our Lady always places a great responsibility on parents, we are the ones who need to place the roots of faith in our children.
And Our Lady also asks that we fast on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays. She didn’t explain why. And I want to tell you that when Our Lady gives a message, she gives it to you as much as she gives it to me. And she never says why and how come because for Our Lady we are all the same. We visionaries are no more privileged than any of you, for Our Lady we are all the same. She chose us so that through us she can send the messages, but she has also chosen all of you. Because to whom would we give these messages if she hadn't called you also? Because we are all her apostles. So when Our Lady asks that we fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water, she says that to me and you, together the same. Americans, whenever they come to Medjugorje, always ask, “Well, can we at least take some coffee in the morning?” And I always say, “Sure, why not, just do it before Our Lady wakes up.” Because each one of us is going to choose what we can do and how we can respond. Our Lady doesn't ask those that are sick to fast on bread and water, those who are truly sick and not those who just have a headache or stomach ache. I remember an old grandmother, an old woman who lived near me. She fasted a lot, and I said to her, “Don't do this because you are old and live alone. What if something happens to you?” She gave me an answer that to this day still remains in my mind. She said to me, very seriously, “Mirjana, as long as you can go to the bathroom by yourself, you can fast.”
Our Lady asks that we go to confession, that we go to confession monthly. Our Lady says there isn't a man on this earth that doesn't need monthly confession. She didn't mention women; Our Lady knows that women have enough crosses to bear!
Our Lady asks that we return the Bible into our families. She didn't say how much we need to read. She said the important thing is to return the Word of God into the family. If Jakov were here right now when I said this thing about confession, his reply would have been, “Yes, it is true that men need to go to confession monthly, but women need to go every day!”
Today, I want to conclude, asking you to pray for unbelievers. Every one of the prayers that we pray for unbelievers wipes the tears off the face of Our Lady. Our Lady asks, first of all, that we love unbelievers, that we experience them as our brothers and sisters, and that we do not judge them because God will judge all of us. And when we can experience this love for them, then we should pray for them because that is the only way we can change them. I am sure each one of us has an unbeliever close in our vicinity, and that unbeliever is our responsibility. And so let us pray, and let’s place the lives of those unbelievers in the hands of Our Lady because only with Our Lady can they be converted and brought to Jesus.
I’d like to greet you most warmly again, and I hope that I was able to bring Medjugorje a little closer to you. But I always say it is not always the same thing to talk about Medjugorje as it is to experience it. It's different when you come to that hill yourself, and it's different when you enter into the church yourself, but I hope that I at least somewhat succeeded in bringing it closer to you. And tomorrow morning we will be together again.
• Sunday, September 13, 1998
Mirjana started the question and answer session by saying, “I’d like to say good morning to all of you, and I am prepared to hear everything that you have to ask me, and I am prepared to answer as much as I can.”
Q: How will we know we will hear the secrets on TV, radio, shortwave, etc.? A: You don't need to worry about this because that's the plan of God. And God through Fr Petar will do the very best, and you will find out here also. You won't have to leave or move to another home or anything like that.
Q: Will Jakov choose a priest to whom he will confide the secrets at the time Our Lady decides? A: I spoke with Jakov last night, and he received the tenth secret, and Our Lady told him that he would have apparitions once a year from now on, every Christmas. And that's all she told him till now, but he knows that he does need to choose a priest, and he will do that, when he stops crying.
Q: Can you describe what your last daily apparition with Our Lady was like, the one on December 25, 1982? How did you feel? A: I am laughing at Jakov now, but I know what it was like for me, and I know that it is not easy. And I understand him. That day was the worst day of my entire life. When Our Lady told me that I would no longer have daily apparitions of her, I thought I was going to die. I thought I would go with her, and to me, that was a beautiful idea. I can tell you, for example, that I am a mother of two children, and I would give my life for my children, but when I am with Our Lady, even my children don't exist for me. The only thing that exists for me is the desire for her to take me with her. And when I understand that she has to leave, and I must stay here, it is always very difficult for me, and I always have to be alone after the apparition for an hour or two to be in prayer. That's the way it is today, but you can imagine what it was like when she told me that I would no longer see her every day.
Q: I know that Our Lady calls us to monthly confession, but I am very afraid of it and embarrassed to go. What do you suggest? A: Nobody needs to be embarrassed before our Heavenly Father. He is the one who loves us, and He loves us with a pure love, and He is always prepared to forgive us. That's what Our Lady taught me. Because before the apparitions I used to think that God was in heaven and that He was just only in heaven and that he was just looking down at me in my sins. But Our Lady taught me that’s not the way it is. Last year Our Lady said to me, “I've been with you for 16 years, and through that gift, God is showing you how much He loves you." And so nobody needs to be embarrassed to kneel before God and to say what they have done. The important thing is to feel in your heart that you're sorry for what you've done and to feel that truly with your will you desire not to do those things again, and nothing else.
Q: Mirjana, do you know if Jakov, now that he will no longer see Our Lady everyday, will he see her once a year as you and Ivanka are? A: As I said, he will have apparitions every Christmas.
Q: Do the visionaries each have the same secrets? A: We have never spoken among ourselves about the secrets because secrets are secrets. And so, none of us know what secrets the other one has. I can just tell you that we don't have private secrets. None of my secrets are secrets that relate only to me. The secrets are for the entire world.
Q: Please, can you give me an update on each visionary - who's married, how many children, where they are living, and also if they are working and what kind of work they are all doing? A: And how much tax they pay annually? These kind of questions are very normal for us. I don't know if there are any Italians here, but Italians always ask those kinds of questions. One time an Italian woman here in America asked how much tax my husband pays!
Ivanka lives in a village near Medjugorje which is called Milatina, and she has three children. She has two sons and a daughter. Marija is married to an Italian. I feel sorry for her. And she lives in Italy, and she has three sons. Jakov lives in Medjugorje, and he is also married to an Italian. And whenever he speaks to Italian groups, he always says, "I know what you guys are like. I have one at home!" He has two children, a son and a daughter. And I also live in Medjugorje, and I have two children, two daughters. Ivan is married to an American, and I also feel sorry for him! And they live part-time in Medjugorje and part-time in the United States. And they have one daughter.
Vicka is not yet married. Jakov always jokes with her, and he says, “Nobody wants you yet!” (Vicka has since married and has two children)
Q: How much longer do you expect Our Lady to continue to appear at Medjugorje? A: I think she will appear every day until the rest of the visionaries receive the tenth secret, and those three that remain still are Vicka, Marija, and Ivan.
Q: Does Mirjana wear a scapular? A: No, I feel more connected with St. Anthony, and I always pray through him. Rarely do I pray through Our Lady because I feel embarrassed because I think it’s sufficient that I see her. And so I feel awkward asking her all these different kind of questions that people are constantly asking me. And so I normally go through St. Anthony, and he is the only saint I can talk to in this way, that if you say to him, “If you help me, I will help you.” He’s the only one you can speak that way with. Tuesday is the day of St Anthony, and I always fast on that day. And there is a chaplet for him with 13 Our Fathers, Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be’s. And 13 kilometers from Medjugorje, we have a shrine to St Anthony, and every June on his feast day, we all go there on foot, barefoot to his shrine.
Q: How do you pray? What kind of prayers? A: Everyday I pray the three rosaries, the seven Our Fathers, Hail Mary's, and Glory Be's, and the prayers I need to pray for nonbelievers. And one rosary is always with the family, and that's always the Joyful Mystery because with children it is always joyful.
Q: Does the Blessed Mother look like the picture and statues we have of her? What is her voice like, is it soft?A: I have never seen a picture or statue of Our Lady that I could say looks like Our Lady because I think it is impossible. Because it is not just an outer beauty we see; it is something that breathes from within her. It is something like a mother's beauty. And when people sometimes ask me do I have anything to compare this with, perhaps the only thing I can say to compare it to is when a mother gives birth to her child, the first time that child is placed in her arms. Our Lady's expression and face most resembles that moment. I can try to describe her, she is a little taller than me. She always has a grey dress and a white veil, except for Christmas and Easter, when she wears a gold dress. And she has long black hair, you see it here on the side of her head and on the side by her waist, which means she has long hair. She has blue eyes, and she is most beautiful. Because as I already said, it is impossible to describe the beauty that comes from within her.
When we were children, we asked her children’s questions. We asked her, “How is it possible you are so beautiful?” And she smiled at us, and she said, “It's because I love,” and she said, “My dear children, if you desire to be beautiful, then love.” And at that time when she said this, Jakov was only ten years old. And when Our Lady left, Jakov said, “I think Our Lady is not speaking the truth here.” And we asked him, “How can you say Our Lady is not speaking the truth?” He said, “Look at the six of us visionaries - we could love our entire lives and we would never be beautiful!” That's why he is having apparitions for 17 years!
Q: Mirjana, can you tell us about the beginning times of the apparitions when the villagers were with you and the other visionaries? The time I am referring to is when the visionaries got to touch the Blessed Virgin, and can you tell us more about this time? A: Yesterday, I spoke about the beginning days of the apparitions, but I didn't mention that day when Our Lady allowed us to touch her. That apparition took place in a hidden place in the village because that's the way it was in the beginning; we needed to hide from the very beginning. And Our Lady allowed all of those who were present to touch her. And suddenly, we all saw that black spots were being left on her dress, and Marija began to cry, and she said, “Don't touch her! Don't you see that you are sinful?!” And then Our Lady left.
Q: Has the Virgin Mary ever talked about heaven, hell, or purgatory? Where does the majority of souls go? A: Our Lady has spoken about heaven, hell, and purgatory. One day Our Lady showed heaven, hell, and purgatory to Vicka and Jakov because those two were the only ones that were able to hide from the police that day. The rest of the four of us, the police took away that day. Then they told me that when Our Lady came that day, she said to them, “Now I will take you with me.” They thought they were going to die. At that time, Jakov was also still ten years old. And Jakov's reply to that was, when he thought he was going to die, he said to Our Lady, “My dear Lady, Vicka has seven brothers and sisters, and I am an only child! Why don't you take her?” And Our Lady smiled at him, and she said, “No, I just want to show you that heaven, hell, and purgatory do exist.” And so the two of them saw this.
Q: What day do you pray with the Gospa for nonbelievers - every Tuesday, or once each month, or daily? A: I pray specifically with Our Lady for nonbelievers on the second day of each month. Myself, individually, I pray daily for them.
Q: Does Mary think the secrets will be revealed by the year 2000? Also, will this be the end of all apparitions, by 2000? Will the Triumph come by 2000, as an era of peace upon us? A: I truly can’t respond to these beautiful questions because secrets are secret. When they begin, we will see what will happen and when. I said yesterday, don’t be like Fr Petar, but you seem to be worse!
Q: Mirjana, I was in Medjugorje recently, and it had a deep impact on me. Why do you think so many get converted there? After all, Our Lord and Our Lady are also present in our churches here. A: I'll start from the beginning. It’s true that Our Lady and Our Lord are present in all the churches of the world. Our Lady says, “Open your hearts and call to me, and I'll be with you.” She doesn't say that just to us visionaries; she says that to all of her children. And now I want to tell you my personal opinion, that those who come to Medjugorje, that they are invited there by Our Lady. I’ll take the Americans here, for example - who among you would leave your family and home and go on such a long way if you weren’t invited to do so by Our Lady? Why would you do that if it was only because somebody told you about Medjugorje, if it was just that somebody told you about a little village somewhere in Bosnia-Herzegovina? I think it is Our Lady who places the call in our hearts to come, and many people who do go there suffer a lot, and they don’t know what's waiting for them, but they}re prepared to undertake everything for Our Lady. And that is why I think there are so many conversions and so many graces. Simply said, pilgrimages are necessary to recharge our batteries.
Q: Did Our Lady say that Medjugorje is the last time she will appear on earth? A: Our Lady never said it that way. People that want to create sensationalism say that because they pick and choose the things that they like. What Our Lady said was that, “this is the last time I will be on earth in this way.” She said clearly that in this way, this is the last time she will be on earth. And through my own prayer, I came to think what she meant was that this is the last time that she will be for this long of a period of time and with this many visionaries, not that she will never come to earth again.
Q: Mirjana, thank you for coming, God bless you. What can I do to best help in the conversion of my husband and others to believe in the teachings of the Catholic Church and the benefits of Mary in our lives? A: First, thank you for the blessing and the welcome. First of all, the best thing that you can do is to give an example and to pray, and don't criticise and don’t give lectures. But very simply to pray and live an example and to place the lives of those dear to us who are unbelievers into the hands of Our Lady. That is where they are most secure. I always say, “My dear Lady, I will pray, but you pray to your Son that He does something.” We can all say the same thing.
Q: Will you tell us abut heaven and purgatory? A: I do not want to speak about that because I didn't see it with my own eyes. Because it’s different to tell what you heard from someone than to talk about what you experienced yourself. So better when you come to Medjugorje that Jakov and Vicka can tell you about it.
Q: It is widely believed that the ten secrets that you yourself have received are of such severity that Our Lady now comes to you at special times to help you cope with the immense responsibility. Other past apparent apparitions throughout the world speak of purification, warning, and chastisements, yet I have heard both you and Ivan speak against the idea of natural or supernatural impending disasters. Why the difference between your reaction to these two scenarios? A: I don't know where it is that people are getting the idea that the ten secrets are so horrible because we never said that they’re beautiful or that they're horrible. Those are private conclusions that people make. Our Lady has not come to me the second day of every month to comfort me. She has come to me to pray for her children who have not yet experienced the love of God. But she said to me that the thing that will comfort me is the rosary, but not that every time I need comforting that she will comfort me. And I don't know why that should be so.
Q: How has the war affected the people of different faiths living in Medjugorje? Do they still live in peace and harmony? A: In Medjugorje, there really are not people of different faiths. We are all Catholics there, and it has always been that way. And so even now we do live in peace and harmony.
Q: I am trying to be better at the call to fast because I think God has blessed me with good health and an excellent appetite, but it's hard to resist and be faithful. Do you have any secrets for success? Please pray for me to endure. A: I can tell you about my individual opinion because Our Lady said to me, just like she said to all of you, that on Wednesdays and Fridays we must fast on bread and water. It's not a difficult thing for me to do because I know why I am doing that. Through this act I am showing God that I love Him and that I am prepared to do something for Him, but not just ask things of Him. Because in my heart, I feel a great thankfulness for every little thing in my life. For example, this morning I was able to wake up on my own two feet and that is a gift, thanks be to God. Because we don't see these little, minute things until something horrible happens to us. And so in my heart, I desire to say a thank-you to God. I think it's not a lot that Our Lady asks us to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays on bread and water. And on Wednesdays and Fridays, I find I can pray better, maybe because I suffer more.
Q: How will we find out when the ten secrets are revealed to the priest? A: As I said, you don’t have to worry about anything, you’ll know everything. As you can see, women can’t keep secrets!
Q: Instead of bread and water when I fast, I fast on coffee only. It keeps me more alert, especially when driving. Would this offend Our Mother? A: I don’t understand this. I can’t judge. I am not the one who can say what we need to do. I can only report that what Our Lady says. She says bread and water. She didn’t mention coffee. But as I said yesterday, maybe you should take it earlier, before Our Lady wakes up!
Q: Has Our Lady given any indication that she will leave a sign or miracle at Medjugorje as she did at Fatima? A: Yes, Our Lady will leave a sign at the Hill of Apparitions, and everybody will see that she was truly present there and that it's something from God. And the sign will be something that when you see it, it will be clear that it could not have been created by human hands. But you won't see it from America, you'll have to come there to see it. Pilgrims from the United States often ask me if we will be able to see it from home or will we have to go there to see it.
Q: Has Mary ever said anything on how we can overcome human pride? A: Through fasting and prayer. Only in that way will we truly understand what is most important in life. Because in life we do have all the good material things of life, but if we don't have Jesus in our hearts, then we don't have anything. Because Jesus is the one who gives us peace, and if we have Jesus in our hearts, then we have peace. And in that way, we can then know how to judge what is good and what is bad and how we are to be better. Only through Jesus.
That's the last of the questions. I want to thank you for everything. Thank you for a beautiful welcome, and I want to tell you that I truly felt very good here. Thank you for this. Today I am going back to Medjugorje, and I will bring all of you back with me. I will pray to Our Lady that she may help you because I know that each one of us is carrying a cross in our lives. And I will pray to Our Lady that she not leave you alone in your crosses.
• County-Down-born Jim McMullan first travelled to Medjugorje in April 2008. Two months later he returned for a second visit, and in October the same year he made a third pilgrimage to Medjugorje. It was on his third visit that Jim gave this witness as to why he keeps on going back and to the gratitude in his heart to Jesus and Mary for his conversion late in life.
The next day I took myself to the Blue Cross. I was on my own, and when I arrived a big group of people was already there saying the Rosary, the Chaplet of Mercy (which I had never heard before) and singing hymns. To see such a mixed group of people praying in this way really touched me – I can be emotional at times – and something in me made me reach for my pocket and take out the rosary beads that belonged to my father. I walked up to the statue of Our Lady and hung the beads over her outstretched hand and thought. “Well. maybe something will happen to me and come out of this lot.”
