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For over 26 years now, in Medjugorje (Čitluk, Bosnia-Herzegovina) six trustworthy witnesses, testify firmly under oath, that since the 24th of June 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the "Gospa", as she is affectionately known as here, appears to the children every day wherever they are. Presently, Marija, Vicka and Ivan still have daily apparitions, whereas Mirjana, Ivanka and Jakov only see Her once a year. Below is a short history of Our Ladys Apparitions The First Day On the first day at about six o' clock in the evening, in an area of Crnica hill known as Podbrdo, the children, Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Ivan Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic saw a beautiful young woman with a baby in her arms. She didn't say anything to them but indicated with gestures that they should come closer. Surprised and frightened they were afraid to come near, even though they immediately thought her to be Our Lady. The second day On the second day, the 25th of June 1981, the children agreed to meet once again at the same place that Our Lady had previously appeared, in the hope of seeing her again. All of a sudden there was a flash of light. The children looked up and saw Our Lady, this time without the child. She was smiling and joyful and was indescribably beautiful. With her hands she gestured to them to come closer. The children braced themselves and went up to her. They immediately fell to their knees and began to pray the "Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be". Our Lady prayed together with them except for when they prayed the "Hail Mary". After the prayer she began to speak with the children. Ivanka, first of all, asked her about her mother who had died two months previously. And Mirjana asked Our Lady for some sign to be given to show to the people that they were neither lying nor crazy, as some people had said. Our Lady finally left the children with the words,” God be with you my angels!" Before that, when the children asked her if they would see her the following day, she replied by nodding her head. According to the visionaries the whole encounter was indescribable. On that day two of the children, which made up the previous group were missing: Ivan Ivanković and Milka Pavlović. They were replaced by two others: Marija Pavlović and Jakov Čolo. And from that day onwards according to these six children, Our Lady regularly appears to them. Milka Pavlović and Ivan Ivanković, who were present on the first day of apparitions, did not see Our Lady again, even though they returned to the apparition site, in the hope of seeing her. The third day On the 26th of June 1981, the children full of anticipation waited at around six o' clock, which was when she previously appeared. They were going towards the same place, to meet her there. They were very happy, although their joy was mixed with fear wondering what would be the outcome of all this. Despite all this, the children could feel some sort of inner strength attracting them to meet with Our Lady. Suddenly, while the children were still on their way a light flashed three times. To them and to those following them, it was a sign indicating Our Lady's whereabouts. On that third day Our Lady appeared even higher up than on the previous days. All at once Our Lady disappeared. But when the children began to pray, she reappeared. She was cheerful and smiling serenely and once again her beauty was overwhelming. As they left their houses some older women advised them to carry holy water with them to make sure that it was not of Satan. When they were with Our Lady Vicka took the water and splashed it in the direction of the vision saying, “If you are Our Blessed Mother, please stay, and if you are not, go away from us". Our Lady smiled at this and remained with the children. Then Mirjana asked her name and she replied, “I am the Blessed Virgin Mary". On the same day, coming down Podbrdo, Our Lady appeared one more time, this time however only to Maria saying, “Peace, peace, peace and only peace”. Behind her, Maria could see a cross. After which Our Lady repeated, in tears, the following words, “Peace must reign between man and God, and between all people!” The area where this took place is about half way up to the Apparition Site. The fourth day On the 27th of June 1981, Our Lady appeared three times to the children. On that occasion the children asked all kinds of questions and Our Lady responded. For priests, she gave this message. “May the priests firmly believe and may they take care of the faith of the people!" Once again, Jakov and Mirjana asked for a sign, because the people had begun to accuse them of lying and of taking drugs. "Do not be afraid of anything", Our Lady replied. Before parting, when asked if she would come again, she indicated that she would. On the way down Podbrdo, Our Lady appeared one more time to say goodbye with the words, “May God be with you my angels, go in peace!" The fifth day On the 28th of June 1981, big crowds were gathering from all parts even from the early hours of the morning. By noon there were about fifteen thousand people. On the same day, the Parish Priest, Fr. Jozo Zovko, examined the children on what they had seen and heard in the previous days. At the usual time Our Lady appeared again. The children prayed with her, and afterwards they questioned her. Vicka, for example, asked "My dear Lady, what do you want from us and what do you want from our priests?” Our Lady replied, “The people should pray and firmly believe”. Regarding priests, she replied that they should believe firmly and help others to do the same. On that day Our Lady came and went many times. During one of these times the children asked her why she doesn't appear in the Parish Church for every-one to see. She replied," Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe". Even though the crowds were pushing them with their questions and curiosities and the day was heavy and sultry, the children felt as though they were in heaven. The sixth day On the 29th of June 1981, the children were taken to Mostar for a medical examination after which they were proclaimed "healthy". The statement of the head doctor was: "The children aren't crazy, the person who brought them here must be though".... The crowds on Apparition Hill that day were greater than ever. As soon as the children arrived at the usual place and began to pray, Our Lady appeared. On that occasion the Blessed Mother exhorted them to have faith saying," The people should believe firmly and have no fear." On that day, a doctoress who was following and observing them, during the apparition desired to touch Our Lady. The children guided her hand to the place where Our Lady's shoulder was, and she felt a tingling sensation. The doctor, even though an atheist had to admit that, "Here, something strange is happening!". On that same day a child was miraculously healed by the name of Daniel Šetka. Her parents had brought her to Medjugorje, praying specifically for a healing. Our Lady had promised that this would come about if the parents prayed and fasted and strongly believed. The child thereupon was healed. The seventh day On the 30th of June 1981 two young girls suggested to the children to go by car further away to be able to stroll in peace. Really their intention was to bring them away from the area and keep them until after the normal apparition time had passed. However, even though the children were far away from Podbrdo, at the usual time of the apparition, it was as if an interior call prompted them to ask to be let out of the car. As soon as they did, and said a prayer, Our Lady drew near to them, from the direction of Podbrdo, which was now over a kilometre away. She prayed seven "Our Fathers" etc. And so the girl's trick had no effect. Soon after this the police began to hinder the children and the pilgrims going on Podbrdo, the site of apparitions. The children, and soon afterwards even the crowds were forbidden to go there. But Our Lady continued to appear to them in secret places, in their homes and in the fields. The children had already gained confidence, and openly spoke with Our Lady, eagerly seeking her advice, listening to her warnings and messages. The events of Medjugorje continued in this fashion up until the 15th of January 1982. In the meantime, the Parish Priest began to host the pilgrims in the Church, enabling them to participate in the rosary and to celebrate the Eucharist. The children also gave out the rosary. Our Lady sometimes appeared to them in the church at that time. Even the Parish Priest himself once while praying the rosary, saw Our Lady. Immediately he broke off praying and spontaneously started to sing a popular hymn: "Lijepa si, lijepa, Djevo Marijo" - "O how beautiful you are, Most Blessed Virgin Mary". The whole church could see that something unusual was happening to him. Afterwards he stated that he had seen her. And so, he who up until then had not only been doubtful, but openly against even rumours of the apparitions, became their defender. He testified his support of the apparitions even to the point of serving a prison sentence. From the 15th of January 1982 onwards the children saw Our Lady in a closed off area of the Parish Church. The Parish Priest arranged this because of the newly arisen difficulties and sometimes even dangers, which provided themselves for the visionaries. Previously the children had ensured that this was in accord with Our Lady's wishes. Because of the prohibitions of the Diocesan Bishop however, from April 1985 onwards the children ceased to use the area of the church as an apparition site. Instead, they went to a room in the Parish house. All this time, from the beginning of the apparitions up until today, there have only been five days when none of the children saw Our Lady. Our Lady didn't always appear in the same place either, nor to the same group, nor individuals, nor did her apparitions always last a specified period. Sometimes the apparitions lasted two minutes, sometimes an hour. Neither did Our Lady appear at the children's will. Sometimes they prayed and waited but Our Lady didn't appear until a little while afterwards, unexpectedly and unforewarned. And sometimes she appeared to one and not to the others. If she hadn't promised an appointed time, nobody knew when she would appear, or if she would appear. Neither did she appear always to just the aforesaid visionaries, but to others also of different age, stature, race, education and walks of life. All this suggests that the apparitions are not a product of the imagination. It depends neither on time nor place, nor desire nor the prayer of pilgrim or visionary, but moreover on the will of He who permits it. Fr. Ljudevit Rupčić Professor of Theology and translator of Sacred Scripture into the Croatian language Fr. Rupčić is resident in Medjugorje |
| In October 1981. Many people witnessed the Cross transform into light and then a Silhouette of Our Lady |
| Apparitions; History of Our Ladys Apparitions in Medjugorje |
| Medjugorjepilgrim.com |
Many have in different ways interrogated the visionaries about Our Lady's appearance, as they have in general about what is happening in the parish of Medjugorje. Fr. Janko Bubalo, author and member of the Hercegovina province, was the most successful at that. He followed the Medjugorje apparitions from the beginning. For years he was coming to Medjugorje to hear confessions and thus he had experiences of Medjugorje spirituality. in Medjugorje he acquired an intimate knowledge of Medjugorje spirituality. One result of his interest is his book A Thousand Encounters with the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje (1985). It met with worldwide success and received a reward. In this book Vicka, the visionary, in answer to Fr. Bubalo’s questions, gives a detailed account of her encounters with Our Blessed Lady. It is true that Fr. Bubalo had interviews with the other visionaries, but in the end decided to publish only the conversations he had with Vicka, because it seemed to him that she answered his questions in the most comprehensive way. Besides, what the other visionaries had to say did not differ essentially from Vicka’s accounts. Time has passed and attempts at portraying Our Lady as she appears at Medjugorje have multiplied. Many of these attempts diverged from the description given by the visionaries, so in order to prevent from further confusion, Fr. Bubalo, though now advanced in years (he was born in 1913), sent a questionnaire to all the visionaries in which he asked them to supply answers to a number of questions relating to Our Lady’s appearance. Five of the six visionaries responded to Fr. Bubalo appeal and signed their completed questionnaire forms at Humac in 1992. These five were Ivan Dragićević, Vicka Ivanković, Marija Pavlović, Ivanka Ivanković and Mirjana Dragićević. Because of circumstances, the sixth visionary, Jakov Čolo was unable to return his questionnaire form, but he agreed with what the other visionaries said, and had nothing to add to their accounts. We now present the questions in full and the results of the visionaries' brief answers. 1. As the first thing, tell me: how tall is the Madonna that you regularly see? About 165 cm - Like me. (Vicka) [5 feet 5 inches] 2. Does she look rather "slender", slim or . . .? She looks rather slender. 3. About how many kilograms do you think she weighs? About 60 kilograms (132 pounds). From 18 to 20 years old. 5. When she is with the Child Jesus does she look older? She looks as usual - she looks the same. 6. When Our Lady is with you is she always standing or . . . Always standing. 7. On what is she standing? On some little cloud. 8. What colour is that little cloud? The cloud is a whitish color. 9. Have you ever seen her kneel? Never! (Vicka, Ivan, Ivanka. . .) 10. Naturally your Madonna also has her own face. How does it look: round or rather long - oval? It's rather long - oval - normal. 11. What colour is her face? Normal - rather light - rosy cheeks. 12. What colour is her brow? Normal - mainly light like her face. 13. What kind of lips does Our Lady have - rather thick or thin? Normal - beautiful - they are more thin. 14. What colour are they? Reddish - natural colour. 15. Does Our Lady have any dimples, as we people usually have? Ordinarily she doesn't - perhaps a little, if she smiles. (Mirjana) 16. Is there some pleasant smile ordinarily noticeable on her countenance? Maybe - more like some indescribable gentleness - there's a smile visible as if somehow under her skin. (Vicka) 17. What is the colour of Our Lady's eyes? Her eyes are wonderful! Clearly blue. (all) 18. Are they rather big or . . .? More normal - maybe a little bit bigger. (Marija) 19. How are her eyelashes? Delicate - normal. 20. What colour are her eyelashes? Normal - no special colour. 21. Are they thinner or . . .? Ordinary - normal. 22. Of course, Our Lady also has a nose. What is it like: sharp or . . .? A nice, little nose (Mirjana) - normal, harmonizing with her face. (Marija) 23. And Our Lady's eyebrows? Her eyebrows are thin - normal - more of a black colour. 24. How is your Madonna dressed? She is clothed in a simple woman's dress. 25. What colour is her dress? Her dress is grey - maybe a little bluish-grey. (Mirjana) 26. Is the dress tight-fitting or does it fall freely? It falls freely. 27. How far down does her dress reach? All the way down to the little cloud on which she's standing - it blends into the cloud. 28. How far up around the neck? Normally - up to the beginning of her neck. 29. Is a part of Our Lady's neck visible? Her neck is visible, but nothing of her bosom is visible. 30. How far do her sleeves reach? Up to her palms. 31. Is Our Lady's dress hemmed with anything? No, not with anything. 32. Is there anything pulled in or tied around Our Lady's waist? No, there's nothing. 33. On the body of the Madonna that you see, is her femininity noticeable? Of course it's noticeable! But nothing specially. (Vicka) 34. Is there anything else on Our Lady besides this dress described? She has a veil on her head. 35. What colour is that veil? The veil is a white colour. 36. Pure white or . . .? Pure white. 37. How much of her does the veil cover? It covers her head, shoulders and complete body from the back and from the sides. 38. How far down does it reach? It reaches down to the little cloud, also like her dress. 39. How far does it cover in front? It covers from the back and from the sides. 40. Does the veil look firmer, thicker than Our Lady's dress? No it doesn't - it's similar to the dress. 41. Is there any kind of jewellery on her? There is no kind of jewellery. 42. Is the veil trimmed with anything at the ends? Not with anything. 43. Does Our Lady have any kind of ornament at all? She has no kind. 44. For example, on her head or around the head? Yes - she has a crown of stars on her head. 45. Are there always stars around her head? Ordinarily there are - there always are. (Vicka) 46. For example, when she appears with Jesus? She's the same way. 47. How many stars are there? There are twelve of them. 48. What colour are they? Golden - gold colour. 49. Are they in any way connected with each other? They are connected with something - so that can stay up. (Vicka) 50. Is a little bit of Our Lady's hair visible? A little bit of her hair is visible. 51. Where do you see it? A little above her forehead - from under the veil - from the left side. 52. What colour is it? Its black. 53. Is either of Our Lady's ears ever visible? No, they are never visible. 54. How is that? Well, the veil covers her ears. 55. What is Our Lady usually looking at during the apparition? Usually she is looking at us - sometimes at something else, at what she's showing. 56. How does Our Lady hold her hands? Her hands are free, relaxed, extended. 57. When does she hold her hands folded? Almost never - maybe sometimes at the "Glory be". 58. Does she ever move, gesture with her hands during the apparitions? She does not gesture, except when she shows something. 59. Which way are her palms turned when her hands are extended? Her palms are usually relaxed upwards - her fingers are relaxed in the same way. 60. Are her fingernails then also visible? They are partially visible. 61. How are they - which colour are they? Natural colour – clean-cut fingernails. 62. Have you ever seen Our Lady's legs? No - never - her dress always covers them. 63. Finally, is Our Lady really beautiful, as you have said? Well, really we haven't told you anything about that - her beauty cannot be described - it is not our kind of beauty - that is something ethereal - something heavenly - something that we'll only see in Paradise - and then only to a certain degree. © Information Centre "Mir" Medjugorje, |
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| A Short History of Our Ladys Apparitions |
| Detailed Description of Our Lady, as she appears in Medjugorje |
| Ivan and Marija |
| Apparition Hill Known Locally as Podbrdo |
| Marija and Jakov |
| Ivanka, Jakov & Vicka |
| Marija, Ivanka, Jakov & Vicka |
| Visionaries first days |
| St James Church at the begining |
| THE APPARITION SITE This spot is marked by a large statue of Our Lady, a replica of the white statue in front of the Church. You can Consecrate yourself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary here, knowing that to consecrate yourself to Her, means to consciously accept Her as mother, to live Her messages and to surrender your entire life to Her. THE WOODEN CROSS As you descend Apparition Hill, you will come across a large wooden cross, erected on the place where Our Lady first appeared to Marija Pavlović on June 26,1981. It is here that She cried and called us to peace and reconciliation. THE BLUE CROSS Another place of significance where Our Lady has appeared, a blue cross was erected and this site is now called the "Blue Cross". Here Our Lady appeared to Ivan while he was hiding from the police. Our Lady still appears to Ivan here sometimes when he meets with his prayer group on Tuesdays and Fridays. The cross is located at the foot of the Hill of Apparitions |
Medjugorje Apparition, Message & Interview
Also, hear commentary from Mirjana about the latest
Church commission established to study Medjugorje.
Also, hear commentary from Mirjana about the latest
Church commission established to study Medjugorje.
| THE APPARITION SITE |