The events of Medjugorje have always been topical in the life of the Church. It should be said that when it is mentioned, the Catholic Church – especially the Italian one – is divided exactly in half between those who say they are in favor and those who are against. And so the faithful themselves, sometimes closer to real supporters for or against the apparitions. Here we will tell in installments how things went, how they are progressing and what possible future development they could have after the Pope appointed his special envoy last February (only to ascertain the pastoral needs, not to certify the veracity of the apparitions) in the figure of Monsignor Henryk Hoser, archbishop of Warsaw-Prague who was preceded by controversies in Medjugorje: the bishop of Mostar, Ratko Peric , in whose territory Medjugorje falls, has issued a press release in which the veracity of the apparitions is completely dismantled, even in the first week of apparitions that would be the “core” that according to some the secret report of the Ruini Commission would have tried to save. Hoser, however, arrived in Medjugorje and first remarked that he was sent there by the Pope, which is why he will carry out his mission and deliver a final report to Francis .
The apparitions of Medjugorje have not been officially recognized by the Catholic Church. The faithful can be free to believe it or not, so the names of the “seers” or the “Madonna” will be understood with this clarification: for those who do not believe it will be “the presumed seers” or “the presumed Madonna”. THE APPARITIONS
It is the month of June 1981, in a world that no longer exists. Where today Bosnia and Herzegovina exists at that time and still Yugoslavia. The world is divided into two opposing blocs: on the one hand the capitalist West, in an era of leaders such as Ronald Reagan, Francois Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl . On the other hand, the Iron Curtain, with Leonid Brezhnev , General Jaruzelskiin Poland, and then the non-aligned countries such as Henver Hoxa ‘s Albania, Deng Xiaoping ‘s China and finally Yugoslavia which the previous summer lost Marshal Tito . It is in this world, in which the Pope and John Paul II (the Pope came “from a distant country”), that on Wednesday 24 June something happens in a small mainly agricultural town called Medjugorje. Ivanka Ivankovic is 12 years old, Mirjana Dragicevic16. They take an afternoon walk, it’s vacation time and rest. Towards the late afternoon they are walking near Podbordo, a mountain where they often take goats to graze. It is in that moment that Ivanka raises her eyes to the hill and sees a luminous figure: that for her and Our Lady. Mirjana does not believe it, and the walk continues: but on her return, while they help a 12-year-old shepherdess named Milka Pavlovic to reunite her flock, they see the Virgin again holding a child in her arms. This time they look in three, they think it is Our Lady and they feel joy and fear. They are then joined by a friend, Vicka Ivankovic , 16: she sees the Virgin and runs away in fear, while Ivan Ivankovic (20) and Ivan Dragicevic, friends of Vicka, block her on the street while she is fleeing. She invites them to get on the Podbordo and they see: Ivan Ivankovic runs away, Dragicevic instead stays.
Our Lady beckons them to approach, but the boys run away. When they return home and tell what happened to them, they are teased by their relatives and the story seems to be closed right now.
But the next day something happens: Milka is sent to work in a family vineyard, outside Medjugorje; Ivan Ivankovic is convinced that she is child’s stuff and walks away. On the other hand, however, the visionaries we know today go back to Podbordo: in place of Milka and Ivan there are now Marija Pavlovic , 16 (Milka’s sister), and a 10-year-old boy, Jakov Colo.
This time the virgin appears: Ivanka, Vicka and Mirjana see her. They go up to the top of the hill and speak to her apparition. Ivanka asks about her mother, who has recently died. The Virgin explains to her that she is in Heaven; Mirjana says that no one will believe them, but Our Lady smiles. They pray. Then the Mother of God (or at least, according to the version of the seers), tells them: “Go in peace with God”.
On the third day of apparitions there are 3 thousand people. This time the Virgin introduces herself, she says she is the Mother of God, the “Gospa” in Croatian. She says that she will return up there several times, she receives with a smile the holy water that is thrown at her to verify if she is a celestial or diabolical apparition (she too in Lourdes Bernadette Soubirousdoes the same thing in 1858). Marja asks her if there is life on other planets, and Our Lady replies: “This does not concern you”. On the other hand, Our Lady tells them that Ivanka’s mother, before dying, left a message: to obey her grandmother and help her because she is old. Mirjana, on the other hand, learns that her grandfather, who died recently: “He’s fine”. Then, while they are evacuating, Marja goes into ecstasy: and the first message, in fact. “Peace, peace, peace! Reconcile! Only peace. Make peace with God and with each other. For this it is necessary to believe, pray, fast and confess ”. From here begins the story of the apparitions. THE SEEDERS
– Marja Pavlovic Lunetti(Bijakovici, a hamlet of Medjugorje, April 1, 1965): he has seen the Gospa every day since 1981, but has only known 9 of the 10 secrets. It is she who sends the monthly Marian message to the parish and to the world on the 25th of each month (this from 25 January 1987: first, from 1 March 1984 to 8 January 1987, every Thursday). She knows 9 of the 10 secrets and is married. Four children, she lives between Italy and Medjugorje. She must pray, at the request of the Gospa, for the souls in Purgatory;
– Mirjiana Dragicevic Soldo(Sarajevo, March 18, 1965): she has daily apparitions from June 24, 1981 until Christmas 1982. On that day the Virgin entrusts her with the last of the 10 secrets, and promises her a special apparition every year on her birthday. From 2 August 1987, however, Mirjana on the second day of the month would have interior locutions (she would hear the voice of the Gospa, like Joan of Arc) and at times she would see her. She is married, with two children, she lives in Medjugorje. You have to pray for non-believers;
– Ivanka Ivankovic Elez (Bijakovici, district of Medjugorje, June 21, 1966): sees Our Lady first and sees her every day until May 7, 1985. After having received the tenth secret, he announces that he will see her once a year on June 25. She is married, three children, she lives in Medjugorje. You have to pray for families;
–Vicka Ivankovic (Bijakovici, fraction of Medjugorje, September 3, 1964): she still has daily apparitions today, but the Gospa revealed only 9 secrets to her. She is married, one daughter, she lives near Medjugorje. You must pray for the sick;
– Ivan Dragicevic (Bijakovici, fraction of Medjugorje, May 25, 1965): he still has daily apparitions today, and like Vicka he has received only 9 secrets. Married, with three children, he lives between the USA and Medjugorje. He must pray for young people and priests;
– Jakov Colo (Sarajevo, March 6, 1971): he sees the Gospa every day from June 25, 1981 to September 12, 1998. That day he received the tenth secret, the Virgin announces that they will see each other once a year every Christmas. Married, three children, he lives in Medjugorje. THE TEN SECRETS
They have been revealed over time to the visionaries by the Gospa and not everyone knows them fully. There is much discussion on the third, which would foresee an extraordinary sign left by the Mother of God on the hill of apparitions. A particular procedure is foreseen for their revelation. Each secret is associated with a specific date, which Mirjana knows but cannot reveal for the moment. Our Lady told Mirjiana to take a priest with her, and when she has to reveal the secret, the Virgin will tell her. At this point the visionary must begin to pray and fast for a week together with this priest; after seven days, three days before each of these secrets are realized, Mirjiana will tell the priest what will happen and where. The latter must make public what you have communicated.
We are discussing the famous “fourth secret” which would contain the announcement of a disaster: but in reality to date no one knows their content. Mirjana refused to disclose it to the Ruini Commission, but she also specified that nothing should be feared.
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