In March 1986, I was invited to view a videotape of an event that was occurring in Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia. Several children reported that they had seen and were still being visited by the Mother of Christ. I found it quite interesting but did not form a real opinion about whether or not it were true. The friend, that invited me to the viewing, asked me if I wanted to go to Medjugorje to see first hand. Without hesitation, I said yes.
I arrived in country in May 1986. I neither believed nor disbelieved anything that I had previously heard about the apparitions. I had an open mind.
I boarded a bus for the trip from Dubrovnik Airport to Medjugorje. Ten minutes into the ride, I witnessed the sun spinning in the sky. It was like a fireball.
The group leader announced that our purpose was not solely to witness the physical phenomena that were occurring but was mainly to experience the spiritual. The bus arrived at Medjugorje and we settled in for a 9 day visit in the home of a local family. The person that I roomed with was a Ph.D. candidate who was there to gather information for a dissertation on love.
The apparitions were said to occur weekly at the rectory of Saint James Parish. The church was a Rosary away from where I was staying. We walked to the church as a group and prayed the Rosary aloud along the way. I felt somewhat uncomfortable at first. I guess that I was feeling the remnants of a belief that prayer was more of a private matter and not to be engaged in such a public forum. I soon realized that passersby and everybody else were doing the same thing. Public prayer immediately became the norm and I embraced it. After exactly one Rosary, we arrived at the church.
The church and surrounding areas were filled with people. As I listened to the general conversations, I heard a variety of languages. Yugoslavia was an open communist country so people from all over the world could come and more or less travel freely. I thought, if the Mother of Christ were to appear anywhere in the world, this would certainly be the perfect place.
I attended Mass at St. James Church. The Masses were scheduled to accommodate the different languages. This was an English-speaking Mass that was said by a visiting priest. The sermon was given by a local priest who spoke only Croatian and German. A woman in the congregation spoke German and English. She served as translator.
As the days passed, I began to feel and believe that this was, perhaps, the most spiritual place on earth. The spinning sun was pretty much a daily occurrence. People were giving out photos that had been taken by other pilgrims that showed the image of Our Lady. Others had reported seeing the huge concrete cross on Mount Krusivak spinning and turning crimson red. And others had reported seeing the Mother of Christ in the sky, holding the Baby Jesus. But this was not what was making Medjugorje a holy place. It was prayer that made it holy. Prayer was always the underlying theme. I prayed with the local Croatian people and I felt the strength of their prayer. I prayed with the visionaries and I witnessed their total conviction. I prayed with people from different parts of the world and I felt united. And I prayed with people of different religions and I became their brother.
On the day of the apparition, I walked to the church alone. I prayed the Rosary along the way. This was the first time I had ever prayed the Rosary alone.
The church was full when I got there so I went to the grassy area beside the church. There were loudspeakers outside so I could hear what was being said inside of the church.
I was in full view of the rectory from the hilly area where I was standing. The visionaries would go there each Thursday to be visited by Our Lady. The rectory was about 75 feet from where I stood.
I heard what sounded to be a pack of barking dogs. The barking went on constantly for several minutes. Then, in one brief instant, the barking stopped abruptly and completely. It was at that moment that I felt that perhaps The Mother of Christ had appeared. I got down on my knees. My eyes focused on the rectory.
The church apparently had not yet been told that Our Lady had appeared, as the loud speakers were still active. Then there was silence. Except for the birds singing, there was silence.
My eyes remained focused on the outer walls of the room where the apparition was occurring. I felt honored and humbled at the same time. After all, who was I to be there in the presence of the Mother of Christ? Who was I to be in the company of One Who Is Most Holy?
I began to feel that that moment in time was most sacred. I wanted to live in that moment forever. This was not something abstract. This was real. I reflected on the Life of Mary and the events that took place nearly 2000 years before. I thought about Jesus and His followers and how Mary was in their company. And now, She was here. She was here with us.
As my eyes gazed upon the apparition room, what appeared, at first, to be a cloud, came through the wall. The cloud had form and substance and came directly toward me. I bowed my head. As the Spirit form passed by me, it very gently brushed the corner of my eye. It was like a feather. There was no doubt in my mind but that this was Mary. There was no question but that it was prayer, the Rosary, that I had said earlier, that brought Her to me.
As my journey to Medjugorje was ending, I found myself gathering any tangible evidence that I could, to bring home. I thought if I had physical evidence, it would help my family to experience this spiritual feast. I gathered rocks and soil from the very place where Mary first appeared. I bought posters and religious articles. I filled my canteen with water from a spigot located in front of the church.
On the day I was leaving Medjugorje, I brought my canteen to Mass. At the final blessing, I held the canteen up to be blessed. I have no recall of the return plane trip to the states. I must have been consumed by the thoughts of this wonderful experience.
The people of Medjugorje are vibrant and alive. They are strong in their convictions. They pray with a strong, united voice. It has been said that before the apparitions began, the different ethnic groups that occupied the area were in conflict. After the apparitions began, the conflicts went away. Prayer conquers all.
The Water...
When I returned home from Medjugorje, I was still on fire with the memories of what I had seen and felt there. My mind, body and spirit were unified. No doubt could be found anywhere in my being that could challenge my belief that the Mother of Christ was indeed appearing in Medjugorje.
I joined a prayer service with a group of people that had also traveled to Medjugorje. We met in a church to pray the Rosary on one Thursday night each month. It was a Rosary like I had never prayed before. After each prayer, an accolade to the Mother of Christ was given. It was not just words. It was prayer with heart-felt meaning. And it was prayer with a multi-denominational group. Mary, the Mother of Christ, always leads us to Her Son. She intercedes for us. She invites us to live in God’s Love.
I took a job that allowed me to read and think and meditate. It turned out that my working partner was spiritual, open-minded, and loving. She was a wonderful person. She became a very dear friend.
After about a year and one-half, I had to leave that job. There was a chemical agent or something in the new carpeting that caused an old stomach condition to re-activate. I met up with an old friend and we started a product development company.
The new job was exciting. We took an old technology and found a new use for it. Our product got rave reviews by some in the water industry. The product was covered extensively in trade publications and it was featured on nationally syndicated TV. The product was viewed by some as cutting edge. Soon, I thought, our company name would become a household word.
The job required long hours and began to take a physical toll on me. It was exciting but I was not able to devote as much time to what really matters. I got physically sick.
My doctor became concerned because my stomach condition had become somewhat life-threatening.
After 3 years on that job, I left. My physician scheduled a stomach biopsy. I knew what that meant. He was looking for cancer. I had suffered from a stomach disorder for 20 years.
On the night before the scheduled biopsy, I removed my shirt and lay down on my young son’s bed. I poured some of the water that I had brought from Medjugorje into my hand. I rubbed the water on my stomach while saying the following prayer out loud: “Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus Precious Name and I ask You to heal my stomach, Amen.” As I rubbed my hand across my stomach, I felt heat coming from my palm. I believed that I had been healed.
When I arrived at the hospital the following day, the physician that was about to work on me said that he wanted another x-ray before doing the biopsy. The most recent x-ray showed three areas of concern: two in my stomach and one in the lower part of my esophagus. There were also old scars from where the original condition had activated and recovered over the twenty year period of time.
The physician came to me after the x-ray and said the x-ray was clear. The x-ray showed nothing. There was no need for a biopsy. I lived with the original condition off and on for 20 years. There were times, in fact, when the pain was so bad, I could barely stand up. That was when I was in my early twenties. The disorder has not returned.
There is no doubt, whatsoever, but that I was healed by the Loving Power of God. When I said the prayer the previous night, I also had no doubt, whatsoever, but that I was healed. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, will be given to you.” I believed Him.
Steven
I arrived in country in May 1986. I neither believed nor disbelieved anything that I had previously heard about the apparitions. I had an open mind.
I boarded a bus for the trip from Dubrovnik Airport to Medjugorje. Ten minutes into the ride, I witnessed the sun spinning in the sky. It was like a fireball.
The group leader announced that our purpose was not solely to witness the physical phenomena that were occurring but was mainly to experience the spiritual. The bus arrived at Medjugorje and we settled in for a 9 day visit in the home of a local family. The person that I roomed with was a Ph.D. candidate who was there to gather information for a dissertation on love.
The apparitions were said to occur weekly at the rectory of Saint James Parish. The church was a Rosary away from where I was staying. We walked to the church as a group and prayed the Rosary aloud along the way. I felt somewhat uncomfortable at first. I guess that I was feeling the remnants of a belief that prayer was more of a private matter and not to be engaged in such a public forum. I soon realized that passersby and everybody else were doing the same thing. Public prayer immediately became the norm and I embraced it. After exactly one Rosary, we arrived at the church.
The church and surrounding areas were filled with people. As I listened to the general conversations, I heard a variety of languages. Yugoslavia was an open communist country so people from all over the world could come and more or less travel freely. I thought, if the Mother of Christ were to appear anywhere in the world, this would certainly be the perfect place.
I attended Mass at St. James Church. The Masses were scheduled to accommodate the different languages. This was an English-speaking Mass that was said by a visiting priest. The sermon was given by a local priest who spoke only Croatian and German. A woman in the congregation spoke German and English. She served as translator.
As the days passed, I began to feel and believe that this was, perhaps, the most spiritual place on earth. The spinning sun was pretty much a daily occurrence. People were giving out photos that had been taken by other pilgrims that showed the image of Our Lady. Others had reported seeing the huge concrete cross on Mount Krusivak spinning and turning crimson red. And others had reported seeing the Mother of Christ in the sky, holding the Baby Jesus. But this was not what was making Medjugorje a holy place. It was prayer that made it holy. Prayer was always the underlying theme. I prayed with the local Croatian people and I felt the strength of their prayer. I prayed with the visionaries and I witnessed their total conviction. I prayed with people from different parts of the world and I felt united. And I prayed with people of different religions and I became their brother.
On the day of the apparition, I walked to the church alone. I prayed the Rosary along the way. This was the first time I had ever prayed the Rosary alone.
The church was full when I got there so I went to the grassy area beside the church. There were loudspeakers outside so I could hear what was being said inside of the church.
I was in full view of the rectory from the hilly area where I was standing. The visionaries would go there each Thursday to be visited by Our Lady. The rectory was about 75 feet from where I stood.
I heard what sounded to be a pack of barking dogs. The barking went on constantly for several minutes. Then, in one brief instant, the barking stopped abruptly and completely. It was at that moment that I felt that perhaps The Mother of Christ had appeared. I got down on my knees. My eyes focused on the rectory.
The church apparently had not yet been told that Our Lady had appeared, as the loud speakers were still active. Then there was silence. Except for the birds singing, there was silence.
My eyes remained focused on the outer walls of the room where the apparition was occurring. I felt honored and humbled at the same time. After all, who was I to be there in the presence of the Mother of Christ? Who was I to be in the company of One Who Is Most Holy?
I began to feel that that moment in time was most sacred. I wanted to live in that moment forever. This was not something abstract. This was real. I reflected on the Life of Mary and the events that took place nearly 2000 years before. I thought about Jesus and His followers and how Mary was in their company. And now, She was here. She was here with us.
As my eyes gazed upon the apparition room, what appeared, at first, to be a cloud, came through the wall. The cloud had form and substance and came directly toward me. I bowed my head. As the Spirit form passed by me, it very gently brushed the corner of my eye. It was like a feather. There was no doubt in my mind but that this was Mary. There was no question but that it was prayer, the Rosary, that I had said earlier, that brought Her to me.
As my journey to Medjugorje was ending, I found myself gathering any tangible evidence that I could, to bring home. I thought if I had physical evidence, it would help my family to experience this spiritual feast. I gathered rocks and soil from the very place where Mary first appeared. I bought posters and religious articles. I filled my canteen with water from a spigot located in front of the church.
On the day I was leaving Medjugorje, I brought my canteen to Mass. At the final blessing, I held the canteen up to be blessed. I have no recall of the return plane trip to the states. I must have been consumed by the thoughts of this wonderful experience.
The people of Medjugorje are vibrant and alive. They are strong in their convictions. They pray with a strong, united voice. It has been said that before the apparitions began, the different ethnic groups that occupied the area were in conflict. After the apparitions began, the conflicts went away. Prayer conquers all.
The Water...
When I returned home from Medjugorje, I was still on fire with the memories of what I had seen and felt there. My mind, body and spirit were unified. No doubt could be found anywhere in my being that could challenge my belief that the Mother of Christ was indeed appearing in Medjugorje.
I joined a prayer service with a group of people that had also traveled to Medjugorje. We met in a church to pray the Rosary on one Thursday night each month. It was a Rosary like I had never prayed before. After each prayer, an accolade to the Mother of Christ was given. It was not just words. It was prayer with heart-felt meaning. And it was prayer with a multi-denominational group. Mary, the Mother of Christ, always leads us to Her Son. She intercedes for us. She invites us to live in God’s Love.
I took a job that allowed me to read and think and meditate. It turned out that my working partner was spiritual, open-minded, and loving. She was a wonderful person. She became a very dear friend.
After about a year and one-half, I had to leave that job. There was a chemical agent or something in the new carpeting that caused an old stomach condition to re-activate. I met up with an old friend and we started a product development company.
The new job was exciting. We took an old technology and found a new use for it. Our product got rave reviews by some in the water industry. The product was covered extensively in trade publications and it was featured on nationally syndicated TV. The product was viewed by some as cutting edge. Soon, I thought, our company name would become a household word.
The job required long hours and began to take a physical toll on me. It was exciting but I was not able to devote as much time to what really matters. I got physically sick.
My doctor became concerned because my stomach condition had become somewhat life-threatening.
After 3 years on that job, I left. My physician scheduled a stomach biopsy. I knew what that meant. He was looking for cancer. I had suffered from a stomach disorder for 20 years.
On the night before the scheduled biopsy, I removed my shirt and lay down on my young son’s bed. I poured some of the water that I had brought from Medjugorje into my hand. I rubbed the water on my stomach while saying the following prayer out loud: “Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus Precious Name and I ask You to heal my stomach, Amen.” As I rubbed my hand across my stomach, I felt heat coming from my palm. I believed that I had been healed.
When I arrived at the hospital the following day, the physician that was about to work on me said that he wanted another x-ray before doing the biopsy. The most recent x-ray showed three areas of concern: two in my stomach and one in the lower part of my esophagus. There were also old scars from where the original condition had activated and recovered over the twenty year period of time.
The physician came to me after the x-ray and said the x-ray was clear. The x-ray showed nothing. There was no need for a biopsy. I lived with the original condition off and on for 20 years. There were times, in fact, when the pain was so bad, I could barely stand up. That was when I was in my early twenties. The disorder has not returned.
There is no doubt, whatsoever, but that I was healed by the Loving Power of God. When I said the prayer the previous night, I also had no doubt, whatsoever, but that I was healed. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, will be given to you.” I believed Him.
Steven
