- Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:58 pm
#181197
Hi everyone, I wanted to find a place where I could share my experience in Medjugorje. I live in the New York City area and both my parents were born and raised in Croatia and came to the USA in the 1960's. After Croatia got its independence, my father's dream was to build a house in his home town of Imotski where he and my mom would retire to one day. In the 2000's he built that house...the house is near the Croatian border with Hercegovina and only 60 km away from Medjugorje. Anyway, I took a vacation to Croatia from June 14th through July 7th and as I left NY, my dad gave me the keys to the house so I can stay there...while in Imotski I planned a trip to Medjugorje since it is so close to my dads house that it would be a sin not to go. I drove in from Zagreb on June 16th but, the first few days were busy as my cousin was getting married and there were a lot of festivities in the days leading up to the wedding which was on June 18th, so, the next day, I was relaxing and planning out my next few days and I told myself that I would either go on Tuesday (June 21) or Wednesday (June 22). Monday came and I said to myself "I'm going on Wednesday" but, something interesting happened as I went to sleep that Monday night, I was tossing and turning all night long and as morning came, it was as if an inner voice was telling me, "Go to Medjugorje today," and that's what I did. I got up, ate breakfast and later in the morning I went to my aunt and uncles house for a small lunch and told them that I would be back in the evening as I was going to go to Medjugorje and so I went.
When I got to Medjugorje, I found parking about 500 or 600 meters from the entrance to apparition hill near one of the new developments they were building there. As I got out the car I started making the walk towards Apparition Hill and seeing people from all over the world, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and even Japan it made me smile because these people were all there for the same reason and it was wonderful to see. So, as I climbed the rocky hill side, I passed and Irish family and then there was a older Croatian woman who was going up and I asked her if she needed any help, she said she didn't but, I was with her for about half the climb up when she thanked me for my help but, told me to go as she was stopping to pray for a while..I asked if she was sure and that I could wait but, she told me that it was fine..and then she told me, "Neka te dragi Bog blagosovi" which means, "May dear God Bless you.." so, I got to Apparition Hill and there was the statue of Mary in front of me and the brown wooden Cross with Jesus in the background...that day was a hot day, around 35C, and I just happened to find a spot to sit right behind the Cross where there was some shade..I sat down, meditated, and prayed...after I prayed, I took out a sheet of paper that I had in my pocket, tore the paper into 4 pieces, took out a pen and started writing prayer petitions on each piece of paper. I wrote a petition for both my parents, on the other paper I wrote a petition for my relatives, on the third piece of paper I wrote a petition for my good friends, and finally on the 4th piece of paper I wrote a petition for myself. When I was done writing I meditated on what I wrote for a while, then sat there observing everyone that was there at the time and seeing how devoted everyone was. Then it was time to leave, I got up, knelt by the Cross, said a prayer thanking Jesus, got up and kissed his feet then I went to the statue of Mother Mary. There was no room in the front so I went to Her side, placed the petition at the base of the statue and knelt in prayer. After I said my prayers, I got up and made the walk down Apparition Hill...I got to my car and as I was leaving parked near the Church and went inside to say one last prayer before I left Medjugorje.
So, I left Medjugorje feeling at peace but, little did I know the surprise that awaited me when I got back to my dads house in Imotski. After I crossed the border back into Croatia, I stopped by this small restaurant to dinner...when I got home, I desided to take a shower and when I got out of the shower, I noticed something interesting...at first glance it was a red mark (like a sunburn in the center of my chest, about 2 inches high and 1 inch wide) and I thought that was odd because I had a shirt on the entire time I was there...then I looked again, and the red mark looked like an angel praying, it wasn't perfect, but you can make out the wings, a bowed head, and what looked like clasped hands in prayer...now, here is the interesting part in all of this, when I prayed by Mary's statue it was to the side, with the back of the statue being on my right side and the front of the statue on my left side..the red mark that was on my chest, the angels wings (the back) were on my right side and the head and the clasped hands were on my left side..when I saw this, I was taken aback and the first thing I did was call my mom on the phone in NY...she told me that I should kneel down and say a prayer thanking Mother Mary because my mom felt that was a sign that Mary heard my prayers and will one day answer my petitions...as I mentioned it looked like a sunburn but, I had my shirt on also, unlike a sunburn or a rash, it didn't burn or itch at all...the interesting part was that it slowly faded away within 48 hours of my visit.
Something like this has never happened to me and I pray every day..but, being a human, you sometimes have doubts that your prayers will never get answered and I started having doubts myself and was feeling a little down. My guess is that Mary sensed this and gave me this sign that the Lord has been hearing my prayers all this time and I shouldn't worry, that they will be answered, it may not happen right away, but it eventually will happen.
So, that's my Medjugorje story...
When I got to Medjugorje, I found parking about 500 or 600 meters from the entrance to apparition hill near one of the new developments they were building there. As I got out the car I started making the walk towards Apparition Hill and seeing people from all over the world, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and even Japan it made me smile because these people were all there for the same reason and it was wonderful to see. So, as I climbed the rocky hill side, I passed and Irish family and then there was a older Croatian woman who was going up and I asked her if she needed any help, she said she didn't but, I was with her for about half the climb up when she thanked me for my help but, told me to go as she was stopping to pray for a while..I asked if she was sure and that I could wait but, she told me that it was fine..and then she told me, "Neka te dragi Bog blagosovi" which means, "May dear God Bless you.." so, I got to Apparition Hill and there was the statue of Mary in front of me and the brown wooden Cross with Jesus in the background...that day was a hot day, around 35C, and I just happened to find a spot to sit right behind the Cross where there was some shade..I sat down, meditated, and prayed...after I prayed, I took out a sheet of paper that I had in my pocket, tore the paper into 4 pieces, took out a pen and started writing prayer petitions on each piece of paper. I wrote a petition for both my parents, on the other paper I wrote a petition for my relatives, on the third piece of paper I wrote a petition for my good friends, and finally on the 4th piece of paper I wrote a petition for myself. When I was done writing I meditated on what I wrote for a while, then sat there observing everyone that was there at the time and seeing how devoted everyone was. Then it was time to leave, I got up, knelt by the Cross, said a prayer thanking Jesus, got up and kissed his feet then I went to the statue of Mother Mary. There was no room in the front so I went to Her side, placed the petition at the base of the statue and knelt in prayer. After I said my prayers, I got up and made the walk down Apparition Hill...I got to my car and as I was leaving parked near the Church and went inside to say one last prayer before I left Medjugorje.
So, I left Medjugorje feeling at peace but, little did I know the surprise that awaited me when I got back to my dads house in Imotski. After I crossed the border back into Croatia, I stopped by this small restaurant to dinner...when I got home, I desided to take a shower and when I got out of the shower, I noticed something interesting...at first glance it was a red mark (like a sunburn in the center of my chest, about 2 inches high and 1 inch wide) and I thought that was odd because I had a shirt on the entire time I was there...then I looked again, and the red mark looked like an angel praying, it wasn't perfect, but you can make out the wings, a bowed head, and what looked like clasped hands in prayer...now, here is the interesting part in all of this, when I prayed by Mary's statue it was to the side, with the back of the statue being on my right side and the front of the statue on my left side..the red mark that was on my chest, the angels wings (the back) were on my right side and the head and the clasped hands were on my left side..when I saw this, I was taken aback and the first thing I did was call my mom on the phone in NY...she told me that I should kneel down and say a prayer thanking Mother Mary because my mom felt that was a sign that Mary heard my prayers and will one day answer my petitions...as I mentioned it looked like a sunburn but, I had my shirt on also, unlike a sunburn or a rash, it didn't burn or itch at all...the interesting part was that it slowly faded away within 48 hours of my visit.
Something like this has never happened to me and I pray every day..but, being a human, you sometimes have doubts that your prayers will never get answered and I started having doubts myself and was feeling a little down. My guess is that Mary sensed this and gave me this sign that the Lord has been hearing my prayers all this time and I shouldn't worry, that they will be answered, it may not happen right away, but it eventually will happen.
So, that's my Medjugorje story...