[tabby title=”English”]Vicka Ivankovic – Mijatovic

Vicka Ivankovic was born on September 3 1964. Her family grew grapes and tobacco. She has seven brothers and sisters. Our Lady first appeared to her on June 24, 1981 when she was 16 years old. On January 26, she married Mario Mijatovic 2002. They live with their two children in Krehin Gradac, about 15 minutes’ drive from Medjugorje. Vicka still receives daily apparitions from Our Lady and has received nine of the ten secrets. Our Lady asked her to pray especially for the sick. Vicka meets with pilgrims outside her old house in Biakovici, on the east side of Medjugorje, some mornings at 8 o’clock.

Mirjana Dragicevic – Soldo

Mirjana Dragicevic was born on March 18, 1965. She has one brother. She was the second person to see Our Lady on June 24, 1981. She was 16 at the time. She married Marko Soldo on September 16, 1989. They have two children, and live in Bijakovici near the bottom of Apparition Hill. Mirjana received daily apparitions until December 25, 1982 at which time Our Lady entrusted to her the tenth secret, and promised to appear to her once a year on her birthday, March 18, for the rest of her life. Since August 2, 1987, on the second day of each month, Mirjana internally hears Our Lady’s voice. Recently, on these days, she also sees Our Lady. The apparitions had been taking place at Cenacolo, but in March, 2009, the Bishop ordered Mirjana to stay home for the event. Her special ministry is to pray for unbelievers, and those who do not yet know the love of God. Our Lady told Mirjana that she is the person to divulge some of the ten secrets intermittently through a priest. She chose Father Pero Ljubicic, OFM, to perform this task when the time comes. Mirjana gives talks to pilgrims outside her house some days of the week.

Marija Pavlovic – Lunetti

Marija Pavlovic was born on April 1, 1965. She has five brothers and sisters. She was 16 when she saw Our Lady for the first time on June 25, 1981. In 1993 she married Paolo Lunetti. They have four children, and live in Italy for part of the year, and then in Bijakovici, Medjugorje during the summer. Our Lady has entrusted her with nine of the ten secrets. It is through her that the monthly message for the parish and the world is transmitted on the 25th of every month. Our Lady asked her to pray especially for the souls in Purgatory and for religious nuns. She gives talks in Italy, in other parts of Europe, and near Birmingham, Alabama in the USA. While in Medjugorje she would sometimes speak to pilgrims in the St. John Paul II Hall (formerly named as the Yellow Hall).

Ivan Dragicevic

Ivan Dragicevic  was born May 25,1965. He has two brothers. He first saw Our Lady on June 24, 1981 when he was 16 years old. On the 23rd of October 1994 he married Loreen Murphy in Boston, MA, USA. They have three children, and live in the United States for part of the year, and then in Bijakovici, Medjugorje, during the summer months. Our Lady has entrusted nine of the ten secrets to him. In July of 1982 Our Lady began leading a prayer group through Ivan that gathered to pray twice a week. It is with this group that Ivan prepares to meet Our Lady on Apparition Hill or the Blue Cross on some Monday and Friday nights in the Summer. Thousands of pilgrims are present when this occurs. Ivan still receives daily apparitions. Our lady asked him to pray especially for priests and the youth. He travels quite a bit around the USA to give talks. While in Medjugorje, his talks are sometimes held in the St. John Paul II Hall (formerly named as the Yellow Hall).

Ivanka Ivankovic – Elez

Ivanka Ivankovic was born on July 21, 1966. She has one brother and one sister. She was the first to see Our Lady on June 24, 1981 at the age of 14. She married Rajko Elez in 1986. They have three children, and live in Miletina, on the west side of Medjugorje. Ivanka received daily apparitions until May 7, 1985 at which time Our Lady entrusted to her the tenth secret, and promised to appear to her once a year on June 25th, the anniversary of the apparitions, for the rest of her life. This annual apparition takes place at her home. Our Lady asked her to pray especially for families. Ivanka very rarely speaks in public.

Jakov Colo

Jakov Colowas born on March 6, 1971. Our Lady first appeared to him on June 25, 1981 when he was 10. In 1993 he married Annalisa Barazzi. They have three children, and live in Bijakovici, Medjugorje. Jakov received daily apparitions until September 12, 1998 on which day Our Lady entrusted to him the tenth secret, and promised to appear to him once a year on Christmas Day. Our Lady asked him to pray especially for the sick. Jakov is slowly coming out of his shyness, and once in a while gives talks to pilgrims outside his house through an interpreter.

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聖母顯現及神視者

根據六位神視者的見證，聖母自1981年6月24日起每天向他們顯現。第一天因為他們害怕，所以逃跑了。第二天他們回應聖母的召叫，開始與聖母交談及祈禱，所以每年的6月25日定為聖母顯現的週年紀念日。

葦嘉 Vicka Ivankovic – Mijatovic

Vicka Ivankovic 生於1964年，她於2002年1月26日結婚，並育有兩名孩子。自1981年6月24日首次看見聖母。至今，聖母已透露了九項秘密給她，並仍然每天向她顯現。聖母特別要求她為病人祈禱。

蜜欣娜 Mirjana Dragicevic – Soldo

Mirjana Dragicevic 生於1965年，已婚並育有兩名孩子。在1982年12月25日已得知十項秘密，聖母答允在每年她的生日(3 月18日)向她顯現。自1987年8月2 日開始，每月的第二日她內心都會聽見聖母的聲音(有時也會看見聖母)，與聖母一起為不認識天主的愛及未信主的人祈禱。

瑪莉亞 Marija Pavlovic – Lunetti

Marija Pavlovic 生於1965年，已婚並育有四名孩子，居於意大利及默主哥耶。在1981年6月25日她首次看見聖母。現時聖母已給她透露了九項秘密，並仍然每天向她顯現，而每月的25日，聖母藉著她將訊息轉告世人。聖母要求她特別為煉靈祈禱。

艾梵 Ivan Dragicevic

Ivan Dragicevic 生於1965年，已婚並育有三名孩子，居於美國及默主哥耶。在1981年6月24日首次看見聖母，他當時只有16歲。在1982年7月，聖母邀請他每週兩次帶領青年祈禱小組。現時，聖母透露了九項秘密給他，並仍然每天向他顯現。聖母要求他特別為司鐸及年青人祈禱。

綺帆嘉 Ivanka Ivankovic – Elez

Ivanka Ivankovic生於1966年，已婚並育有三名孩子。在1981年6月24日，她是第一個看見聖母的神視者。當時她只有15歲。聖母在1985年5月7日將十項秘密全部透露給她，並答應在每年聖母顯現週年紀念日(6月25日)向她顯現。聖母要求她特別為家庭祈禱。

耶高 Jakov Colo

Jakov Colo 生於1971年，已婚並育有三名孩子。在1981年6月25日，他首次看見聖母。當時他只有10歲。在1998年9月12日，他得知全部秘密。聖母答應於每年聖誕節(12月25日)向他顯現。聖母要求他特別為病人祈禱。
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Medjugorje is a little village in Bosnia-Herzegovina where the Blessed Virgin Mary has been appearing to some youngsters since June 24 th, 1981. Her apparitions continue almost daily up to the present. She has not said when they will cease.

Mother Mary came in order to tell everyone to convert – to turn away from sin and return to God. She calls her children to strive for peace, to pray, fast, do penance, go to Confession, and believe in the Lord with strong faith.
Brief History

The Blessed Virgin appeared first to Ivanka Ivanković and Mirjana Dragičević. Later that afternoon, when she came again, Vicka Ivanković and Ivan Dragičević had tagged along.
The next day, on her third apparition, Marija Pavlović and Jakov Čolo were also present. This second evening, all six stayed to watch, listen and pray. Jakov was 10 years old while the others were just past their mid-teens.

At that time, Bosnia-Herzegovina was one of six states in a Communist federation known as Yugoslavia. The inhabitants of Medjugorje were Croatian Catholics and spoke the Croatian language. Religion was allowed under the constitution, but the authorities were rather suspicious of what was happening on the little hill where hundreds of people would gather during the apparitions. They arrested the six visionaries and had them tested by the local doctor. Nothing untoward was diagnosed.

The parish priest at the local Franciscan church, Fr. Jozo Zovko, doubted the youths at first. But seven days later, while praying alone in the church, he heard a voice telling him to go out and protect the children. On opening the door, he met them fleeing from policemen, and hid them. From then on he began to believe. After this, the Communists watched him with eagle eyes and eventually accused him of preaching insinuations against forty years of atheistic rule. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.

The apparitions persisted, and attracted thousands of pilgrims every year as news reports and films about the phenomenon proliferated around the globe. The seers were tested by psychiatrists from renowned institutions in France and Italy, and demonstrated to be of sound mind and body, and to be in states of ecstasy during their encounters with the Blessed Virgin. And from March 1984, Our Lady has been giving messages to the world through Marija – now once a month on the 25th.

Initially, the local ordinary, Bishop Žanić, looked favourably on the events, but an incident occurred which shattered this promising beginning. You see, for 415 years, Bosnia-Herzegovina fell under Turkish power. The diocesan priests abandoned their churches, while many Franciscan friars remained, undercover. These brave priests served the people in constant danger of arrest, torture and execution. Travelling in civilian clothes from village to village to administer the Sacraments, they pretended to be uncles on the maternal side (to account for differences in surnames). Over those four centuries, the people grew very attached to them. With the defeat of the Turks in 1878, diocesan priests slowly returned, decade by decade, to replace the Friars in the parishes. As each church was taken over, the faithful were understandably upset.

When two young Franciscans defied the bishop’s order to desist from serving their former parishioners, he defrocked them! Vicka asked Our Lady about the bishop’s decision, and got the answer that he had acted hastily. This, of course, infuriated the man and turned him against the visionaries from then on. [Ten years later, the two priests were exonerated by the Vatican.]

Thereafter, Bishop Žanić tried all he could to discredit the seers and the Franciscans, but, under the watchful eye of Pope John Paul II and his right-hand man, Cardinal Ratzinger, he failed to impress Rome. In 1991 a commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Yugoslavia met in Zadar, Croatia, to discuss this problem. The commission announced that it could not affirm the supernaturality of the events at Medjugorje, but designated the place as a shrine of prayer under the direction of the bishop. Pilgrimages to the shrine were permitted but must not be organized by the clergy – although priests and bishops could accompany the pilgrims as spiritual advisors.

During the war of independence (from 1991 to 1995, which resulted in the dissolution of Yugoslavia), and upon Bishop Žanić’s retirement in 1993, his hand-picked successor, Bishop Ratko Perić, took over the diocese and proved to be even more antagonistic towards the Franciscans. He went so far as to declare the supernaturality of the events at Medjugorje as false. The Vatican dismissed his claim, asserting that it represented the bishop’s personal opinion. His authority on the matter was taken from his hands and placed squarely on the shoulders of the Conference of Bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This Conference has adopted a wait-and-see stance to this day, and is, by and large, not hostile.

It should be noted that while alleged apparitions are on-going, the Church normally does not grant authentication, as was the case at Fatima and Lourdes, for instance.

Opponents of Medjugorje distributed many fabrications and lies about the apparitions. Please be aware of this; pray, and do not be afraid.
Official Information

The Franciscan Friars have a web-site at www.medjugorje.hr. It is the most reliable source of news and archives.

“Since 1981, six Croatian youths in the village of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina, have been asserting that they see the Blessed Virgin Mary and that they receive messages from her. For millions of people all over the world these extraordinary events, together with the heavenly instructions, have become a source of renewal within their Christian lives. The messages are in complete harmony with the Gospel and with Catholic Tradition.”

“Although the Church’s position on the occurrences is, at this stage, one of investigation and watchful attention, unofficial pilgrimages to Medjugorje are neither prohibited nor discouraged. On the contrary, the Church acknowledges this village to be a sanctuary of prayer, and oversees the liturgical-pastoral services offered at the site by the Franciscan priests and sisters.”

“Through Medjugorje, numerous Christians and non-Christians have found their way to God, to one another, and to the Church; this is what most characterizes Medjugorje, described by someone as ‘a place where it is very easy to turn to God and to start a new spiritual life.’ A large number of visitors have experienced conversion and various forms of healing.”

MODUS OPERANDI
Medjugorje Centre of Canada (MCC) is a registered charitable organization in Canada, recognized by the Archdiocese of Toronto that operates under a set of by-laws.

Mission
• Its mission is to communicate and advocate the messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje among Canadians
• The aim is conversion and spiritual renewal by consecration to Jesus through Our Mother Mary
• MCC is fully obedient to the Pope and the Magisterium of the Church

What we do
• MCC disseminates Mary’s messages received from the visionaries mainly through publications, the internet and person-to-person contacts
• MCC organizes annual pilgrimages to Medjugorje; monthly adoration; retreats; and invites guest speakers to special meetings