“Before going to Medjugorje, I lived as if God didn't really exist”

I used to take what people said about Medjugorje with a grain a salt (1), but I was curious too. I wasn't really into Marian devotion, and rarely even spoke to the Blessed Virgin. But then, by a stroke of luck, I met Ludovic, who organizes Club Medj pilgrimages. And one day I found myself in Medj!

There's nothing really spectacular about the place: Medjugorje is, after all, a simple village wedged between two rocky hills, as I'd been informed. On our first visit to the Cenacolo community in Medjugorje, which helps young people get off hard drugs simply by praying, Sister Elvira met my eyes on the way out and gave me two hearty pats on the back, which I took as an invitation to... I wasn't sure what: To dare to do as she did? To dare to trust God more in any case.

The next day we were fortunate enough to learn of an apparition at the Oasis of Peace. I didn't see the Virgin there, of course, and I can't say I felt anything either. So I prayed, as confidently as I could. But when the visionary Marija told us that the Virgin had blessed us all and taken our prayer intentions with her, what joy! I began to realize - somehow - that it was a very, very Great Lady who was there, very close to us.

Skeptics will say, “That doesn't prove anything!” But I have no intention of proving anything; I understood there that faith is a mysterious gift... I feel an almost palpable peace in this village, having been shocked during the bus journey by the still visible traces of the war. We all had the grace to be present at another apparition just before leaving. Again, it wasn't anything spectacular in itself... Mary works in us gently and deeply! 

What distinguishes Medjugorje from other pilgrimages, you may ask?

Nothing, perhaps. Except that, without realizing it, I've become convinced that Mary is really there. I didn't “feel” this physically, and yet I can no longer doubt it! And I became aware of a seemingly simple fact: that God does exist!

Roman

www.clubmedj.com

(1) Medjugorje is a town in Bosnia-Herzegovina which has become a Catholic pilgrimage site since the apparitions of the Virgin Mary began on “Apparition Hill” in 1981. These apparitions are ongoing.