The visionary Ivan speaks of Medjugorje "over thirty years of apparitions"

"Mother, how is it that you are so beautiful?" It was a long time since the young Ivan Dragicevic, one of the visionaries of Medjugorje, kept the question in store until, during an apparition, dazzled by ecstasy, he could no longer resist making it. And Our Lady would have replied: "I am beautiful because I love ... love and you will be beautiful too". Recalling the episode, Ivan is still amazed today: "I don't know how he found the courage to turn to you like this, because at the time I was afraid of everything."

Ivan is one of the six visionaries of Medjugorje, one of the three who says he "still" sees the Madonna every day, after 30 years from the beginning of the apparitions. The longest in history, since June 24, 1981. You can believe it or not believe it, but we are certainly faced with an imposing phenomenon that - although not yet officially recognized by the Church - attracts millions of pilgrims every year to the sanctuary of Herzegovina (ex Yugoslavia).

Ivan no longer has the reluctances of the past. In 1993 he married the American Laureen Murphy, Miss Massacchussets 1990, with whom he had four children; and since then it has been divided between Boston and Medjugorje, where it can be found from May to September. Despite the persistent shyness, he travels a lot, to Australia and New Zealand, to tell his extraordinary experience. With difficulty we managed to make him have a series of questions. Here are his answers, which we propose to you as we have received, for what appears as an exclusive and exceptional interview, face to face with the mystery.

Vincent Sansonetti

Ivan, you say you have seen the Madonna every day since 1981 ... Have you changed in these 30 years?
«The Gospa (Madonna in Croatian, editor's note) is always herself: a girl in the prime of the years, but with a depth of gaze that makes her a woman of great maturity in my eyes. He has a gray cloak and a white veil and, on holidays, as at Christmas and Easter, he wears golden robes. The eyes are blue and the cheeks just dyed pink. In its head it has a crown of twelve stars and its feet rest on a cloud that suspends it from the ground, to remind us that it is a creature of Heaven and immaculate. But I cannot communicate its essence to you, to render how beautiful it is, how alive it is ».

What do you feel when you "see" it? What are your emotions?
«I find it hard to describe my emotions ... every day something that has no equal on earth manifests itself in front of me. The Virgin in herself is Heaven. His presence gives you such a joy, it pierces you with such a light! But also the context that surrounds it is sublime. Sometimes he shows me happy people in the background, or shining angels in an ineffable place full of flowers.

How do you live the moment of the apparition?
«I live every moment of the day waiting for you to come. And when the apparition ends, it is difficult for me to readjust myself, because nothing in the world, in art or in nature, has those colors, those perfumes, and reaches such a perfection of harmony ».

What is Our Lady for you: a friend, a sister ...?
«Even if I see her very young, I feel her as a Mother. My earthly mother took care of me until that day on Podbrdo [on June 24, 1981, when the Virgin first appeared, ed.], Then she touched the Gospa, on her initiative. Both are excellent mothers, because they educated me passionately about what is true. But since I have experienced the love of Our Lady, I have understood that her blessings, her prayers, her advice are nourishment and hinge for me and my family. There is nothing sweeter and more shocking than when he turns to me saying "Dear son!". It is the first message: we are children of God, loved. We are children of the Queen of Peace, who bridges the way from Heaven to earth because she loves us. And by loving us, he wants to guide us, because he knows what we really need ».

What does Our Lady do and say during your meetings?
«Above all, pray, showing us the way to communicate with God. And prayer can be of intercession, also for the intentions and requests for grace that I present to them, or for thanksgiving or praise. Sometimes the interview becomes personal: in this case you gently show me where I went wrong; and in doing so, it continues my spiritual growth. If other people attend the apparition, pray over them, with particular attention to the sick, priests and consecrated persons ».

Why has it been appearing for so long?
“Even some bishops asked me this question. There are those who say that the messages of the Virgin are repetitive and those who object that the believer does not need apparitions, because the truths of faith and what is needed for salvation are already contained in the Bible, in the Sacraments and in the Church. But the Gospa replies with another question: “It is true: everything is already given; but you really live the Holy Scriptures, do you live the encounter with Jesus alive in the Eucharist? ”. Certainly his messages are evangelical; the problem is that we don't live the gospel. She speaks simple, accessible language, and repeats herself with boundless love, so that it is clear that she wants to reach everyone. She behaves like a mother when her children don't study or sees them get lost in bad company ... "You talk a lot, but you don't live." Faith is not a beautiful speech, but an incarnate life, and Our Lady suggests to us: “Be a living sign; pray, so that God's plans may be realized, for your good and for those who are dear to you, for the whole world ". It takes all saints ».

Is there a meeting with you that you remember in a particular way?
«When it is Christmas, and the Virgin visits my family by showing up with his family: showing himself with Saint Joseph and the little Jesus in his arms. And then I will never forget what happened on April 2, 2005. John Paul II had just passed away when he arrived radiant, during the apparition, in white and golden robes ».

How do your family members live these daily "appointments"?
«When I am at home, my family always participates in the apparitions. Let us wait for Heavenly Mother together by reciting the Rosary or meditating the scriptures or praying. After the apparition, we thank together. And I tell you what Our Lady did and said ».

Do we have to fear the ten secrets announced by Maria? Expecting punishment?
«The signs of the times show that the world is troubled. And the secrets of Medjugorje certainly also contain prophecies of painful events. However, for example, the seventh secret has been mitigated by prayers. And every time she appears to me I recognize in her gaze the hope and the light of Heaven. Our Lady does not come to chastise us, to criticize us, but because we make good use of freedom, re-establishing dialogue and filial relationship with the Creator of everything. It is no coincidence that she presented herself in Medjugorje as Queen of Peace and her first words were: "Dear children, be peace between man and God and between men" ».

Richard Caniato

Source: http://www.oggi.it/focus/attualita/2011/06/22/medjugorje-trentanni-di-apparizioni-intervista-esclusiva-al-veggente-ivan/