Ivan of Medjugorje tells us what happened in the first two apparitions, the first words of the Madonna

June 24, 1981 was a Wednesday and it was a very famous party for us: St. John the Baptist. That morning, like every party, I slept as long as I could, but not so long not to attend mass with my parents. I remember very well I had no desire to go to mass because I wanted to sleep as long as possible.

My parents entered my room 5 or 6 times and ordered me to get up immediately, to prepare myself not to be late. That day I got up quickly, together with my younger brothers, we went to church crossing the fields on foot. I attended Mass that morning, but I was only physically present: my soul and heart were very far away. I was waiting for the mass to end as soon as possible. Returning home I had lunch, then I went to play with my friends from the village. We played until 17pm. On the way home we met 3 girls: Ivanka, Mirjana and Vicka and also some of my friends who were with them. I didn't ask anything because I was shy and didn't talk much with the girls. When I finished talking to them, my friends and I went to our homes. I also went out to watch the basketball game. During the break, we went home to eat something. Going to the house of a friend of mine, Ivan, we heard a voice from afar calling me: “Ivan, Ivan, come and see! There is Our Lady! " The road we traveled was very narrow and there was no one there. Going forward this voice has become stronger and more intense and at that moment I saw one of the three girls, Vicka, whom we had met an hour before, all trembling with fear. He was barefoot, he ran towards us and said: "Come, come and see! There is the Madonna on the mountain! " I just didn't know what to say. "But which Madonna?". "Leave her alone, she's out of her mind!" But, looking at how he behaved, a very strange thing happened: she insisted and called us in a persevering way "Come with me and you will see too!". I said to my friend "Let's go with her to see what happens!". Going with her to this place, seeing how excited they were, it wasn't easy for us too. When we arrived at the place we saw two other girls, Ivanka and Mirjana, turned towards the Podbrdo, kneeling and crying and shouting something. At that moment Vicka turned around and indicated with her hand “Look! It's up there! " I looked and saw the image of the Madonna. When I saw this immediately I ran home quickly. At home I didn't say anything, not even to my parents. The night was a night of fear. I cannot describe in my own words, a night of a thousand and a thousand questions that have passed through my head “But how is this possible? But was it really Our Lady? ". I saw that evening, but I wasn't sure! Never before in my 16 years could I not dream of such a thing. This can happen that the Madonna can appear. Up to 16 I never had a special devotion to Our Lady, and even up to that age I never read anything in general. I was faithful, practical, I grew in faith, I was educated in faith, I prayed with my parents, many times while I prayed, I waited for him to finish quickly to go away, like a boy. What I had before me was a night of a thousand doubts. Just with all my heart I waited for dawn, for the night to end. My parents came, having heard in the village that I was also present, they waited for me behind the bedroom door. Immediately they questioned me, making recommendations, because in a time of communism one could hardly speak of faith.

The second day already many people gathered from all sides and wanted to follow us, wondering if the Madonna had left any sign of her spontaneous presence and with the people we went up to the Podbrdo. Before reaching the top, about 20 meters, the Madonna was already there waiting for us, holding the little Jesus in her arms. He placed his feet on a cloud and waved us with one hand. "Dear children, draw near!" He said. At what moment I could not go forward or backward. I was still thinking of running away, but something was even stronger. I will never forget that day. When we couldn't move, we flew over the stones and approached her. Once close I cannot describe the emotions I felt. Our Lady comes, approaches us, stretches her hands over our heads and begins to say the first words to us: “Dear Fiji, I am with you! I am your mother! ". “Don't be afraid of anything! I will help you, I will protect you! "