A Pilgrimage Family

Mom: I was born in India, but I still knew about Christ. My husband used to attend Mass on Sundays. I didn’t know that he was going to Mass. Being Hindu, he thought, “Why would I tell her?”

Then I told him, “Every Sunday, you’re gone.”

He said, “I go to Mass.”

I said, “I would like to go too.” Since then, he started taking me. We made it a point to attend Mass at least once a month.

We went to the Church and I picked up a card of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Then my son researches about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He explained to me about the miraculous tilma and Saint Juan Diego. 

Son: We were not Catholic. However, we started learning and researching about all of these miracles. Our Lady of Guadalupe was something out of this world. After this, we were learning about Our Lady of Lourdes and the water that started flowing in Lourdes, France.

When we started to pray the Rosary about 8 to 10 years ago, there was a prayer that started with, “Queen of the Holy Rosary, you have deigned to come to Fatima and Medjugorje.”

We knew about the three children of Fatima, but I thought, “What is Medjugorje? It sounds like such a different word.”

Then we researched about Medjugorje and learned, “Oh, now we have apparitions happening in this time!”

I came across the Medjugorje.org website and read the messages with my mom and sister and dad. Every 2nd and 25th of the month, and all the apparition days, we would keep track of the messages, even when I was in my high school classes, I remember checking my phone in school for the new message. I looked forward to the next message and sharing it with my mom.

Mom: We usually prayed all the Rosary mysteries. We tried. Sometimes we prayed just one, but all four mysteries requires at least one hour of time.
He told me, “Mom, you need to get a Rosary for yourself.” It would be my first Rosary.

Son: We heard in the Church news that all the international statues of Our Lady of Fatima would be brought to various Churches across the United States. I know they look similar, however I wanted us to see all of them.

Mom: Also, like the statues of Our Lady of Fatima, he always would tell us to visit the Churches where there were different relics that were being brought from various locations, international, such as St. Padre Pio’s relics and the heart of St. John Vianney.

At that time, we were not baptized Catholic yet.

Then it was Easter time and we attended Mass. They were having the baptisms at the Easter Vigil. He was telling me, “Mom, it would be nice if we got baptized.”

Son: Then we can be standing there. One day, that could be us standing there.

Mom: He kept on saying this, and I said, “Yes. We have to.” We all went through the RCIA program.

Son: It was very nice. We learned about the faith.

Mom: I found, this was the truth we needed to follow because when you pray, you feel like what you’re praying for is being answered.
In my family, we are the first Catholics.

Son: We do know how Mary said we are all Her children. She wants to bring us all to Her Son, so we pray for our family relatives conversion too. We want them to experience the joy to the fullest with the Church.

After we got baptized in 2019, my mom, my dad, my sister, and myself, we made the journey here. We’re so thankful that we did. We just knew we had to come.

Mom: He was going through a lot. He struggled. And he always was saying that, “We have to go to Medjugorje.”

Son: I thought of baptism and Medjugorje as one. It’s because of Blessed Mother Mary’s messages and Her call to conversion saying, “Convert before it’s too late. Don’t wait until the end. Now is the time.” I kept saying, “We can’t wait any longer. We have to do this now.”

I wanted to come here because one day the apparitions will end. I would feel really sad if we weren’t able to come during this time. And I wanted my mom, dad, and sister to come. I said, “This is our first pilgrimage. I want us to do this together.”

Mary really led the way to guide us through the town.

We’re all Her children. Mary said She will take our hands and lead us all to Her Son. You can trust Mary to help us and ask Her Son for all our needs and be our guide as we navigate this world.

We climbed Apparition Hill. We started and there were so many rocks. It seemed like the rocks were endless. It was a struggle for all of us. We’re not really people who go hiking or mountain climbing.

Mom: When we reached the top, I was in tears because I had all these prayers, my intentions and everything.

Son: It was a big accomplishment to reach the top and see Blessed Mother Mary’s statue there. It was like, “We made it.”

That’s when I noticed the sun. I see the sun as a cross of light. I had never seen the sun like that before. That was the first time I had seen the sun become a cross of light like that with long rays at the top, the sun in the center, like the Eucharist, and long rays going down. I had never seen the sun like that before.

I was thinking, “Mary knows we made it to the top of the hill.”

Mom: Then at the Blue Cross, it was March 18th. [The yearly apparition of Our Lady to visionary Mirjana is on March 18th.] We went there after Mass around 11:30am. We prayed the Rosary from 12pm to 2pm. We sat around Blessed Mother Mary’s statue.

Son: After they started praying the Rosary, when it was getting closer to the time of the apparition, around 1:30pm, a thought came into my mind to look at Mom’s Rosary.

I said, “Mom, your Rosary has turned gold. This is a good sign. That’s one of the miracles here.” This is my Mom’s first Rosary, this same Rosary that Mom bought when we visited the one Churches in California, with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and that she has been praying with for many years.

There was a big gust of wind that came out of nowhere around this time. Then I told Mom, “Oh it’s Mary’s sign. She’s coming soon.” Mary said, “The wind is my sign. When you feel the wind, know I’m with you. I will come in the wind.” Just like the Cross is a sign for Jesus, for Her, it’s the wind.

The moment Mom’s Rosary turned gold, I said, “I see the sun like that again.” This time, it was just like on Apparition Hill, but it was even more grand. It was like what I saw with the sun as a cross of light with the sun in the center, like the Eucharist. This cross of light was even larger. This cross of light, these rays of the sun were getting taller and wider. and also spreading across.

Mom: I was looking deep into the sun as the Eucharist, but this time it was spinning with red on the side. We were able to look directly at the bright sun for several minutes. At the center of the sun there was a round shape like the Eucharist, that was spinning, and moving off its normal position, with a shadow behind it and it had a red halo around it. As this was happening, as I was looking at the sun, the clouds moved apart, allowing me to see the Miracle of the Sun. My son also noticed how the clouds moved apart, and he described how this also allowed him to see the Miracle of the Sun, being able to stare directly at the sun, and seeing a Cross of bright light, becoming and extending larger and longer at the directions of the Cross, top, lower, left, right – with the sun in the center of the Cross, round shape like the Eucharist, along with seeing the sun move from its normal position through the clouds, and seeing a reddish color along the lower part of the Cross of bright light – also being able to look at the sun for several minutes.

Also, I noticed a yellow-golden light, looking at the statue of Blessed Mother Mary at the Blue Cross, and on the orchid flowers next to the statue, then looking at my silver Saints bracelet also having a yellow-golden light, and my son and I noticed this yellow- golden light on my shoes, as well, and then just a few moments later, Miki gives the announcement that the Apparition was completed, and the complete message would be available soon.

Mom: I had health issues. Coming over here, it was a real struggle. I didn’t tell any of my family that I was going to Medjugorje. We didn’t want to be stopped. When we reached over here, that’s when I called my mom.

Son: We prayed through it.

Like Mirjana says, no one comes to Medjugorje by accident. It’s in God’s plan. We’re thankful to have been able to make the journey here.

Mom: There is something here. People should come to Medjugorje. Blessed Mother Mary is physically present here, the apparitions. It’s peaceful. It’s the closest place to Heaven on earth. People should try to make the journey. It is a journey to get here.

Son: However, it’s worth it.