Should the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje be Taken Seriously?.
On the afternoon of June 24, 1981, two girls, Ivanka Ivankovic, 15 years old and Marjana Dragicevic, 16 years old, from the Bijakovici section of Medugorje were returning home from a walk. Looking towards the hill called Crnica, Ivanka saw a bright silhouette of a woman. She said to Mirjana, "It is the Gospa!," which means Our Lady. Marijana would not look and they both ran off in fear.
That evening around 6:00 PM they returned with four others. They all saw her on the hill above. That evening, their families and friends laughed at them thinking it was some kind of childish prank. On June 25, the following day, the two girls and four others: Vicka Ivankovic who was 16 and Ivan Dragicevic who was also 16, who were present at the second apparition of June 24, plus Maria Pavlovic, and Jakov Colo who came for the first time. The white figure on the hill beckoned them to approach. The six seers were seen to run up the hill so fast that it were as if they had been carried up the hill by some mysterious force.
Since that day, thirteen years ago, the Blessed Virgin Mary has continued to appear to the children almost every day since and sometimes more than once a day. As part of our Lady's appearances, she has promised to give ten secrets to each of the seers. After the apparitions have ended, the secrets will be revealed to the world. The third secret concerns a visible sign that will be left on the hill as a proof of her visitations. On Christmas of 1982, Mirjana received the tenth secret, with the announcement that the apparitions would end for her, and on May 6th & 7th, 1985, the same happened to Ivanka. However, the Blessed Virgin promised each of them that she would appear to them once yearly: for Mirjana, on her birthday, March 18th, and also when circumstances require it; for Ivanka, on the anniversary day of the first apparitions on the hill, June 25th.
