In unreleased interview:
Medjugorje seer hints that first secret will be 'severe' regional event
by Michael H. Brown
Visionary Mirjana Dragicevic Soldo from the famous Medjugorje site of apparitions in Bosnia-Hercegovina indicated in a previously undisclosed interview that the first of ten secret prophecies she was given by the Virgin Mary involves not a global miracle but a "severe" regional event.
In an interview conducted by a priest a day after a vision in which she was shown the first secret, Mirjana, the first seer to obtain all ten secrets, said the first occurrence "will be something that [people] hear [about] very far" and added that people would not race to the place where the first one occurs because "surely no one wishes to watch disasters, distress, and misfortune. I don't think that this sort of thing attracts people at all. Why would people go to see something of that sort? It is one thing to go and see a sign, quite another to go and see suffering or a disaster. Who would, for example, go to Italy to see a dam collapse?" She said the first secret needs nothing to precede it and will "abundantly speak for itself." She said that people in Medjugorje "will know immediately that it is in connection with the secrets." It will be something, she said, "that everyone, everywhere, will immediately hear about."
Although the Virgin has instructed the seers not to become obsessed with the secrets (and in recent years they have assiduously declined further comment, turning away discussions of the secrets and instead emphasizing the joy with which the Blessed Mother often appears), at the same time she has expressed the need to warn the world and during certain apparitions the seers have shown great anguish. "[Our Blessed Mother] told me that it is necessary to pray a great deal until the first secret is revealed," Mirjana said. "But in addition to that it is necessary to make sacrifices as much as possible, to help others as much as it is within our abilities, to fast -- especially now before the first secret. She stated that we are obliged to prepare ourselves. She not only asks but pleads with everyone to convert, to pray, to fast. They have no idea what awaits them, and that is why, as their Mother, she is in deep anguish for them. It is not enough to just simply pray. It is not enough to just quickly say some prayers so that one can say that they prayed and did their duty. What she wants from us is to pray from the depths of our souls, to converse with God. That is her message."
Although her first secret does not appear to involve a global event (nor a single massive "warning"), there is little doubt that what she has been told is serious. During a vision on October 25, 1985, Mirjana, whose daily apparitions ceased in 1982 (but proceed now on certain occasions), said she was shown the first secret like pictures projected on slides and that it "shook me the most. That was, of course, due to seeing the first secret. If the people saw the first secret, as it was shown to me yesterday, all of them would most certainly be shaken enough to take a new and different look at themselves and everything around them. I now know things that are not particularly pleasant. I believe that if everyone knew about these same things, each one of these people would be shocked to their senses and would view our world in a completely different light."
"The manifestation of that secret, will it only be a momentary thing or will it be something that will last for an extended period?" she was asked by the priest.
"It will last for a little while," replied Mirjana in the interview.
"Will its effects be lasting and permanent or will its effect be momentary and passing?"
"How can I explain that without encroaching on the secret?" said Mirjana. "Let me just say that it won't be good at all. It won't be pleasant."
"Will the interval between the first and second secret be lengthy?" she was asked.
"That varies according to the secrets," answered Mirjana. "What I mean is that, for example, the time between the first and second secret is of a certain period, between the second and third is of different length. For example, and I stress, the first secret may take place today and the second one already tomorrow."
"Are they perhaps of a notable character or more of a spiritual nature?
"Distinct, distinct. It will be visible; it is necessary in order to shake up the world a little. It will make the world pause and think."
"Something like a catastrophe?"
"No, it will not be anything as huge as that. That will come later. It will be something that will give the world something to think about seriously, allow it to see that she was, indeed, here, to see and realize that there is a God, that He exists.
"And after that, will there be anyone who will say, `This is some sort of a natural phenomenon' or something along those lines?" asked the priest.
"Perhaps some staunch unbelievers might say something like that after the first and second," replied Mirjana in the biggest hints to date about her secrets.
She said her prophecies involve what the Blessed Mother herself described as "many horrors" and that some of the later secrets are "really unpleasant" [Mirjana's emphasis]. The seer said the apparitions have been a preparation. "Just as any mother, she cares for her children," said Mirjana of the Blessed Virgin. "She wants us to come and meet God the Father well prepared. She doesn't want us to weep and wail when it's too late. God said that He forgives at any time -- providing the soul repents sincerely. All she asks for, the one thing she waits for, is for all of us to repent so that we may be forgiven. What follows are the secrets which are really unpleasant. I would be happy if everyone would finally understand that. I cannot tell them (much more), but once they begin to be fulfilled, then it will be too late."
No times or dates have been indicated from the seers. Mirjana said she will reveal the first secret to a priest she chose, Father Petar Ljubicic, who appeared to be the one conducting the 1985 interview, ten days before it occurs, and he may then reveal it to the public, which would prove it is part of the secrets.
Although at points it's not always clear from a translation of the interview, conducted in Croatian, which of the first three secrets the visionary is referring to, Mirjana has indicated that there will be three warnings given to mankind along with a great sign. Mirjana declined to say if the event or events in the first secret will occur at Medjugorje itself but said it would be convincing or witnessed by "all those who will be here [Medjugorje] or in the place(s) where the secret will unfold."
It is thus unclear whether the first event will involve just one locality or a number, although, again, it does not appear to be global.
The only certainty, said Mirjana, is that the world has taken a turn to evil and the first secret is needed wake it up. "It will make the world pause and think," said Mirjana in this interview, which I obtained during the writing of The Final Hour but which has not been previously released in this detail. "There never was an age such as this one, never before was God honored and respected less than now, never before have so few prayed to Him. Everything seems to be more important than God. This is the reason she cries so much. The number of unbelievers is becoming greater and greater. As they endeavor for a better life, to such people, God Himself is superfluous and dispensable. This is why I feel deeply sorry for them and for the world. They have no idea what awaits them. If they could only take a tiny peek at these secrets, if they could see -- they would convert in time. Still, Gospa [Our Lady] gave us God's ten secrets. They may still convert. Certainly God always forgives all those who genuinely convert."
"Something like a catastrophe?" asked Ljubicic another time.
"No," replied Mirjana, "it will not be anything as huge as that. That will come later. These first two secrets are not all that severe and harsh. What I mean is, yes, they are severe, but not as much as the remaining ones."
Mirjana, who has been discreet about the secrets and has even downplayed them in public appearances (criticizing those who have put forth spectacular prophecies), nonetheless said the secrets are such that she was sometimes "distressed" to the point of "weeping."
"First and foremost, it is necessary to pray much," she emphasized. "Many people ask me to pray for them. That's fine, but some think that my prayers are better than their own. But to God all sincere prayers are good. Still, when I promise that I will pray, then I must. Most of all I now pray that people will convert, particularly in view of the secrets."
Mirjana said she must be in Medjugorje when the first secrets begin to unfold. She said she does not know if large numbers will come to the village as the secrets begin to unfold, but that there will be conversions.
"I was never really acquainted with such serious matters," said Mirjana, referring again to the secrets. "I couldn't even believe that Mary could come to this world in such a way, never mind being able to grasp the first thing about such great secrets and especially not that these would be entrusted to me. She explained everything to us and gave us perfect instructions. She gave us some sort of power, I mean special strength which actually restrains us from telling [anyone what the secrets are]. I was in a situation many times where I came close to disclosing a secret, but then, suddenly, something flashes through my head. It is then that I sober up and ask myself, `What am I doing, what is the matter with me?' The fact is, we are incapable of divulging the secrets."
Leading up to the first secret, mankind must work at eliminating greed and disrespect for God, warned Mirjana. The seer singled out Sarajevo, where a vicious war was focused shortly after her comments. She mentioned the sin of cursing by using God's name. She said she does not know if her secrets are the same as those to the other five visionaries, except for the third secret of a great sign that will appear. A miracle is necessary, said Mirjana, for the godlessness to stop. It is now especially urgent, she said, to convert the young.
"She especially mentioned the need to pray for one's own soul," said the seer. "There are many people who think: `I am good. I don't need to pray for myself.' No one knows how good or bad he or she is. God will judge that."
Mirjana and other seers from Medjugorje (which has not been officially sanctioned by the Church) have said they would at least live to see the first several secrets. (They are currently in their thirties and the priest to whom Mirjana will confide her secret is believed to be in his fifties.) She said her secrets are on a substance like paper that was given to her by the Virgin. "Actually this is not paper but some sort of unusual material," said Mirjana. "She gave me instructions how to handle it and what to do with it. She also told me to choose a priest [who will receive the paper], because the day is approaching when I will have to give this paper to the priest, on time. I will have to give it to him ten days in advance, so that he too will have enough time to prepare himself for this. She will give him the grace to be able to see the first secret. You see, if anyone else were to look at this paper they would see something entirely different on it. But he will receive her grace which will enable him to read the first secret. Once he reads the first secret, he will have to make its contents public [if he so discerns after prayer and fasting] and afterwards he may do with it whatever he thinks is necessary."
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