Ivan, age 21, reported for military duty, which was mandatory for all young men in Yugoslavia to serve for a year. When asked how he could have apparitions, he replied that Our Lady would resolve that problem. In the end, Our Lady told him that he would receive apparitions only on Saturdays because it was only on the weekends that he could leave the military base and stay at a friend’s house. Ivan says that he likes being with those in the military service. Right from the beginning he was not afraid of saying that he was a believer and a “visionary†and he has always been shown respect. It is interesting that his experience in the seminary was the opposite. He was greatly persecuted and suffered very much in the seminary. Ivan’s military duty would end in the middle of June 1987.
