On Thursday, March 30, before 5:00 p.m. Marija arrived to the side of the Church to enter the door leading to the choir loft where she would have her evening apparition. Suddenly, a young man struck Marija violently in the back of her neck. When she turned to see who was attacking her, he punched her in the face and then ran off. Marija entered the choir loft with her face swollen and red, yet, she stayed for the apparition and Mass and Communion. The attacker was found the next day. He was a troubled Croatian man from Belgrade. No arrests were made, and there was an effort by the priests to help him. Over the next few days, Marija was well guarded by her friends. Yet, it deserves consideration of how difficut it was for the young visionaries to face crushing crowds of people every night, having to wade through a sea of faces, not knowing if anyone in the crowd, through evil intentions or over zealousness, would hurt them. They had no security guards or police to shelter them. Yet, they did this night after night for the love of Our Lady.
