It was an unexpected grace that Marija returned to Our Lady’s valley at Caritas November 23 – 28, 2016, for the United State’s feast day of Thanksgiving. The very first apparition of Our Lady in the Field of Apparitions was on Thanksgiving Day 1988. This was not an arbitrary or insignificant act on Our Lady’s part, because through much reflection the founder recognized that Our Lady wished to lead hearts back to what the United States was founded upon—Christian principles and religious liberty. The Field became a place of pilgrimage to pray for the United States’ return to God and for the dreams of our forefathers to be fulfilled. When Marija returned this year, these dates were significant because 28 years earlier, Thanksgiving Day fell on Thursday, November 24, 1988, and this year’s dates lined up perfectly with that first apparition anniversary in the Field, Thanksgiving Day November 24, 2016. Only one other time had this happened in the history of the apparition site, which was in November 2005—and Our Lady was present for that special anniversary as well. Just three days earlier, on November 20, 2016, the Great Jubilee Year of Mercy ended with the closing of the Holy Doors and 2016 was also a presidential election year in the United States of America in which a great outpouring of prayer had been lifted up to Heaven throughout the nation for the next president chosen to lead it. For these reasons, many felt Heaven was moved through the prayers being offered for the United States and that God sent Our Lady to receive these prayers and petitions. It was a great grace to be able to thank Our Lady for Her intercessory prayers in this particular time of grace and crossroads the nation was facing.
A few weeks before Marija’s visit, the news spread from one person to the next by word of mouth. Marija arrived late the night of November 23rd and as She has done so often in the past, Our Lady graciously waited for Her apparition so the Community could be present for it, which didn’t take place until 11:40 PM in the Bedroom of Apparitions. When Our Lady appeared, She surprised us all when She said that for the next day’s special apparition, on Thanksgiving Day:She would come whenever we prayed.
This is not normally Our Lady’s routine, so it is a great joy when Our Lady says:
