Our founder and Marija’s husband, Paolo, were out of town early yesterday morning before apparition time. It was a sacrifice to be gone from his home with Our Lady here still appearing. They were scheduled to be back Tuesday morning, but it would be impossible to make it back for the apparition. Their flight was scheduled to arrive in Birmingham at 10:15 a.m. It is normally a 55 minute drive from the airport to Caritas but can be much longer if traffic is bad, and late morning the roads are usually filled with cars. Our founder had told his wife, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way, to pray for a long apparition, because it would have to be a really long apparition if he had even a slight chance of making it, especially since Our Lady said in yesterday’s apparition, “Same time. Same place.†Though we knew Our Lady could do anything, it was thought to be wishful thinking of any chance of getting back for Our Lady’s apparition today.
Rosary began in the Bedroom at 10:00 a.m. with mostly Community members and some pilgrims present. As the time approached 10:40 a.m., Marija got up from kneeling just outside the doorway, entered into the Bedroom, and knelt at the foot of the Bed. The Rosary continued, with different people praying each decade. We were surprised. It had almost reached ten minutes past apparition time (10:50 a.m.) when we began to notice that Marija gave no sign that apparition time was approaching. At this point, some in the room began to wonder if Our Lady meant to wait until our founder arrived. Two full Rosaries were prayed, and Our Lady had not appeared! A third Rosary was started while we waited for Marija to go into ecstasy. Some of us began to take notice, began to wonder, questioning ourselves. The daughter of our founder decided to try and call Paolo to see where her dad was. When she reached him, our founder was shocked to find out that Our Lady had not yet appeared. It was 10:55 a.m. He was approximately 15 minutes from home. The third Rosary, remarkably, continued up until the fourth Glorious mystery, when Marija began to pray the Hail Holy Queen. Suddenly Marija interiorly felt Our Lady was coming and that it was time for the apparition. Some of the Community were praying silently that Our Lady would wait, but as Marija began praying the 7-7-7, they knew that after one or two sets Our Lady would come as it was way past the normal time of the apparition, and after all, She had said the day before, “Same time. Same place.†Still they hoped for many sets to be prayed. Their hearts grew hopeful again when still after 3, 4, and 5 more sets, Our Lady hadn’t come. But then suddenly, Marija’s voice disappeared. Our Lady was present. One to two minutes went by and then in the silence of the apparition, everyone heard the kitchen screen door open and slam shut and unbelievably, our founder came running in. He was motioned to come forward. He stopped outside of the Bedroom to kneel down, but was motioned to go into the Bedroom where an empty spot waited for him beside Marija. Our Lady was still appearing and continued to appear for the second half of the apparition. Our Lady waited for 30 minutes after Her normal apparition time, which allowed our founder to be present. He, as the rest of the Community, were all very moved. The apparition lasted 4 minutes. The following is Marija’s description of the apparition:
“In the moment of the apparition, I recommended all of us. In a special way I recommend this couple today on their wedding anniversary and I said and all families of the Community. And Our Lady beginning to smile. And I then recommended all families of all present and Our Lady beginning to pray, and She pray long time. I recommend all people who is in Field, and I pray. Our Lady give blessing and She go.â€
When Marija asked Our Lady about tomorrow’s apparition, Our Lady said, “I will come whenever you pray.â€
