What the Visionaries Say About the Secrets

 

Throughout the years of the apparitions, the Medjugorje visionaries were asked questions about the Ten Secrets. Many times their answers to the question was, “A secret is a secret.” They share only a little about the secrets. However, we do have the following insights about the secrets.

In an interview with Vicka in January 2, 2008 by Fr. Livio of Radio Maria, the following was addressed about the Ten Secrets:

 

Question: “…when the time of the secrets comes, the fourth through the tenth secrets, secrets which are evidently rather arduous, it means that in any event, in the time of the secrets, we will always have the sign of the Madonna which will comfort us. But you also said the last time, last year, that during the time of the ten secrets one of the seers will still have the daily apparitions of the Madonna.

Vicka: “Yes, it is certain, it is something I repeat now. We will see who it is, there is still me, Marija, and Ivan, afterwards we will see who the Madonna has chosen, who of us three remains with the apparitions. Or maybe it will be someone else that the Madonna has chosen.

Question: “…So you, Marija and Ivan…one of you three. Someone said something to Mirjana like, ‘Vicka said that during the time of the ten secrets there will be one seer who will continue to have the daily apparitions,’ but Mirjana said that she didn’t know anything about this. What does that mean? That this was told to you personally by the Madonna?

Vicka: “Yes, the Madonna told me personally. Afterwards we shall see, the Madonna didn’t say, ‘Vicka, it will be you.’ Now we just wait to see who it will be. She said that when the time comes, to the person who will continue to have the apparitions, She will explain every ‘how and what’ to that person.

Question: “The Madonna also spoke of false prophets saying, ‘Those who make catastrophic predictions are false prophets.’ They say: ‘in that particular year, on that particular day, there will be a catastrophe.’ I have always said that the chastisement will come if the world does not convert. Therefore I invite everyone to conversion. Everything depends on your conversion. So now I ask you, if we convert will there still be the Ten Secrets, or no?

V: “No, no, the Ten Secrets will take place for sure. The Madonna has already given them. She has described nine of them to me and now I am waiting for the last one. I can only tell about the secret which is the sign on the mountain which I already spoke about and now I only want to say this about the seventh secret: that the Madonna said that half of the seventh secret has been cancelled because of our prayers. She recommends that we continue praying because with our prayers we can mitigate also other secrets.”¹

The following interview with Vicka was conducted by Fr. Janko Bubalo, the author of the book, A Thousand Encounters with the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje:

 

Janko: “Usually, Vicka, when one speaks of the Virgin’s apparitions, secrets are associated with them. This is the case here in Medjugorje, also.

Vicka: “I don’t know anything about that. Would you believe that I knew nothing about the apparitions of the Virgin in Lourdes, and I’ve been meeting with the Virgin at Podbrdo and Medjugorje more than a year. I even knew, somehow, to sing the song ‘From that Grotto’ without having any notion of what it is about. And to be honest, I don’t want to speak of any other secrets except those of Medjugorje.

Janka: “How many secrets did the Virgin say She would impart to you?

Vicka: “She told us that She would impart ten secrets.

Janko: “To each of the six of you?
Vicka: To each of us, as far as I know?

Janko: “And are those secrets the same for each of you?

Vicka: “They are and they aren’t

Janko: “And how is that?

Vicka: “Just so. The main secrets are the same, but perhaps some of us have a secret which applies to us alone.

Janko: “Do you have such a secret?

Vicka: “I have one. It is for me alone, since it concerns me only.

Janko: “Do the others have any such secrets?

Vicka: “That I don’t know. It seems to me that Ivan does.

Janko: “I know that Mirjana, Ivanka, and Marija don’t have any since they told me. I don’t, however, know for little Jakov. He didn’t want to answer me on that point, while Ivan said that he had three which concern him only.

Vicka: “So, alright, I told you what I know.

Janko: “But tell me, in their order, which secret is only for you?

Vicka: “Let’s let that be! That is important only to me.

Janko: “But, can’t you at least tell me that much without revealing your secret?

Vicka: “Well, it’s the fourth. And now be satisfied! ²

 

When the visionaries were asked of the secrets: “What should we do? How should we prepare? Should we be afraid? – they gave the following answers:³

 

Mirjana: “Our Lady’s messages here, prepare us for what is to come. She calls us to conversion now which means complete surrender to God. If we do that, we are not afraid, not even of death.”

Ivanka: “Nothing should frighten us except disobeying God’s Will.”

Vicka: “People should not be afraid if they are prepared. If we are afraid of these kinds of things, we don’t have confidence in God. Fear of this kind does not come from God. It can only come from satan who wants to disturb us, so that we close ourselves to God and are not able to pray. With God, you can only have confidence – and strength to go through any troubles. The best preparation is to pray every day, go to Mass, and read the Bible. With prayer and penance the chastisements can be lessened. I can only say: prepare. For all eternity, you will thank God if you do.”

Marija: “This is a time of great grace and mercy. Now is the time to listen to these messages and to change our lives. Those who do will never be able to thank God enough.” ⁴

 

The following is from a series of interviews by Fr. Janko Bubalo with Vicka in which she describes certain apparitions where Our Lady revealed one of the secrets to different visionaries.

 

Janko: “On the Immaculate Conception, you once told me – and I read the same in one of your notebooks – that the Virgin was less happy on that first feast day than you had expected. And, immediately upon appearing, She began to pray for the forgiveness of sin. You also told me that at the time, there was a fog-like definition beneath Her feet – as though the Virgin hovered above some sort of cloud of ashes and darkness. And that when you put questions to Her, She did not respond but continued to pray. It is also noted in that journal, that the Virgin smiled only lightly upon Her departure, but that even the smile was not as joyful as usual…It is also interesting as noted in that journal, that the Virgin spoke to you only about sin that following day and the day after…But it is a bit strange that the Virgin associated that [sin] with so great a feast day.

“…And this too: in conjunction with that feast, last year, 1982, She revealed to Ivanka and to Jakov that awful ninth secret. That was on the first day of the novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception. And on the very day of the feast, She revealed to you, that sad eighth secret. And this year, 1983, on the very feast itself, She revealed to Marija the already mentioned ninth. It is interesting that I, both last year and this year, was at the apparition and that I took note of how unhappy and awkward you were on both occasions at the revelation of the secrets – last year on Ivanka and you, and this year on Marija. We already mentioned somewhere what it was that Ivanka told me at the time, and Marija told me the same this year. For, when, in jest, I told her that she seemed frightened, she, quite seriously, told me that I, too, would have been frightened had I heard…

Vicka: “And she told you well!

Janko: “…it is a bit strange to me that the Virgin always associated such sad and heavy things along with this feast day.

Vicka: “I told you that I know nothing of why.

Janko: “And I, still less! But, as I said, perhaps God and the Virgin wish to stress, in conjunction with that feast in particular, the special purity that They are calling us to at this moment – and how we, through sin, become impure.

Vicka: “Perhaps. They (God and Our Lady) know what They are doing! ⁵

Janko: “It was on the 29th of November of last year (1982). That night the novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception was beginning. There were four of you, and when you went to the chapel for your encounter with the Virgin, I also entered. I took my place, as is my custom, so that I could contemplate you during the apparition…During the time of the encounter, I noticed two different moods in you, the Seers. You were smiling and bright-eyed as usual, even though you were seriously sick at the time. Marija was bright-eyed, if serious, as she usually is. But on Ivanka and Jakov’s faces it appeared as though they were experiencing something painful. I notice some sort of spasm on Ivanka – as though she were about to cry. And the Virgin behaved in a manner that She usually doesn’t.

Vicka: “How’s that?

Janko: “Well, She appeared after the very first word of the Our Father. And the silence of which I am speaking of began…And then you, after a few minutes with the Virgin, again continued the interrupted Our Father, and announced your “She’s gone!” The Virgin usually doesn’t work in that manner with you…After you all stood up and little Jakov asked each of you: “Did the Virgin give you a secret? Ivanka acknowledged that She had, while you and Marija said She had not done so for you.

Vicka: “At that time, the Virgin gave them the ninth secret and did not do so to Marija and me.

Janko: “Well, I heard that also at the time. I later asked Ivanka as to whether or not the Virgin showed her any glimpse of the secret. And, almost through tears, she said: ‘Why, I would have died had She shown it to me!’…Did you sense that the Virgin was telling them something special?

Vicka: “Yes, I did. But, I didn’t know what She was telling them. I saw that it was something serious because the Virgin was very serious herself. More serious than usual. Otherwise, nothing.

Janko: “I experienced something on the very day of the Immaculate Conception. Exactly when the novena had finished…I was with you then also, at your encounter with the Virgin. Again, something interesting, namely, on that occasion you, who normally look happy at the encounters, seemed somehow serious.

Vicka: “Perhaps. At the time, I also received the eighth secret.⁶

 

Mirjana had an apparition on November 6, 1982. Concerning the eighth secret, Mirjana is frightened and prays to Our Lady for mercy on mankind:

“I have prayed; the punishment has been softened. Repeated prayers and fasting reduce punishments from God, but it is not possible to avoid entirely the chastisement. Go on the streets of the city, count those who glorify God and those who offend Him. God can no longer endure that.”⁷

 

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1. “Radio Maria, interview by Padre Livio, January 2, 2008
2. A Thousand Encounters With the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, by Father Janko Bubalo
3. Queen of the Cosmos, by Janice T. Connell
4. The Visions of the Children, by Janice T. Connell

5. A Thousand Encounters with the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, by Father Janko Bubalo
6. Ibid.
7. Words From Heaven, 11th Edition

More About The 10 Secrets

• Overview of the Ten Secrets
• What the Visionaries Have Said About the Ten Secrets
• The Lasting Sign
• The Parchment
• Fr. Petar Ljubicic
• Visionaries Receiving the 10th secret and Their Last Daily Apparition
• Summary of The Ten Secrets