Saturday, November 14, 1998

Abilene couple returns from pilgrimage

By GREG JAKLEWICZ

Staff Writer

Debra Guerra and Jesse Vasquez can't say yet that their 20-hour trip in October to Bosnia-Herzgovina and the small town of Medjugorje will change their lives.

After all, Jane Hoff, who made the trip 10 years ago, said, "My graces didn't come right away."

The Abilene couple recently made a pilgrimage to the mountainside town of 3,500 (its name translates to "between the hills") where on June 24, 1981, six young people claim to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary. Years later, the "visionaries" still live there and to three, Gospa, as Mary is known there, still appears every day. Her message since the beginning, the couple said, is one promoting peace and love.

Through the years, more than 24 million of all faiths have ventured into this tiny corner of the world to meet the visionaries, pray and say the rosary, attend daily Mass and climb the rocky Hill of Apparitions. There, more than 17 years ago, Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Ivan Dragicevic, Ivan Ivankovic, Milka Pavlovic and Vicka Ivankovic saw Mary with the child Jesus.

Ivan Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic did not return the second day. Maria Pavlovic and Jakov Colo instead joined their friends.

Through the years, not a single visitor has come to harm despite brutal ethnic war between Serbians and Croatians. Two bombs have fallen harmlessly in the immediate area.

"We were told by our tour guide that Our Lady had promised to protect the village," Debra said.

The six visionaries were promised 10 "secrets." When those have been received, Mary will stop appearing. To date, three visionaries have received all 10 messages while the other three have received 9.

Three warnings on the Earth then will be made, witnessed by Mirjana and announced by a priest of her choice. Time will be allowed for conversion. After that, a permanent sign will be left on the mountain where Mary first appeared, much like the spring that appeared in Loudres, France, last century after Mary appeared to a young woman.

The ninth and 10th secrets are said to be grave matters, with punishment inevitable because not all the world can be expected to convert. Prayer and fasting have prevented a threat to the world according to the seventh secret.

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The Abilene couple -- Debra's the director of the West Texas Council of Girl Scouts, Jesse a CPA and firm administrator at the accounting firm of Condley & Company, L.L.P. -- traveled with a group of about four dozen, including two priests, on a two-week trip. Debra said she felt called to make the trip, even by herself.

"I know I'm going back every year of my life," she said recently. "There was such a sense of heaven there, where everyone works and lives together and focuses on God. Yes, the tourist thing does kick in sometimes. But it really felt like heaven."

Jesse, who signed up only after completing his Walk to Emmaus in August, admitted he simply trusted his calling.

"It took me longer (to get excited)," he said, "but I am now more aware of my spirituality. I looked at it as an adventure. I really didn't have any expectations."

Both wanted to take advantage of a pilgrimage happening in their lifetimes.

After her mother died in March and she spoke with a friend of the family about Medjugorje, Debra decided, "This is the year."

Abilenian Hoff made her trip in the fall of 1988, when country still was known as Yugoslavia and Sarajevo four years before had hosted the Winter Olympics. She traveled with a niece and two sisters.

She still treasures the hospitality of the people.

"I realized what it was to be a member of the body of Christ," she said, recalling boarding and sharing meals in homes of families who did not speak English. "They were my brothers and sisters, though I had never met them before.

"They had such a love for the Blessed Mother, who is the mother of all of us. It was very profound."

Her group met the visionary Vicka Ivanovic.

"There was such a joy on her face," she recalled.

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The journey to Medjugorje required a long flight to Paris and another from Paris to Split, Croatia, followed by a scenic three-hour bus ride. Debra and Jesse made an unexpected trip back to Split to see the pope who was celebrating Mass in honor of the beatification (blessing) of a cardinal and the 1700th anniversary of the seaside city. About a half-million attended, they said.

"He was there to thank them for their faith," Debra said.

In Medjugorje, they stayed in a boarding house, rising at 8 each morning to eat simple but filling meals before attending the English Mass at St. James. Around 20 priests co-celebrated each Mass, which drew overflowing crowds.

During the afternoons, pilgrims attended meetings and confession, and hiked. Jesse and Debra went to a spiritual healing led by Father Jozo Zovko, priest at St. James when Mary first appeared. They also heard an elecutionist, a woman who hears Mary's voice but has not seen her.

The visionaries Vicka Ivankovic, Jakov Colo and Mirjana Dragicevic described their individual relationships with Mary.

The visionaries spoke in broad terms, of focusing each day on God, praying and fasting twice weekly (Wednesdays and Fridays) as a means of preparation. Don't look for miracles, the pilgrims were advised.

"If nothing happens, people think something's wrong," Debra said. "It was very meat and potatoes."

Jesse said he didn't expect something big to happen upon his return.

"Conversion is a gradual thing," he said. "But I am much more tolerant of people and of situations."

The visionaries also answered questions. A popular query, Debra said, was concerned the year 2,000. Their answers were to live only for today.

"We don't know if we're going to die tomorrow," Debra said. "We should worry about the here and now."

There was even a sense of humor. Concerning a technical question about fasting, one visionary replied, "You Americans are very creative."

Jesse and Debra took advantage of going to confession. They were told, with a wink, to go to priest speaking another language and tell all.

"You could dump everything," said Debra.

They climbed the challenging Cross (Krizevas) Mountain, where a concrete cross was built in 1933 to note the 1900th anniversary of Christ's crucifixion. Imbedded in the cross bar is a small piece of Jesus' cross provided by the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome. The view at the top overlooks the valley containing the parish of Medjugoje.

A wooden cross has been erected halfway up the rosary-shaped footpath leading to the top of Apparition Hill. At this spot, Mary said to Marija, "Peace, peace, peace and only peace! Peace must reign between God and man and also between men!"

Pilgrims say the rosary while ascending, praying and meditating at the top.

While the Vatican officially is taking a neutral position on the visionaries' claims until officially proven by the Catholic Church, the church has blessed pilgrimages of faith to the region.

Their guide, the couple said, was a skeptic years ago, but since has become the most dedicated guide for pilgrims coming from around the world.

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The inspiration the couple brought back to Abilene, they said, comes with responsibility.

"It's an obligation, not a burden," Jesse said.

Debra, who first heard about Medjugorje six years ago, said her challenge is to lift up her life from its current level to the next.

"I want to bring God into my family, my work, my fun ... into my every day," she said. "He isn't in a box I keep, a Godbox just for Sunday."

Time and again, the couple noted that the Medjugorje event is not a Catholic thing, though Debra did say the country's old-style practice of her religion strengthened her faith. Some have asked the visionaries if it is better to be Catholic.

"She has said that everyone is equal in God's eyes," Debra said. "She loves everyone and is the mother to everyone. Her role is to take us all closer to Jesus."