I wish to serve Our Lady in simplicity

An interesting thing is that Our Lady entrusted her with her biography, and Vicka has recorded it in three notebooks and prepared it for print. When the time comes, she will have the book printed as her own publication

Vicka Ivanković-Mi-jatović is the eldest of the Međugorje seers. She attracts people with her simplicity, cheerful spirit and openness. Although at a glance, because of her fragile physical condition, she doesn't come across as a person sparkling with strength, she possesses amazing energy with which she meets the pilgrims almost every day. She has been ailing for some time now and has been operated on several times, yet she continues communicating the messages of Our Lady with the same zeal and persistence.

She was born in Bijakovići on September 3rd 1964 , in the large family of Pero and Zlata Ivanković: She has seven brothers and sisters. She graduated as a textile technician. Our Lady has entrusted her with nine secrets, she has received a gift of prayer intended for the ill, and has apparitions up to the present day. At the time of the apparition she is often with the severely ill. She visits them upon invitation, and if not, she has the apparitions in her house, with her family. She meets the pilgrims in the front-yard of their old family house, which is often too small to accommodate the great numbers who wish to see and hear her.

An interesting thing is that Our Lady entrusted her with her biography, and Vicka has recorded it in three notebooks and prepared it for print. When the time comes, she will have the book printed as her own publication.

Vicka was the last of the seers to get married. In January 2002 she got married to Mario Mijatović and now has two children: a daughter Marija-Sofija (2003) and a son Ante (2005). They live in the family house in Krehin Gradac near Čitluk. Her husband Mario works in the “Mothers' Village” in Međugorje, that takes care of abandoned children and the house for unmarried mothers.

• Has Our Lady changed over these 24 years?

- Our Lady is always the same: young, pretty - aged about twenty. I can see the lines of her face, her hair, just as I see you. She doesn't look like the Lady presented in sculptures. In real life, it is something completely different.

• The Italian painter and sculptor Carmelo Puzzolo painted a portrait of Our Lady according to the description of the seers. Was he anywhere close to the true image?

- Many artists have tried to make a sculpture or a portrait of Our Lady, but no-one has really succeeded in capturing her image. I've been with them so many times trying to help them, but there has never been a true resemblance.

• When the apparition takes place and you are among other people- are you able to see them after the moment of Our Lady's appearance?

- I can see no one but her.

• Besides Our Lady, have you ever seen anyone else on special occasions?

- I have seen Jesus with Our Lady, just as the other visionaries have. At Christmas she comes every time with the baby Jesus in her arms, but once on Good Friday she came with Jesus as an adult. He was covered in wounds, and was wearing the crown of thorns.

• What does Jesus look like? Is He like the Jesus that we are used to seeing in the pictures?

- Usually we're shown a man with long hair - but when you see a living person who is suffering at that moment, a person in agony, that is something completely different.

• How do you experience Our Lady, as a mother, as a friend?

- Our Lady addresses us like a mother, but I don't experience her as a mother; she comes across more like a friend. She is not of the age that would make me relate to her as a mother. With her, I feel as if I am with my best friend.

• Was there ever an occasion when you touched or hugged? And can you describe that to us?

- Well, when we visionaries have our birthdays, the Blessed Mother opens her arms to us, she congratulates us, she gives us an embrace, - like a normal, living person, just like us. You feel the brush of her cheek, the squeeze of a hand, but it's not a touch like ours. There is nothing I can compare it to. And when it's her birthday, we offer a handshake, congratulate her, and give her a kiss.

The full article can be found on page 24-30 of Vol 2
2007 issue.