- Rosary and The Way
- Pilgrim Adventures
- Medjugorje 1st Trip
Pilgrimage
PATH 6 - PILGRIM ADVENTURES
How God used a friend's pilgrimage to plant a seed in me
Before I Ever Arrived
My pilgrimage to Medjugorje did not begin when I boarded a plane. It began years earlier, in a friend’s living room, in a text message that should not have been possible, and in a dream, I did not ask for.
Linda has been my friend for over twenty-five years. Not blood-related, but truly a spiritual sister — the kind of person who shows up in your life so consistently, and with such quiet faithfulness, that you begin to understand her presence as a grace. She was the one who first went to Medjugorje. She was the one who brought something home for me. And she was the reason, years later, that I went myself.
I want to tell you her story first — because without it, mine doesn’t make sense.
“She didn’t have enough money to go. By the grace of God and Our Lady’s gentle guidance, she ended up winning a raffle that provided exactly what she fell short. So many events fell into place as if orchestrated.”
Linda left for Medjugorje with her iPhone and no international calling plan. Her last words before she left: all is well. After that, everything went dark.
THE FIRST SIGN
The Technology That Shouldn't Have Worked
On Tuesday, I received a text from Linda. I was home, following her Lufthansa flight on the iPad — Newark to Germany — and after that, everything had gone silent. No signal. No updates. Nothing.
And then: a text. From Medjugorje.
Every six hours, a message would arrive. I would respond. She would answer. As techy as I am, I could not figure it out. I called Apple. The man on the phone told me very politely — no, there are no towers there. No internet. No signal.
My last message to her was: how is this working? Six hours later: “no internet, no bars either.”
I sat on my couch and realized we were having a divine moment. The Blessed Mother knew I was worried and changed everything in one moment for me — and for the rest of my life. Mary had my attention now.
This was not a technical glitch. It was a planting. Our Lady was making sure I knew she was there — present, watching, already at work in my life — before I had even thought to look for her.
Photos from Linda’s pilgrimage — the trip that changed everything before I ever arrived.
The Second Sign
The Rosary She Was Nudged to Buy
My Rosary from Medjugorje — birthstone beads for each family member.
While she was there, Linda felt nudged to buy me a Rosary. She told me later that she was extremely unsure — worried I wouldn’t use it. At that point in my life, I was making missionary rosaries but not praying the Rosary. The truth is I wasn’t even attending church regularly.
She followed the nudge anyway. She had a special Rosary made for me — choosing a birthstone bead for each decade that represented my siblings and parents’ birth months. Every decade carried someone I loved.
I didn’t know yet what I was holding. I only knew it was beautiful.
The Third Sign
My Grandmother’s Visit
The first night I had the gifted Rosary, I placed it on my nightstand and went to sleep.
My grandmother only spoke Italian. When I was little, every visit with her was limited — I would kiss her hello in English and that was the extent of it. She passed away when I was very young. I had not dreamed of her in all the years since.
That night, for the first time, she came to me in a dream. She was showing me her hands, her fingers raised. Clearly, without words that needed translation, she was telling me: pray in tens.
She visited me for the first time in my dreams — showing me her hands, her fingers raised.
I told Linda. She explained immediately: your grandmother is telling you to pray the Rosary. The tens are the decades.
How awesome is that. I was so lifted up. Now I had to learn how to pray and use this beautiful gift that I did not yet realize was so powerful.
Three signs arrived through one friend’s pilgrimage — impossible texts, a Rosary I didn’t know I needed, and a grandmother I hadn’t seen in decades. Mary had planted her seed. RosarySeeds had quietly begun.
Linda’s Witness
One Stone at a Time
Linda has her own witness to tell about Medjugorje — specifically about the Five Stones, the five spiritual practices that Our Lady has asked of pilgrims there: daily Mass, the Rosary, fasting, Scripture, and Confession.
“When I heard about the five stones of Medjugorje I thought I would NEVER be able to pray the Rosary daily. Praying at night did not work, since I often fell asleep in the middle of it. So I began slowly, praying intentionally the prayers beginning with just one decade. I asked the Blessed Mother for help, to intercede for me, to know my heart.”
“Looking back, I realize that it began with just a prayerful Sign of the Cross, then just one decade — to now completing the entire Rosary — to praying all twenty mysteries. The moral of this story for me is to never give up. Take each step slowly. Really listen to the words of the prayers. And before even realizing it we are walking towards the Lord through Our Blessed Mother.”
— Linda, NJ
One step. One stone. That is how both of us arrived at the Rosary — from completely different directions, guided by the same gentle hand.
To learn more about the Five Stones of Medjugorje and what they ask of us, visit the Inner Journey path where they are explored more deeply.
Continue the Story
The Story Doesn’t End Here
Years later, Linda and I made the Pilgrimage. What happened when I finally arrived is its own story — and what happened on Cross Mountain is something I am still carrying.
Angela’s Pilgrimage
My Medjugorje
The first time I ever left the United States. An open heart, a bus through the Dubrovnik countryside, thirty pilgrims, and a piece of heaven on earth I have no words to fully describe.
Read My Story →The God Moment
Cross Mountain
5:30 in the morning. Still dark. Flashlights and boulders and the quiet certainty that this was ridiculous. And then — something shifted at the Third Station. I was never the same after this mountain.
Read the God Moment →Path 6
All Pilgrimages
Medjugorje was one place on a longer road. Lourdes, Garabandal, Fatima and other Marian apparition sites followed. Each one continued the work the last one began.
All Pilgrimages →