A testimony: on foot from Poland to Medjugorje

Other languages: English, Čeština, Deutsch, Hrvatski, Italiano

Mrs. Katarina Bednarczyk Sieminska (55) from Kazimierz Dolny near Lublin came on foot from Poland to Medjugorje. She walked 62 days; she made this pilgrimage with empty hands trusting only in God’s Providence. She carried only a cross, the breviary and a geographic map. The prayer intention of this pilgrimage was for the peace in the world, for the reconciliation of the whole world, which is one single God’s family. She is married, has no children. Her husband is an artist, a painter.

This is her testimony:

I came walking to Medjugorje because the Mother and the Queen of Peace is appearing here. Mary is coming here, I believe this, and this is why I came here. She is everywhere, off course, but she is present here in a special way. She wants to prepare us for the encounter with Jesus, with God, with God the Father.

We live in difficult times, and I think that the time has come for the reconciliation of the whole humanity. I have received this intention in prayer. We are all God’s children. Human beings should go towards one another. The humanity is like in birth pains, and we have to be conscious of it. All people are our brothers; this is why I was carrying neither bread nor water, but consciously and intentionally, I wanted to depend on those I would encounter, on their goodness. Sometimes they wanted me to take with me bread or water, but I did not do it. It is beautiful to ask, to request, people are happy when they can give, when they can offer something. Then we experience them like members of our own family. God works through them.

Sometimes, I was rejected, but this is also a good experience. How many times God is knocking at the door of our heart, and we refuse Him, we do not receive Him. Sometimes we have to knock several times. We encounter Jesus in the homeless, in the poor, and if we do not recognize this, we are really blind. All humans are members of our family, including the sick, including those who lost their mind. Sometimes someone wants to steal something from us. We should allow even this. Let us not close, but let us open our hearts, and people will be less aggressive.

We have to realize that we are all one, one body. Sometimes we want to be better then the others, but God does not want us to be better then the others. He simply wants us to be good. To be good does not mean to be better then the others. We have to ask God for His help, we have to ask people for their help, and we shall receive help. Only God can open human hearts. We cannot change ourselves, only God can change us, and this is why we have to pray for one another.

At home, we are not poor. My husband is a painter, and he gave me money for this journey, but I left this money in Poland. We went once together walking to Rome, my husband, a friend of ours and myself, but this time I felt that I have to go completely alone, exactly as God is inspiring me, with empty hands, without any protection. If we want to provide for ourselves, God does not need to take care of us. We need to make the experience that He is taking care of us. Here is an example: As it is autumn, I started walking with a raincoat, and during the first ten days, it was raining indeed. Then I decided to leave this completely wet and torn raincoat, and the sun began to shine! God can do that it is raining all around, except on the way where you are walking! This experience made me extremely happy. I feel sorry for all those who do not believe in God. They think that they have to do all by themselves, and this is why they cannot find peace.

I slept in the families, in parish houses. From Poland, I went through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and in Bosnia, I went through the region inhabited by the Muslims. I spoke with them. They do not know that God is a Father. This is what I told them: that we have a common Father. They are our younger brothers, born several centuries after us. In one town near Zenica I went to a mosque. I asked them to find an accommodation for me; they gave me also to eat. I told them that I was going to Medjugorje. When I left, many were greeting me and telling me to take this or that, but I went with empty hands. They were glad that I was going to Medjugorje, and they were telling me that they wanted peace, peace and only peace.

Some years ago, I went walking to Czestochowa with 25 kg of all kinds of things on my back. At that time, I thought that I needed all that… Now I understood how funny it was. Mary told me: if you want to follow my Son, you do not need anything. He will take care of you.

 

For God to live in your hearts, you must love.

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