Mrs. Katarina Bednarczyk Sieminska is 55 years old and she walked 62 days from Kazimierz Dolny near Lublin in Poland to Medjugorje . She made this pilgrimage with empty hands, only trusting in God’s
Providence. She took only a cross, the breviary and a geographic map
along. Her intention of this pilgrimage was for the peace in the world.
She is married to an artist, has no children.
Her testimony about the pilgrimage:
I decided to walk to Medjugorje because I believe that the Mother and the Queen of Peace is appearing here. Of course, She is everywhere, but she is presenting herself in a special way in Medjugorje, where She wants to prepare the humanity for the encounter with Jesus, with God.
We are living in a very difficult time, and I think that the time has come for the reconciliation of the whole world. I have received this intention in prayer. We are all children, God`s children. The humanity is in pain, and we have to be conscious of it. We are all brothers and sisters and this is why I wasn`t carrying neither bread nor water. I consciously and intentionally wanted to depend on those I would encounter and their goodness. Sometimes they wanted me to take bread or water along, but I did not take anything. It is great to ask, to request and people are happy when they can give, when they can offer something to somebody. Then we can see them like members of our own family and God works through them.
Of course I was rejected sometimes, but this was also a very good experience. How many times did God knock at the door of our heart, and we refused Him. Sometimes we just have to knock several times until someone open his door. We can encounter Jesus in the homeless or the poor, and if we don`t recognize this, we are completely blind. All humans are members of our family, including the sick, including those who don`t have anything and including those who lost their mind. Sometimes it might happen that someone wants to steal something from us and we should allow even this. Let us not close our heart, open them and people will be less aggressive.
Sometimes we want to be better then the others, but God doesn`t want us to be better then the others, he just wants us all to be good. To be good doesn`t mean to be better then the others, good means that we don`t differentiate between us and others. We have to ask God for His help and we have to ask people for their help. Only God can open human hearts. We cannot change ourselves without His help, only God can give us the power to change ourselves, and this is why we have to pray for all of us.
I am not poor at home. My husband is a painter and he gave me money for this journey, but I left it in Poland. I didn`t want to take anything along. Once we, my husband, a friend of ours and myself walked together from Poland to Rome, but this time I felt that I have to go alone, exactly like God inspired me to do it: with empty hands, without any protection. We should all make the experience that He is always taking care of us. Here is an example: It was autumn when I started the walk to Medjugorje, wearing a raincoat, and during the first ten days, it was raining non-stop. When I decided to leave this completely wet and torn raincoat,the sun began to shine!Yes, it is really true, God can make it raining all around, except on the way where you are walking! This experience made me extremely happy and i felt stronger. I really feel sorry for all those who don`t believe in God. They think that they have to do everything by themselves, and this is why they cannot find peace.
I slept in parish houses. From Poland, I went through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia. In Bosnia I went through a region inhabited by the Muslims. I talk to them and found out that they don`t know that God is a Father. This is what I told them: that we have a common Father and that they are our younger brothers, born several centuries after us. In a small town near Zenica I went to a mosque where I asked them to find an accommodation for me; they did it and they also gave me to eat. I told them that I was on my way to Medjugorje. When I left this town, many people there 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 to pray for peace, and they were telling me that they also want peace, peace and only peace.
Some years ago, I was walking to Czestochowa with 25 kg baggage on my back. At that time, I thought that I will need all that… After my walk to Medjugorje I understood how funny and a kind of stupid it was. Mary told me: if you want to follow my Son, you don`t need anything. He will take care of you. And it was true, he took care of me.
