My name is Antonia, and my husband is Mato.
During the war, we both defended the Croatian people. In 1994, my husband fell ill with a very serious, terrible illness with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, psychosis, a severe form of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder).

Over the course of two years, he was hospitalized several times in the psychiatric department, his treatment was changed several times, but all without much success. It was difficult for him, but it was much more difficult for the family. He took seven to eight pills three times a day, constantly suffering from thoughts that haunted him, about suicide, not seeing anything positive in life. When he saw a tree, his first thought was whether it would be suitable for hanging, a balcony – whether it was good for jumping from it, etc. He was afraid of loneliness, large gatherings of people, in a word, he was afraid of everything. I couldn’t understand this disease, I couldn’t understand how a person whose arms and legs are whole, all organs are healthy, could be sick. For whole days all he did was sleep and get up only to eat. During the day, I could not get even two words out of him, I could neither leave him alone nor take him with me, all our friends left us, we were completely alone. In short, it was hell on earth. Doctors told me that my husband will spend his whole life on these drugs, because this disease is incurable, and when I can no longer take care of him myself, they will place him in a special institution for patients with such diseases.

Once my husband saw a poster inviting him to go to Medjugorje and decided to go there with the hope of help. He did not know how to pray and was not in a position to do so. He arrived in Medjugorje – and in front of the statue of the Virgin, he was overcome by a strange convulsive cry, such that he could not control himself. And so it happened, as if all worries, pain, sadness, fear – all this ended up in the hands of the Mother of God. After that, nothing special happened in Medjugorje, the “normal” pilgrimage program continued. On the way home, the women were praying the Rosary, and he felt the urge to pray, but he didn’t know how, and he only picked the Rosary beads, pretending to pray.

The former soldier was healed thanks to the Virgin Mary, Rosary and Medjugorje
After returning home, the man asked me to teach him to pray the Rosary, but since I was very tormented by his condition, I rudely told him that I would not teach a forty-year-old horse to pray, and gave him a pamphlet on how to pray the rosary. And she left him at the mercy of the disease, because she was already too tired from him, from this disease, and besides, she was also taking care of two small children. He took the pamphlet and has been praying at least one Rosary to Our Lady every day since then and hasn’t taken a single pill since. He was fully and completely healed thanks to Our Lady and the prayer of the Rosary.

Today, my husband is a completely different person – he is sociable, we found new friends by faith, my friend became a member of a prayer group, even one of its leaders. He is a caring father and husband, surprisingly pleasant to talk to.

He did not want to deceive the doctor, so he told it as it is: that he was healed thanks to the prayer of the Rosary and thanks to Medjugorje. The husband’s tests are completely normal, and so much so that the medical commission deprived him of the disability group, but let all this be for the glory of God and the Mother of God, and for our benefit. No disease can be stronger than God. And for this, he deserves unlimited gratitude and glory! I congratulate everyone and wish you God’s blessing!

Antonia, Croatia