I took my fifteen-year-old camera and my tripod all the way to Europe for my very special trip to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.. Some people thought that it was very comical to see me carrying my tripod all over the place. In fact, I felt like part of a camera crew at times. It was very heavy, but I needed it, hopeful to take beautiful pictures that would remind me of my stay in Medjugorje.

I took this picture on Monday, June 24, 1996, the night before the 15th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady. I was captured by the spirituality and peacefulness of the candles lit at the foot of the cross outside St. James Church. Each one of those candles was an act of faith or thanksgiving of many people whom I didn’t know, but who had left it as a testimony of the blessings received or to be received. This picture is a wonderful present that The Lord and Our Blessed Mother gave me. When I took the shot, I only saw through the camera lens a very faint moon above the cross, the candles beneath it, and a prayerful couple to one side. It was such an unexpected surprise when I saw the actual picture, because there was the silhouette of a dove above a now-bright moon and the cross. I keep many good memories in my heart, and this is one of them.

Silvia Ocadiz, Dallas, Texas