You will be healed and bear witness

“Truly, truly, I say to you: unless one is born anew, from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God!”John 3:3

We are Ivona and Ivan, parents of three sons aged 21, 19 and 19. We have lived in Germany since 2018 (eight years now) and lead an active and fulfilled life. The children are in education, we work in the same professions we had back home, we are active in the Croatian Catholic community, but we also have many friends and acquaintances outside it.

On the feast of the Assumption, 15 August 2025, we were supposed to leave on our summer holiday. The children had already gone ahead and were expecting us to join them.

Ivona:For the last few days I had felt that I had no strength. I had a pressure in my chest, but I put it all down to tiredness, because alongside my regular job I was involved in several projects and often worked 50–60 hours a week. I had planned to start working less after this holiday, although deep down I doubted that resolution.

And then, on 14 August 2025 at around 2:30 pm, while I was alone at home, working from my home office at my desk, I felt a kind of cramp on the outer side of my right foot, which began to spread towards the upper part of my leg. The sensation was very strange. I got up from the chair and lay down on the bed behind the desk, but I felt the leg trembling unusually, as if it were twisting, quivering – and the feeling spreading towards the right side of my body.

At the same time, thoughts started racing through my head – what is happening – is this a heart attack… oh, it’s probably nothing… should I call an ambulance… no, that’s overreacting… let me record this so I can show the doctor… I press the wrong button, take a photo, then a short video… let me unlock the door so the paramedics can get in if I do need to call them… I get up, but I have no control over the leg, I lower myself to the floor while the leg is somehow numb, as if it were stuck somewhere, I try to turn it, I can’t go on, I think: surely this isn’t the end of my life – and I lose consciousness lying on the floor…

I don’t know how long I lay there, but I woke up feeling sick. I thought – probably like most women would – that I didn’t want to make a mess of the house on top of everything, so I took the laundry basket full of freshly dried washing, tipped it out and took it so I could be sick into it. I quickly lost consciousness again. My husband came into the flat and found me in that state. At that moment I didn’t remember the details, and I told him to let me stay lying on the floor, that I had no strength and felt sick.

Ivan:When I came home, I found Ivona on the floor. I asked her what was happening, and she replied that she thought she had an upset stomach and would be fine, and that I should leave her lying on the floor a little longer. I went to the pharmacy and bought some medicine for vomiting. I helped her move and settle in the living room. She took the medicine and later felt much better; the nausea was gone. Later she even wrote an email to our GP herself.

Ivona:I wrote the email when I began to remember what had happened, after 1 am, with the following text:

First thing the next morning, Friday 15 August 2025, at around 7 am, a reply came and I got an appointment that same day, shortly before 11 am. The doctor examined me, referred me to a neurologist and told me to go straight to A&E if I noticed anything unusual before the neurologist saw me.

Ivan:We managed to get an appointment very quickly – Ivona was to see the neurologist, the brother of a friend of ours, on Monday already. Of course we postponed the trip, hoping we could set off on Monday afternoon. On Saturday we decided to rest and go out for a late lunch, after which we wanted to go for a walk. That’s when Ivona noticed that something really wasn’t right with her right leg – her slipper kept falling off as she walked. The next day, after a phone consultation with our friend Vera, who works in healthcare, we went to A&E on Sunday morning. After a thorough examination, the doctor came and said that the CT scan showed a shadow on the brain and that Ivona had to be admitted to hospital immediately. Of course, that was a huge shock.

The tests began; they tried to make a diagnosis. Two days after Ivona was admitted to the neurology ward, there was a new seizure. She lost consciousness, her heart briefly stopped, and she was resuscitated.

Ivona:Before I lost consciousness, I called for help so that someone could see what was happening, hoping it would help with the diagnosis. I lost consciousness and woke up in intensive care. I saw monitors around me, heard my heartbeat, and asked the nurse who happened to be there whether my life was in danger. When she said it wasn’t, my worry eased. Soon I was moved to a monitored room, and after that back to a normal room. I had difficulty walking, had to hold on to something, and they took me to my tests in a wheelchair. The doctors said these were focal epileptic seizures and started me on medication to bring them under control. Over the next few days I had another 13 seizures, but each one weaker, while the dose of medication went up at the same time.

Ivan:The medication was increased, the seizures weakened, but physically Ivona was declining more and more. Watching the person you love grow weaker before your eyes is something words cannot describe. At the same time the tests began: MRI, EEG, lumbar puncture. Three possible diagnoses: inflammation, stroke or tumour. The waiting between those words and the final truth was one of the hardest periods of my life. At that moment something else happened – people began to pray. Family, friends, acquaintances. A number of prayer communities included Ivona in their prayers, and I, too, began to seek comfort in prayer.

Ivan:I remembered Sister Svjetlana Rezo, a nun I had been in touch with many years earlier, when she prayed for me while I had a throat infection that suddenly cleared up after that prayer. So I contacted her again. In our conversation she told me that Ivona should receive the anointing of the sick.

When I heard that, it shocked me, because I believed the anointing of the sick was given to the dying or to people with a very poor prognosis. During the conversation she asked whether I knew a priest who could do it, and said we should call her again afterwards so that she could pray for Ivona. I told her that I knew Fra Ante Babić, a priest serving in the parish in Bietigheim and standing in for our Fra Ante Maleš, who was on holiday at the time.

However, because it was all too shocking for me, I decided during the call that I would first talk to Ivona and think it over, and that I would not call Fra Ante Babić straight away. But the moment the sister hung up, Fra Ante Babić himself called me. Then I had no way of avoiding it: I explained the situation, that Ivona was in hospital, and asked him to come and give her the anointing of the sick – which he did.

That moment made a particularly deep impression on me, because it happened exactly like that – as soon as the sister hung up, he called me. For me it could not have been a coincidence. I felt that a higher power was at work. For me it was the first sign of God’s presence. It happened on 22 August 2025.

Ivona:Ivan didn’t tell me Fra Ante was coming, because he didn’t know how I would react. I was completely fine with it, because I already knew that the anointing of the sick is not the end, not a preparation for dying, but an anointing for someone who is ill. But only later did I realise how important receiving this sacrament was for my healing. It opened the way for everything that happened afterwards. That is why I can recommend to anyone who is ill to talk to a priest about whether they should receive this sacrament. I don’t remember exactly what happened and how it all went – like many other things that stayed in my memory only as if through a fog. But I am certain that this was the first step towards my healing.

The next day Sister Svjetlana sent me a message: “Stay with Jesus, He is healing you!”

In hospital I had daily visits from Vera, Katrin, Sonja and many other friends and acquaintances. I received a huge number of messages of support. That truly meant a great deal to me. I felt so much love and care. It wasn’t only a time when we talked about my illness; it was also a time to joke, to talk about other things – a time in which I realised that illness has its good sides, too. I felt God’s great grace and love and gave myself completely into his hands.

Of course, my cousin Ivana, who is like a sister to me, was always there for me on the phone, and every day she went through every seizure, every result, everything that happened, with me. At the same time she was thinking about how to reach doctors in Mostar who could look at my results.

My friend Tanja got whole prayer communities praying for me, the Poor Clare sisters too; while on a pilgrimage she prayed for my healing. Since for a while I couldn’t speak, only send messages, the first time I called her she was standing right in front of Fra Ikić, and she asked him to bless me.

I once wrote to her: “Through what is happening I have received far more blessings and joy than worries or fears. I have surrendered completely and I believe that everything is happening exactly as it should. So many people are coming into my life these last few days and telling me about their problems – very unusual and wonderful. And so much love and grace on all sides. Thanks be to God.”

My friend Jelena from Belgrade, whose mother was dying at the time, was also with me in her thoughts every day and tried to find out something about a possible diagnosis through doctors she knew.

When the seizures calmed down, Ivona was discharged from hospital on 28 August 2025, and a follow-up MRI was scheduled for 3 September 2025.

Ivan:Ivona was allowed home, but in a bad way. She couldn’t shower on her own and could barely walk. Because of the weakness in her leg and her lack of balance, she fell several times.

Ivona:Going home was good news, of course. But at the same time it meant facing reality. Everything hurt, I wasn’t independent, but it was lovely to sleep in my own bed, in my own home. On 1 September I got crutches and learned to walk with them, a chair so I could sit in the bath, a grab rail so I had something to hold on to… Luckily my husband was patient; he encouraged me and helped me. We even went to a garden party, a birthday celebration, on 2 September 2025. Walking and going up and down stairs was hard, but we hoped things would improve and that soon everything would be as it was before.

The new MRI on 3 September 2025 showed a significant deterioration. Hospital again. Fear again.

Ivona:After the MRI we took the CD to the neurologist. When he saw the scan, he was not at all optimistic. He suggested we try to get a place in Heidelberg, one of the best clinics in Germany and in the world for brain tumours. I tried hard not to cry and kept looking out of the window, thinking how beautiful the view was. I merged with the scene, avoiding reality.

Both Ivan and the doctor were in favour of Heidelberg, and of going as soon as possible, but I said I would rather stay in our town, because the doctors there inspired my trust, the clinic was also very good, and I needed to sleep at home for a night and then decide what to do next. I thought about how impractical it would be for me and for the people who wanted to see me if I went further away; it would be hard for me to be alone, to see my husband less often and to be far from the children. In the morning the hospital called and said I should come back as soon as possible – this time to neurosurgery.

Since we had a CD with all the MRI scans and many other results, we started sending them to lots of places – to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, the United Kingdom. And, of course, to several places in Germany. The feedback was not optimistic; on the whole the doctors agreed with the opinion of the doctors in Ludwigsburg.

Meanwhile the children had come back from holiday, and from 4 September 2025 we began praying the rosary as a family every day.

Ivona:I joined in by phone from the hospital, with headphones, while my boys prayed at home. As I let the beads slip through my fingers, I imagined that Mary was touching me.

Ivona:The diagnosis had not yet been confirmed; more tests followed, more MRIs and CT scans. Once it was so hard for me that I cried the whole time I was waiting. I have to say the staff were really kind and very understanding. Of course there were also things I wanted to see with humour – I joked that the playlist for my 50th birthday party would include “Shine Like a Diamond” and similar songs, since they were testing, scanning and irradiating me non-stop.

I wasn’t alone in my hospital room, so I told one elderly lady that I was praying for her, and she started praying for me too. Another was completely demented and sometimes needed someone’s touch to calm down… Sometimes it was hard to sleep because of the noise of other patients, so I would put on headphones and listen to the sound of waves. And, of course, plenty of spiritual content on YouTube.

Since the doctors had exhausted all other tests, it was time for a brain biopsy under general anaesthetic. It was expected to lead to a diagnosis. On the morning of 11 September they took me to the operating theatre. The junior doctor who had explained the procedure the day before came so that I could sign a few more documents before the operation. At the end I took her hand – I needed encouragement.

The procedure began: they put a metal crown on my head and screwed it in place so that they could later take a precise sample from the brain. I remember that the conversation with the anaesthetists was relaxed; I thought it was probably something they are taught – to relax the patient not only with anaesthetics but with conversation too. I had experienced something similar long ago, when I was once under anaesthetic.

I was put to sleep, and that ring or crown helped them take the brain samples, which were sent to Heidelberg for analysis. To be precise, a CT scanner was also used during the operation. Of course I felt nothing and remember nothing – only that I woke up a few metres from where they had put me to sleep. Afterwards I was taken to intensive care. Where the screws had been, small wounds remained.

I thought of Jesus. Mine didn’t hurt at all, unlike his. The rapid test after the sample was taken did not suggest that the diagnosis would be harmless. But I was optimistic the whole time.

I remembered reading once that Mozart is good for the brain, so I found a playlist and listened to it. I was quickly moved to a normal ward and soon sent home while we waited for the diagnosis.

Ivan:All of this hit me very hard personally, and I sought comfort and salvation in prayer. I began following Fra Ivo Pavić and his prayers, the Ora et Labora podcast and Fra Josip Ikić. I started praying the rosary and fasting on bread and water on Wednesdays and Fridays. All the readings at Holy Mass seemed as if they had been written just for me, and I longed intensely for a miracle and for my wife’s healing.

Through all of this I began to grow strongly in faith, and in a way I came to believe that a miracle would happen. The messages coming from spiritual directors were that the most important thing is to believe sincerely in the living Jesus and to pray from the heart.

When I went back to work, I had a presentation in Hamburg. I was pouring wine at a stand and people came up and chatted about the usual things people talk about when it comes to wine – but, wonderfully, one man came up to me and asked: “Do you believe in God?” I answered that I believe in Jesus Christ. That had never happened to me before, and I took it as a sign – the second one.

On 13 September 2025 Ivona was discharged from hospital again while the test results were awaited.

Ivona:Coming home is good and hard at the same time. You become aware that you are physically helpless. Once I went out on the balcony alone to look at my flowers, lost my balance, knocked over a hanging pot and fell onto two pots on the floor. I hadn’t realised how much my balance had deteriorated. The fall didn’t hurt, and I thought: lucky I fell on the leg I can’t feel. Another time I didn’t lift my leg high enough while walking, tripped and fell. It isn’t easy to accept that you are weak and need help – but you are also happy when you have someone to lean on.

On 14 September 2025 I got in touch with my friend Snježana, who belongs to the “Krv i Voda” (Blood and Water) prayer community in Bietigheim, told her what was happening, and said at the end that everything would be all right because I was in His hands. She replied that she would include me in her prayers every day, fast for me and pray rosaries. And not only that – she and her husband Oliver brightened my days with so much love and support. They are love – real, pure love.

Despite all the difficulties, I felt great grace and love. I rested as never before in my life. I was optimistic and tried to be as relaxed as possible. On 16 September 2025 I began a novena to Padre Pio. I listened to Masses from Šurkovac.

On 20 September 2025 we went with the children to a concert of sacred music in Stuttgart, for which we had bought tickets long before.

Ivona:It was very hard for me to leave the house and be among people. I couldn’t walk properly and was partly disoriented. But Ivan was there to hold me up and push me on, to be my support and my strength. Otherwise I would have wanted to turn round and go home before we even reached the hall. During the concert we stepped out briefly so I could get some fresh air and raise my leg a little, and then went back to listen. We met a few acquaintances. It was something special to watch my children taking part in the concert with all their hearts, singing and praising God.

After the concert we went to a REWE supermarket that is open all day, and I thought: wow, what a wonderful feeling, to be able to go and buy something. To spontaneously pick an item off the shelf. At that moment it felt as if I had gone to the best shopping centre in the world. How special small things can seem when they are no longer within your reach.

Ivona:On 21 September 2025 we went to the farewell Mass of our parish priest, Fra Ante Maleš. It was my first time in church since I had fallen ill. I cried with happiness throughout the whole Mass. It wasn’t the first time – I often cry during Mass – but this time was different. I was so joyful and so deeply moved.

Afterwards we went briefly to a restaurant to be with many people from our community (parish). My leg was stiff and it was uncomfortable to sit for long, so we didn’t stay long.

On 24 September 2025 the first result from Heidelberg arrives – we are called into the hospital for a meeting and receive the diagnosis: diffuse glioma. It is not a diagnosis only for the patient; it is a diagnosis for the whole family. The doctor was sparing with words, as if there was not much to say. He said we would wait for the final report from Heidelberg, but that we should already make an appointment for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. We are given an appointment for 1 October 2025.

Ivan:Those are words that break your heart. We knew what it meant.

Ivona:Those days were very hard. There were many tears, conversations, messages, a lot of support from the whole community… My heart was crying, but giving up was not an option. I told a friend: when the treatment starts, I’ll pretend I’m on holiday – eat healthily, listen to music and books that do me good, have massages, rest – and I’ll pretend the treatments are some kind of beauty treatments.

Ivona:On 29 September 2025 I asked Snježana about the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius, because I had seen that her husband Oliver had promoted them in his WhatsApp status. She described them beautifully and encouraged me to try, but I wasn’t sure whether I could. I said I would think about it.

Somehow I wasn’t fully aware of what was happening; I still hoped it wasn’t “that”. In hospital and at home I followed Masses on Sundays (mostly from Šurkovac), listened to spiritual songs and various testimonies. Then, at home on 29 September, I listened for the first time to the prayer in the name of Jesus for the healing of spirit, soul and body with Fra Ivo Pavić, and I felt it was for me. His words – “you will be healed and you will bear witness to it” – I kept repeating to myself. I believed it, but it isn’t easy to stay strong and faithful all the time when results and news keep contradicting you.

From that day on, Ivan and I played that prayer every day, and he would lay his hand on my head while we prayed. In those days I googled my diagnosis for the first time, and when I saw that the prognosis was just a few months and that there was a support page for families, I thought I didn’t need to read any further.

My mother, a traditional believer who didn’t often go to church, began to pray and to go to church. Acquaintances of mine who are not believers sent me remarkable messages – photos of themselves lighting candles in church for me; one prayed before an image of Our Lady; a 70-year-old German man told my husband he had prayed for the first time in 50 years. Hard as it was, it was also a time full of grace. My illness was not mine alone; it touched the lives of those close to us.

For the first time I began to think about death, which was there, very close. Not once did I ask: why me? I had surrendered and thought: God, of course I don’t want to leave this world yet, but let it be as you will.

Ivan:Although I didn’t want to talk about it, I believed a miracle would happen. Still, it is God’s will, and we cannot influence it. We also talked about practical matters in case the illness continued to develop as predicted. I asked Ivona where she wanted me to bury her. Do I need to say how I felt at that moment?

We began to say goodbye. Ivona bought her mother a plane ticket, thinking it best that she come straight away – while the illness had not yet progressed, while she still had strength, looked normal and still had her hair.

Ivona:Mum came, and it was the hardest week for me. Death was in the house with us, but we all pretended it wasn’t. Most of the time I would shut myself in my room. When I had been crying, I would put on a hydrating face mask, pretending I was resting, gathering strength for the coming chemotherapy, looking after my beauty and so on. But really I wanted to hide behind the mask so that she wouldn’t see me suffering.

That week we were also visited by Sister Marija, who pointed me to Father James and his online prayer. She also brought me water, salt and oil that he had blessed. Since then, every evening after prayer we make the sign of the cross on each other’s foreheads and bless one another.

On 1 October 2025 the scheduled appointment came. We hadn’t understood this beforehand, but the appointment was actually the preparation for radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The doctor in radiology saw us and explained how the radiotherapy would work: every day, 30 days in a row, combined with chemotherapy. Asked what outcome we could expect, he said that here we were only fighting to prolong life. He, too, didn’t offer much hope.

After that we were sent for a CT scan to make a radiotherapy mask, which keeps the head still during treatment so that the radiation can be aimed precisely.

Ivona:Ivan was by my side the whole time, encouraging me. I cried as we sat in the hospital waiting room. He said we would beat this together. After the mask had been made, the appointments for radiotherapy and chemotherapy were set, to begin on 13 October 2025. Reality sank in. As we were leaving the hospital after it was all done, we met Branko, an acquaintance who has MS. When he asked how I was, I fell apart, started crying and hugged him.

That same day my cousin Ivana had an appointment with Dr Paladino. She took all my results and scans with her. The doctor simply told her that he was very sorry, that nothing could be done, and that I had about two months left to live. By his estimate, I should have died before Christmas.

Ivana didn’t pass his words on to me. She said he had only confirmed what the doctors in Ludwigsburg were saying – but she immediately bought a plane ticket to come and see me one last time. When she said she was coming, I asked her to buy me a few picture books so I could film myself reading them to my future grandchildren – so that at least in this way they would get to know their grandmother.

I mention Ivana most because I am in touch with her every day, but all of my and Ivan’s relatives and friends were there for me too. Some were more present, some quieter; everyone took part in their own way. My cousin Lucija called me almost every day, although until then we had rarely been in touch. My cousin Marija sent me a message on 2 October 2025, without knowing how bad things really were, and suggested contacting yet another doctor – but I didn’t need another (identical) opinion.

I put important documents in a folder and showed my husband where everything was. I thought we should have a family photo shoot before the illness progressed. I thought about how to write letters to the children or leave messages for important days in their future lives. Ivan and I had already talked about where I would be buried.

On Friday 3 October, the day before her return home, we went on an outing with Ivona’s mum to a hill with a castle, Burg Lichtenberg. We wanted to get out of the house, but really the aim was to take a few photos as keepsakes.

Ivona:That day is a public holiday in Germany, and we weren’t alone. A few people helped by taking pictures of us. I tried to stay calm, but it was hard. After a while I suggested to Ivan that we go for a walk, because I was close to tears. I said I really couldn’t have any more photos taken, that it was too much for me. I cried when we were alone.

Grandma and the children drove on to another spot. When we got there, they were sitting on a bench in front of a large wooden frame set up for photos. After a few minutes a man with a camera came along, said in German “God bless you”, and asked whether he could take our picture. He took a few photos and walked away. A few minutes later he came back and asked again if he could photograph us. This time Ivan asked him whether he could send us the pictures.

When Ivan wrote down his name and email address, the man asked whether we were Croatian. When we said yes, he began to sing a song in Croatian (which we had never heard before). He said it was the only thing he knew in Croatian. The whole encounter was very unusual. He appeared after I had said I didn’t want any more photos, blessed us, sang in Croatian – just as if he had been sent to bring us a message.

Ivan:The encounter with the photographer really was unusual. I had the feeling he wanted to tell us something, so I asked him whether we could have the photos he had taken. Of course he agreed and wrote down my details.

When he saw my name, he asked whether we might be Croatian, and then sang us a Croatian children’s church song – “Isus je pobijedio, Isus je uskrsnuo” (“Jesus has won, Jesus is risen”). For me this was once again a sign from God. I was sure a miracle would happen, and I said to Ivona: “You will be healed!”

That evening he sent us the photos and an email. I thanked him and wrote him a letter:

Ivan’s letter

Dear Mr Mall,

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the beautiful photographs.

My wife was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour, and we used this day to create memories.

You became part of our day in such a wonderful way – with your singing, your blessing and now with these photographs. We are immensely grateful to you for that.

God bless you!

Kind regards

His reply

The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand! The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

Psalm 121:5–6

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Philemon 1:3

Thank you for your kind feedback!

I / we will keep remembering you in our prayers.

All love and every good thing under God’s blessing.

SDG, TJM

The next day, Saturday 4 October 2025, at 3:30 pm, there was a prayer meeting with Father James Manjackal. We followed it on TV, sitting side by side. When the prayer began, we placed our hands on Ivona’s head. At one point Ivona says she can feel something happening in her leg. Shortly afterwards Father James says her name and says that she has been healed (1:16:38).

Ivona:We listened carefully to Father James. After a while there were technical problems with the broadcast on the version with Croatian translation, and we looked for a way to keep watching in another language. We carried on in English, from the same point where we had stopped, but with a slight delay.

We sat close together, hands laid on my head, and I held my other hand on my right leg, which was constantly numb and uncoordinated. And then I felt something like a current flowing through my leg and body, and I told my husband that something was happening. A few minutes later Father James called out my name – and pronounced it exactly the way all my loved ones say it. I knew it was me.

Afterwards I felt better, but I still wondered whether I was just imagining it, a kind of autosuggestion. That Saturday the “Krv i Voda” prayer community also prayed for Ivona, and Oliver prophesied that she would be healed and would bear witness.

On Sunday 5 October 2025 we go to Mass together.

Ivan:Ivona stands during Mass. She sings. She serves. Without weakness. I knew – something is happening.

Ivona:That morning I thought: I don’t know how much time I have left, but right now I feel well and I want to go to Mass. While I am well and still alive, I want to show others that even in hard moments we can accept God’s will and be joyful. There’s no need for self-pity; we should live and spread joy. When we got into the car I said to my husband: “Today I want to sing in the choir.” And then I said I also wanted to help with distributing Communion, as I had done before my illness. That day’s reading was:

If you had faith!

At that time the apostles said to the Lord: “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied: “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” …

Luke 17:5–10

At these words – if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed – I felt they were addressed to me. And I thought: Lord, I believe. I felt very well after Mass and was glad I had gone out.

Ivan:That day I wrote a prayer for Ivona, which we prayed together every day:

Ivona:When I first heard it, not knowing it had been written for me, I thought how beautiful it sounded; I recognised myself in it immediately. When Ivan explained what it was, I thought it was the most beautiful love song I had ever heard.

Ivona:On Monday 6 October 2025 I listened to the instructions for taking part in the 30-week spiritual exercises of St Ignatius and decided to sign up. I thought about my conversation with Snježana, and that they could be a comfort to me while I went through treatment.

On Wednesday 8 October 2025 we had an appointment with the nutritionist at the clinic. She explained that Ivona needed to keep up her strength and not lose weight, what could help her with nausea after chemotherapy, and so on. Afterwards we went to neurosurgery to see whether any more results had come in. The nurse there looked at them in confusion, saying, “I don’t know what this means,” and handed them to us, saying the result would be discussed at the tumour board that same day. That afternoon a call came from the hospital.

Ivona:I was at home with my son; Ivan was at work. The same doctor who seven days earlier had prescribed radiotherapy and sent me to have the mask made called to tell me that everything was postponed and that on Monday, instead of radiotherapy, I should come in for a new MRI scan. He said that according to the latest results there was no tumour, and that they needed to check it. I don’t even remember everything we said.

After the call I called my son and hugged him tight, phoned Ivan, Mum, Ivana, Vera, and sent messages to all my loved ones. We were all overjoyed. Ivana said: “I can smell a strong scent of roses.” After I had told everyone, I thought: “What if I misunderstood what the doctor was saying (maybe he said something in German that I didn’t interpret correctly)?” And then I comforted myself with a joke: “Oh, nobody will hold it against you – they all know you have a brain tumour.”

On Thursday 9 October 2025 we had a long-standing appointment with a leading oncologist in Stuttgart, the uncle of an acquaintance, who had already seen my results and scans. When we arrived with the new result and the tumour board report, optimistic and sure that I was healed, he received us gently and kindly and explained that perhaps the doctors who did the biopsy had taken a sample of healthy tissue, and that this was why the result looked as though there was no diffuse glioma.

But he was sure something malignant must be there, and he made himself available for us to contact him or come back when oncological treatment was needed. He said I would probably have to have an open brain biopsy. We thanked him for seeing us and giving us his time.

Although his prognosis was not optimistic, we left the hospital happy and smiling, firmly believing that everything was fine, and went to celebrate, just the two of us, with lunch at a restaurant.

That evening I signed up for the 30-week spiritual exercises of St Ignatius. The very next day I got a call from my companion Kristina, who in the months ahead, with the help of the Holy Spirit, would guide me in the best possible way on a path of complete surrender to the Lord and of understanding his word better, with my whole heart.

On Saturday 11 October 2025 Ivana came to visit us. A visit that was meant to be a farewell turned into time together, a kind of spiritual retreat and endless joy. We listened again to the testimony of Nevenka Ćurić, had adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and prayed together.

On Sunday 12 October 2025 we all went to Mass together. That Sunday’s readings were:

A reading from the Second Book of Kings

In those days Naaman the Syrian went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of Elisha, the man of God; and his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child – he was clean of his leprosy! …

2 Kings 5:14–17

Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood at a distance and called out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When Jesus saw them he said to them: “Go and show yourselves to the priests!” And as they went, they were made clean. One of them, seeing that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus said: “Were not ten made clean? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give glory to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him: “Get up and go; your faith has saved you!”

Luke 17:11–19

Ivona:For me this was confirmation that I had been healed – that I, too, had been a leper and that Jesus had made me clean. For a few days I had been asking myself what one should do when such a grace is received. And I received the answer: to give thanks and to bear witness.

Ivona:That evening I said goodnight to my cousin and my husband and said I would slowly get ready for bed, to prepare for the check-up the next day. I lay down, picked up the New Testament and happened to open it at Luke 8:40, where this passage touched me especially:

The healing of a sick woman and the raising of Jairus’s daughter

… ⁴³And a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by anyone, ⁴⁴came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

⁴⁵And Jesus said: “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter said: “Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.” ⁴⁶But Jesus said: “Someone touched me, for I felt power go out from me.” ⁴⁷And when the woman saw that she could not stay hidden, she came trembling, fell down before him and declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸And he said to her: “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace!”

Luke 8:43–48

I took a photo of it and sent it to Ivana, who was in the living room. And I knew that I was surely healed.

On Monday 13 October 2025 we had the MRI appointment. We arrived at the hospital, and the nurse on the ward asked Ivona where she had come from and said she sees her in her dreams. Ivan asked why she thought she was dreaming of her, and she said she didn’t know, but that she prays a lot. Ivona replied that she had come for an MRI check-up, but that He had healed her – and took a picture of the Divine Mercy out of her pocket. The nurse then showed the background of her phone with the very same image and led us to the waiting area, where there was a wall of leaflets in different languages, among them the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in many languages – and on every one of them the same image of Jesus.

Ivona:I had to wait a while to be admitted and for my turn for the MRI. I was calm and believed that everything would be fine. Then the moment of the scan came; the whole time I prayed inwardly and sang “Naš Bog je velik” (“Our God is great”).

When the scan was over, I waited to collect the CD so we could send it to several places. Ivan took the CD to copy it onto a USB stick so that I could send it from my laptop (he had brought my laptop to the hospital too). Ivana came to visit, and the two of us tried to open the USB stick and see what was on the scan (as if we understood anything).

Just then a nurse comes and tells me I can go home, that I am being discharged. I was astonished, because none of the doctors had spoken to me. I asked to speak to a doctor, and after a while the junior doctor came (the same one who had prepared me for the brain biopsy) and said I could speak to the consultant in two days, that the scan had shown there was no tumour, and that I could go home.

Later a doctor in London sent me a comparison of the scans from 13 October and 3 September. Almost everything had disappeared. Without explanation.

And so, instead of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, a therapy of the soul began that day – through the Ignatian exercises.

On 15 October 2025 we come to the clinic’s neurology department to talk to the doctor and collect the discharge letter. The doctor was exceptionally kind and professional, but could not offer us any explanation. He contradicted his colleague in Stuttgart about the need for a further biopsy, because the latest MRI had shown that there was no tumour. What remained was a hole in the brain where the biopsy had been done – at the spot that controls the right leg.

Ivan:For the meeting with the doctor, Ivona had prepared a list of questions. There were more than twenty, and the doctor gave concrete answers to each. But when it came to the diagnosis itself, he could not say anything definite. I asked him whether it often happens that they get a diagnosis wrong like this. He replied that it doesn’t happen at all. To my next question – whether we could then describe this situation as some kind of miracle – he answered with a question of his own: were we Christians? When I said yes, he said that some Catholic priests maintain that healing can come through prayer. Although he didn’t confirm it directly, for me that was a positive answer. Jesus, thank you!

Ivona:The 30-week spiritual exercises began on 13 October 2025. I had no particular expectations, but something drew me to start them. My companion Kristina understood me, and the Holy Spirit guided her so that she never told me I had to do anything and never put any pressure on me – exactly what I needed. So many blessings flow from them that I recommend them to everyone, in the hope that they too will receive a share of that grace.

Ivona:From what I had seen, in Germany it would be usual, after everything I had been through, to be sent from hospital straight to rehabilitation. But because my healing had surprised the doctors, and because of the way I had been discharged, I had to apply for rehab not through the hospital but through my GP. The tumour had gone, but after the seizures I had had and the brain biopsy, my leg was better yet still numb and heavy.

The process of getting a rehab place was long. At last I got a date in the second half of December – only for it to be cancelled two or three days before it was due to start. So I told Ivan I would fly to Mostar and go privately to the Vitalis polyclinic for physiotherapy. He suggested we all go together, the whole family. And so we did.

That trip helped us process everything that had happened to us – through sharing our testimony with our families and friends, through going to Mass in Medjugorje and seeing in the New Year there. Three doctors I saw in Mostar each confirmed to me, in their own way, that something unusual had happened in my case. Through rehabilitation, the feeling in my leg slowly began to return.

I stayed on a few days longer and was due to fly back from Split. Tanja came from Makarska to Mostar to collect me and drive me to Split the next day. A few minutes before we reached Makarska, I said I had something for Fra Ante Babić (who has since retired and lives in Makarska). I called him; he said he was just out for a walk and suggested where we could meet. That’s how I was able to bring Tanja and Fra Ante together.

The next day, on the plane, I read the meditation for that day and reflected on Jesus going up to Jerusalem at the age of twelve. I thought – that was a pilgrimage for him, just as these last few days had been a pilgrimage for me. And when I got home, I found the latest parish newsletter on the table and read that a pilgrimage to Lourdes was being organised – falling exactly on my 50th birthday. There was no question – this pilgrimage was meant for us, to give thanks for all the graces.

The follow-up MRI on 5 February 2026 confirms that there is absolutely no process at all in the brain. The hole remains as a reminder of the biopsy. Ivona still doesn’t feel her leg the same way as before, but it is much better. She is alive and well.

Here is the part of the report that speaks of this at the end:

In the German original, the very first word used is erfreulicherweise – which means “fortunately”, “happily”, but can also be read as “thank God”. Let each person draw their own conclusion about what is written there…

Ivona:I hadn’t forgotten, but after everything it took some time for me to recover – physically, mentally and spiritually – so that I would be ready to bear witness to this grace of God. One of the difficulties was that at first the doctors couldn’t take me off the medication, so I was quite tired and unfocused. But as the medication was gradually reduced, clarity and strength returned. I also wanted to have all the “evidence” from the doctors and the testimonies of the people who had been with us, so that we might perhaps help someone to believe.

We have borne witness many times, in many places and in different ways. We also wrote this written testimony for ourselves, so that we ourselves would not forget everything that happened. It helped us to see clearly how we were led by the Holy Spirit – from Sister Svjetlana to Father James and beyond. Detailed as it is, this testimony could not include many other things we saw and experienced. Although it is clear to us what messages they held for us, adding them would only draw attention away from what matters most.

This testimony is also our thanks to everyone who stood by us in any way. Please keep us in your prayers.

For some, our story will bring comfort or hope, and confirm that Jesus is alive and still works miracles today. Some are not ready to accept this and believe it was just a long series of coincidences. Whoever is ready can see; and whoever is not may one day remember this testimony and call on God for help, when it seems to them that their human strength is not enough for what they are facing in life. Jesus is there for all of us.

I feel that God loves us most precisely when he gives us the heaviest burden, because in this way he gives us the chance to come closer to him, to talk with him more often, to surrender to him and to become better than we were. Our crosses are not ours alone – they shine and help those around us to find their way too. I am grateful for that cross.

I am also grateful for the spiritual exercises, which helped me prepare to bear joyful witness to the glory of God; to learn to listen and to recognise messages; to see how many times in my life Jesus was beside me and how he guided me on my way. They helped me to prepare joyfully for a life confession, to forgive myself and others for everything that was not good, to discover the fullness of God’s love and mercy, to understand God’s word better – even some things I had heard so many times before – and to speak joyfully about the fact that Jesus is alive and that he still heals us today.

In the end, I can only add:

“This illness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”John 11:4