The Madonna of Medjugorje The Virgin Mary appears on a hillside in a remote village in Yugoslavia. Six children see her, touch her and hear her voice. She says she has come as the Queen of Peace. She urges believers to pray, fast and do penance. She says that the West has lost God and that Russia will come to glorify the Lord.
The local clergy dismiss the children's story, but soon huge crowds are gathering on the hill. The police move in, fearful that the religious stirrings are a sign of counter-revolution among the Catholic population.
Gradually the testimony of the child visionaries wins over their families and friends. The parish priest becomes a believer.
Supernatural signs are seen in the area; healings are reported and the crowds keep coming. Within six years
Medjugorje shows signs of becoming another Lourdes - with the differences that it has all happened in a Marxist country, and that the apparitions are still going on to this day.
Narrated by Eileen Atkins Photography JOHN GOODYER Film editor RICHARD SEEL Producer ANGELA TILBY
Series producer DANIEL WOLF