As a student, I made several pilgrimages to Kibeho, where visionaries regularly received messages from the Virgin Mary. On each of these trips something wonderful always seemed to happen. Sometimes I’d even be privy to a minor miracle—such as the one I call “the Miracle of the Exam.”

During my third year at university, I was walking to class when I passed a bus filled with students about to head off for Kibeho. Too bad today is my busy day of classes, and they’re all too important to miss, I mused, watching the last few students get on the bus.

And it’s too bad I have that major science exam tomorrow at 8 a.m. that’s worth 70 percent of my term mark, I thought, as the doors of the yellow school bus hissed and closed.

But it would really be too bad if I didn’t go and see the Holy Mother right now!

I banged on the door as the bus was pulling away. I didn’t even wait for it to come to a complete stop before I leaped on board, sat in the one remaining free seat, and found myself headed to Kibeho. I had to be crazy, since I absolutely should have stayed on campus that day. Failing that exam could have cost me my scholarship; the consequences could be that horrendous. But Our Lady had tugged at my heart, so I followed her. I sensed she wanted me in Kibeho—and if she wanted me there, I’d put everything in her hands and stop worrying because she’d take care of me.

When I arrived, I noticed that there was a true celebration of Mary’s love happening, with even more singing and dancing than usual. Valentine, one of the visionaries, was on the podium, and we all quieted down when the apparition began. Toward the end of the apparition, Mary asked Valentine to “water her flowers,” which is how the Blessed Mother often referred to those in the crowd. This was a wonderful time during the apparitions when the Virgin would guide the visionary through the thousands of pilgrims, granting benedictions to all, but also offering a lucky few a personal blessing with holy water.

Valentine descended from the podium with a bottle of water, never taking her eyes away from the sky, where the Queen of Heaven floated above her. When the seer passed me by, it didn’t bother me at all, since I knew the drink I had been given on a previous visit would last a lifetime. A nun standing nearby was terribly disappointed when the seer didn’t stop by us, and I heard her complain, “Why doesn’t she give me a blessing? I love the Blessed Mother so much, and I’m here so often, but I’m never given a blessing.”

By that time Valentine was long gone and at the far side of the hill. I began dancing and singing with the other 10,000 pilgrims, and then I saw that Valentine had circled around and was standing behind me, beside the nun. She stood by the nun, nodded to Mary above and said, “Blessings do not only come from water,” and walked on. Everyone standing nearby was thrilled—Our Lady’s gentle rebuke of the nun was an acknowledgment that Mary was watching over her, and that was truly a blessing.

Valentine moved up the stairs to the podium again and looked as though she was about to collapse, as she did at the end of every apparition. And she did collapse, but not before delivering one last message from the Virgin: “Many of you ran away from your duties of work and school today so that you could be with me. Because you came to see your mother, your mother will take care of you. You will not suffer for being here; I shall intercede on your behalf.”

The next morning I was in the exam room waiting anxiously to see which of the 20 questions I could have been asked was the one that had been selected. Since I’d only had time to study for a single question beforehand, I figured I was doomed. When the clock struck eight, I opened the booklet. I saw that the question I’d studied for was indeed the one on the exam. Thank you, Mother, I thought, as I put my pen to the paper and started to write. Of the 94 students who took that exam, only 2 passed…and I was one of them.