“My name is Eliseo Rusconi, I was born in Lecco and I am 51 years old. I spent my childhood and youth living in an old house located directly opposite the Santuario della Vittoria, where my mother often took me to pray and where I believe my devotion to Mary was born. At the age of 14, I started working as an employee in a travel agency. I worked during the day and studied in the evening, as many people did at that time. For many years, I was involved in the parish youth community in Lecco.

For 24 years, I worked as an employee at the same agency, gaining considerable experience in the travel industry. When, 12 years ago, I decided to set up on my own and, after having been an employee until then, open my own agency and become an entrepreneur, I had considered the various ways in which this change would affect my life: greater commitment, uncertainty about work, business risks and other factors. But I had not considered how difficult it could be for a Christian to be an entrepreneur while remaining faithful to the message of the Gospel.

The logic of business, which is based on profit, often clashes and conflicts with the logic of the Gospel message, which is based on justice, fairness and honesty: a logic of altruism, solidarity, sharing and, ultimately, love for one’s neighbour.

Running a business today means having to make choices every day, choices that I often experience as a source of inner conflict; at times, the choice of an entrepreneur may seem incompatible with the choice of a Christian. One possible solution would be to separate these two aspects of one’s life and follow different principles depending on the role one is fulfilling: being an entrepreneur at work without taking one’s Christian identity into account, and being a Christian outside the workplace. But for me, this would mean being hypocritical and inconsistent.

While recognising the objective difficulty of certain choices in a highly competitive market, I have always tried to remain as consistent as possible with myself and with the moral principles taught to me by my parents and educators. I have tried never to put my personal profit first. I have maintained, and continue to maintain, the same standard of living I had when I was an employee. From the profits of my business, I have always used only what I needed, and still need, to provide a decent living for my family and to pay for the education of my three children. Whenever there was an additional profit margin, I reinvested it in the company to expand its activities and create new jobs. I started on my own and now have 11 employees working with me.

The early years were very hard and difficult, but little by little I realised that, as an entrepreneur, I would have many more opportunities to make choices and could guide my business in the direction I wanted. Working as a travel agent offers many possibilities. In just a few years, travel and holidays have become a real or perceived necessity in our consumer society. Holidays, however, are generally seen as an escape, a way of getting away from one’s commitments and responsibilities, as an opportunity for entertainment at all costs. I realised that this holiday time, which many people spend away from home, is often poorly used and brings no real benefit either to the body and even less to the spirit.

I understood that this time could be used more meaningfully, and I was looking for a different direction in which to take my professional choices. In short, I was not satisfied with what I was doing and was searching for something different. The calling, if it can be described as such, came in February 1984.

For the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1983, a group from Lecco asked me to organise a trip to Medjugorje. At the time, I knew absolutely nothing about Medjugorje: where it was or what was happening there. I organised that trip, not without considerable difficulties from a technical point of view. I was unable to learn anything from the participants, whom I did not know. Only the coach driver told me something about what was happening in that village. But I was not particularly impressed, and as far as I was concerned, that would have been the end of it. Then, in January 1984, I was asked to organise another trip to Medjugorje for the following month. Without knowing why I did it – and even today I still wonder, because my commitments should not have allowed me to – at the very last moment I decided to go too, as a pilgrim. On 24 February 1984, we left Lecco by coach. There were about fifty of us. Father Antonio, a Claretian priest, was our spiritual guide, while a man named Pietro, who today is one of my tour leaders and who had asked me to organise that journey, accompanied the group. I will not tell you the whole story of that pilgrimage because it would take too long, but I can tell you that what I experienced during those five days marked a decisive turning point in my life as a Christian, both personally and professionally.

In Medjugorje, I developed the personal conviction that what was happening there was something serious, that the young people who claimed to see Mary every day were credible, and that the loving and heartfelt message of the Queen of Peace was important, urgent and essential.

During that pilgrimage, I became increasingly aware that I should place my profession at the service of Mary and begin organising pilgrimages to this remote place in Herzegovina. At that moment, however, the idea frightened me. Rationally, it could have seemed like madness. How would I face and solve all the organisational problems? I was aware of the structural limitations of my agency. At the same time, I had realised the enormous technical difficulties involved in organising these journeys: extremely long distances, terrible roads and almost non-existent hotel facilities. At that time, there was nothing in Medjugorje except a large church standing alone in the countryside and a few farmers’ houses scattered throughout the surrounding villages. There were also the political problems that existed in Yugoslavia at the time, the difficulties surrounding these apparitions in relation to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, my lack of theological knowledge and the extremely delicate issue of providing appropriate guidance for these particular journeys. I realised the enormous responsibility I was about to take on and, at that moment, without anyone’s help or support.

Faced with all these difficulties, I could do nothing but pray intensely to the Lord and to Mary, humbly acknowledging all my limitations, shortcomings and weaknesses, and asking Them for the help and inner strength I needed to undertake this endeavour, if it truly was Their will. My response was total and unconditional. Helped by Grace, I began this new journey, calmly facing and resolving the various problems as they arose. I immediately realised that one of the most serious issues was the spiritual guidance of these journeys, and I understood that the presence of a priest or religious figure would be essential, alongside that of a lay tour leader. It was by no means easy to ensure their presence on every journey I organised, partly because of all the restrictions, prohibitions and other difficulties. But I can assure you that, of the hundreds and hundreds of journeys organised over these years, very few departed without the spiritual guidance of a priest.

The number of pilgrims continued to grow, and they came to that place as though drawn by a mysterious force. I became increasingly aware of the abundance of Graces that many people received and of the spiritual fruits that came from these pilgrimages. I received countless testimonies, both spoken and written, direct and indirect, of conversions; of people who found or rediscovered their Faith; of people who, after many years, began attending Holy Mass again, returned to the sacraments and began praying again.

Another important aspect that I became increasingly aware of was that these journeys could become an excellent opportunity for evangelisation. The long travelling times could be used effectively for catechesis, communal prayer and the sharing of testimonies. In many cases, together with certain priests, we were able to transform the pilgrimage into a kind of spiritual retreat. All these reasons encouraged me to continue along this path, and I did so for as long as it was possible, until September of last year, when that senseless war which we are all still witnessing today began to affect the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well.

In the meantime, I had established a Pilgrimage Department within my agency, which is still operating today and is capable of organising pilgrimages to any shrine in Italy or abroad, because I realised that all the other shrines are also inexhaustible sources of Grace, privileged places of prayer and of encounter with the Lord through Mary.

At last, I felt – and still feel – fulfilled in my work. On a personal level, that pilgrimage in 1984 made me realise that I needed to live my Christianity in a new way. I understood that until then I had been a Christian more out of tradition, because of my culture and because I had been taught to be one, rather than out of personal conviction. Sunday Mass, occasional Communion, a certain degree of religiosity, but nothing more. I began to understand that Faith was something else entirely: it had to be a deliberate choice, a complete commitment to Christ and His Gospel. Faith had to mean consistency to the very end, the courage to bear witness always and everywhere; I understood, in short, that Faith had to involve my whole being, my entire life. I became more aware of the gifts and Graces that the Lord had freely bestowed upon me, without any merit on my part. I became more conscious of my duties and responsibilities within my family and society. I became more willing to accept even the crosses and trials that the Lord sent me. For years, I had been carrying a very heavy cross in my family life, one that I regarded as an injustice and against which I often rebelled. During that pilgrimage, I received the grace of great moral strength, of a new Inner Peace that I had never experienced before, which helped me serenely accept, as part of the mysterious will of the Lord, this cross that I continue to carry even today. That pilgrimage became the starting point of a new journey for me: a search for God and a strengthening of my Faith, which I continue alongside some of my fellow priests and laypeople whom I have met over the years, many of whom have become tour leaders on these pilgrimages.

Looking deeply within myself, I became – and remain – aware of my limitations, my weaknesses, my fragility and my selfishness. I realised, and still realise, that through my own will alone I could not, and cannot, make much progress. And so the need for prayer arose: the need to spend time with the Lord and frequently turn my thoughts to Him, even during the day, to recognise His greatness, to thank Him for His gifts, to ask for His help, to recognise His calling, to try to understand fully the plan He has for me, to ask Him to enlighten and inspire me when making difficult choices, to give me the strength to face times of trial, to help me resist evil when I am tempted, and to ask for forgiveness because, despite everything, I continue to fall. I rediscovered the power of Confession and the Eucharist; whenever possible, I attend Holy Mass every day. I realise that Mary has taken me by the hand and, just as my mother often took me to the Santuario della Vittoria when I was a child, now it is She who, after calling me, wishes to make Herself better known to me and wants to lead me to Her Son Jesus. Yet I also feel the duty and responsibility to remain a consistent and credible witness to this Grace. Therefore, I entrust myself completely to Mary, whom I feel to be a most tender Mother and to whom I wish to consecrate my life. With the help of the Lord, of Mary and of all of you, I would like to continue along this journey of conversion and testimony. Thank you.”