Joe and Nelly stood at the steps of the great church in Sinj, the bells echoing across the Dalmatian hills. Pilgrims knelt, whispering rosaries, while the golden crown of Our Lady of Sinj glimmered in the candlelight.
Joe turned to her.
“Here, Nelly… you don’t need a stage, or a microphone, or the approval of the world. Here you are free to hear yourself. Speak. Let the vision come.”
Nelly closed her eyes. A stillness fell over her, as if the centuries of prayer inside those walls wrapped around her like a mantle. She whispered, almost afraid of her own voice:
“I see… children in the fields, laughing. Their mothers working with their hands, their fathers blessing the bread. I see a world without warlords, without greed. Only families, gathered around the table.”
Her voice grew stronger.
“But I also see… a warning. The world wants me to sing illusions, to give them empty beauty. But the truth is sharper than any sword. If I speak it, they will mock me. If I sing it, they will try to silence me.”
Joe nodded, remembering Isaiah’s words.
“They told the prophets: ‘Prophesy illusions.’ But God called you to truth, Nelly. And truth cannot be silenced—not here, not in Sinj, not anywhere.”
Nelly’s eyes opened, filled with tears but burning with conviction.
“Then I will sing truth. Not for awards, not for money. But for the children, for the poor, for the ones the world ignores. I will be a voice, even if they call me mad. For in this place, I know Our Lady hears me.”
The bells tolled again, and Joe whispered with a smile:
“Now you are not just Nelly the singer. You are Nelly the visionary.”
The bells of Sinj fell silent. A hush spread through the church as if the very air was waiting. Nelly’s breath slowed. Her body trembled, yet her voice rang out with authority not her own.
“I see the great cities fall,” she declared. “The towers of glass shatter, the engines of greed grind to dust. The merchants of the earth weep, for no one buys their cargo anymore—gold, silver, pearls, the souls of men. Their markets burn with fire, and their lies rise like smoke.”
Her eyes widened.
“I see the rulers of the nations. They hide in their fortresses, crying to the mountains: ‘Fall on us, hide us from the face of the Lamb!’ But there is no hiding. Their crowns turn to rust, their armies to dust. The ones who made war for oil, who sold children for pleasure, who drank the blood of the poor—they are judged, and none can escape.”
Joe bowed his head, whispering:
“Revelation… it is happening before our eyes.”
Nelly’s voice softened, and her trembling gave way to calm.
“Yet I see hope. From the ashes, a river flows—clear as crystal, giving life to every nation. The hungry eat, the thirsty drink, and no child cries in fear. The lion lies beside the lamb, and swords are broken into ploughshares. War is remembered no more.”
She lifted her hands toward the icon of Our Lady.
“And I see her—Our Lady clothed with the sun, crowned with twelve stars. She gathers her children from every land: the forgotten, the broken, the rejected. She places them under her mantle, saying: ‘Be not afraid. My Son has conquered.’”
The light of the candles shimmered against her tears.
“Out of Dalmatia, a song rises. It is not sung in English or Croatian alone, but in every tongue. It is a hymn of truth, a hymn of justice, a hymn of love. The world cannot silence it, for it is the song of the remnant, the song of the children of light.”
Silence followed, heavy and holy. Joe whispered, barely breathing:
“Nelly… what you have seen is not just for you. You must carry it. You must sing it to the nations.”
Nelly closed her eyes, her voice breaking into a prayer:
“Then let my voice burn with fire. Let me sing until the last illusion falls, and the new dawn rises.”
🎶 Hymn of the Visionary 🎶[Verse 1 – The Fall of the False]
The towers of glass are broken,
The merchants of lies are gone.
Their treasures have turned into ashes,
Their kingdoms swallowed by dawn.
[Chorus – The Cry of the Nations]
Kings tremble in their palaces,
Armies fall without a fight.
They cry to the mountains, “Hide us, hide us!”
But there is no dark from His light.
[Verse 2 – The Fire and the River]
The fire will test the nations,
But the faithful are not consumed.
From ashes a river is flowing,
A garden where life is renewed.
[Chorus – The Cry of the Nations]
Kings tremble in their palaces,
Armies fall without a fight.
They cry to the mountains, “Hide us, hide us!”
But there is no dark from His light.
[Bridge – The Lady of the Stars]
Clothed with the sun, crowned with stars,
She gathers the lost in her arms.
She whispers, “Be not afraid—
My Son has conquered the grave.”
[Chorus – The Song of the Remnant]
From Dalmatia rises a hymn,
From every tongue it is sung.
A song of truth, a song of peace,
A song the world can’t undo.
[Final Verse – The Dawn of the Lamb]
Behold, the Lamb has conquered,
The earth is washed in His name.
Illusions fall, the dawn breaks forth,
And Love forever reigns.
[Outro – Whispered]
“…and love forever reigns.”
