MEDJUGORJE

The parish of Medjugorje (consisting of the villages Medjugorje, Bijakovići, Vionica, Miletina and Šurmanci), situated to the south-west Mostar, in Herzegovina , was founded in 1892 and put under the protection Saint James the apostle, patron saint pilgrims. Historical sources mention the village for the first time in 1599.

The construction the old parish church, spacious and beautiful for its time, was completed in 1897. Built on unstable ground, it soon started to develop fissures. Immediately after the end the First World War, the parishioners began to think about building a new church, which, located near the old one, was finished and consecrated on January 19, 1969.

Until June 24, 1981. Medjugorje lived the life all the villages in this region: people worked in the fields, planted tobacco and vineyards, made vine and produced vegetables to acquire what was necessary for a modest life for their families.        Because social conditions, many them went out into the world: over the ocean, to western European   countries, or into the towns Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia

OUR LADY'S APPARITIONS

From June 24, 1981. Medjugorje became one the most famous parishes in the world. On that day in the afternoon, some youth from Bijakovići, from the hamlet called Podbrdo, saw – as they said – an unusual figure: a Woman with a child, giving them signs with her hand to come nearer.

Scared, children ran home and told what they had seen. The answer the adults was to be expected, «Do not play with these things, would Our Lady appear to you? »

Stirred and attracted, they went the next day at the same time to the same place (around 5:30 pm). The event happened again: according to their witness, they saw first a strong light, and then Our Lady, with whom they prayed.

The apparitions continued daily, and people started to gather and to pray: first the parishioners, then those from the vicinity, then from the whole world.

The persecution the visionaries, their parents and relatives, parishioners and priests, started at the same time as the apparitions. Children were taken away for judicial interrogations and psychiatric examinations, which always established that they were healthy.

The pastor Medjugorje at that time was Fr. Jozo Zovko. A month and a half after the beginning the events, he was arrested and condemned by a communist tribunal to three years and a half prison, just because he was preaching the Gospel. Two other priests experienced a similar destiny.

From 1981 to this day, the ordinary parish Medjugorje has become a place gathering millions pilgrims from all over the world: many them testify that they have found faith and peace precisely in this parish.

Because its fruits, Medjugorje is compared today with two famous places Our Lady’s apparitions in the 19^th and the 20^th century: Lourdes and Fatima .  

Prayer Areas

There are three main areas where the pilgrims gather in Medjugorje:

a) Apparition Hill This is how the area of Podbrdo, above the village of Bijakovici is now referred to. This is where the visionaries claim to have first seen Our Lady. This happened at the end of June back in 1981. Since then pilgrims gather there to pray the rosary. By day and by night, groups can be seen making their way to the place of the first apparition. Up until 1989, there was nothing to be seen there except boulders and rustic crosses which some of the many visitors had left. Today, on the ascent, images in cast bronze, (work of the well-known Florentine artist Carmelo Puzzolo) recall the joyful sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the rosary.

b) Krizevac is the hill above Medjugorje. Here, in 1934, the people of the village of Medjugorje erected an eight-meter high concrete cross in commemoration of the 1900th anniversary of Jesus' death. In this place, both groups and individuals of the faithful pay homage in the way of the Cross, praying as they go from station to station. In the first years the stations were marked by wooden crosses. Since 1988, however, bronze images depicting the various stations have been placed at each cross, again the work of the Italian sculptor Carmelo Puzzolo. Cross Mountain (Krizevac) has become the " Calvary " of the shrine where pilgrims remember the passion of Christ.

c) The Parish Church and surrounding area is the area where the Mass and sacramental life in general is celebrated.

In 1991, twenty new confessionals were added and an outdoor altar was erected for larger gatherings (when weather permits). Within the Church grounds, there is also a building which houses "the adoration chapel" and seminar rooms for church purposes. There are also two large marquees (which can be joined together to make a larger one) at the disposal of the Parish for various purposes. Overall, the need for "sacral-premises" is ever on the increase.

The main praying programme starts with rosary prayer at 6 p.m. (5.p.m. winter time), followed by holy mass and finished by bowing to the most holy altar sacrament.

Pilgrim groups from all over the world have a holy mass in their own language daily. Rosary is regularly prayed each Sunday at 4 p.m. (3. p.m. – winter time), and the Way of the Cross on the Great Hill at 4 p.m (3.p.m. – in winter time).

The Schedule of Events

Basically, we can categorize the events as follows a) daily, b) weekly, and c) annual events.

a) Daily gatherings. Mass in the different language groups are as follows:

*Croatian speaking 7.30 a .m. daily (Saturday also at 1 p.m.) 8 a .m. and 11 a .m. Sundays

*East European 8 a .m. daily 7 a .m. Sundays

*German speaking 9 a .m. daily 9 a .m. Sundays

*English speaking 10 a .m. daily 12 noon Sundays

*Italian speaking 11 a .m. daily 10 a .m. Sundays

*French speaking 12 noon daily 1 p.m. Sundays

The evening program of the Parish begins at 5 p.m. in wintertime (6 p.m. summertime). It commences with the joyful and sorrowful mysteries of the rosary as a preparation for the celebration of the Eucharist, which begins at 6 p.m. in wintertime (7 p.m. in Summertime) and continues afterwards with thanksgiving and the glorious mysteries until 8 p.m. in wintertime (9 p.m. in Summertime).

Masses in other languages can be arranged at other times in consultation with the Parish office.

b. Weekly gatherings:

*Community reciting of the rosary on Sundays at 2 p.m. on Apparition Hill. (4 p.m. in summertime)

*Community procession of prayer up Krizevac (Way of the Cross) on Fridays at 2 p.m. (4 p.m. in summertime)

*Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. in summertime)

*Eucharistic adoration, as thanksgiving after the Thursday evening mass.

*Adoration of the Cross, as thanksgiving after Friday evening mass.

c. Annual gatherings:

*On the greater Marian feast-days such as the Annunciation, the Assumption, Immaculate Conception etc.

*On the greater church holidays such as Christmas, New Years, Easter, Pentecost... etc

*During the Marian months, of May and October, (pilgrim numbers increase)

*The greatest number of pilgrims come for the anniversary of the apparitions (June 25^th) and for the Exaltation of the Cross (first Sunday after the Nativity of Our Lady (Sept).

Besides the above, there are also some events, which have become part of the customary annual gatherings. These are:

*The prayer vigil to see in the New Year (Dec 31^st)

*The International Peace March from Humac to Medjugorje on June 24^th

*The International Youth Festival from July 31^st to August 6^th