The Place of Peace.

It was essentially a pilgrimage to a place in the Balkans, but it didn’t exactly feel that way to begin with.  Crossing the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina was strange to say the least, the armed border guards seemed suspicious of every one and every thing and there was I with a British Passport among people with American Passports!  A side trip to Mostar kind of gave me a reminder of where we were.  I recalled seeing what appeared to be a tall building with unusual air-conditioning of what were at one time apartments.  A large hole in the side of the building, the rest of it pot marked with smaller holes, then the city park – now a graveyard with Muslim sleeping with Christian.  The Cathedral was reminiscent of photographs I had seen in my youth of Coventry Cathedral after Coventry was bombed by the German Luftwaffe during the early days of World War Two.  The driver explained that the city had been shelled from the surrounding mountains, the shells falling on churches, schools, hospitals and homes.  Near the Franciscan church was the rather unusual sight of a car embedded in the roof of a house.

This was a country of pain; a country of hate, bloodshed, and war.  Yet strangely there was one collection of villages surrounding the main village of Medjugorje (meaning the place between the mountains) that was markedly different.  This was a place of peace, a place where it was believed by many that a number of young people were receiving messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The Bishop of Mostar didn’t believe them, but other bishops did.  Priests didn’t believe them, but some did.  Catholics didn’t believe them, but some did.

Whatever people believe, they believe and that’s it.   What Karin and I experienced together was very different from what others claimed.  After all, we actually met the “Seers” or “Visionaries” (call them what you will) and we actually experienced Medjugorje which was like no place on this earth.  One day for instance, we were making our way from our lodging in Bijakovici to the Church when two ladies asked us directions to the village of Bijakovici where the visionaries lived and the hill on which the visions took place.  Nothing unusual you may think and you’d be wrong.  They were speaking Russian, I was speaking English and yet we somehow understood each other even though I have no knowledge of Russian other than “Vodka” – even when they said “Thank You!” I understood them.  Now how often does that happen?  For all I know they could have been asking for the nearest café – there were various business in that direction.

At the church the demand for confession was great, so confessional boxes had been erected outside the church with priests hearing confessions in all kinds of different languages, including English.  I was able to get confession and attend daily Mass in English, but throughout the day, every day Mass was said in different languages and each Mass was packed and lasted well over an hour because of the numbers involved.  In addition the Mass was usually concelebrated – that means more than one priest present on the altar.  Not too far from the main Parish Church of St. James, was a small chapel with constant exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and frequent Benediction.

People seemed to be praying the rosary all the time and as Catholics know, this is a meditation on the birth, death, resurrection of Christ and through the mysteries of Light introduced by Pope John Paul II on the teaching of Christ.  Essentially the rosary encourages mediation on the Gospel.  Krizevec, or Cross Mountain, has the Stations of the Cross and so also does Podbrdo or Apparition Hill.  The cross on Krizevec is actually a war memorial with no electricity.  Medjugorje is essentially a place of constant prayer that makes one wonder what the world would be like if every parish on earth followed the example of St. James Parish.  It would in effect be a benediction for the world and strangely, regardless of what one believes about the visionaries, this is within our reach.

As pilgrims have testified, Medjugorje is not just for Catholics - even Protestants have visited the place to recharge their spiritual batteries.  There is nothing to stop anyone from reading the Bible and praying how they wish, openly and with the support of all.  The critics can say what they will - no one can take away from any Catholic or Protestant who has visited Medjugorje the unique experience of a unique place of peace.