Medjugorje Explained

St. James

• The church and confessionals
• The Adoration Chapel
• Mass and adoration
• The Risen Christ Statue (A 15-ton bronze statue that sometimes weeps)
• Testimonies from visionaries or local priests

Apparition Hill

• Blue Cross
• Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries
• Statue of Our Lady where she first appeared

Cross Mountain

• Stations of the Cross
• Cross on top with a piece of the true cross embedded

• The Blessed Mother first appeared to them on the feast of John the Baptist June 24th, 1981.
• There are six visionaries, who were children at the time (Mirjana, Ivanka, Vicka, Marija, Ivan, Jakov).
• Three have received all ten secrets and no longer see Our Lady daily: Mirjana, Ivanka, Jakov.
• The other three have nine secrets and see the Blessed Mother daily: Vicka, Marija, Ivan.

• The Blessed Mother gives them messages, at first daily to the world, then in 1984 weekly to the world, now monthly to the world.
• The messages started on June 25, 1981 and continue to this day.
• The messages from 1981-1983, recorded by the parish in Medjugorje, were confiscated and destroyed by the communists.
• June 25, 1981 Ivanka: Why have you come here? “I have come because there are many true believers here. I wish to be with you to convert and to reconcile the whole world."
• Message themes over the years: Prayer, Fasting, Daily reading of the Bible, Confession, and the Eucharist.

• Our pilgrimage is not a sightseeing tour like many modern pilgrimages.
• It is a spiritual retreat that can lead to a conversion of heart and strengthens of your faith.
• Our guides are devout, official licensed guides from the parish of St. James.
• Some pilgrims may see miracles, but all will feel peace in their hearts by the end of the visit.
• Many will permanently change their lives as they put “God in the first place.”

There is a noticeable presence of the Holy Spirit

• 50,000 people praying throughout the day.
• Many in the town go to mass twice a day, adoration, recite rosaries, and/or the way of the cross.
• Thousands of people going to confession (With 50 confessionals and many impromptu settings, it is considered the confessional of the world).
• You may see one or more of the visionaries.
• You may experience miraculous things.

Surroundings

• Many languages (Croatian, Italian, English (spoken everywhere), German, French, Spanish, etc.)
• Fresh and simple local food/drinks (European/Italian in nature)
• Currency (Credit Cards, Euro, American, and Croatian)

• Mary's Meals
• Cenecolo
• Mother's Village
• The Castle

The vatican closely monitors Medjugorje and has appointed an "Apostolic Vistor" (Archbishop Aldo Cavalli) to oversee the pastoral care of the parish and its pilgrims. Since the alledged apparitions are ongoing, The Vatican has not yet ruled on whether the apparitions are "worthy of belief." However, Pope Francis has recognized "the abundant fruits of grace that have sprung up from it", and has authorized pastors and every order at all levels to travel to Medjugorje.

• 1981: The apparitions of Medjugorje begin in the communist country of Yugoslavia.
• 1984: The local bishop, diocese of Mostar forms a commission to investigate the events in Medjugorje.
• 1986: The local Bishop submits a negative decision about Medjugorje.
• 1986: The CDF, under Cardinal Ratzinger rejects the findings of the bishop’s commission, disbands the commission the local bishop created and creates a new commission to investigate Medjugorje. The local bishop and successors were stripped of all jurisdiction over the apparitions of Medjugorje.
• 1991-2019: The first commission concluded that it cannot yet be determined whether Medjugorje is of supernatural origin; and that pilgrims can visit Medjugorje and priests can go there to tend to the spiritual needs of the pilgrims.
• 1991-1995: a three-way ethnic war broke out as Yugoslavia collapsed. 100,000 died, 2,000,000 displaced. Medjugorje, in the center of the war remained unharmed.
• 2010: The Vatican under Pope Benedict formed a new commission under Cardinal Ruini to investigate the apparitions of Medjugorje.
• 2014: The Cardinal Ruini Commission completes its investigation of Medjugorje and submits findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith.
• 2017: Pope Francis appoints Archbishop of Warsaw Poland, Henryk Hoser, as Papal Envoy to Medjugorje. Hoser discovers and wrote to the Pope: 610 religious and priesthood vocations were born in Medjugorje. There is something remarkable here. We can see that devotion in Medjugorje is very Christ-centered, and we have discovered a profound spirituality.
• 2017: The findings of the Ruini Commission, which Pope Francis made public. The commission recommends that the first 7 days of the apparitions be approved and that Medjugorje be turned into a pontifical sanctuary.
• 2018: Pope Francis named Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser as pontifical to the shrine with Vatican oversight. Archbishop Henryk Hoser's message: “3 million Pilgrims each year come to Medjugorje from approximately 80 countries of the world. Why do so many people come to Medjugorje every year? They come to meet God, to meet Christ, to meet His Mother. This is what the people’s devotion in Medjugorje looks like: in the center is the Holy Mass, Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the sacrament of Reconciliation followed by other forms of devotion. I invite all believers to go to Medjugorje and to receive spiritual renewal. I would highly recommend it. I would say that it is the pilgrimage of spiritual change, conversion, and strengthening of faith.”
• 2019: Pope Francis establish Medjugorje as a shrine and declares US clergy are permitted to organize pilgrimages to Medjugorje.   NOTE: No Vatican statement has been made that the apparitions are "worthy of belief." This is not expected until years after the apparitions end. Fatima took 13 years to approve and Lourdes took 18 years to become officially approved after the apparitions stopped.