Medjugorje Website Updates

From the beginning of Medjugorje apparitions in June 1981, Medjugorje (in Bosnia and Herzegovina, an Ex-Yugoslavia country in south Europe, see map) became an important place of pilgrimage and encouragement for faith and spiritual life for millions of people and thousands prayer groups. Many people experienced God's grace and presence in their hearts on this place and often receive motivation to lead a better, more valuable life. A life with love and opened heart for God and people, life of prayer and communion with God. Prayers, changed lives and humanitarian activities and projects influenced or inspired by Medjugorje without doubt help make this world a better place. Maybe more, than we would expect.

Over the years people questioned the visionaries of Medjugorje about Our Lady’s appearance, but the most successful inquirer by far was the author, Fr. Janko Bubalo, a Franciscan of the Hercegovinian province. He had followed the events associated with the apparitions from the beginning. For a number of years he heard confessions in Medjugorje and acquired an intimate knowledge of Medjugorje spirituality. One result of his interest is his book A Thousand Encounters with the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje (1985). It met with worldwide success and received a reward. In this book Vicka, the visionary, in answer to Fr. Bubalo’s questions, gives a detailed account of her encounters with Our Blessed Lady. It is true that Fr. Bubalo had interviews with the other visionaries, but in the end decided to publish only the conversations he had with Vicka, because it seemed to him that she answered his questions in the most comprehensive way. Besides, what the other visionaries had to say did not differ essentially from Vicka’s accounts.

For quite a while now, in Medjugorje (Čitluk, Bosnia-Herzegovina) six trustworthy witnesses, testify firmly under oath, that since the 24th of June 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the "Gospa", as she is affectionately known as here, appears to them every day up to the present.

Apparitions of Our Lady Today

On June 24, 1981, at about 6pm, six young parishioners from Medjugorje: Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Ivan Ivankovic and Milka Pavlovic, saw on the hill Crnica (on the place called Podbrdo) an apparition, a white form with a child in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach.

From day to day, pilgrims are drawn to the church of Medjugorje as one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. They come from all tribes and languages to celebrate the mystery of salvation in the Holy Spirit. The celebrating of the Sacred mysteries are at the centre of all events. Mary, Mother of Our Lord is present in these celebrations, as the caring mother and faithful instructor. She gently invites and at the same time thanks (Dear children, little children.... Thank you for having responded to my call!), but at the same time she is exacting; "pray, fast, be carriers of peace, participate in the mass, live the Gospel... You are not alone. You can do all things in Him who is calling you from the darkness into His wonderful light." She, the mother of Light, is offering us her Son, the Sun of justice, the Light who illuminates every man and enables him to be a light to the world.

At that time Jesus said: “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” (Jn 17,24-26)

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Mary's prayer is revealed to us at the dawning of the fullness of time. Before the incarnation of the Son of God, and before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, her prayer cooperates in a unique way with the Father's plan of loving kindness: at the Annunciation, for Christ's conception; at Pentecost, for the formation of the Church, his Body. In the faith of his humble handmaid, the Gift of God found the acceptance he had awaited from the beginning of time. She whom the Almighty made "full of grace" responds by offering her whole being: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word." "Fiat": this is Christian prayer: to be wholly God's, because he is wholly ours. (2617)

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We thank You, O Father, for the gift of prayer which allows us to touch Your heart; prayer in which You give Yourself entirely to us and in which You teach us to give ourselves entirely to You. We pray today for all intentions of the Queen of Peace and for all that is necessary so that the whole world, through Mary, may enter into Your glory, the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Jesus said to his disciples: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come towards the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” (Jn 3,16-21)

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Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus' mother into our homes, for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. The prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope. (2679)

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We thank You, O Father, for having given us Your Son and His Mother, so that none of those who believe in them and listen to them may be lost. Thank You for caring for each person and, in Your mercy, for condemning no one. We pray today for all that Our Lady has prayed for here in Medjugorje, and for every grace that has been poured out here into the world. May it bring the fruit of holiness and serve You in Your plan of salvation. Amen.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow is the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Mt 7,12-14)

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In prayer the Holy Spirit unites us to the person of the only Son, in his glorified humanity, through which and in which our filial prayer unites us in the Church with the Mother of Jesus. Mary gave her consent in faith at the Annunciation and maintained it without hesitation at the foot of the Cross. Ever since, her motherhood has extended to the brothers and sisters of her Son "who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties." Jesus, the only mediator, is the way of our prayer; Mary, his mother and ours, is wholly transparent to him: she "shows the way" (hodigitria), and is herself "the Sign" of the way, according to the traditional iconography of East and West. (2673 2674)

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Love is the sign of recognition to Your disciples, O Lord. We thank You for every response of love given through service and gifts to others. We pray for all members of the Medjugorje Prayer Groups and Centres in the whole world. Together with Your Mother, may they more courageously and resolutely, within their families and wherever they live, always show this narrow way, the only one that leads to You. Help them to grow day by day in the fullness of Your Love. Amen.

At that time Jesus said: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” (Mt 11,25-30)

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In the New Covenant, prayer is the living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is good beyond measure, with his Son Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. The grace of the Kingdom is "the union of the entire holy and royal Trinity . . . with the whole human spirit." Thus, the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. Prayer is Christian insofar as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ's love. (2565)

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We have not chosen You, O Lord, but You have chosen us. You alone know all the little ones who will receive the grace of the revelation of Your love through Your Mother, here in Medjugorje. We pray for all pilgrims who will come to Medjugorje: protect their hearts from all satanic attacks and open their hearts to all inspirations coming from Your Heart and from the Heart of Mary. Amen.