I have always had a love for Marian pilgrimage sites, especially the largest and most famous ones, like Lourdes and Fatima. But I never thought I would get to visit them. It was only last year that they unexpectedly came to me from the Virgin Mary. Additionally, at the end of the year and the beginning of this year, there was a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, also unexpectedly.
It was organized by Dr. Fr. Mráček as a pilgrimage and at the same time as charitable aid to the suffering nations there, from December 28 to January 3. On the morning of December 28, two buses departed from Prague, one with Czech pilgrims and the other with Moravian ones. Along with them was a priest known to us, P. Josef Brychta, a former pastor in Slavonice and a former dean of the Dačice deanery, who later worked in Tuřany and is now at St. James in Brno. And five theology students from the Prague and Olomouc seminaries. I joined them at the border in Dolní Dvořiště along with another young parishioner.
We traveled peacefully through Austria and then through the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia, and Croatia, until we were stopped by the police at two o'clock in the morning because the terrible windstorms made it impossible to continue, especially not by ferry across the sea near the Pag peninsula, which had to be taken due to nearby fighting. Otherwise, we traveled safely along the coast, and there were no signs of war. On the evening of December 29 at 9 PM, we had a Holy Mass with the Franciscans in Zadar. We arrived in Medjugorje just before five o'clock in the morning on December 30.
Our daily schedule was approximately as follows: in the morning, we had a Czech Mass for our pilgrims in the chapel of the order's sisters. One day, we made an exhausting journey in the wind and cold to the summit of Podbrdo, combined with meditative rosaries, while another day we went to the summit of Križovac with a meditative Stations of the Cross. One afternoon, we spoke with Vicka at their house, and the next day with Jelena also at home. One afternoon we went to Mostar, but more about that later.
Every evening, we attended a liturgy that lasted three hours, from five to eight. During it, the entire 15-decade rosary is prayed, during which the Virgin Mary appears. The Holy Mass is celebrated in Croatian with the present priests, only the Gospel is read in several languages, including Czech. After the Holy Mass, the priest kneels at the altar, and everyone prays 7 times the Our Father, Hail Mary, and I Believe in God. On December 31, Vicka and Marija knelt beside him. After the Holy Mass, there is also adoration or devotion at the manger. It was beautiful to conclude the old year and begin the new one. Many priests concelebrated, and the church was full of pilgrims; after the Holy Mass, there was a thanksgiving devotion outside the church. And then the midnight Holy Mass.
But you are surely waiting for me to say something about the war that rages there. Medjugorje is completely unharmed. Despite the greatest efforts to destroy the pilgrimage site, the Virgin Mary miraculously saved it. Just like in Lourdes, when during the fourth apparition, terrible voices were heard, the glance of the Virgin Mary was enough for everything to immediately fall silent. On the last day of the year, we visited Mostar through a desolate landscape among limestone rocks interspersed with small bushes here and there. We saw the ruined new cathedral, only in front of it stands the unharmed statue of the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus. The bishop's residence is completely destroyed, everything inside has been ruined. From there we went to a park where about 500 fallen soldiers are buried. Then to the Franciscan church, which was hit by four bombs on May 6, 1992, leaving only bare walls standing, and inside is a heap of rubble. But the monastery was not damaged. The old town is completely devastated. Only one of the bridges remains, the oldest one. People live in poverty.
On the last day of our stay, we managed to have a Czech Holy Mass for our pilgrims early in the church. By noon, we set off on the return journey. Due to the terrible windstorms, we lost two days, and additionally, the Red Cross helped us, so we arrived home on January 5 instead of January 3. I was used to strong winds in Moravian Siberia and liked them, but I have never experienced such terrible winds in my life. They reminded me of the wind that broke the rocks which the prophet Elijah experienced. There, it even overturned trucks.
In Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje, the Virgin Mary called and called for prayer, especially for the rosary. In Lourdes, she called three times “repentance, repentance, repentance.” But she called even more for repentance in Fatima and most of all in Medjugorje. Here, she also added a call to fasting. In Lourdes, she presented herself as the Immaculate Conception, in Fatima as the Queen of the Holy Rosary, and in Medjugorje as the Queen of Peace. In these places, her presence and influence are felt throughout the world. That will remain within mankind.
P. Metoděj Minařík O.Carm.
