(CNS photo/Paul Haring) Louise Hall
On June 24, 1981, six young children claimed to have seen a vision of Our Lady on a small hill called Podbrdo in the poor Catholic farming village of Medjugorje. Although they ran away terrified at the sight of the apparition, they returned to the same spot at the same time the following day and came face to face with the mother of God, who has continued to appear to them every day since then. When the children asked Our Lady why she had appeared she answered, “I have come to let you know that God does exist.”
Over thirty years later, in what is said by some to be a continuation of Lourdes and Fatima, more than 40 million curious pilgrims have descended on the quaint village of Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, eager to hear what the ‘Queen of Peace’ has to say. On the 25th of each month, the ‘Gospa’, as the visionaries fondly call her, gives a message to the world. The messages are of peace, love, reconciliation, fasting and prayer; and always begin with “Dear Children” and end with, “Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Many people, including journalists, have tried to discredit the allegations but most come home converted and eager to spread the messages they receive. The village of Medjugorje has now adapted to cope with the influx of tourists and continues to attract people of all religions from all over the world. When the church of St James (patron saint of pilgrims) was built in 1933 everyone thought it was far too big for the small village; little did they know that millions of pilgrims would pass through its doors many years later. The large white cross on Mount Križevac is the first thing pilgrims see when they come to Medjugorje. It was also built in 1933 and contains a piece of the true cross of Christ. The six visionaries, who are now grown adults with children of their own, still claim to see the Virgin Mary, albeit some less frequently than others. When people ask the six seers to describe the woman who appears they explain as best they can the incomparable beauty before their eyes.
The apparition
According to the visionaries, the Madonna appears in a greyish-blue dress with a long white veil. Her hair is black and her eyes are blue and she floats on a white cloud; a crown of 12 gold stars sits comfortably on her head. On feast days and special occasions she dresses in gold, sometimes holding the baby Jesus in her arms. Other times, he is said to appear standing beside her with the crown of thorns torturing his bleeding head. The visionaries say that when Our Lady appears a little piece of heaven comes with her and that if we knew how much Our Lady loved us, we would cry tears of joy.
Meeting Medjugorje
Travelling out to Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of the apparitions in 2011 brought me face to face with many Irish pilgrims. Each person was there for different reasons; some in thanksgiving for the good in their lives; others to pray for a sick relative or friend; more who were simply searching and hoping to awaken and reinstate the spirituality they were born with but may have lost along their journey through life. Each and every person I met had an intriguing story to tell about how they were introduced to Medjugorje and why they felt drawn to travel there.
My mother brought the first group of Irish pilgrims out to the village back in the 80s and each one of her five children always accompanied her on the trips, including me. As a curious and naïve child, I can remember Medjugorje as the poor farming village it was many years ago and have fond memories of feeling pure peace and love in the hospitality of the local people who eagerly opened their homes to the masses of visitors. The food and wine they placed on our table each night was fresh from the earth and, although they had little in terms of wealth or material goods, they willingly gave us everything they possibly could.
The lack of wealth in the village was evident and, even though this was at a time when Ireland was going through its own tough economic recession, I can still remember the generosity of the Irish pilgrims who dug deep into their pockets on the last day of their stay, eagerly making up a collection of coins and notes of both dollars and local currency to give to the host families as a token of appreciation for their hospitality.
I remember going back as a teenager to the Youth Festivals where a young and newly-ordained Fr Liam Lawton, along with Fr Slavko, who was spiritual advisor to the visionaries, were present, as were hundreds of young people from all over the world who were housed in 20-man tents on the outskirts of the village where they engaged in a week of folk music, song and prayer. For me, it was like a spiritual and social uprising drenched in enthusiasm, faith and love. Here, I met many likeminded young people and I could leave behind all that was expected of me by my peers and detach myself from the, sometimes extreme, pressures and expectations which were associated with the turbulent teenage years. Medjugorje was a place where everyone was invited and accepted, regardless of one’s failings and imperfections.
It is very true that once you visit Medjugorje you will undoubtedly return. People rarely travel there only once and the place possesses a strange, compelling magnetic effect. As I got older, I journeyed on through life, entered adulthood, fell in love and started a family and, though I always said I would return to Medjugorje, it never seemed to be the right time in my life to do so.
In 2008 my sister died very suddenly at the young age of 26. She had accompanied my mother on her first trip to Medjugorje many years ago when she was only two years old. Nicky was born with Down Syndrome. She was the light of our life and our family was stricken with an indescribable and heart wrenching grief when she passed away. Suddenly, I became very aware of my own mortality and made a conscious decision to stop putting off things in my life that I always wanted to do.
The ‘smiling visionary’
When I heard that Vicka was appearing on The Late Late Show in February 2011, I was fortunate enough to be a guest in the green room. My mother was also there and we all chatted amiably with Vicka, who I can only describe as the ‘smiling visionary’ who seems to have this constant light emanating from her. Later on, Vicka and my mother shared a private moment together and my mother openly expressed her grief at the loss of my sister. Vicka listened on sympathetically, pure empathy evident in her eyes, and my mother listened attentively as the kindhearted visionary told her how children with special needs are sent down as a gift from heaven. She said they are sent down to teach us and bring love. However, they are also called back, up to where they belong, to live in eternal happiness.
I made my decision that night to go back to Medjugorje for the 30th anniversary of the apparitions. I didn’t know the real reason why I was going back. I just knew that I was giving in to that strong pull and desire to once again visit this holy place. Arriving at the village after more than 20 years, I was both surprised and encouraged to see that the authenticity of the village had remained intact despite the inevitable arrival of commercialism. I inhaled and soaked up the reverential and venerable ambiance and allowed myself to get lost amidst the undeniable sense of peace and love.
On my second day, I was lucky to get an interview with Ivan, one of the visionaries, as his schedule was consumed with radio and television interviews that week. Nevertheless, he agreed to meet me under the shade of a tree in the grounds of St James Church the morning after I arrived. He spoke through an interpreter called Daniela. The married man reflected on the past 30 years by saying, “These days, I really go back to the first date and I want to renew those first beginnings which are so profound in my memory. I want to filter all that was so amazing and so beautiful. For me and my wife, this truly has been a great gift.”
When I asked Ivan about the messages Our Lady had for the people, he was confident in his reply. “When Our Lady speaks, she speaks to us all. She is our mother, she loves us all and we are all important to her; there are no rejected ones. She needs us to spread her message. That is why it is paramount that we realise the importance of her coming and of her messages during this moment and time we are living in.” I asked him what the most important messages were. “In a special way, I would like to emphasise the most important message which in my opinion is the message of peace and prayer. If we don’t listen to those two, then we cannot accept all of the messages that Our Lady is sending. It is hard and difficult to forgive if you do not have peace in your heart. Without forgiveness there is no healing. If there is no spiritual healing, then there is no physical healing.”
Ivan finished off by saying that we must be free and open to the Holy Spirit and in that way we can accept what Our Lady desires for us. The rest of my week was filled with stories and testimonies from different people from all walks of life and I absorbed the universal message of love and peace that emanated from every pilgrim in the village. It was almost indescribable and that familiar and welcoming feeling of enthusiasm, faith and love began to burn once again inside me. I also listened intently to various stories of events that have happened in the village in recent times.
When I ventured up to the Blue Cross one sun-filled morning, passing through the picturesque vineyards with the ever-present impressive mountains nestled comfortably in the backdrop, I sat on a rock at the foot of the cross and listened to a mesmerising story. Our guide for the week explained how during the Bosnian War the soldiers wouldn’t let the visionaries go to Apparition Hill. For the six children, it was torture not to see the Blessed Virgin and so Ivan decided to disobey the commands as he sneaked out of his home one evening.
When he came to the foot of Podbrdo there was an old stone house over to the right and Ivan ventured over trying to be as quiet as he could. Suddenly, he heard Our Lady’s voice and she told him that the soldiers were nearby and that he must stay exactly where he was. The guide continued to tell us that Ivan stood very still but within seconds, the sniffer dogs and soldiers were by his side. However, after a few moments they moved on past him. It is said that the Gospa made him invisible for those few moments.
***
It is true that we, as humans, are naturally curious about the afterlife and for me I feel that even the toughest of sceptics would find it difficult to ignore what has been going on in Medjugorje over the past 30 years. What Medjugorje means to me can be summed up in the effortless love and goodness I have in my life today. I am eternally grateful to my mother for her natural curiosity which spurred her to travel to the village many years ago. Little did she know the grounding it would give me as a child for my journey through life and the impact it would have on me when I returned as a grown and mature adult over 20 years later.
Everyone takes their own meaning and understanding when visiting the village and, for me personally, I came to appreciate that man creates divides, not God. The visionaries once asked Our Lady who was the holiest person in the village? She named a local Muslim woman, explaining that she was the closest to God. Medjugorje is a place where everyone is embraced, regardless of creed. The messages are simply urging us to lead better lives so we can embrace and be fulfilled with the happiness God intended for us in this sometimes difficult journey through life. A lady put it very simply to me one day as we drove home from a mutual friend’s funeral. I asked her why she thought Our Lady was appearing in Medjugorje. Her reply was poignant and heartwarming. She told me that if she died and went to heaven and there was some way that she could come back and tell her children how best to live their lives, then she would do it. This is what she thinks Our Lady is doing and has been doing in Medjugorje for over 30 years: she is advising her children on how to live their lives. Just as Ivan said, ‘When Our Lady speaks, she speaks to us all. She is our mother.’ We are all her children – and here are just some of our testimonies.
Louise Hall, Editor, Medjugorje and Me, Columba Press, 2014: Abridged Introduction