A half hour drive from Mostar is the Catholic pilgrimage town of Medugorje. In 1981 a group of 6 teenagers were hanging out on Križevac hill behind a church smoking (maybe drinking) and acting like teenagers when they claimed the Virgin Mary appeared and spoke to them. The Virgin’s message asked for peace in the world, attending mass & confession, prayer and fasting. 25 years later three of the six (now adults) still have daily visions of the Virgin Mary. Since then, this tiny obscure town in the middle of nowhere has been inundated with tourists/pilgrims from all over the world. More than 30 million people have visited since 1981 and the village has about 1 million visitors per year.
The Catholic Church has not officially recognized this apparition although they stated that a decision would be made in July, 2015. Still no decision but this is not uncommon since there is some politics involved with local clergy and Franciscan monks. Plus the Catholic Church is notorious for waiting 30-50-maybe even a 100 years to declare that an apparition, miracle, or saint is legit.
We walked behind St. James church and started a 1.2 mile hike up Apparition Hill with the stations of the cross along the way to help break up the hike. We were expecting steps up the hill like many other pilgrimage sites we’ve visited but this path was jagged limestone with no clear path and very difficult to navigate. Many people were doing the hike without shoes. We saw nuns, priests, people on crutches, small children, and several ladies wearing high heels struggling up the hill. So many of my relatives have done this pilgrimage- Miaa Pat, Aunt Geri, MaryAnn, & Marilyn? I’m sure I’m missing someone. I said about 200 Hail Mary’s on the way up since we were not smart enough to bring water.
In 1981, one of the teenagers asked the Virgin if all religions were the same… Our Lady answered: “Members of all faiths are equal before God. God rules over each faith just like a sovereign over his kingdom.”
Our pilgrimage tour has come full circle on my birthday! We began our tour at one of the oldest pilgrimage sites in Europe, Mont. St. Michel (blog post at https://www.travelerblues.com/destinations/france/mont-st-michel/) and then some crazy stuff happened and we wound up at the newest pilgrimage site during our travels. Kind of a special B-day. Thanks for all of the B-day wishes from around the world.
