A Pilgrim's Journey To Medugorje - A Place of Marian Apparitions

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A Pilgrim's Journey To Medugorje - A Place of Marian Apparitions

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For all of us life is a journey, but every now and again our journey brings us to a place which is so special and unique that it leaves its mark in an indelible way. Such was the case for me in June 1998 when I journeyed to a small Bosnian village called Medurgorje.

Medugorje
(Taken from Apparition Mountain)

One of the many beautiful houses in Podbrdo

The village of Podbrdo
(Taken from Apparitions Mountain)

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My journey or pilgrimage to this place was based purely on faith - a firm belief without logical proof - of the apparitions of Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God, to six local visionaries. Wednesday June 24th. 1981 saw the beginning of this phenomenon when two village teenagers claimed to have seen the Gospa or Virgin Mary while walking near the mountain at Podbrdo. The following day four of their friends joined them and they too saw and spoke with the Blessed Virgin. Since that time Our Lady has been appearing to the visionaries on a daily basis leaving us with well over 6,000 heavenly visits to date.

Through the visionaries Mary Queen of Peace gives a monthly message to the world, so simple and basic in its content and yet so difficult for many of us to put into practice. Her main messages are for:
.

Peace;
.Prayer and Fasting;
.Conversion of the Heart;
.Forgiveness and Reconciliation;
..Increased Devotion to the Eucharist;
.Increased Reading of the Holy Scriptures.

The Blue Cross at the start
of the climb up the
Apparitions Mountain

Mountain at Krizevac
(Taken from our host's house)

One of the many small,
simple crosses to be
found on both mountains.

. This little village in southern Bosnia had a population of 400 souls at the time of the original apparition but now has increased in size to be able to accommodate the many millions of pilgrims who have been coming here every year since 1981 from every corner of the earth. From here people of all faiths and none bring the treasures they have seen and heard back to their own homes, parishes, communities and countries and a sharing and spreading of the heavenly messages and warnings is gradually reaching every corner of the globe.

The parish of St. James is run by the Franciscan Fathers and although the Catholic Church has not officially given its recognition to the events of Medegorje, neither has it come out and condemned it.

'By their fruits shall they be known' is a maxim which holds true in this place. Here is to be found love, peace, joy, sharing, healing, and all that is good. Here also is to be found warnings of the everyday presence and power of evil in this world.

St James' Church,
The night of June 25th. 1998
17th. anniversary.

.
St James' Church with
the Dome at the rear.

.As a result of an increase in prayer, continually requested by Our lady, some of the dire earlier warnings have been avoided. We stand on the threshold of the greatest battle between good and evil that this world has ever seen . No sane and open-minded person can deny that what we are witnessing and experiencing in the latter half of the 20th. century is a world so caught up in selfishness, materialism, secularism, hate, division and depravity. Is it any wonder then that the very heavens are crying out for change. We who are living through this evil era are blessed to be alive at a time when God has sent Mary as His envoy to ask us to pray for peace, conversion, and to change our ways. We live in a beautiful world but the beauty of our surroundings, of our peoples, of nature is being destroyed by 'man's' greed and 'man's' lust for power. We truly need to change and that change starts within our own hearts. Medjugorje speaks to the heart of us all if we but take the time and effort to listen.
.

Fr. Frank McCabe was one of the several octogenarians who travelled with our group.
He climbed to the top of both mountains a
couple of times.

Some of our group on the large mountain at Krizevac praying the Stations of the Cross.
We were 180 in all, mostly from Galway.

One of the Stations of the Cross on the large mountain, Krizevac. On Fridays the local people climb to the summit praying the Stations.

The large stone cross, at the summit of the large mountain at Krizevac, was erected by the local people in 1933 for the 1900th. anniversary of Christ's death

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For me, my ten days there was a wonderful time of reflection, peaceful meditation, joyful participation in the Mass and other prayerful ceremonies and devotions, and a test of my endurance over several issues. The weather was just beautiful and for one who comes from the Emerald Isle where constant sunshine is a rarity I must say I enjoyed the warmth enormously.

Dawn on the Apparitions Mountain Podbrdo

Dawn from the summit of the
large mountain at krizevac

.
I found myself leaving the house of our host family at 4-30 in the morning and reciting my Rosary on the way to climb the large mountain at Krizevac. Sitting up there near the summit and watching the sunrise with a song in my heart and a prayer on my lips was just food for my soul. The climb up the smaller Apparition Mountain in Podbrdo was just as peaceful but 6am was an early enough start to allow me time to get to the summit, relax a little and be back down in time for breakfast.

Dawn at the summit of the large
mountain in Krizevac.

Sunset at the Cross of The Resurection
to the rear of St. James'.

.
As a busy Mom also caught up in the startup of a new business, this time-out was just 'what the doctor ordered', just what the spiritual part of me needed. I came home relaxed and feeling 'in equilibrium' with myself and the world. This was a very special time in a very special place and I shall return someday, of that I am sure - God and Mary alone know when.

And so I leave you with a beautiful image of one of our group - a pilgrim - standing in awe of the beauty and magnificence of a glorious red sunset over the Dinaric Alps, Bosnia-Hercegovina.
.

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Such is the wonder, glory and beauty of God's creation. May Jesus & Mary Bless You.

the Rest of the Journey

For those who have just joined me on this page why not go to the beginning of our travels and see some of the places in The Start of Our Journey through the West of Ireland.

My Place Amongst the Stones gives the history of my company name, Moytura - a celtic heritage going back thousands of years.

We journey to my own parish of Lackagh - a small village just 12 miles from Galway with a mighty big history. Learn all about the Battle of Knockdoe - one of Ireland's bloodiest of conflicts in the 16th century.

We move on to take a quick jaunt around Galway City; and then to the heart of Connemara - with its wild and wonderful beauty.

From there we journey south into County Clare to see The Burren - a place that has lain undisturbed since the Ice-age and of immense botanical, ecological and archaeological importance.

Visit Ireland's finest early monastic heritage centre in Clonmacnoise, County Offaly; and to my favourite of all the early Christian Church locations - Clonfert, South County Galway, with its beautiful tiny 12th century Cathedral of Saint Brendan. Come with me around the grounds and see the 1000 year old Yew Walk and the Bishop's Palace.

While on the Clonfert pages, you can learn a potted history of Saint Brendan the Navigator, possibly the first European to set foot in North America in the 6th. century. And join me in the celebrations when this tiny cathedral was listed in the World Monuments Watch 2000 most endangered monuments.

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On this page you will learn some of the history of our Famine Refugees from 1845 - 1849 and find the final resting place of over 6,000 of my country folk who died within sight of their first freedom in over 300 years. This is where many of the Irish roots in North America started.

Our Journey moves on to other places on that visit to Canada where we see Quebec City and some of Ontario's lovely places and then to two of Canada's famous Catholic Shrines - Saint Anne de Beaupré and to Cap-de-la-Madeleine. The other areas of my Web site can be found in the drop-down box below.

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