"Medjugorje is of major importance to the life of the Church"

Religious women and men speak of the special quality of what they call Medjugorje spirituality. Here is their testimonies: 

"Medjugorje is of major importance to the life of the church here," said Franciscan Fr. Svetozar Kraljević in Mostar. "It means a lot to Catholics in so many ways. There is a spark of what could be — the desire of the human being to fulfill dreams."

One sister who speaks about the many dimensions of the Medjugorje experience is Sr. Janja Boras, 75, who is also a School Sister of St. Francis of Christ the King in Mostar. She believes the pilgrimages to Medjugorje are largely marked by "miracles more spiritual than physical," with the site being a place of confession and renewal for the many pilgrims visiting the hilltop village. She describes Medjugorje spirituality as having elements of fasting, prayer, the desire for reconciliation and the search for peace.

In seminars she leads for parishioners in Mostar, Sr. Ljilja Pehar, also of the School Sisters of St. Francis of Christ the King, said the connections between spirituality, fasting, prayer and silence are all made in the awareness "that a fullness of joy is only that which God can provide." That echoes throughout the life experiences of sisters working and living in the proximity of Medjugorje. 

That is certainly the case with Boras, who said her own sense of call has been deepened by her experiences with Medjugorje. "Even though I am a nun and a Christian, I've been changed — ready to give my life to Christ," she said, something she feels more fully now than she did before the reports of visions in 1981. 

The testimony of sightings of Mary "came like thunder" to her and others amid increasing unhappiness in the early 1980s with the communist-led regime in the former Yugoslavia.  "Communism oppressed those who believed," she said. The six children — two boys and four girls — who said they experienced the apparitions all said the figure they said addressed them spoke of being "the queen of peace" and also spoke of coming to testify that "God exists," a balm for Catholics who had chafed under communist rule.

Boras eventually spent 14 years in Medjugorje, five years doing parish work and eight years in a convent. She still feels "with my soul, body and spirit that my whole being is still there."  "I've left Medjugorje but it has never left me," she said.

She feels the power of the place — and of Mary — in recalling the 1990s wars in Bosnia and neighboring countries, saying Our Lady "was crying out" and "begging us to help her" in efforts to battle the evil in those wars.

"Satan is never at peace," she said. But by contrast, "Our Lady will win, because she is the spouse of the Holy Spirit."

But Our Lady also commands attention because of veneration of performing the deeds of merciful acts. Without an awareness of that, said Pehar, "praying and fasting are in vain. It's all connected." And part of that connection is to "help others in need."

Chris Herlinger, March 28, 2024

Adapted from www.ncronline.org