Medjugorje, the place God chose to give His Grace.
Ivan, Ivanka, Jakov, Marija, Mirjana, Vicka: these are the names of
the young people the Lord willed to choose to begin this—His project.
Podbrdo is the name of the place, a stony hill, chosen by God to bring
about this encounter.
Thus God brings to fulfillment in our history His mysterious designs
to do us good, to remake our lives.
It all began when, on June 25, 1981, the six young people, who were
walking on Podbrdo, said: “We have seen Our Lady”.
The people understood that something important had happened, and
began to come to Medjugorje with the desire to let themselves be taken
by Grace and to experience the presence of the Spirit of God, the Holy
Spirit, as did the Virgin Mary, and accompanied by Our Lady.
In this intervention of God, in the experience of the six young people
with Mary, there comes a profound message: “Peace, peace, peace, ...
peace must reign between man and God.”
Here is a very important message in Medjugorje: if you want to live in
peace, you must understand that there is an essential point of reference
in your life: God.
God, who in the commandments tells you that life, life in itself has
such value that it is a fundamental reality of our existence, which no one
can ever call into question.
God, who in the commandments tells you that the Family, formed
by a man and a woman in indissoluble communion and open to life in
children, is a fact that no one can ever call into question.
God, who in the commandments tells you that you must respect
everyone, and that everyone must respect you.
In Medjugorje we understand how God desires peace in each one of
us, in our families, in our communities, in the Church, in our countries,
in the whole world.
“Peace, peace, peace, ...peace must reign between man and God.”
Mary is the “Queen of Peace”.
Thus is born the evening encounter with God in the parish of Medju-
gorje. We begin with the recitation of the Rosary, to invite the Virgin
Mary to accompany us in this encounter.
The central point of our prayer is the encounter with the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the Celebration of the Eucharist, the bread and wine, trans-
formed by the action of the Holy Spirit, become the sign of the true,
real, substantial presence of the Lord Jesus in our midst.
We then continue this encounter with Eucharistic Adoration, where,
through the work of the Holy Spirit, we experience the Lord Jesus looks
at us and speaks to us, and we can contemplate Him and speak to Him.
Thus takes place the encounter with the Lord, which forms us to be and
to act as true Christians.
The Veneration of the Cross and the prayer for those who are ill in
soul or body are part of this encounter.
In this Eucharistic and Marian spirituality, Podbrdo and Križevac are
part of the memory of the beginnings of this spirituality: the pilgrims
walk up the Apparition Hill to encounter Our Lady and climb the Cross
Mountain to reach the Cross on which Jesus has redeemed us.
The consequence of a day lived so profoundly is the decision to want
to live and deepen the Faith, converting one’s life, praying and fasting,
and living with peace in the heart, which we bring into the family and
to our neighbor.
In this way, the gesture of receiving forgiveness through the Sacrament
of Reconciliation comes spontaneously.
How many positive fruits have occurred and continue to occur in this
place of grace, how many messages in accordance with the Faith and the
Gospel have spread: all this has resulted in the recognition, approved
by Pope Francis, that nihil obstat to appreciating the spiritual value of
this place of grace and to promoting the spread of this spiritual proposal
throughout the whole world.
The texts presented in this volume offer us the possibility to deepen
in an authentic way the history of this spirituality and help us to under-
stand the path that God has willed to accomplish in this place of prayer,
in the encounter with the Lord Jesus and in being accompanied by the
Virgin Mary, the “Queen of Peace.”
✠ Aldo Cavalli
Apostolic Visitor
with a Special Role for the Parish of Medjugorje
Publisher: ICMM
Chief Editor: Nedjeljka sr. Valerija Kovač
Language: English
Year of publication: 2025.
Format: 195 x 120
Number of pages: 107
**Published with the permission of the Church authorities**
