The Parish of Medjugorje - Medjugorje-mir,mir,mir

The parish of Medjugorje

Medjugorje, which is in Herzegovina, is situated approximately 20 km south-west of Mostar (the chief town of the Herzegovina region) and the same distance, as the crow flies, from the Adriatic Sea, opposite Italy's Abruzzo region. It is one of the most important centres of the Municipality of Citluk (Citluc). It is recalled for the first time in history in 1599.
Prior to the apparitions it was a small village in the province and dioceses of Mostar and it didn't even appear on geographical maps. It's name means "Amidst the mountains" or "Amidst the forests" because it is situated between two mountains: Krizevac (Criscevaz) and Crnica (Zerniza).
Krizevac, or the mountain of the cross, is 540 metes above sea level, it is called "The Mountain of the Cross" because during the Year of Our Lord 1933 a cement cross measuring approximately 12 metres in height including the pedestal was built there, in memory of the Redemption.
More than a mountain, Crnica is a hill and on its slopes there is a stony area full of bushes, where goats and sheep graze, it is called Podbrdo (Podbordo), and it is the site of the first apparitions.

The parish of Medjugorje was founded on the 15th of May 1892 and placed under the protection of Saint James, the patron saint of pilgrims, it is part of the diocese of Mostar-Duvno, and is assisted by the Franciscans of the province of Herzegovina and it spreads out over three municipalities. Citluk (with the villages of Medjugorje, Bijakovici and Vionica), Ljubuski (village of Miletina) and Ciapljina (village of surmanci). With all the inhabitants of the villages, the territory of the parish included approximately three thousand people, of which sixty were of Islamic faith. The others had all been baptised in the Catholic Church. The first parish Church was completed in 1897. It was quite large and very beautiful but it was soon reduced to ruins because it was built on land liable to slide and a short time afterwards it began to sink and become covered in cracks.
The current Church, which is much larger than the previous one, seemed to be disproportionate for the parish and for this reason it was criticised. In reality, it was already in God's plans that it would need to serve not only the inhabitants of the parish, but pilgrims from all over the world and it is now too small and so mass is often celebrated outdoors in order to accommodate the extremely high number of pilgrims who attend the functions.
People also criticised the need for the cross on mount Krizevac when it was built, but in the plans of Providence it was set to become the destination of millions of pilgrims who reach it after having embarked on the stages of the Via Crucis.
The works on the Church commenced in 1937, but there was the interruption of the war, during which time all the material was lost. After the war the works recommenced and the Church was consecrated on the 19th of January 1969. After the apparitions, Medjugorje grew extensively, especially due to the construction of guest houses. With the money from the offerings from pilgrims approximately fifty-five thousand metres squared of land was purchased, the majority of which was small vineyards owned by several owners. And so the building of private residential centres was prohibited within the immediate vicinity of the Church. The parish was renewed in terms of its fervour with the onset of the apparitions, becoming unique on a worldwide scale. Ideological divisions disappeared and people reconciled their differences.
The development of the pilgrimages created a profound social and professional change: the traditional cultivation of vines and tobacco was reduced substantially, leaving space for the development of hotel accommodation structures.
Taken from the book "The Messages of the Queen of Peace", Shalom Publishers.