The Story of Medjugorje

The visionaries

On June 24, 1981, at about 6pm, six young parishioners from Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina,  noticed the figure of a woman with a child in her arms on the hillside above the village. They were scared, and did not approach.  The next day at the same time, June 25, 1981, four of them, Ivanka Ivankovic, Mirjana Dragicevic, Vicka Ivankovic and Ivan Dragicevic, felt strongly drawn to return to the place where they had seen the figure who they had recognised as Our Lady. Marija Pavlovic and Jakov Colo joined them. The group of Medjugorje visionaries was formed. They prayed with Our Lady and talked to her. From that day onward, they have had daily apparitions, together or separately.  Mary says she has come to bring the world back to her Son, Jesus.  She comes as Queen of Peace and she calls us to convert and to reconcile ourselves with God and with each other. She asks us to open our hearts to God and His plan for each one of us through prayer, fasting, scripture, the Eucharist and confession.  In addition to the messages Our Lady gives on the 25th of each month for the world, the visionaries say they are each being entrusted with ten ‘secrets’.  They tell us these will be revealed to the world three days before each one occurs.  Around 40 million pilgrims have been to Medjugorje, including priests, bishops and cardinals.

The Five Stones

Our Blessed Mother’s messages at Medjugorje can be summarized as a call to daily conversion. She warns us of the nature of the struggle we face and she reminds us of the ‘weapons’ we have at our disposal - Holy Mass, prayer, fasting, Scripture and monthly Confession.  These are often referred to as the ‘five stones’ and like David we can use them to slay the Goliaths that surround us – our own sinfulness and our materialistic culture. 

The Church’s Position

The Church has yet to declare whether these apparitions are authentic or not.  In 2010 the Holy Father set up a Commission headed by Cardinal Ruini to investigate the events.  This Commission will report to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.  Meanwhile the faithful are free to go on pilgrimage to Medjugorje in a private capacity.
For more information on Medjugorje, and an archive of all the messages, visit: www.medjugorje.hr