From the Irish Catholic: “Medjugorje goes mainstream”
Source: Irish Catholic
Church officials have adopted a warmer attitude towards the reported apparitions, writes Michael Kelly
For devotees of Medjugorje, shifting attitudes in the Church on the phenomenon only confirm what they already believe: that the small town in Herzegovina is a place where heaven meets earth and wonderous things happen through the intercession of the Mother of God. An estimated 30,000 Irish people – many of them young people – visit the Marian town every year.
Many others – also devout Catholics – remain immensely sceptical and whilst Pope Francis has ushered in a thawing in the official Church’s position on Medjugorje, there is still no ecclesiastical approval for the reported apparitions.
Ever since 1981, when six local children reported that they had seen the Blessed Virgin Mary, Irish people have been amongst the first visitors to the town. Devotion to the Mother of God as Our Lady of Medjugorje has been popular in Ireland and it has inspired numerous prayer groups around the country.
Vocation
Anecdotally, many of those going forward for priesthood and religious life also attribute the flowering of their vocation to Medjugorje. The success of the Community Cenacolo in Medjugorje helping people suffering from crippling addictions has also led many people to associate the town with healing and helping people in desperate circumstances to get their lives back.
The story begins on June 24, 1981 when Mirjana Dragicevic and Ivanka Ivankovic reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary. The following day, another vision was reported by Mirjana and Ivanka and this time four other young people reported seeing it as well: Marija Pavlovic, Jakov Colo, Vicka Ivankovic, and Ivan Dragicevic.
The teenagers claim that they saw an apparition on Podbrdo Hill; the alleged apparition was a young woman with an infant in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach. The next day at the same time four of the youths returned, and were later joined by the other two.
At the time of the first alleged apparition Vicka was 16 years old. She claims to have prayed and talked with Our Lady and to have been given nine ‘secrets’. Her ‘prayer mission’, given by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is to pray for the sick.
One of the challenges facing the Church is that the phenomenon is still ongoing. Three of the alleged seers – Ivan, Marija and Vicka – claim that Our Lady still appears to them on a daily basis. The other three, Mirjana, Ivanka, and Jakov, say they no longer see Our Lady daily.
The ongoing nature of Medjugorje makes it difficult for Church authorities to make a definitive judgement on whether or not what is occurring is supernatural and, therefore, worthy of belief. Yet, the four basic messages of prayer, peace, fasting and penance are entirely consistent with the Catholic Faith.
Medjugorje is an international reference point for prayer where extraordinary spiritual fruits can be touched by hand”
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