Medugorje: The Virgin�s Shrine

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MEDUGORJE bosnia and herzegovina

T H E  V I R G I N ' S  S H R I N E

        The
village of Medugorje was always an important settlement. The Illyrians
built a community at the site where they bred sheep, horses, goats,
cattle and produced grapes and wine as well as different sorts of
crops. The ancient Illyrian artifacts discovered in the area include
all manner of relics, from the foundations of buildings to wine
pitchers and utensils.
When Slavs arrived in this area, Medugorje was a cherished conquest
and although settlements in the area were rural in nature, their
combined populations far exceeded that of any other area of equal size
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slavs adopted the Illyrian trades and
vineyards spread from Medugorje throughout the rest of southern Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
With the arrival of the Roman Empire, Medugorje lost much of its
strategic importance and, although it would be unfair to say the area
was negatively impacted by the Roman Empire, it is safe to say it was
not developed and continued in its pre-Roman capacity for centuries.
The principal Roman settlement in the region was Villa Rustica (near
modern-day Capljina) and there was also an important Roman fortress at
Bigeste (near modern-day Ljubuski) - both are 15 kilometers outside of
Medugorje.
As the Roman Empire's power began to fade and the religion of Bosnia
and Herzegovina evolved into Bogumilism, Medugorje remained a place
with a staunch Roman Catholic minority. The locals translated many of
the sacred texts from Latin into Bosnian to ensure proper Church
doctrine remained for those willing to accept it.
As Bogumilism grew stronger and a Bosnian national identity indepent
of Croatia began to emerge, the ways of life originally decided upon by
the Illyrians passed hands again. Bosnian Bogumil tombstones, called
stecci - which are found nowhere else on earth - depict scenes of
harvesting grapes and drinking wine.

It is interesting that wine was mentioned in some historical
        documents. Namely, visiting this region in 1353, the Bosnian King Tvrtko Kotromanic,
        with his escort, drank a high-quality white wine called Zilavka.
In the Bosnian Kingdom, Medugorje and the surrounding area served as
a bread basket. The crops being transported between Medugorje and the
Bosnian capital Jajce, to the north, were often intercepted by raiders,
attracted by their fine quality.

With the expansion of Islam, Medugorje and the surrounding area fell
easily to the Ottoman Empire in 1463. However, the people of Medugorje,
for the most part, did not convert to Islam. The town has, since the
arrival of Christianity to this region, always maintained a Christian
majority.

For these reasons, the Ottomans were forced to establish new
settlements in the area to serve their administrative and all other
purposes. While Medugorje remained a bread basket, two new settlements
were founded nearby. The first was Pocitelj, an important Ottoman
fortress.

The second was a settlement that would
grow to become the regional capital of the whole of southern Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Many thousands of residents from the Medugorje area moved
to this city for greater opportunities in life, meaning it has always
had a Christian minority throughout its history.

That city is Mostar - today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

And so Medugorje continued as a regional bread bastle of the Ottoman
Empire. The Roman Catholics and Bogumil Christians of Medugorje enjoyed
their time as citizens of Ottoman Empire so much that during the
Bosnian rebellion of the 1800s, citizens of the area joined forces with
the Sultan and defeated Bosnia's rebel forces outside of Sarajevo.

Later Medugorje became the bread basket of the Austrian Empire, and soon enough of Yugoslavia.

It seemed perhaps that Medugorje would always remain an historic, if
unimportant farming community on the plains of southern Bosnia and
Herzegovina. That is...until June 25, 1981.

On that day, Ivanka Ivanković,
Mirjana Dragićević, Vicka Ivanković, Ivan Dragićević, Jakov Čolo and
Marija Pavlović saw, on Crnica Hill, a young woman with a
child in her arms. This woman asked them to approach with a wave of her
hand, but they were too scared. They were too scared because it was the
Virgin Mary.

Once they found the courage to approach, they immediately fell to their
knees and began to pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Gloria Patri.
The mysterious woman prayed together with them except when they prayed
the Hail Mary.

"God be with you, my angels," she said.

The Virgin Mary appeared to the children many more times throughout the
years and when the Roman Catholic Church investigated the sensational
claims, they in the end were unable to confirm or refute them. With
this announcement, viewed by those of the Roman Catholic faith as a
subdued nod of acknowledging the Church believed the sightings were
true, the pilgrimages began.

On Crnica Hill, a shrine was erected where every year millions of Roman
Catholics from around the world pray. They hike for several kilometers
to reach the site where the children have seen the Virgin Mary and, of
course, many miracles - especially healing miracles - are said to have
taken place there.

A massive Roman Catholic church and
conference centre was constructed in the centre of town to accommodate
the pilgrims. It has hosted everyone from the most recent Roman
Catholic converts from Africa, to the Pope Jean Paul II.

During the war in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Roman Catholic and Muslim soldiers and civilians visited
the site frequently. Not a single injured person ever died in the
presence of the shrine and hundreds of families were given a chance to
say goodbye to fatally wounded loved ones in what many people believe
to be a miracle. Even during these dark times, pilgrims from around the
world still found their way to Medugorje.

Medugorje remains today one of the most widely recognized Roman
Catholic shrines in the world and by far the most important shrine of
any faith in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Edited by Mila