I see the church as a field hospital after battle. – Pope Francis

My husband and I traveled to Bosnia- Herzegovina to the little town of Medjugorje where the Blessed Virgin has allegedly appeared since 1981. This is my second trip to the region, but it was my husbands first time. People have many opinions about the place including me and I will expound on that further in this post, but it is worth noting that on September 19, 2024, the Vatican granted Medjugorje the NIHIL OBSTAT, which is the highest level of approval the church can give, according to the new norms established by the Vatican in May of 2024.

“The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the assent of Pope Francis, grants approval for devotion linked to Medjugorje, recognizing the abundant spiritual fruits received at the Sanctuary of the Queen of Peace without making a declaration on the supernatural character of the Marian apparitions.”

It has been 7 years since I last set foot in the small little town nestled between two mountains. There were many things that I remember that felt exactly the same, while other things that were different. There’s something about the cool breeze under the trees in the outdoor area that exudes peace and makes you want to pray. That has not changed. Neither has the phenomenon of the sun dancing. My husband saw it too. He believes me now. The sun is quite something in Medjugorje, even in the pictures you take.

This photo I took on May 14 looks quite like the Monstrance they display in evening adoration.

My friend Leah took this one the same day;

And I couldn’t help but think of Our Lady of Guadalupe, like receiving a sign for those of us from the Americas.

Even the rays of sunlight seemed to hit just in the right place;

I experienced healing from the caring for and death of my mother last year while climbing cross mountain and reciting the stations of the cross. You all may remember how difficult it was to watch my once strong mother be decimated by dementia and left as a shell of the woman she once was. It was at the 10th Station that the flood of tears came remembering how I had to care for her by bathing and changing her, and even how she waited and passed after my siblings and I went to sleep – as if to be alone when she left us.

Tenth Station – Jesus is stripped of his clothes

We adore you O Christ and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world.

…People stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. (Ps 22, 17-18)

Enduring being undressed

I endured being stripped of my clothes, being deprived of my most intimate things. I let it happen that they ignored my sense of shame and invaded my privacy.

You want to have at least some tiny sphere for yourself, some area that belongs to you only, that must not be invaded by anybody else. You want to have something that nobody must see, otherwise your dignity would be offended. You are prepared to guard it and to hide it from anyone else’s eyes. You are convinced to have a right to it. You want to keep it at all costs as your most intimate possession and you are ready to fight for it. But there is a moment when there is no chance for you to save anything for yourself. There are situations when you must let everything go, there will be nothing left to you yourself. You are deprived of everything. You have to get through this cross. Give everything to God. We, my Father and I, will remain your most intimate and untouchable sphere. It is not only a cross when your body is violently stripped of clothes, it is much more painful when your soul is stripped. Your sins removed the cover long ago and you are ashamed.

Accept this cross, and nobody will be able to degrade you. Allow your Father to give you new clothes. Sacrifice your privacy, he will transform it into perfect innocence. In vain you will strive for innocence. Admit being too weak to attain it.

This is the tenth cross – the cross of man’s disregarded sense of shame, the cross, of man’s longing for innocence, the cross of man’s fear that anybody might learn his guilt.

Accept this cross and you will meet me. Your fear will dissolve. Admit being weak, admit being what you are: a man degraded by sin. If you admit that nobody will ever harm you.

Look around you, dear children, and you will see to what extent sin has already seized power on earth. Therefore, pray that Jesus may win (Medjugorje message from Our Lady – September 13, 1984)

After the recitation of this station I let go of the grief, the guilt, the sorrow. Things were as they should be for my mom. God was in the mess and her cross was united to His. I truly believe she lived her purgatory on earth.

Which brings me to the next thing about Medjugorje. The place truly is a field hospital. That was my favorite thing that Pope Francis said and it shaped my perspective on how to reach out to people. May his soul rest in peace. It was an honor to be in Medjugorje when the election of Pope Leo XIV happened. The bells were ringing loudly.

But back to the Field Hospital: There is one thing in Medjugorje that sticks out more than anything else. It is the lines for Confession. There is a plaza area next to the church and it is where confession is held. People come from all over the world to confess their sins, and the Priests line up around the area and put what language they speak in front of them. The sacredness of it made me get goosebumps as if I could see sins being lifted away by heaven. Pope Benedict XVI referred to the place as the World’s Confessional.

You will see all kinds of people in Medjugorje. This may make some people raise an eyebrow, but for me, it made me see the battle weary. I saw the mess of war with powers and principalities that was brought by the destructiveness of the sexual revolution and the abuses of the Eucharist in the Mass. I saw the need for the field hospital. In fact, one day I saw a man dressed as a woman sitting on the ground and sobbing in confessional plaza. Conversion was happening. I could visibly see it. Though I know he had a long road ahead, his bleeding was being tended to. I pray that his conversion becomes complete.

People often ask why the messages of Medjugorje are so simple and repetitive. They think it doesn’t make sense, but to me it makes perfect sense. In a society that is so far from God, that is so addicted, and so molested in thought, the sharp knife of simplicity and repetition of the message of love, cuts through the demonic battle armor of hard heartedness and reveals the wounds that require a medic; the medic of confession which is the beginning of conversion. It is the place of the Alpha. I pray all is guided to the Omega and perfect love reigns.

For those of us who have long lived our Catholic faith fruitfully, we may feel we don’t need the place or the messages, but I can tell you there is a whole world of people out there who do. From the drug dealer turned Priest, to the Wall Street banker turned Priest. The fruits of the place are bringing living water to a church that is so thirsty and had been drying up.

In no other apparition site that I can think of does it offer not only confession but the reparative hike up a mountain top to commune with the glory of God. It takes effort and willingness and prayer. Your cleansed soul can repair and unite the suffering to Christ. And you leave different than you came.

I noticed this time as compared to last there were many more people receiving on the tongue and kneeling for communion as if the past 7 years had drawn them closer and given the gift of piety because the belief in the Eucharist is so strong. Even my husband, who has deep faith, left with a renewed sense of purpose and a resolve to strengthen his prayer life.

It was suggested by Father Leon, the English-speaking chaplain, that our Lady desires us to pray the full Rosary and all her mysteries from the heart and that if enough of us did this peace would reign. People say they don’t have time, but as Medjugorje seer Ivan pointed out, time is not our problem, love is.

It is worth listening to Fr. Leon’s entire testimony because Our Lady spoke to him of a time when almost all Catholics would walk away from the faith, but the prescribed antidote is available in the 5 stones of Medjugorje.

As I wind down from the trip and unpack everything, I pray for all of you out there. I pray that you find the peace that surpasses understanding, that your wounds may be healed, that your relationships are reconciled, and that you fully know the love of God. Please, please pray for our Priests. They need it.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Romans 16:20

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