Apparition Hill is the most visited spot in Medjugorje for the obvious reason that the Blessed Mother first appeared on that hill in 1981 and continues to appear there still in 2015! It was a bit surreal to hike that hill with my husband, knowing that millions of other pilgrims have climbed it before us and that the Virgin Mary herself has hovered right over the rocks we were treading upon.
As pilgrims climb Apparition Hill, many of them pray the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary, which are beautifully displayed on bronze plaques going up the mountain. One could spend hours just mediating upon the scenes on each plaque because they capture the life of Jesus so beautifully.
About half way up the mountain, pilgrims find a simple, wooden cross, which marks the spot that the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared the first time, giving the visionary children the first simple, yet profound, message:
"Peace, Peace, Peace, and only peace." Standing at that spot which overlooks the peaceful village of Medjugorje certainly fills the soul with peace. How I long to be standing there right now!
It was interesting to watch the different ways that pilgrims walk up Apparition Hill...some of them singing joyfully from the heart, some of them praying silently, and some (typically the Italians) praying so loudly it could be mistaken for rudeness. It truly is a spiritual journey to tread upon those jacked rocks--surprisingly still sharp and precarious even after more than 30 years of erosion from pilgrims' feet. One touching scene is to see the handful of pilgrims who choose to take their shoes of and hike the hill barefoot as a means of penance and to symbolize the fact that they are walking on holy ground.
Paul and I were blessed to be staying at homes very near Apparition Hill, which allowed us to hike the hill numerous times throughout our pilgrimage. Every time I hiked the hill and made it to the beautiful Mary statue at the top, I would place my personal intentions and all the intentions of my family and friends into Our Blessed Mother's hands, who seemed to be waiting for them with a loving smile, as if she was about to say,
"Of course I will take these prayers to my Son for you. Thank you for entrusting them to me."
The top of Apparition Hill is where the apparitions of Mary took place during the first few weeks of Mary's visits in Medjugorje. However, once the Communist government at the time found out about this mysterious phenomenon that was attracting thousands of Catholics to this obscure little village, they quickly tried to put a stop to it. For weeks they barricaded the bottom of Apparition Hill so that no one could go up--not even the visionaries. Therefore, the visionaries started having their apparitions of the Blessed Mother wherever they happened to be at 6:40pm. Oftentimes, it was at St. James Church, sometimes in a field as they were running away from the Communist soldiers, and sometimes in their homes. It was a special grace that Mary was willing to appear to them anywhere, unlike at Fatima and Lourdes in which Mary always appeared at one location.
One miracle of the early days of Medjugorje happened when the visionary children were running away from the Communist soldiers. The parish priest at the time was Fr. Jozo, and he did not fully believe that Mary was appearing to the children. He thought they were all making up a fantastic story to get attention. So as he was praying in the church of St. James, begging for God to show him a sign to guide him as to whether or not he should support the children's crazy claims or denounce the whole affair, he heard a voice in his heart that said,
"Go now and protect the children." It seemed like an urgent command, and so he got up and started walking to the door of the church. Just as he was about to open the main door of the church, the scared and frantic children came charging through a side door, seeking protection from the Communist authorities who were threatening to imprison them. Fr. Jozo had received his sign and started believing that the Blessed Mother truly was appearing. He suffered greatly for his belief. He was imprisoned by the Communists for nearly 4 years and was not allowed to return as the pastor to Medjugorje. But he tirelessly spent the following years spreading the messages of Medjugorje in the parish where he was at.
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| Fr. Jozo with the visionary children |
Many pilgrims who came to Medjugorje would take a day-trip to Fr. Jozo's parish just to hear him speak because his testimony was so filled with the Holy Spirit. I was blessed to hear Fr. Jozo speak the first time I went to Medjugorje in 1996. It was his tradition to hand out holy cards with a beautiful picture of Mary on it. On the back of the holy card was one of Mary's messages which was a powerful reminder of how to take the message of Medjugorje home with you... He would explain Mary's message to the pilgrims by telling them to gather 5 stones from Apparition Hill as a reminder of the 5 stones that David used in the Bible to defeat Goliath. Fr. Jozo said that these 5 stones symbolize 5 spiritual weapons that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself said will help you to defeat any "Goliaths" in your life:
1) The Rosary and prayer from the heart
2) The Eucharist
3) The Holy Bible
4) Fasting
5) Monthly Confession
Our holy and humble tour guide reminded us of Fr. Jozo's advice to pick 5 stones from Medjugorje, and so Paul and I had fun collecting stones of various sizes on our hikes up and down Apparition Hill. Paul keeps 5 stones at work; I keep 5 stones in my car; and we also have stones on our kitchen window sill. They are beautiful reminders of how to fight our various "Goliaths" throughout the day.
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| Fr. Jozo speaking to a group of pilgrims |
Our tour guide also told us a story of spiritual warfare involving a stone from Medjugorje. Apparently there was a priest who was a trained exorcist, and he decided to take a rock from Apparition Hill into the room where an exorcism was going to take place. He put the rock in a box and then placed the box in a far corner of the room just to see what would happen. As soon as the exorcism rite began, the possessed person starting violently yelling, "Take it out of here, take it out of here!" The priest asked the possessed person what he wanted to be taken out of the room. The demon, clearly in agony, yelled, "The box, the box!" Again, the priest questioned further and asked why the box should be removed, and the demon finally said, "Because of the holy rock and her presence...I hate her!" What a powerful confirmation that Satan and his demons do not like the Virgin Mary, and even the presence of her graces upon a rock from Apparition Hill can drive evil spirits away! Satan can't stay long in the presence of what is holy, so I feel better knowing that I have some holy rocks, holy water, and other blessed items all over our house! :}
The last story that I will share about apparition hill involves more spiritual warfare... At first I was not going to share this story, because I didn't want to frighten anyone. But, the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that this story truly is not frightening, but rather quite the opposite! So, here it is... Paul and I were blessed with the opportunity to be present for an evening apparition when Our Lady appeared to the visionary named Ivan. This was not the daily 6:40pm apparition, but rather an extra apparition later in the evening which Mary told Ivan about in advance during his 6:40pm apparition. She told him that she would appear to him again that evening at the top of Apparition Hill as a special grace for Ivan's youth group that he leads. Paul and I went up the hill many hours early to find a spot to sit because we knew it would be crowded with thousands of people once the apparition time got near. We waited for hours, but it did not seem long at all. It was so beautiful to pray quietly and to watch the spectacular sun set as pilgrims slowly began to find a seat on every rugged rock at the top of Apparition Hill.
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| Paul reading and praying as we waited for the evening apparition. |
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| The crucifix at the top of Apparition Hill near where we sat for the apparition. |
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| A view of the beautiful sunset and all of the pilgrims waiting for Mary to appear. |
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| The gorgeous sunset right before Mary appeared on Apparition Hill. |
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I never got to see "the miracle of the sun" like so many others in Medjugorje,
but this was close enough for me! |
Ivan's youth group sang praise and worship songs for awhile, and then Ivan led the crowd in praying the rosary. By this time, it was completely dark on Apparition Hill--probably around 9:00pm. Paul and I were sitting very near the Mary statue because we had come to the hill so early to wait. We chose a spot that was to the left of the Mary statue and higher up so that we would be able to see Ivan well and so that we wouldn't get squished in the big crowd. There were some bushes right behind us, and just moments before the Blessed Virgin Mother was about to appear to Ivan, we heard the most horrible growl come from the bushes right behind us. The growl was unlike any sound I had ever heard before--unlike any animal and unlike any sound that a person could possibly make. I immediately knew it was a demon making that sound. I was terrified. I looked at my husband, and we did the only thing we could think of doing...we prayed. All the people around us started praying too. And then suddenly the growling sound seemed to jump to the center of the crowd and a young girl started thrashing on the ground and the horrible sounds were now coming from her! Thankfully, there was an abundance of holy priests and holy pilgrims on the hill, and they all started praying for deliverance and protection from evil spirits. Suddenly, Mary appeared to Ivan. He stopped praying the rosary; his head looked up; peace was covering his face, and peace immediately covered the crowd. The demonic growling stopped. When Mary came, it was as if all evil was forced to flee. The whole event dramatically proved to me that spiritual warfare is real... The fact that the demon showed up moments before Mary appeared was a sign that demons visibly get agitated when they know something holy is about to happen and they try desperately to stop it. The fact that the demon fled as soon as Mary appeared was a sign that evil spirits have no power in the presence of the holy. Therefore, we truly have nothing to fear if we stay close to what is holy...namely, Jesus Christ, the Sacraments, and His Blessed Mother! I cannot express how grateful I was to be in Mary's presence that night on Apparition Hill! I now can say with so much more certainty that I believe Mary is appearing in Medjugorje, and that she is a powerful and safe refuge against sin and Satan.
Perhaps all this spiritual warfare talk is fitting as we approach Halloween, for it reminds us that Satan is real, but evil is easily defeated by the power of Jesus, His Cross, and His Blessed Mother!
To learn more about Medjugorje, click here: http://atotustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2015/09/medjugorje-101_24.html
To read more about our personal experience in Medjugorje, click here:
http://atotustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2015/10/medjugorje-why-there.html
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