St James Church
"Medjugorje is the spiritual center of the world."
- St Pope John Paul II
St. James Parish Church of Medjugorje, was consecrated in 1969.
It is the focus of worship and prayer for both the local parish and visiting pilgrims.
The Apostle St. James the Greater, of whom the church of St. James in
Medjugorje was dedicated, is the Patron Saint of Pilgrims.
A marble statue of the Mary,
was erected in 1987 at the square in front of the church.
Outside the church is the exterior altar, which functions as an
outside church during the summer and large festivals,
when the church can't accommodate all the crowds.
There are about 5,000 seats surrounding the exterior altar.
The Adoration Chapel was built in 1992 as a place for private prayer...
The Shrine also includes various prayer areas, a meeting hall for pilgrims,
a cemetery, a gift shop, a first aid station, and an information booth.
This was taken from a Medjugorje website....
...There were many different locations of the apparitions during the years when
they took place at St. James Church. The first apparitions in the church were
actually in the sanctuary, right above the altar.
On the other side of this window, which is located on the left side of
St. James Church, is this room, and one of the frequently visited sites of
Our Lady in the early years of the apparitions.
Those outside and in St. James Church would wait to see the window open
from behind the grate. When it did, they would know the apparition
had begun. It was not unusual to see people standing tip-toe on the little
cement ledge that jutted out from the wall of the side of the church while
grasping the iron bars of the window—hoping
to get a glimpse inside the room at the upturned faces of the
visionaries as they peered into the face of the Queen of Heaven.
For three years, the side room off the main sanctuary became a
regular site for the apparitions, followed next by Fr. Slavko’s office and bedroom
in the rectory, and later in the choir loft and one of the bell towers of St. James.
Lastly, the apparitions took place in the Adoration Chapel
behind the church.
As each of the visionaries married, they began having the apparitions
more often in their own homes. Marija built a private chapel
next to her house and recently Ivan followed suit and built his own private
chapel next to his home. This is where the daily
apparitions occur when Marija and Ivan are in Medjugorje.
Vicka has her apparitions in her home as well. Though, today Our Lady does not
appear in St. James Church, Her presence will always be felt through the
many apparitions that have taken place there
over these many years.
Via Domini...
Via Domini is behind the
church of St James...
an avenue enriched by
colorful mosaics
depicting the luminous
Mysteries of the Rosary,
made by an Italian artist
Risen Christ Statue...
At the end of Via Domini, you'll come upon the 15 foot great bronze
Statue of the Risen Christ,
whose legs miraculously and continually emits clear liquid
with content similar to human tears at all times of the day.
This has been happening since the apparition's 20th
anniversary in 2001.
Father Slavko Barbaric
In a nutshell, here is his role in what happened after the apparitoins in Mejugorje...
In 1983, Fr Slavko Barbaric became minister of Medjugorje...though originally skeptical of the events that had unfolded there with the visionaries, be came to the conclusion that the children were authentic.
His position brought him into conflict with the communist authorities and the local bishop, which led him to be transferred...
He started "Mother's Village in Medjugorje, which served as a shelter for orphans and later for raped women and single mothers from the Bosnian War.
He also worked as a house chaplain in
the Centacolo Community
(a place for young people with drug addictions)
and was the initiater of the annually held
youth festival of Medjugorje.
He died in 2000, on his way down from leading
pilgrims on his weekly journey
up to Cross Mt.
He is buried in a local cemetery
in Medjugorje
