We walked to St. James Church for the 10 o'clock English Mass this morning. More than two dozen English speaking priests concelebrated the Mass. A priest from the Buffalo, New York diocese was the principal celebrant. During his homily he told of a story of a young man who approached him while he was kneeling and praying at Cross Mountain (Krizevac). The young man relayed a tragic story of an unloving father who abandoned him and his mother. He continued on by saying that his mother had died and that he had hurt his knee in a motorcycle accident. The priest from Buffalo offered to anoint the young man's knee with holy oil which he always carried with him. The young man became indignant saying that nine other priests had offered to do the same thing. What he wanted was money. The priest responded by telling him that he should have listened to the other nine priests who wanted to bless him and pray for him. I think we all got the message from this homily.
The 5th Luminous Mystery in mosaic.
Outdoor Mysteries of the Rosary
After Mass we walked over to an area behind the outdoor Mass section and prayed the Luminous Mysteries of the rosary. The rosary was led by Father Joe. This area has beautiful mosaics depicting the four different mysteries of the rosary ... the Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous Mysteries. Each decade of each mystery is a brief walk from decade to decade, making it both visually and spiritually uplifting.
Title of mosaic in Croatian and Latin.
The sun was shining and the day was hot. Some pilgrims found refuge under a small tree near each mosaic. I decided to "tough it out" since there was no more room under the tree. I did my best not to think about the heat, but to focus on the prayers and meditations. When we were finished reciting the Luminous mysteries of the rosary, I took a photo of the 5th Luminous Mystery, the Institution of the Eucharist, because I will be preparing students for their First Eucharist this school year. You will notice that the inscription of the 5th Luminous Mystery is written in both Croatian and Latin (see photo at right). Each mosaic's inscription is written in both these languages. You might recall that at one point in world history, Latin was a universal language.
The Risen Christ
Next, we walked over to the towering Risen Christ. At first sight, it looks like it should be named "The Crucifixion"; however, the sculpture depicts Christ leaving the cross, hence it's name. Many pilgrims stop here because of an unusual phenomenon. An unidentifiable oil oozes out of the
A pilgrim wipes the oil.
Fathers Joe and Adam blessing pilgrims.
sculpture. The Catholic church has had it tested, but no one can seem to identify it. People bring hankies to wipe the oil to take home with them as a blessing and a reminder that with God all things are possible. We sat on the benches and were encouraged to pour out our burdens and share them with the group. Prayer requests were also received by the group at this site. When we were finished, Fr. Adam and Fr. Joe met us at the entrance of the site where we formed two lines to be blessed by the priests. After Fr. Adam blessed me, I walked farther out and got my camera ready to take a picture of the rest of our group receiving their blessing when I suddenly noticed that pilgrims from other groups, including nuns who were strangers to us, lined up for a blessing. The photo above shows just the beginning of two small lines that swelled as pilgrims became aware of the blessings. The priest, as a spiritual leader, is held in high regard here.
Father Slavko Barbaric
From the Risen Christ, we walked 15 - 20 minutes further to the Medjugorje cemetery where Father (Fra) Slavko Barbaric is buried. Fra Slavko, a Franciscan priest, was sent
Fra Slavko's grave with flowers.
to Medjugorje in 1983 by the Franciscans to make a psychological assessment of the six young visionaries. He was a well qualified psychotherapist with a doctoral degree in religious pedagogy from the University of Freiburg, Germany. Fra Slavko's impeccable qualifications as a clinical psychologist had many hoping that he would put an end to the controversy regarding what a group of six young seers were claiming to have experienced on a hill named Podbrdo, what has come to be known as Apparition Hill. However, Fra Slavko was so convinced of the visionaries' authenticity that he became their spiritual director and a spiritual counselor/friend to millions of pilgrims who visited Medjugorje. He died on November 24, 2000 of a heart attack on Krizevac (Cross Mountain) after leading 70 pilgrims on the Way of the Cross. Father Barbaric was fluent in his native Croatian, as well as, English, German, French, and Spanish. Krizevac, although in the distance, overlooks the Medjugorje cemetery.
If you would like to see a brief interview with Fra Slavko Barbaric, click on the arrow above.
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