I have recently returned from a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. It is a small village in the former Yugoslavia (now in the region of Herzegovina) surrounded by mountains and filled with the aroma of crushed grapes fermenting in the open-air distilleries that support the war-torn and poverty stricken families who live there. It was my 3rd visit and I joined priests and people from all over the world to come and pray and celebrate the sacraments in a place where 6 young people claim to be having apparitions of Our Lady - Mary.
This has been happening since June 1981 and, for some of the visionaries, has been so every day since. The messages and happenings around this mystical experience have been remarkable. The Church has yet to say if the occurrences are supernatural or from Our Lady (and will not do so until they have finished and are able to be examined), but Medjugorje has become a place of private pilgrimage and of massive conversion.
Medjugorje is sometimes called a "big confessional" - such are the numbers being converted to Jesus and His Church. It is for this reason and devotion to our Lady that I go. It is humbling and wonderful to hear so many confessions and be part of someone finding God!
I have done all the pilgrim things: apparition hill, talks by visionaries and I have seen some amazing sights. But it is the confessions, conversions, devotion in the mass and the faith of the pilgrims that astound me. In our group we had a 73-year-old lady and a 10-year-old boy both climbing a mountain together to do Stations of the Cross at 5.30 in the morning!
At the foot of Apparition Hill there is the small open house of a man from Ireland who was cured from a grave heart condition and in thanksgiving he spends some time in Medjugorje each year helping refugees and those whose lives were destroyed by the war in the 1990's. He brings them medical and other supplies. He is a devout catholic now (he wasn't always!) and has many gifts.
In his basement there is a small chapel devoted to the Nativity. You go in and bend low to avoid the low ceiling and doorway. At first you cannot see anything, so dark it is in comparison to the bright sunlight. As your eyes adjust you begin to see the large crib figures and animals. It is damp, cold, dark, and a bit smelly - but very still and quiet. You are drawn into prayer and devotion of the Christ child who in turn is being adored by figures Our Lady and S Joseph.
I could have spent hours there. This man prayed with us and we with him until we got disturbed by a large group who had also stumbled upon the chapel. This is probably how it was at the Nativity of Jesus: damp, cold and dark with people stumbling upon Him and others walking by, yet drawn to Him and desiring to stay with Him.
The chapel is called the "All Year Nativity Chapel". In the midst of a village where so many signs associated with the supernatural are reported it is in a small underground chapel that we are reminded that the Word of God has become flesh and has lived among us (John 1.14). He is full of grace, truth and glory.
We can receive His grace and truth and see His glory in Medjugorje, at Christmas, in daily life, throughout the year, here and now...especially in mass. For the greatest sight must be to behold Jesus in the flesh and in the mass He has promised He will be with us always (Matthew 28.20).
Christmas need not be a yearly celebration. We can celebrate it all year!
May God bless you. Happy Christmas to you all.
Fr Graham