Medjugorje For All (A BLOG about Medugorje)

Not so long ago on June 24, 1981 in the tiny village of Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Mary (mother of Jesus)appeared to several young people. She continues her appearances to this day and has come as a gift from God to us. When I first read about this phenomenon, I was both fascinated and doubtful at the same time. Since then I have researched everything I could find about Medjugorje and have been privileged to travel there as a pilgrim.

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Location: Schenectady, New York, United States

Although I am a born again Protestant I have a great interest in what has been happening in Medjugorje. After several years of research on the apparitions, I am reaching out to others (people of all faiths and beliefs) who have the same interest. What appears on this blog are stories and articles, mostly borrowed and hopefully accurate, additional comments and thoughts from me about Medjugorje.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Cross Mountain

The Cross of Mt. Krizevac (Cross Mountain) is the most significant, and dominant feature in the landscape of Medjugorje. It gives us a clue as to why Our Lady chose this village and region for the manifestation of Her love and concern for her children of the earth. Overlooking the church of Saint James, and visible for miles and miles around the valley below, this Cross speaks powerfully of the strong message of penance and atonement which Our Lady has brought to the world. It does so, not only by reminding us of the suffering of Christ, but also, in a very special way, through the story of its construction.

The fifteen ton concrete Cross was constructed by the people of the area in 1933 in thanksgiving for the cessation of crop damaging hail storms, and to commemorate the nineteenth centenary of the Redemption. Their spirit of penance, and the understanding of its importance, were shown by the simple fact that all the material which went into its construction, was carried up the 1770 foot mountain by hand. The cross was so important to the people that they changed the name of it from Sipovac to Krizevac (Kriz is the Croatian word for Cross). It became the custom, even prior to the apparitions, to celebrate Mass there each year on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14). On every Friday, people would climb the mountain to pray the Stations of the Cross which were led by the parish priest. Clearly, the little village of Medjugorje was filled with the faith and love of God even before the apparitions began.

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