Medjugorje: Holy Grail for Catholics
Jul 16, 2026 01:02PM ● By Ellen Eldridge
I always thought of Medjugorje as being full of rocks and thorns. That’s what’s in pictures of the six visionaries that have been seeing apparitions of the Blessed Mother since June of 1981. While there are many rocks and briars, beyond that is a breathtaking landscape of mountains and lush trees. You can turn in any direction and see fig trees, olive trees and vineyards.
The physical beauty is only enhanced by the people of this area. The people of Medjugorje have endured decades of oppression at the hands of communists with a faith and resilience that can cause you to stare as they dangle a rosary while they set up their coffee shop. They work hard and they pray constantly. When the visionaries asked the Blessed Mother why she chose to appear there she said, “that the faith there was already exceptionally strong.”
She appeared with a message urging all to pray intensely from the heart, along with other spiritual practices. She introduced herself to the six children as Queen of Peace. If you choose to take a pilgrimage to this town, you will experience peace regardless of denomination. It flows over poppy fields, down from the top of Apparition Hill and into the bakery full of delicious walnut baklava.
The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina live genuinely in the rhythm suggested to them by Our Lady because it points them to her Son, Jesus! They pray, fast, read scripture and attend mass daily. They do it alongside millions of pilgrims every day, every year. The girl that rang me up at a restaurant where we had lunch later read scripture at 6:00 mass that evening. They are a witness to faith in action in their community, and it has spread throughout the world for the last 44 years.
Why Is It So Special?
In June 1981, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to six children in Medjugorje, a small mountain village in Bosnia-Hercegovina, to deliver a message of peace to the world: “I have come to tell the world that God exists. He is the fullness of life, and to enjoy this fullness and peace, you must return to God.”
Still today, Our Lady appears to the six children, now in their 50s and 60s. Three of them continue to have daily apparitions, while the other three have them on special occasions. Since the apparitions first began, some 40 million visitors from around the world from all denominations have been welcomed into the tiny village, and many report healings, conversions, and supernatural appearances. And in May of this year, a group of Catholics from Zachary and the surrounding area made their own pilgrimage.
To learn more about the Blessed Mother’s messages to the world, visit medjugorje.org.
