Deacon Paul Evans recently went on pilgrimage to Medjugorje. He shares his very moving experiences here:
An offer I couldn’t refuse
As many of you are aware, on February the 14th this year I decided to take up the opportunity to give up work for Lent! This had been a long time in the making since it is quite a challenge for Vicky to look after our Granddaughter (Emma), who has several special needs, all on her own.
I had to give three months’ notice so I was able to leave work on 14th May and embark on what I am calling “Part 2”. It is not really retirement since looking after Emma and my ministry in the church can still take up more time than I have available.
Shortly after I left work, I received an opportunity from a lady called Gail to go on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Vicky and I met Gail on a previous pilgrimage many years ago and now Gail is running her own trips, so this seemed to be a perfect opportunity.
I wanted a chance to reflect on how to get the right balance for “Part 2”. Also the inquest following the tragic death of my son six years ago only completed last year so I wanted a chance to pray about this and meet “Our Lady of Sorrows” as part of the pilgrimage.
There were, however, two blocking factors for the pilgrimage.
Firstly, the pilgrimage started on 2nd September 2024 and this was my 35th wedding anniversary. Luckily I managed to bribe Vicky with afternoon tea at Pennyhill Park on the Friday before and since the flight didn’t leave until the afternoon on the Monday, we also managed to have brunch with Emma in the morning.
Secondly, Gail is very selective on who she allows in her group and she doesn’t want any troublemakers; however, it had been 10 years since my last trip, and she had forgotten how bad my jokes are so I was allowed to go.
Day 1 (Monday)
I left home at around 1pm heading to Gatwick determined to have the best pilgrimage that I could. Given the huge sacrifice that Vicky was making to look after Emma on her own at a very stressful time with her starting back to school, no matter what I did on pilgrimage, I knew that Vicky was the one making a bigger offering to God allowing me this opportunity.
Check-in went smoothly, however, when I got to security a rather angry border force officer demanded that I put my passport and boarding card in the tray to be scanned. When the tray came out the other side my passport and boarding card were missing!
My experience of other pilgrimages has been that leading up to the event, the devil is fond of playing all sorts of little tricks to stop you going so I wasn’t that surprised. After a bit of searching, they found my passport in the machine and then a fellow traveller found my boarding card in his tray!
I decided to take this as a sign that it would be a good pilgrimage if the devil wanted to steal my ticket!
At the other side of security I met with Gail and a few other pilgrims. The flight was around an hour late departing but it wasn’t an issue.
The pilgrimage sort of started on the flight since I found myself sitting next to another pilgrim called Sandy and we chatted all the way to Split airport.
One of the great graces of a pilgrimage is that you get to meet all sorts of people, and I am sure that every meeting is orchestrated by God. Sometimes you are the one sent to help the other person by sharing your experience, sometimes someone is sent to you to help you and sometimes you are fortunate enough to be in the company of people where no words are necessary, and you just sit in prayer.
I was fortunate enough to encounter all these categories during the pilgrimage, unfortunately Sandy was beyond help since he is of Sri Lankan descent and is afflicted with a love of cricket that was impossible to cure!
At Split we took a coach to Medjugorje and Fr. Eammon (a priest from the diocese of Brentwood) led us in the Rosary and we arrived at our hotel called “Quercus” at around midnight. If you are wondering how to pronounce the name of the hotel then join the club since I tried many variations but never succeeded!
The hotel had a meal prepared for us consisting of soup, a main course of meat, vegetables and salad and then a small cake. This set the pattern for the evening meals for the rest of the week.
Even though it was late, after the meal, I decided to go for a walk down to the church (which takes around 10 mins) to say “hello” (or hail) to Mary at the statue to thank her for the invite since I am convinced that fundamentally you don’t end up on pilgrimage at Medjugorje unless it is an invite from our blessed mother.
I stayed a bit too long enjoying the peace but was back in my room by around 2.30am thinking about the fact that I had to be up for breakfast by 8.30am
I only came for the food
Before I move on, it is probably worth taking a small interlude to talk about food. One of the pilgrims was telling me that whenever there is an event at her Church, the first question her friend asks is “will there be food?” before she commits to attending. Of course, I was too embarrassed to admit that this is also often my first reaction.
Food at the hotel is pretty much what you would expect on a pilgrimage where they must serve many guests. Breakfast is buffet style, with bread, cheese, cold meats, yogurt, cereal etc. and you can get tea and coffee, but it is a good idea to bring your own tea bags if you like a particular brand.
The evening meal, is generally some sort of vegetable soup, followed by a platter with a different meat each night (mostly pork, chicken or fish) together some potatoes and vegetables. There is usually a salad bowl, and dessert is either a small cake or fruit. Each table also has a carafe of red and white wine.
The hotel does not provide lunch, so you are able to visit one of the many restaurants in the town. This is a very good thing especially if you like pizza! The pizza in Medjugorje is truly exceptional but whatever you have it is usually nice.
Day 2 (Tuesday)
There are some people in this world who wake up every day with the beautiful thought “Good Morning God”, unfortunately I am not one of those people so instead I woke up thinking “Good God, Morning!”
We had breakfast at 8.30am and then started heading down to church for the English-speaking Mass that started at 10am (you can watch it livestreamed every day at https://marytv.tv/).
On the way to the church, I realised just how hot it was (over 35 degrees most days) and I decided that I didn’t look manly enough in the straw hat that I brought along so I bought myself a new white hat for the week, only to discover that it wasn’t the hat that was the problem!
There was a Bishop from Albany on pilgrimage (Bishop Edward Scharfenberger) so it was my privilege to serve Mass with him whenever we went to the English-speaking Mass. (On the off chance that Bishop Philip is reading, Bishop “Ed” says “hi”).
The Cunning Plan!
After Mass, I embarked on my cunning plan that I had prior to the pilgrimage. I knew that there would be no way that Fr. Anthony would let me get away with not writing a blog post about my trip and then lots of people will say that they wish they could have come. So, in a way I decided to bring the parish with me!
I purchased around 200 miraculous medals with the plan of giving one to each family in the parish. There are many miracles associated with this medal, including Dom Bosco who used a medal on several occasions in order to obtain land … Fr. Tony did the same thing to get us the land for the rear car park! I also purchased a few rosaries as they were next to the medals.
My plan involved climbing Cross Mountain at night, praying through the night and blessing the medals and rosaries at dawn. The picture below (taken from outside the hotel) shows Cross Mountain in the background.
Reconciliation
Before I could climb the mountain, I decided to go to reconciliation following the words of Psalm 24
“The man with clean hands and pure heart will climb the mountain of the Lord”
Reconciliation is something very easy to achieve in Medjugorje since, at 5pm, most of the English-speaking priests are available to hear confession outside of the church. There is a statue of Father Leopold Mandic outside of the church, who is known as the Saint of Reconciliation.
The statue is rather small, but apparently is life sized since he was very short. He was based in Padua and is famous for spending many long hours in the confessional and many people go to Italy on pilgrimage to see his tomb and see his incorrupt body.
It is a tradition in Medjugorje to say a prayer to St. Leopold asking him to help you to make a good confession.
Thanks to Gail, I have brought back a small number of his relics that have been blessed in Padua. If you want one, then come and see me and I will give them out on a first come first served basis but only if you commit to going to regular reconciliation! You can find more about St. Leopold here.
5.40pm
It was soon 5.40pm and this is a very special time as each day Our Lady appears to the visionaries at this time (see https://www.medjugorje.org/). This is a very peaceful time, the evening prayers at the church pause, the birds and other animals seem to sense that something is happening, and a deep silence falls on the town.
I took the opportunity to pray to Our Lady and speak about my deep sorrow. When my son Ryan passed away, one memory that is burnt in to mind is when the police came and told us what had happened, and my wife Vicky cried out with the sound of a mother’s heart breaking. This will never leave me, but in my grief, I had quickly realised that our Mother Mary has felt this same pain and is part of this terrible club that no one else wants to belong to.
I was fortunate enough to meet another pilgrim in the group who was also part of this club, and I found great consolation in our conversations about this.
Adoration
Adoration started at 7pm and this is truly a beautiful experience taking place outside with times of silence punctuated with songs and music in every language. This is one of my favourite things about the place especially as it starts to get dark, and you are sitting under the canopy of the beautiful night sky. I am sure that that there are many spiritual healings during this time of great grace.
Evening Meal
After the evening meal, the itinerary for the next day was announced that our group would go for a private Mass in the local village of Surmanci (more on this later) and then it was suggested that Fr. Danny, the second priest on the pilgrimage from St. Patrick’s Missionary Society would lead the Mass and that we would double team, and both give a homily!
This meant that my plan of trying to have a snooze before my trip up the mountain would have to be dropped since I would need to prepare something, but of course I said “yes” and thought about the fact that Vicky probably wasn’t getting much sleep since Emma likes to spend most nights moving furniture around her bedroom.
Climb Every Mountain
After making sure that my torch and spare torch were fully charged, I left the hotel at around 1.30am together with Sandy who was crazy enough to join me in my plan of climbing the mountain.
Before leaving the hotel, we prayed, and I offered the journey up the mountain for the intentions of everyone in our parish and for the pilgrims in our group who would not be able to make the quite difficult climb during the week.
We walked towards the church stopping at the statue of Mary to say a quick prayer.
And then past the church, towards the Statue of the Risen Christ but before we got to the statue, three guardian angels (in the form of stray dogs) came to join us!
We stopped by the statue and prayed before heading off to the very dark back road that leads to the base of the mountain. In the dark it is quite confusing and easy to go in the wrong direction but luckily the dogs knew the way and were happy to lead.
We eventually got to the base of the mountain and began to pray the stations of the cross that I brought along from the parish. The picture below is at the base of the mountain:
As you climb the mountain you encounter the stations of the cross in the form of metal plaques and these give you a much-needed opportunity to stop, catch your breath and pray. It is quite difficult to know which way to go, but the dogs were still with us and happy to wait with us at each station and then lead the way.
The route is very rocky as shown by the torch lit picture below:
Climbing the mountain was much more difficult than I remembered, it was also still fairly warm and I drank over a litre and half of water during the climb.
I began to wonder if I was one of the pilgrims who couldn’t make it up the mountain! I remembered it being fairly easy ten years ago when I was ten years younger and a few stones lighter, but then I remembered the medals and of course, for the sake of this blog, I want you to realize that every medal must have been the weight of a gold bar, and the difficulty had nothing to do with me being unfit!
Anyway, led by the dogs we made it to the top of mountain at around 4.30am.
We spent the next few hours in prayer. I was wondering what time the sun would come up and then at around 6.20am it dawned on me! After saying morning prayer, I blessed the very heavy medals and rosaries.
We then headed down the mountain, leaving our guardian dogs at the top.
I would like to say that the journey down the mountain was easier … but I can’t since actually it was just as tricky, and you had to be very careful not to slip and make it a very quick and painful descent!
Luckily when we got to the bottom of the mountain, we were able to get a taxi back to the hotel after the driver corrected my pronunciation of the name. Taxis in Medjugorje are also very easy; you can go anywhere and the cost is fixed at 5 euros.
Day 3 (Wednesday)
After a quick shower I joined the rest of the group for breakfast and after this we headed off to the town of Surmanci. This is a little village a few miles outside of Medjugorje and the church there holds a very famous icon of the Divine Mercy and there have been several healings in the presence of this icon (see picture below).
We had Mass in the church led by Fr. Danny and despite it being a very rocky place, I managed to get through my reflection without anything being thrown!
After Mass we venerated a relic of St. Faustina that is kept in the church. It was St. Faustina who inspired the catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy.
There was also a relic of St. Pope John Paul II that we venerated.
Unlike the main town of Medjugorje, the village doesn’t get many visitors so as soon as you leave Mass, there are several stalls where locals encourage you to buy their goods. I also bought a few rosaries there and if you want one then I am sure we could make a deal if you make a donation to the church roof fund!
The rest of day 3 was pretty much a blur since I was in a sleep deprived trance so I had a long siesta when we got back to the hotel but I got up in time for the evening program around the church that starts at 5pm each day with the Rosary, Mass and Adoration.
After our evening meal, we were told that we were going out the following day for another private Mass at St. Anthony shrine.
Luckily, Fr. Eammon was going to be on preaching duty … but then Sandy pulled out a prayer leaflet that he had been using in his parish with prayers to St. Anthony designed to be used at Adoration so it was decided, if time allowed, that the deacon would lead Adoration after Mass.
Day 4 (Thursday)
We started the day with an earlier breakfast since the shrine to St. Anthony in Humac was a little further away.
The locals have a strong devotion to St. Anthony since they believe that he is especially good at match making! The guide was telling us of story where a local girl got fed up praying to St. Anthony as she couldn’t find a husband so, in frustration, she threw the statue out of the window, and apparently it hit a man on the head and they are now married.
I am not sure whether our Fr. Anthony has any match making skills, but I decided to pray for him at the shrine just in case you need his advice!
The church and shrine were truly beautiful. After Mass we venerated a relic of St. Anthony and then, as planned, we had some time for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
After Mass we had a bit of downtime at the beautiful waterfalls at Kravica before returning for the evening program.
That evening there was a particularly beautiful sunset, so I walked down to the cemetery behind the church which is a perfect place to see the sunset.
Fr. Slavko who acted as the spiritual director to the visionaries is buried here and many people come to pray at his grave as they are convinced that he will soon become a recognized saint.
My plan, however, was to pray for Deacon David Morgan (a former Deacon at Yateley) since I have a picture of the two of us together in this location. I brought Dave here between two of his chemo sessions and we made a deal before he died of cancer that I would pray for him every day I am on earth if he did the same for me in Heaven.
Thinking of Dave always brings a smile to my face. When we were here together, he woke me up at 3am shouting that there is an apparition and he was dangling a luminous angel that he bought from the shop over my head!
Adoration started at 7pm, and I joined my prayers to those of our parish community since I knew that Fr. Anthony would be organizing adoration in our church at the same time.
Our evening meal was at 8.15pm and I decided to go out for a walk to the Blue Cross to pray. It was too hot in the day to walk anywhere without melting so I thought my plan throughout the week was to hide during the day and go out in the evening.
It took around 30 minutes to walk from the hotel to the cross. It is a very peaceful place and a great location to sit and pray without having to climb a mountain!
At around 11.30pm a storm brewed up and, as much as I love storms, I decided that discretion was called for and walked back towards the hotel. On the way back I came across a statue of the Divine Mercy so stayed to pray for a little while surrounded by thunder and the flashing of lightning.
Day 5 (Friday)
We met for breakfast at 8am and then down to the church for the English-speaking Mass at 10am. Following Mass, we went to listen to a talk from Fr. Leon Pereira who is the resident chaplain to the English-speaking pilgrims.
Before each Mass Fr. Leon gives instructions to the pilgrims, for example, even though it is very hot apparently you are not allowed to wear strapless tops, crop tops, low cut dresses etc. and this also applies to the women! He also gives instructions to visiting deacons about what to do and hopefully I didn’t mess too many things up.
Fr. Leon gave a very interesting talk about the “5 stones” of Medjugorje. He has many videos on YouTube so rather than me explaining what he said, you can just watch yourself here.
His talks should probably come with a warning though; if you listen, then you may well end up praying the Rosary every day!
He also advised pilgrims to read the book on the life of Mary by Maria Valtorta and made a PDF version available to us (via our group leaders) and I have added it to Dropbox so you can read it here.
Inspired by the talk, and by the fact that it was slightly cooler that day following the storm (28 degrees) I decided to climb Apparition Hill and pray the Rosary at the stations that have been placed on the mountain. If you follow the official route to the site of the apparition, you only encounter the stations of the joyful mysteries, but you can continue up the mountain and pray the sorrowful mysteries before coming to the sight of the apparition from the other side.
Several years ago a friend of mine gave me some good advice when praying the rosary: to stop at the word “Jesus” in the middle of each Hail Mary and add your own prayer related to the mystery or something else that is on your mind. So even though the mountain is much lower than Cross Mountain, my trip still took over three hours.
After spending a while at the sight of the apparition, I walked the back route down from the mountain since I knew that you encounter the stations of the glorious mysteries going this way and you emerge at the sight of the Blue Cross.
I went back to the hotel to freshen up and then went back to the church at 5pm for the evening program.
Day 6 (Saturday)
Breakfast was at 8.30am followed by the Mass at 10am. Following Mass, we went to visit a “Castle” built in Medjugorje by a couple called Nancy and Patrick to hear their testimony.
Being the first Saturday of the month, Nancy spoke about the importance of the first Saturday’s devotion that our Lady first mentioned to the children at Fatima and explained that in a way Medjugorje is the fulfilment of Fatima.
She also spoke about the importance of the first Friday devotions that Our Lord requested of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque.
Patrick then gave his testimony; he was a successful businessman in Canada but sold everything to come to Medjugorje to be the neighbour of Our Lady and build a home and retreat centre for priests. You can hear his testimony here.
In the afternoon the group went to visit the Oasis of Peace Community. This is one of my favourite places. It is a place of silence and peace run by a contemplative order where there is perpetual Adoration and it has the most lifelike crucifix that I have ever seen.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the chapel praying and speaking to Jesus about Ryan then at 5.30pm the community came in and began praying. I am not sure what language they were using but I immediately understood the scripture they read since they were reading the text that had stayed with me for months after Ryan had died.
A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. – Jeremiah 31:16
I lived with this sentence for several months after Ryan passed away before moving on to the next verse that offers great consolation for all those who morn:
This is what the Lord says: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded, declares the Lord. They will return from the land of the enemy – Jeremiah 31:16
Day 7 (Sunday)
Early in the morning the group went to climb Cross Mountain but I hadn’t recovered from my first trip so I decided to join in with those in the group who were going to pray the stations of the cross that are placed around the statue of the Risen Christ.
We used Mary’s Way of the Cross and each took turns in reading. The readings were very moving given our location in Medjugorje.
English Mass was at 12 noon but it was too hot to do much in the afternoon other than have a nice lunch and a few beers!
The evening program started again at 5pm, and still inspired by Fr. Leon’s talk, I prayed the rosary and included the luminous mysteries using the wonderful mosaic stations that they have placed behind the church.
Our evening meal was at 7pm and this was followed by a talk by David Parkes. You can hear his testimony here.
Given that it was our last full day, I decided to go on a late-night walk over to the Blue Cross. There is a tradition that Our Lady’s birthday was on 8th of September, so I picked a flower to place by her statue on my way.
As I walked along, I looked up to Cross Mountain and could see that the cross was lit up to be the light for my journey.
At the Blue Cross, I encountered a truly wonderful scene with many pilgrims deep in prayer and singing songs to Our Lady and lighting candles. I stayed until midnight before heading back to the hotel.
Day 8 (Monday)
Breakfast was at 7.30am and we left in the coach for the airport at 8.30am. There were various delays on our return trip; I won’t bore you with the details but once you enter the peace of Medjugorje, any problems seem insignificant. Now that I am at home, I once more remember that Medjugorje is not just a place, it is a time! Once you visit you end up living in Medjugorje time wherever you may be.
May the Blessed Mother come into your life today with a special blessing for you.
If you want to see more pictures and a video montage of my trip, then click here:
