Our Lady of Medjugorje (also called Queen of Peace) is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by those who believe that she appeared in 1981 to six Herzegovinian children in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina (at the time in SFR Yugoslavia).On 24 June 1981, young Mirjana Dragicevic and Ivanka Ivanković reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a village in what is now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following day another vision was reported, this time also by four other young people
The children claim that they saw an apparition on the hill Crnica (on the place called Podbrdo); the alleged apparition was a white form with a child in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach. The next day at the same time four of the youths returned, and were later joined by the other two.
For several years the six visionaries reported seeing daily apparitions from the Virgin Mary.
At the time of the first alleged apparition Vicka Ivanković was sixteen years old. She claims to have prayed with Our Lady and talked to her; she also claims to have been given nine "secrets".
We got given one of these beautiful brass badges which we cherish.
Sadly I seem to have lost my pic's from this day ( and others) so please forgive the "professional" look of the above borrowed one's. Normally I pride myself in taking mediocre photo's as can be seen below. Much more to my style.
We actually spent the night in Medjugorie, walked up Apparation Hill the next day and generally tried to get the feel of the place. We were looking forward to a closer connection with God, more so than other churches, monastery's etc but sadly this was not the case. I know God is always among us and surely was during our stay, but for some reason I didn't feel that spiritually fulfilled.
Mostar is
a city in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, straddling the Neretva
River. It’s known for the iconic Stari Most (Old Bridge), a
reconstructed medieval arched bridge. The nearby alleys are full of
shops and market stalls, and the Old Bridge Museum explores the
bridge’s long history. A narrow staircase leads up to the Koski
Mehmed-Pasha Mosque’s minaret for panoramic city views.
Check out those bullet holes!!!
At first we were unsure of wondering so deep into this strange and historically violent countryside but after feeling extremely sage white at Medjugorie we decided to simply continue as far as Mostar. Why you ask...... because of the iconic bridge. it seems a regular sport is for folk to bungee jump from above with the intention of getting wet below. Although they don wet suits it still remains to close to the ground for me. !!
A walk around of the old city was most enjoyable, cobbled river stoned streets made it a bit difficult for B but was otherwise well worth the effort of getting there. ( no real effort really , lol )
The bridge has been rebuilt since the war (see above) but it was reconstructed using most of the original stone and replicated exactly as it was prior bombing. The result, perfect as for as I was concerned.
Yep we got hungry, and thirty so we indulged a little .. Not much mind you . Our bikes were secured a ways away and we still needed to find OL later.
