So when I was in Bosnia & Herzegovina in September last year, I decided that I must visit Medjugorje to see and experience the little town.
Getting to Medjugorje
I visited Medjugorje on a half day trip from Mostar.
To get from Mostar to Medjugorje, you'll need to take the bus that runs from Mostar to Split in Croatia as it stops at Medjugorje along the way.
Mostar bus station:
The first bus to Split leaves Mostar bus station at 11.00am and takes about an hour to reach Medjugorje. The ticket price is 5 KM.
The last bus from Medjugorje to Mostar is at 2.00pm. Make sure you don't miss this bus or else you would have to take the taxi home and it's not cheap.
If you intend to attend the Sunday Mass in English at St James Church (click here for weekly programme) or spend time in prayer or even hike up Apparition Hill to recite the rosary, then perhaps getting your own transport to Medjugorje would be a wiser option so that you don't have to be at the mercy of the bus times.
The Church of St James
There is only one church in Medjugorje and it's called the Church of St James:
Make sure you adhere to the dress code before entering the church:
Inside the church:
I arrived at the church around 1.00pm and Sunday Mass had already ended by then. This was because I had mistakenly gotten off the bus at a town before Medjugorje, got lost and ended up taking a taxi to Medjugorje. So by the time I arrived at the Church of St James, the 12 noon English Mass had already ended. Nevertheless I still recited a prayer and sat in silence for a while.
On the right wing of the church is the Queen of Peace shrine:
Our Lady had identified herself as Queen of Peace when she appeared to the six children in 1981. Thus, the name of the shrine.
After praying, I came out from the church and started exploring. I saw this signboard about the major areas in the compound:
This is the legend in English:
The afternoon sun was hot and it was soon time for the last bus at 2.00pm from Medjugorje back to Mostar. So I decided not to walk around the church compound to look for the statues and stations of the cross. Instead, I went out from the church compound.
Outside the Church of St James
This is the road in front of the church:
The row of shops in front of the church sells rosaries, holy pictures, statues, scapulars and other religious items by the thousands, and all reasonably priced too. I bought two rosaries and two fridge magnets (of the Virgin Mary and Holy Family) for EUR10.00.
Shopping haven for religious articles. You'll be spoilt for choices.
Beside the Church of St James are hotels for those who wish to stay a night or two:
The Medjugorje bus station is about 650m from the Church of St James:
Bus station looking so lonely.
There are also taxis to bring you to touristy places like Mostar, Split and Dubrovnik. If you're interested, here's the price list:
Conclusion
I was hoping to experience a surreal experience of Our Lady's message at Medjugorje, but no, I didn' experience anything like that. Maybe because I had spent only an hour in Medjugorje and didn't attend Mass, let alone do the other stuff that pilgrims do like recite the rosary or spend time in prayer. Perhaps my experience would have been different had I spent a longer time in Medjugorje.
At the end of the day, our faith is what we carry in our hearts. We don't need to make pilgrimages thousands of kilometres from home just to experience God's love. His love is found in our everyday lives, in our homes and in our hearts.
