Guide-lines and Information for Pilgrims

Guidelines and Information for Pilgrims

DEAR PILGRIMS!

On behalf of all priests serving in this parish, I am pleased to welcome you sincerely to Medjugorje, all of you who come either as spiritual leaders of the groups or as pilgrims.

Thank you indeed for your desire and readiness to visit this place of grace and prayer. May the Almighty God, through the intercession of our Heavenly Mother, the Queen of Peace, reward you for all the efforts you undertake to come here!

As I would like your stay in Medjugorje to be as pleasant and helpful as possible, I am giving you some recommendations, and I ask you sincerely to read them carefully and to abide by them:

1.Holy Mass is celebrated only in the parish church. It is possible to celebrate Mass in the Adoration chapel and in the Hall of John Paul II, all with the prior permission and agreement with the Information Office and nuns in the sacristy that keep the records of the groups. According to an official diocesan directive, it is forbidden to celebrate Holy Mass in pensions, in private homes you are staying in, on the hills and in any community or chapel located in the parish of Medjugorje. Holy Masses can only be celebrated in the communities that were approved by the Apostolic Visitor. For any explanation or further information, please contact the Information Office in the sanctuary, or call them on phone/fax: 38736651988 or email: informacije@medjugorje.hr

2.Prayer meetings within the parish can be organized only with the permission of the parish priest.

3.Only priests who serve in this parish have the permission to give encounters and talks to groups of pilgrims in the church area. All the others have to obtain the permission of the parish priest.

4.No one has the permission to “pray over” any person, either in the church or around the church area.

5.If you are a priest, you are invited to concelebrate at the evening Mass (please bringing what is necessary: alb, stole, celebret…), and - if you have the permission to hear confessions - to be at the disposal of pilgrims for confessions in your language, or in the language you speak.

6.Each priest that wishes to confess or to concelebrate at Holy Masses needs to have valid celebret. When he presents it in the Information Office, he will receive registration card that allows him to confess and to concelebrate at the Holy Masses. Priests who fail to register will not be allowed to concelebrate at Holy Masses.

7.Leaders of pilgrim groups need to arrange their meetings with priests of the parish through the Parish Information Office.

8.It is forbidden to use private speakers and sound system in the church area.

9.We kindly ask groups to hire a professional and qualified guide during their stay in Medjugorje. The service of a such guides should be requested at the Information Office.

10.Pilgrimage group leaders should announce the arrival of their group and the number of participants by phone/fax + 387 36 651 988 or by e-mail: informacije@medjugorje.hr

11.We kindly ask you not to make any other arrangements during the evening prayer program in the church.

12.The area around the church, on Apparition Hill and Cross Mountain, are places of prayer. Please respect these places as such, please behave in harmony with their significance and  dress appropriately (shoulders and knees should always be covered), as to not disturb prayer and meditation. Please try to preserve the cleanliness of these places.

13.No candles are to be lit on Apparition Hill or on Cross Mountain. They may be lit only at the place provided on the west-side of the church, near the Wooden Cross. Please do not leave any votive offerings, religious articles, photos – nothing should be left on Apparition Hill or on Cross Mountain.

14.Smoking is not allowed in and around the church.

15.Aware of the presence of God, and in order to protect the atmosphere of prayer and meditation, it is not allowed to take photos during Holy Mass and during Adoration.

16.It is forbidden to solicit any money, apart from the offerings during Holy Mass. If you notice anybody trying to do this, please contact the Information Office of the Shrine.

17.Mass intentions, votive offerings or donations for the maintenance of the Shrine of the Queen of Peace can be left in the Parish Office. Thank you!

 

With God’s blessing,
Fr. Zvonimir Pavicic, OFM, parish priest

 

 

Instructions and recommendations for the priests during the pilgrimage in Medjugorje

On behalf of all the priests serving in this parish, I wish you a sincere welcome in the parish of Medjugorje. I thank you from the heart for your desire and your availability to visit this place of grace and of prayer. May God the Almighty, through the intercession of our Heavenly Mother, the Queen of Peace, reward all the efforts and pains, which you endure while coming here. May through you and your sacerdotal service, God be glorified in this place, where the instruments of salvation are offered in greater abundance to the faithful from the whole world. I am convinced that your arrival here and your stay in this famous place of prayer will be a true spiritual cooling. I am certain that, here, much more than elsewhere, you will feel at which point the faithful of our modern times need the priest – the one who ministers the mysteries of God.

This is why I allow myself to solicit you through this text to be heralds of the mercy of Christ and of His love for us men, by the power of your priestly service and with the authorizations that the Church gave you. In order for your stay among us may be as pleasant and useful as possible, I would like to give you some recommendations and to draw your attention to the rules, which you should keep. I sincerely ask you to read them attentively and to act accordingly:

We ask you to keep integrally the rules of the Church envisaged by the Code of the Canon Law, the general liturgical rules and the directives and the rules of the proper authorities of the Church related to the life and the service of the priest.

In order for you to take part in the liturgical life of the parish, according to the rules of the Church, it is necessary to have a recommendation letter of your bishop or your superior (celebret), not older than one year (cf: Code of the Canon Law, Can. 903)

Please bring with you the liturgical vestments (the alb and the stole). The Eucharistic celebration is not authorized without vestments prescribed by liturgical rubriques. (cf: Code of the Canon Law, Can. 929)

If you have the necessary authorizations, you will be able to concelebrate at the Holy Mass in your native tongue or in the language, which you know, at the hours envisaged by the weekly schedules of the Holy Masses. If you wish to be the main celebrant at the Holy Mass or to give the homily, address yourself to the official personnel of the Parish, who are in charge of this. While giving your homilies, respect the recommendations of the Church, by paying attention to the national, cultural and other diversities of the pilgrims who listen to you. Please come on time for the Holy Mass. According to the Canon Law, the priest who is late for Holy Mass will not be allowed to concelebrate.

It is allowed to celebrate the Eucharist only in sacred places, officially approved for that. By a decision of the local bishop, it is expressly forbidden to celebrate Holy Mass in pensions, private houses where you stay, on the hills or in any community or chapel on the territory of the parish of Medjugorje. (cf: Diocese of Mostar No 525/99) For any clarifications, you can address the Information Office.

The central liturgical part of the day is the Evening Prayer Programme. You are invited, if you fill the conditions above, to concelebrate the evening Holy Mass.

Before Holy Mass, please register in the Book of presence, which is at the sacristy of the parish church (please put your surname, first name and the country of origin). All your Holy Mass intentions are your intentions.

If, according to directives of the Canon Law, you are allowed to hear confessions, we ask you to be at the disposal of the pilgrims for the confessions in your native tongue or in the language, which you speak.

When you come to serve for the sacrament of Confession, please be dressed according to the liturgical regulations (alb, stole). Do not confess outside of the confessionals, except if you have a legitimate reason for that. (cf: Code Canon law, Can. 964)

With your group of pilgrims, you can organize prayer meetings in suitable places (Apparition Hill, Cross Mountain, Risen Lord Statue...), while paying attention not to disturb other pilgrims.

During the Evening Prayer Programme in the parish church, it is not allowed to organize other prayer programmes in the parish area.

Meetings with the pilgrims and conferences for the pilgrims in the buildings belonging to the parish can be led only by the priests who have a canonical mission in this parish. All the others must require this permission from the parish priest.

Without the agreement of the parish priest, it is not allowed to organize “healing prayers” or “to pray over others”. If you have received the necessary authorization, you must strictly respect the recommendations of the Church.

We would like to be at your disposal for all your priestly needs, as much as we can.

 

With God's blessing,
Fr. Zvonimir Pavicic, OFM, parish priest