date: 07.08.2025.
The third day of the 36th International Youth Prayer Festival, which is being held in Medjugorje under the motto 'Let us go to the house of the Lord!' (Ps 122:1), began with the morning prayer at the White Dome of the Church of St. James, led by the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić. Then, the parish vicar of Medjugorje, Fr. Jure Barišić, held a catechesis for the young people who arrived from 71 countries around the world at the theme of Our Lady's messages and how to live them, how to practice them in their daily lives as believers.
He said that Medjugorje spirituality is simple, and in its simplicity it is both a joyful spirituality, but also a celebratory spirituality, and it grew out of Our Lady's messages that she sent to us, that is, to the entire world, through the visionaries.
"We honour Our Lady as our mediator, our advocate, but one of Our Lady's most beautiful titles is that she is a mother, and when a mother speaks to her children, she does not use some lofty language, some philosophical language that no one understands, but uses simple language, but language that is full of love. That is why these messages are simple, but since they are full of motherly love, they are also profound," said Fr. Jure, emphasizing that Mother often repeats them to us, but not to be boring, but because we do not improve.
Then, a priest from Spain, Litus Ballbé Sala, also gave his testimony. He studied journalism, trained field hockey, and during a world championship in 2005, he promised God to come to Medjugorje. Until then, his religious life had been reduced to Sunday mass, often without communion. He described his life from an Olympian to a priest and the problems he encountered on that part, of course, the solutions to these problems, which is what Medjugorje helped him with, and Medjugorje also helped the Italian couple Marco and Daniela Rossi. Their marriage fell apart, they testified, when they turned to Tibetan arts and New Age, but Our Lady and Lord reunited them thanks to a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
After that, with a lot of singing and dancing, followed by the prayer Angelus, the morning part of the program ended, and the afternoon part began with a lot of dancing and singing produced by a large international choir and orchestra under the direction of Maestro Damir Bunoza.
Aldis Čamans from Latvia testified about his path of vice, addiction to alcoholism since the age of 12, whom psychologists could not help and sent to a priest, who recommended confession. He was also in Medjugorje, prayed on the Apparition Hill, where he first experienced prayer as a conversation with God. He got married, they have ten children, they organize prayer meetings for young people, receive young people into their home, are active in humanitarian work, participate in fasting and prayer seminars in Medjugorje, and Our Lady's messages are now, as he said, a way of life and a guide to how to behave, and his wife Edite also testified, and they also introduced their children, some of whom are with them in Medjugorje these days.
Fr. Ivica Vrbić from Zavidovići has been a missionary in Bolivia for nine and a half years, and at the Mladifest he spoke about his childhood, life and missionary experience. He said that missionary work is a calling within a calling.
'' I am grateful for the many examples of saints like Mother Teresa, like our Croatian missionary Ante Gabrić, but also for a martyr who ended his life with a tragic death in Rwanda, Fr. Vjeko Ćurić, who I believe will one day be declared blessed and holy by the Church. It was their example that drove me to be like them, to bring Jesus to this world,'' said Fr. Ivica.
Holy Mass was presided over by the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, who on the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord spoke about the symbolism of mountains in the biblical dictionary.
''A mountain is a height and thus elevates a person closer to God, closer to heaven. It is an image that shows that someone is in prayer, connected to God. We can take Moses and Elijah as an example – these two great prophets of the Old Testament. Both of them experienced the revelation of God on the mountain, experienced God’s closeness and received a mission from the Lord. Likewise, when Jesus goes to pray, this is often described with the words: “He went up into the mountain… he went into the mountain…” The mountain signifies a place where a person surrenders to God in prayer, to the experience of God’s presence. Thus Jesus takes the disciples with him and is transfigured before them. His face and clothes shine with an indescribable radiance, a cloud covers them and the Father’s voice is heard. The disciples thus become witnesses of the glory of Jesus that he has in heaven with the Father. This must have been an unexpected and indescribable experience for them – to see the glory of God – and they were beyond themselves, as we see in Peter’s question about the tabernacles. They were not only amazed by the glory, but they were also terrified because they saw and heard something they had never imagined before," said Fr. Zvonimir, reminding us that Mount Tabor is not the only mountain on which Jesus revealed his glory.
"There is also the Mount of Olives and Calvary, where glory is visible in an even more intricate form. Jesus humiliated, crucified, dying on the cross. Both Mount Tabor and Mount Calvary signify the glory of God. Two faces of the same reality. On one, glory and brilliance, on the other, everyone turns away from him. Do I have the courage to go to both mountains with the Lord? Surely both will await me in life. Both glory and humiliation," said Fr. Zvonimir, explaining that a mountain in the biblical sense signifies a place of prayer, a place where we come into God's presence, so a mountain does not necessarily have to be a mountain, but every church is a mountain - because it lifts us out of our everyday lives and opens us to the experience of God's presence.
"We can say that the Eucharist is also a mountain, an event of transfiguration. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps every altar in the church is raised to symbolize this mountain of transfiguration. We have also heard the voice of God in the readings that are announced to us - because every time the word of God is announced in the liturgy, God himself speaks to the gathered community. And every time we remember the death of Christ and celebrate the resurrection and await his glorious coming. We say this every time the priest reminds us that what we are celebrating is the secret/mystery of our faith," said Fr. Zvonimir, and called for regular coming to "this mountain, to the church, to celebrate the Eucharist so that we may witness this transfiguration, so that we may witness the love of God for us sinners and see his glory."
He said that we need to live holy lives so that we can receive communion at every Eucharist and that Christ defeated sin on Calvary and then manifested the glory that the disciples had seen on Mount Tabor.
''It is possible and necessary that my life also bears witness to how God destroyed sin and how He led me on the path of transformation.
How many people here in Medjugorje have felt transformation in the church during the Eucharist, in the sacrament of confession, on the Apparition Hill or on the Cross. They came with their suffering, with their life problems, questions, and the Lord transformed their lives. Our Lady, our Mother, therefore tirelessly calls: convert, pray, go to my Son... Let us respond to her call. She calls until we are all converted. Like a mother waiting for the last child to come home…
Motivated by the word of God and the example of so many pilgrims, let us therefore abandon every sin and everything that is unworthy of Christianity, and live as children of light, as children of transfiguration,'' concluded Fr. Zvonimir, and the program continued with a prayer with candles before the cross.
In the concelebration with the parish priest of Medjugorje were the Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, Bishop of Sisak Vlado Košić and Dutch military bishop Evarard de Jong, as well as 616 other priests. Fr. Mate Tadić led the prayer of the Rosary. (PHOTO)
