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Today, the village of Medjugorje is quite a growing community. This once tiny hamlet now turning into a rather large booming town is made up for the most part of faithful souls yearning for a closer and more intimate relationship with God. Since the early 1980’s most of the Medjugorje population has not been her residents but her guest’s.. Pilgrims as you know coming from all corners of the world.. And aside from enduring the horrible pangs of a vicious war during the early to mid 1990’s, this faithful community has been steadily growing for 28 years now. Naturally, because of the great multitude of pilgrims who come to Medjugorje each year the merchant industry is growing as well.. And each year more and more of these quaint little Rosary shops and European café’s open up all along the Medjugorje roads along with new Pansions and even accommodating hotels.
Even the dirt paths leading to and fro Medjugorje to other smaller villages have many locals setting up tables selling hand made Rosaries and other sacramental’s, and even home made wine, honey and other assorted goodies .. I must say however, as a pilgrim myself being brought here by Our Lady so that I could learn to live the Medjugorje message like others I found none of this to be a real distraction in any way or a real turn off commercially speaking.. It’s all still rather quaint and cozy in comparison to the hustle and bustle back home.. And believe me, I’m just as easily turned off by commercialism as the next fellow.. Especially in a place as holy as Medjugorje.. But it’s the manner in which things are done around here that I found the vending to be a nice touch to the village rather than a distraction.. I suppose this would be because of the hospitality you receive just about everywhere you enter as well as the fact that for the most part the vendors themselves practice their faith.. I pray that Medjugorje never loses that quaint and cozy feel..
True, there are some stores opening along the way by outsiders perhaps whose sole intent is to make a profit. You will always have that anywhere you have a continual flow of large gatherings. We cannot judge the hearts of every vendor however who strolls into town to set up shop. But thrown in the mix here in Medjugorje are faithful locals born and raised here who are simply trying to earn a living like anyone else. And I believe it is because of these faithful locals who tend to keep the other merchants pricing humbled so that they do not try and gouge the customers. The prices of Rosaries, other sacramentals, and other commodities in comparison to American standards are actually very reasonable. Just to give you an example, Rosaries start at about $2 or $3 U.S. dollars and up. That is not expensive at all by any means. And then there are the cabbies. There are cab services just outside the Parish grounds available for those who find it difficult to get around town. No meter running, the cabbie will take you just about anywhere you want to go around the village for a flat rate of 5 Euro..
Also just outside the grounds of St. James Parish is a long covered walkway that leads from the Church to the main street. And at the very end of this walkway just as you are about to enter onto the Parish grounds is a Travel Agency complete with internet facilities owned by a man named Alin and his wife Zana who over time have become friends of mine and Stella.. Alin and Zana just had a baby last November and this past July Zana has had to cope with the death of her mother who was only 58 years old. So it’s been an intense year for Alin & Zana and we keep this wonderful couple in our prayers.
Now just down the road a bit from the Church is Emmanuel’s gift shop. Emmanuel and his wife Anita have a small Rosary & gift shop tucked in a row of other gift shops, another internet café, and Mary’s Meals, a non-profit organization that feeds under privileged children in the local area. Mary’s Meals is a charity mission created by the humanitarian organization called the Scottish International Relief, founded in 1992. Staffed by local volunteers, this much needed charity provides for the needs of local children who otherwise have nothing or very little.
Over time Anita has become a very good friend of our friend Stella. You may recognize her name as one of the forum members on Stella’s forum. While in Medjugorje recently I wanted to get a nice wedding present for my sister Louise and her fiancé Curtis, as they were getting married two days after I was to return home. Anita and Emmanuel took very good care of me. Anita brought me around to look at various options and explained to me about a very common marriage custom to the locals. When a couple get married in Medjugorje there is a greater focus on the three become one, rather then the two becoming one.. The three being the bride, the groom, and of course God who they invite to be at the very center of their marriage just as God is calling them to be married. So Anita explained to me that a perfect gift for Louise and Curtis would be a Crucifix which the couple gently place their hands over together as they give their vows along with a blessed candle and a marriage Rosary, which is two Rosaries joined together. I chose a beautiful wood crucifix that had three little glass enclosures on it that contains soil, tiny stones, and seeds that are native to the Medjugorje area. The blessed candle I picked out for Louise and Curtis has the Joyful Mysteries on it.
As of this recent pilgrimage to Medjugorje I now have three little café’s I favor. Lol.. One of them being a sure favorite of many including our friend Bluecross called Colombo’s.. Another just a little down the road in the opposite direction of the Church is Victor’s, and a third café I had not known about last year which quickly became a favorite of mine to take a moment to rest this time around is a Tiny café located right at the foot of Apparition Hill as you begin your journey upwards called Holy Grounds Café. However, I’m saving my sharing about Holy Grounds Café for a later article I will post here on the forum as it’s owner Oliver was kind enough to take the time one morning to sit down with me and let me interview him.
Colombo’s and Victor’s seem to be hot spots if you are a pilgrim walking in the vicinity of St. James Church. There is also Coco’s located right near the Parish and I’ve heard they have awesome pizza though I rarely visited there myself. Colombo’s is a rather large café with two floors and an outdoor patio, all tucked in between a few buildings which creates that cozy European atmosphere I spoke of earlier. I’m not clear on the seating capacity though as I never thought to ask but I would estimate that Colombo’s seats some where’s over 100 people. Bluecross could answer that better as it’s his favorite spot to be while in Medjugorje but outside of any religious grounds.
Victor’s is a smaller restaurant, however I must say he never suffers a lack of business by any means. Along with Colombo’s, Victors seems to be favored by many pilgrims, especially the Irish. Perhaps this is because Victor has an acoustic guitar hanging on the wall which is available to anyone who wants to start up a sing along.. Something the Irish pilgrim groups are well known for.. And many nights he ends up closing quite late because the pilgrims are just having way too much fun. Lol..
Walking along the main road of Medjugorje the pilgrim finds rows and rows of these quaint little Rosary shops with little café’s tucked in between them from time to time. Or vise versa.. Perhaps it’s the Rosary shops tucked in between the café’s. Either way, this blend of European café’s and boutiques create a very pleasant atmosphere for the wandering pilgrim out for a walk along Main Street Medjugorje, contrary to the hustle and bustle we often experience back home. It’s all rather cozy to be honest.
No one is in a real hurry here in Medjugorje.. I mean, where is it that you need to get to so quickly when you are given plenty of time to get there? And that includes the merchants.. Interestingly enough, they seem to be in no real hurry to sell you their goods. On several occasions both during this recent pilgrimage as well as last years October pilgrimage I often found myself when browsing the many shops falling into long winded conversations with either the owners or their employees and leaving after 20, 30 or 45 minutes later having purchased nothing from them, yet, to have the new friend I just made smile and wave good bye as I left the store. No one pushes sales here. And that is why I say the commercialism that does exist here in Medjugorje as a result of the many pilgrims is not at all a turn off but a rather nice European touch to the pilgrimage I’ve found myself on. I believe the Western world, even at the level of commercialism & consumerism could really learn a lot from the way things are done in this little Oasis of Peace.
The locals are very friendly in Medjugorje. Whether they are a vendor, a shop owner, a café owner or simply a local tending to his garden pilgrims are always made to feel very welcomed here. One day, our group had been invited by Joso, a local artist and farmer who has become a very good friend to Jim Lightner. I will tell of this visit in a later post, however, for the moment I just want to give an example of the hospitality of the local people even those locals who are otherwise generally complete strangers to the pilgrims. When it was time to leave Joso’s and head back into town a few of us decided to walk when we discovered during our visit that we were actually only about a 15 minute walk to the Parish.
Barb and I had just began walking away from Joso’s when we passed the home of a local woman who spoke no English at all and nodded as a friendly gesture to say hello in passing. She motioned as if to be calling us over to her. So we began to walk towards her and she rose from her seat to greet us. As much as we were unable to speak to each other because of our language barriers it did not seem to matter. She seemed to be insisting that Barb and I come into her home and visit for a while.. Well, we didn’t want to be rude and so we entered into her home and were immediately greeted by a life size mural on the wall of her entrance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was indescribably beautiful. We spent perhaps about 15 or 20 minutes with this wonderful lady who just seemed to want some company. We would have stayed longer but we did need to get back. And though it was a bit awkward to try and communicate with her it was also a lot of fun.. lol.. and she seemed to enjoy us even more than we were enjoying trying to communicate with her. This elderly woman just had the biggest heart, and as we were leaving she insisted we take some fruit with us. It would be a great insult to refuse and so we accepted her offering which ended up being a huge bag full of fresh fruit, enough to offer to everyone back at Mirjana’s..
There are so many other wonderful places I could write about here. I just wanted to try and create a feel for those who have not yet had the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to Medjugorje of what everyday life might be like for both the pilgrim and those native to Medjugorje.
