The meaning of prayer in Mary's messages of Medjugorje

Strehovec, Tadej (author), Pevec Rozman, Mateja (author)

For decades, the apparitions of the Virgin Mary and pilgrimages to Medjugorje have aroused different opinions and positions in the Catholic Church and the public. After an introduction, the authors first outline the broader historical and socio-political context of the Marian apparitions in Medjugorje. Then they present the views of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on the apparitions in Medjugorje, with an in-depth analysis of the documents Norms for Proceeding in the Discernment of Alleged Supernatural Phenomena (2024) and The Queen of Peace: Note About the Spiritual Experience Connected with Medjugorje (2024), paying special attention to the understanding of prayer in the context of Medjugorje and its spiritual fruits in the context of the so-called Medjugorje phenomenon. In the fourth part, they analyse the content of the alleged messages of the Virgin Mary transmitted by the so-called seers, and in the last, fifth part, they focus on the meaning of prayer in Mary's messages of Medjugorje by analysing her calls to prayer through these messages. The article examines the role and importance of prayer as called for and encouraged by the Mother of God as the mediator between God and humanity, with special focus on her messages related to the events of the apparitions in Medjugorje. These invitations to prayer are in accordance with established Catholic doctrine, which considers prayer to be an essential means of communication with God and of receiving divine graces, thus promoting spiritual development. The originality of this scientific research lies in the evaluation of the meaning of prayer in Medjugorje in the context of Our Lady's messages and in the analysis of the position of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which in its evaluation of the apparitions of Mary officially emphasizes the spiritual (prayerful) fruits of the Medjugorje movement and relies on Our Lady's messages in its assessment. The authors use descriptive and analytical methods. They find it extremely interesting that the Holy See, in its official position, refers to the messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje in its assessment without yet confirming the apparitions of Mary. In a situation in which the Holy See has not (yet) officially confirmed the authenticity of the Marian apparitions, the authors do not deal with the authenticity of the messages and apparitions transmitted by the so-called seers, but underline the thesis that the spiritual fruits are most likely to determine the authenticity of the Medjugorje phenomenon, in which prayer on both personal and collective levels is of decisive importance.

• Language: English
• Keywords: prayer, Our Lady, Marian apparitions, Medjugorje, messages of Virgin Mary, spirituality, faith
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 149-172
• Numbering: Letn. 80, št. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-177628
• UDC: 27-534.35(497.6Međugorje)
• ISSN on article: 2335-4127
• DOI: 10.34291/Edinost/80/02/Strehovec
• COBISS.SI-ID: 262126851
• Publication date in RUL: 30.12.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Edinost in dialog : revija za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog
• Publisher: Inštitut za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut za ekumensko teologijo in medreligijski dialog pri Teološki fakulteti Univerze v Ljubljani, Inštitut Stanka Janežiča za dogmatično, osnovno in ekumensko teologijo ter religiologijo in dialog, Teološka fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2335-4127
• COBISS.SI-ID: 268194560

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Pomen molitve v Marijinih sporočilih iz Medžugorja

Abstract

Marijina prikazovanja in romanja v Medžugorje že desetletja vzbujajo različna mnenja in stališča v Katoliški cerkvi in javnosti. Po uvodu avtorja najprej orišeta širši zgodovinski in družbenopolitični kontekst Marijinih prikazovanj v Medžugorju. Nato predstavita stališča Dikasterija za nauk vere (DDF) o prikazovanjih v Medžugorju s poglobljeno analizo dokumentov Norme za ravnanje pri razločevanju domnevnih nadnaravnih pojavov (2024) in Kraljica miru: Navodilo o duhovni izkušnji, povezani z Medžugorjem (2024), pri čemer je posebna pozornost namenjena razumevanju molitve v kontekstu Medžugorja in njenih duhovnih sadov. V četrtem delu analizirata vsebino domnevnih Marijinih sporočil, ki so jih posredovali t. i. vidci, v zadnjem, petem delu pa se osredotočita na pomen molitve v Marijinih medžugorskih sporočilih z analizo njenih vabil k molitvi preko sporočil. Članek obravnava vlogo in pomen molitve, h kateri poziva in spodbuja Božja Mati kot posrednica med Bogom in človekom, s posebnim poudarkom na njenih sporočilih. Ti pozivi k molitvi so v skladu z uveljavljenim katoliškim naukom, po katerem je molitev bistveno sredstvo za komunikacijo z Bogom in prejemanje božjih milosti ter s tem človekovega duhovnega razvoja. Izvirnost te znanstvene raziskave je v vrednotenju pomena molitve v kontekstu Marijinih sporočil v Medžugorju in v analizi stališča Dikasterija za nauk vere, ki v svoji oceni Marijinih prikazovanj uradno poudarja duhovne (molitvene) sadove medžugorskega gibanja in se opira na Marijina sporočila. Avtorja uporabljata deskriptivno in analitično metodo. Posebej poudarjata, da se Sveti sedež v svojem uradnem stališču v svoji oceni sklicuje na sporočila medžugorske Marije, ne da bi predhodno potrdil tamkajšnja Marijina prikazovanja. V razmerah, ko Sveti sedež (še) ni uradno potrdil pristnosti Marijinih prikazovanj, se avtorja ne ukvarjata z avtentičnostjo sporočil in prikazovanj, ki so jih posredovali t. i. vidci, temveč zagovarjata tezo, da so za ugotavljanje pristnosti medžugorskega pojava najverjetneje najbolj pomembni duhovni sadovi, pri katerih je odločilnega pomena molitev na osebni in skupni ravni.

• Keywords: molitev, Naša Gospa, Medžugorje, Marijina prikazovanja, Marijina sporočila, duhovnost, vera

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P6-0269
• Name: Religija, etika, edukacija in izzivi sodobne družbe