Cross Mountain

“Krizevac” means “Mount of the Cross.” It is the highest mountain in the area. In 1933, the parish of St. James erected a large concrete cross to commemorate the 1900th Anniversary of Jesus’ passion and death on the Cross. During construction of the 16 ton cross, the parishioners carried up all of the materials, cement, sand, water, tools, etc., in memory of Christ’s way of the Cross. The cross was completed on March 15, 1934.

A relic of the True Cross of Jesus was received from Rome from Pope Pius XI and built into this cross. This relic was obtained from the larger part of the true Cross that remains in the Church of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, in Rome.

Before 1933, and the erection of the cross, Medjugorje endured many hail storms that destroyed the villager’s crops in the fields. This was a tremendous hardship because, materially, the villager’s had little. Upon completion of the cross, the storms ceased, and there have been no reports of such storms again in this area.

Our Lady has said that the Cross on Mt. Krizevac was in God’s design.

August 31, 1984

“I love the cross which you have providentially erected on Mount Krizevac in a very special way. Go there more often and pray.”

August 30, 1984

“Dear children, the cross was also in God’s plan when you built it. These days especially, go on the mountain and pray before the cross. I need your prayers. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Cross Mountain is central to one’s pilgrimage to Medjugorje. It is a penitential climb that lead pilgrims to reflect upon their relationship with God and what they need to change in their lives to draw closer to Him. Often deep healing, cleansing and peace is experienced at the summit of the mountain, at the foot of the cross, after pilgrims arrive at the top. Our Lady has made it clear in Her messages that it is Her desire to see pilgrims climbing both Cross Mountain and Apparition Mountain.

Pope Pius XI proclaimed 1933 a Holy Year because it marked the 1900th anniversary of Our Lord’s death on the Cross. Villagers repeat the story of the Holy Father who had a dream that same year, in which a cross was to be raised on the “highest Golgotha in Herzegovina.” An entry in the parish archives revealed that the parishioners performed this difficult task “in order to leave to their descendants a clear and visible proof of their deep faith in the Redeemer.” They raised the large cross in less than three weeks during a particularly bitter winter. The villagers began to meet every year on top of the mountain for Holy Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross, on September 14th. Under the Communist government of the region, though it was forbidden to have any outside religious gatherings, the authorities made this one exception every year.