Around St. James Church

To view the full size picture click on the small picture.To see other related pictures click on the underlined words. To return use your BACK button.

The Church of St. James was started in the 1930's after the previous church was destroyed by an earthquake. The villagers of the parish (for the parish of Medjugorje consists of a number of villages) could not agree about the type of church. Only when one of the older inhabitants had a dream of the church did they finally agree to this design, although it seemed to be far too big for such a small parish.

The church took some years to complete, but is now at the centre of the parish, with many Masses for visitors from all over the world. To help with the summer heat, air conditioning has now been installed, and among the many gifts which have been given to the Church are 28 stained glass windows, depicting many themes associated with Our Lady and with Medjugorje. To look at the windows click here

Away from the church, we can probably best start at the statue of Our Lady in front of St James Church. This is used as a meeting place, as a place for prayer, and as a focus of devotion : often the statue is holding a rosary, or some flowers, whatever is placed in her outstretched hand.

Often in the year there are so many who come to Medjugorje, that even with many Masses a day, it is not possible to include everyone together. This is why the Rotunda was built at the end of the church. It is designed for outdoor services, and many thousands can take part. It is quite an experience being here when a Eucharistic Adoration service takes place, with many, many people singing and praying together.

Around the Church there are a number of other places to visit. As picture shows there is a slope (instead of steps) to enable wheelchairs to climb up to the church. The other places nearby (Confessionals, Risen Christ Garden and others) can be seen from the introductory page