THE EXPERIENCES OF PILGRIMS

date: 13.09.2012.

Lebanese priest Fr. Charbel Zgheib was in Medjugorje with a group of young people. This was his first visit to Medjugorje. “One can really feel faith here and God’s presence as well. Peace is all over the place”, said Fr. Charbel who added that many Lebanese are coming to Medjugorje. “Many come out of curiosity, but there are also those who have many difficulties. When they come here, their whole life is changing. When they come back to Lebanon, they are really different; their view of life is changed because they have encountered God and Our Lady here.” Fr. Charbel said that many have felt vocations here. “My spiritual leader along with few other Maronite priests has all received their vocation here. Medjugorje has indeed changed many lives”, said Fr. Charbel from Lebanon.
Seventy-two pilgrims from Panama were in Medjugorje. Michelle Arjona gave us her witness and this is her first time in Medjugorje. She found her peace and promised to speak to people in Panama about Medjugorje. “I will speak to my family that is not very religious. I am happy to teach them about some things and especially my classmates as well.”
 Marcello Saggiorato comes from Argentina, he has son who is 16 and he wanted to hear something good for his life, so he decided to come to Medjugorje for Youth Festival. “We made Facebook page of Medjugorje this year, page of the International Youth Festival, to encourage some other young people to come as well. So far, our group has 20 people, 8 of them are young, and my wife is among them. I think that one can experience deep encounter with Our Lady here in Medjugorje. We also believe that this place is deeply filled with peace.
Immaculada Fernandez Caballero, Irene Alvarez Sanchez and Adrian Perez Ferrero come from Spain. They said that they felt invited to come here. Some of them were here before and some just heard about Medjugorje and decided to come. Irene said: “As a family we met one prayer community who was here before and after we got close to them, we came here. They were preparing us pilgrims and were informing us about the pilgrimage and this place.”
Pepe Aguilar Castillo, 17 years old young man, came with his family for the first time from Mexico. Eight of them came to Medjugorje. “I can see many people who believed in Jesus and Our Lady, and they had never believed before. I am really thrilled with Holy Masses and gathering of youth, it is so good to see that everyone here is so happy.”
Violeta, Nada and Vidosava came from Macedonia. They said that they were really happy to see young people gathering from all over the world to praise the Lord and to be like one. Their group was made of Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims. (photos)