Memorial Day of Fr. Slavko Barbarić in Medjugorje

''I rejoice with you and I want to tell you that your brother Slavko was born in Heaven and is interceding for you''. These words of the Queen of Peace resonated so strongly just the day after the death of Fr. Slavko Barbarić, and 25 years after his death, Fr. Slavko's words still resonate strongly in Medjugorje. Not even a quarter of a century after his death has he been forgotten, neither among parishioners nor among pilgrims who walked from his birthplace in Dragićina to his grave in Medjugorje today, on the 25th anniversary of his death.

"This year, about 60 of us set off from Dragićina to the grave. Every year there are more and more of us. The goal is to make this a tradition. The prayer walk took place in the spirit of Fr. Slavko, in prayer, in song and reflection. This year there were quite a few of our little children who set off with us. Thank God and I hope that we will convey his message and the love he had for everyone, especially for the little ones," said one of the participants in this walk, Lucija Bajkuša, niece of Fr. Slavko Barbarić.

Fr. Slavko died on Cross Mountain after having said the Stations of the Cross, so traditionally on this day the Stations of the Cross along Cross Mountain were held, led by the parish vicar of Medjugorje, Fr. Marin Mikulić, and the program of the Day of Remembrance for Fr. Slavko Barbarić continued in the parish church of St. James in Medjugorje, where the Rosary was recited from 5 p.m. by Fr. Karlo Lvrić, and the Holy Mass, concelebrated by 47 priests, was presided over by the Provincial of the Herzegovina Franciscan Province, Fr. Jozo Grbeš.

In the packed hall of St. John Paul II, an Evening of Testimonies and Conversations about Fr. Slavko was held, attended by: Fr. Jozo Grbeš, Fr. Ivan Dugandžić, Fr. Svetozar Kraljević, Fr. Marinko Šakota and Milona von Habsburg.

At the beginning, a short film was shown with the most important biographical information about Fr. Slavko Barbarić.

''Someone came to the house and said that Fr. Slavko was unwell and that one of us priests should go upstairs. I went to church, took holy oil and started... I ran up and at the fourth station I met a column of people... When I arrived he had already died, I anointed him and thought: This is how the righteous of God die,'' said Fr. Svetozar Kraljević, recalling that day.

Fr. Marinko Šakota emphasized that Fr. Slavko's grave became a place of prayer.

"Thousands of signatures have come from Italy and Germany to initiate the beatification process of Fr. Slavko Barbarić, and now it is up to us to initiate what Our Lady said about him," said Fr. Marinko, and Fr. Ivan Dugandžić, who lived with Fr. Slavko Barbarić, speaking about Fr. Slavko's prophetic character, said that it is no wonder that his grave is still visited in large numbers by pilgrims from all over the world today, resorting to him in their needs.

"I firmly hope that on the next anniversary of Fr. Slavko's death we will witness the initiation of the process for his beatification. He deserves this with his entire exemplary religious and priestly life, and especially with his strong prophetic commitment in the service of Our Lady and her messages to the Church and the world of our time," said Fr. Ivan Dugandžić.

"In the eyes of some people here, Fr. Slavko was a controversial person. I think so too. All great people are controversial. Jesus was controversial for both the Romans and the Jews, Saint Francis was controversial for his family. For our local Church in Croatia, Stepinac was controversial, for both the left and the right… If you are not controversial, then history will not record you. Great people are like that,” said Fr. Jozo Grbeš, especially emphasizing Fr. Slavko’s fasting as an important prophetic dimension.

“Fasting and being controversial is the path to holiness,” said the Provincial.

“Fr. Slavko was always one step ahead of us. He thought creatively, biblically, courageously… Along with this prophetic power, his communication was also impressive and he found a way to reach people. He helped people without calculation. He did what needed to be done without compromise and without delay. We too must learn this creative divine communication. The Church lives from communication with God, with man, with nature… And that’s where he was great,” said Fr. Svetozar Kraljević, emphasizing that after he initiated the communication, an “explosion of love” occurred, from which the Mother’s Village was born.

“He was the same everywhere as he is here. I saw what he was like here. I traveled the whole world with him, and Marija and Ivan were with him. I translated, and he had that communication. We were in Australia for six weeks and every day he met thousands of people. Fr. Slavko knew that he was not important, but that everyone was there because Our Lady was calling, because God was calling. He was a true 100% priest and Franciscan, he only took one small suitcase and one book with him on his travels. He would always stop at the time of the apparitions. I feel strange all day long, how memories of Fr. Slavko come to me. He was like a father to the children who came to the Mother’s Village,” said Milona von Habsburg.

Fr. Marinko Šakota emphasized that Fr. Slavko was constantly growing, and that his pastoral work was not limited to what he had to do, but that it went as far as the needs of the people went, and he also shared the testimonies of people of other faiths whom Fr. Slavko helped during the Homeland War, and who say that his help in the war saved their lives.

"When he believed that Our Lady had appeared, he completely surrendered himself to Our Lady, to Medjugorje, to the pilgrims... He surrendered himself to it until the end. He did what Our Lady said, he fasted, prayed every morning on the Apparition Hill, he introduced prayer before the cross... He understood what Our Lady wanted," said Fr. Marinko, emphasizing that Fr. Slavko knew that it was not enough to just be intelligent, but to have a will, to have an open heart that hears Our Lady, that hears the needs of people, the needs of nature...

Milona also said that Fr. Slavko felt that he would die young, so he gave his one hundred percent in everything he did until the end.

''I was there when Fr. Slavko died. I saw him slowly sit down on the ground. I ran to him and watched him catch his breath. I didn't know what to do, except that I knew he was probably having a heart attack. Of course, I started screaming and calling for help. Fr. Slavko died very quickly. It lasted between 30 and 35 seconds. At the moment he died I told myself that I should cry and be sad now, but it's very difficult to explain. At that moment I felt such a deep and intense peace that overwhelmed me in the depths of my being and I knew at that moment that everything, absolutely everything was going to be okay. I just knew that it was meant to happen. While Fr. Slavko was lying there, a doctor came and checked his pulse. He said he was dead.

But suddenly, Fr. Slavko raised his head, opened his eyes, exhaled and that was it. I looked at the doctor, he looked at me. He was surprised, but we knew it was over. We carried him down the hill. It was very slippery. We got down, I guess, an hour later. Fr. Svetozar met us at the fourth station, gave Fr. Slavko the last rites. Then we took him to the ambulance and that was my farewell," these are the words of Fr. Slavko's associate Rita Falsetto, as reported by Fr. Jozo Grbeš.

Listen to what else they said about Fr. Slavko on our YouTube channel, where we bring the entire program of the Evening of Testimonies and Conversations about Fr. Slavko Barbarić.

At this Evening of Testimonies and Conversations, one of Fr. Slavko's homilies was also broadcast. Texts from Fr. Slavko's book "In the School of Love" were read by Fr. Ivan Hrkać, and the program was hosted by Sanja Pehar. Everything concluded with the Song of Fr. Slavko performed by Ana, Marija and Silvija Bošnjak.