PHOTO International Spiritual Retreat for Married Couples Held in Medjugorje
On Saturday, February 7, 2026, the International Spiritual Retreat for Married Couples, which has been held for a quarter of a century, ended with a Holy Mass. Around 150 married couples from 18 countries participated in this spiritual retreat: Ireland, the USA, England, Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Peru, Greece, Spain, France, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and they were accompanied by four priests who participated in the pastoral care of marriage and family.
The participants of this spiritual retreat took part in the prayer program of the Medjugorje parish, as well as other prayers, and were taught by dr. sc. Jozefina Škarica, while the coordinator of the spiritual retreat was Fr. Josip Stanić, the associate pastor of Medjugorje.
''The theme of all this year's spiritual retreats in Medjugorje is To the Source!. Return to the Source. The Church teaches us that the source and culmination of our entire life is the Eucharist," said Fr. Josip Stanić at the Holy Mass, and the enthusiastic participants in this spiritual retreat, which was held for the 25th time, agree with him.
"Without God, nothing. That is my motto and I stick to it. I could have divorced not once, but 798 times, just like my husband. Just on my knees, step over my ego and forgive while you are alive. On my knees, pray to God, only God gives strength. There is no life coaching technique, no meditation that can replace God who gives you the inner strength to forgive, not to be angry and to start over again the next day. This is not easy either, especially for young people. Today, people are getting weaker and slower to get married. Everyone would like a romance to last a lifetime, but that does not exist. That is lost very quickly. Life comes and grinds you down. If you don't pray to God, I don't know how a marriage can survive," said Ljiljana Holjevac, a participant in this spiritual retreat.
The lecturer at this year's spiritual retreat for married couples, dr. Jozefina Šakarica, of course, also points out the importance of a relationship with God in the family.
"Without God, there is nothing. God created us in His image and man can succeed in life when he lives according to that image. There will be misunderstandings, which is normal, but with God's help, the husband and wife will know how to arrange everything. And children in such families will live in an atmosphere of security," said Dr. Škarica, long-time head of the Counseling Center for Youth, Marriage and Family in Šibenik, and she also addressed the importance of raising children in the family.
"Today, everything seems to be dissolved, children have no direction, parents let them do everything, the child is allowed and can do anything, this is not how children should be raised. There are four pillars on which a family and upbringing should stand: love, order, work and blessing. Today, children are left to their own devices, and a child cannot make a good decision on their own! Sometimes adults also need to ask themselves what is right,'' said dr. Škarica.