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MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAIN AT MEDJUGORJE: ARE ITS SECRETS HIDDEN IN BIBLICAL MOUNTS? 

One of the enduring mysteries of Medjugorje is the mount known as Krizevac. Located just south of the village, it towers 1,760 feet above sea level and has a cross at its summit that dominates the landscape for miles around. 

In the twenty years since Medjugorje first erupted on the world scene, pilgrims flocking to this holy place have seen the cross spin or fade or disappear. They have seen phantom smoke and fires -- flames that upon inspection did not actually occur. They have seen the Virgin in large images descending from the summit; indeed, it is here, the seers were told, that Mary prays to her Son at the foot of the cross every morning. They have seen auras of color around the mountain.

According to legend (and here we emphasize the word legend, for we have never been able to confirm it), a priest from the area, Father Bernardin ("Brno") Smoljan, was called to Rome in 1933 by Pope Pius XI, who supposedly had a dream in which he felt inspired to raise a cross "on the highest Golgotha in Hercegovina" and related this dream to Father Brno. We don't know if there is truth to it, but the fact remains that around this time the parishioners set about building a cross ten meters high atop the mountain known back then as Sipovac ("Pomegrante Hill").

Most likely the cross was erected as a holy talisman against the violent hailstorms that used to destroy crops in the fields. It is also possible, say some, that it was constructed in reparation for the bitter and bloody clashes between Croatians and Serbians.

Whatever the precise motive -- and whether or not the Pope had any such vision -- the point is that a highly visible cross made of concrete was erected in 1933 by peasants lugging achingly heavy buckets of material up a rocky and often treacherous goat path. At the very least, it was an act of great community penance that commemorated the 1,900th anniversary of Christ's Crucifixion -- and the mount soon became known as "Krizevac," which means "Cross Mountain." 

A cross now predominated over a mountain that had been known for its poisonous snakes (poskoci) and wild boars.

And the mountain set the stage for the famous apparitions that began on a connected hillside in 1981 -- with Mary often manifesting on the mountain. 

"I am often at Krizevac, at the foot of the cross, to pray there," the Virgin told the seers. "The cross was in God's plan when you built it. These days especially, go up on the mountain and pray at the foot of the cross. Pray before the cross. Special graces come from the cross. Consecrate yourselves to the cross." 

"You are at a Tabor," the Virgin said in 1986.

And so we ask: is there a relation between Medjugorje and Israel? Is there a connection between Krizevac and biblical mounts?

It indeed brings to mind Tabor. That's where Jesus Himself had an apparition of Elijah and Moses -- and where He dispensed His own secret, asking His disciples not to discuss what they had seen at this site of apparition. It also brings to mind Mount Sinai. There are those who have seen a column of light come from the cross, a light recalling the one that led the Israelites out of Egypt -- an unworldly pink or white light which has later given way to the outline of a luminous woman. "The turning of the cross and the white light and the figure of Our Lady were often seen by hundreds, sometimes thousands of people," said one priest who published a report about Krizevac.

There have been funnel-shaped lights. There have been "meteorites." Stars above seem to turn colors. One evening in 1981 an inscription of the word MIR ("peace") appeared above Mount Krizevac in fiery letters. Others have been luminous doves.

Are there hidden indications of Krizevac's role in the role of biblical mountains? Can we glean anything from Scripture?

It was Mount Sinai where the Lord promised to come down in the sight of all the people [Exodus 19:11]. It was also that mount where signs were shown in smoke and lightning and thunder. It was Mount Hor where the Lord spoke to Moses. And Mount Carmel where Eijah battled the evil Baal prophets. It was yet to another mount, of Olives, that Jesus often went, and where He was asked many questions, including about the end-times. 

Are there hints in all this? Is there a connection? Is Krizevac an extension of Sinai and Hor and Carmel, of Perazim, of Olives? Will there be battles fought between good and evil as at Carmel and new dictates as at Sinai and a great apparition as at Tabor?

We all know that the Virgin has dispensed secrets at Medjugorje and now we wonder if the mountain will somehow figure into those secrets. Will Jesus one day appear in apparition as has His mother?

Only time will tell but we think the mount may figure into future events and the realization of something that whatever it may entail will be of biblical proportion.

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