Marija Bistrica (IKA) – “Walk with Mary before the Face of the Lord” was the motto of the 278th votive pilgrimage to Marija Bistrica by the faithful from Zagreb. The central celebration, in which 30,000 pilgrims participated, was held on Sunday, September 13, at the national Marian shrine of Marija Bistrica.
The central Eucharistic celebration was conducted by the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Auxiliary Bishops Vlado Košić, Valentin Pozaić and Ivan Šaško; and approximately forty priests. The homily at the open-air church of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac was delivered by Cardinal Bozanić, who singled out impersonality as a current threat.
“Amidst such impersonality, a person without God loses his identity and the Croatian culture without Christ’s cross and the Resurrection sinks into unrecognizability. This promotes the ideology of relativism in which everything is ostensibly amalgamable, in which all are equally good and equally bad, in which evil must not be called evil lest those who commit evil are offended, in which cause and consequences are no longer asked about. This is an impersonality that feeds upon intentional oblivion, which would produce hopelessness. Hope always seeks a face. Since that face no longer exists, life remains without hope,” said the metropolitan of Zagreb, who also urged young believers not to forget or neglect the gospel.
Cardinal Bozanić also spoke about the logic of the cross: “Some think that the Church seeks its own interest in society in order to be a type of semi-political power. However, the Church only has meaning if it proclaims the truth about the cross and is credible to that extent. … From the life of Jesus, we learn that there were many around him who followed him for selfish motives: because he healed, because he was known, and in order to enhance their own reputations and eventual success. All this melted away before the fact of the cross. It is thus today because emptiness and vanity lack both color and flavor,” noted the cardinal. “Dear brother, if you have decided to be a Christian, dear sister, if you have decided to be a Christian, look at the cross. If you encounter God’s love in it, you will not aspire to privileges. If you do not receive recognition, you won’t mind. If families, schools, parishes, parliaments, unions and political parties were to adopt the logic of the cross, how they would change. Perhaps we are afraid to think about this because genuine Christianity cannot be simulated. Impersonality remains impersonality,” emphasized the cardinal.
The pilgrims were also greeted by Zlatko Koren, the rector of the shrine of Our Lady of Bistrica, which is celebrating the 800th anniversary of the first extant written reference to it. They were also greeted by the episcopal vicar for the city of Zagreb, Zvonimir Sekelj, who urged the Zagreb faithful to undertake new pastoral initiatives in order to help faith grow.
The choir of the parish of St. Barbara in Vrapče, Panis Angelicus, and the Archdiocesan Youth Choir animated the Mass with their singing.
The celebration of the Eucharist was preceded by the devotion of the Way of the Cross, conducted by Bishop Košić, and a votive procession from the chapel Ave Maria, in which eight high Church officials, priests and religious participated, together with Mayor Milan Bandić of Zagreb, cultural-artistic societies in folk attire, fire-fighting units of the city of Zagreb, hunting organizations, alpinists, brass bands and a large number of believers.