The historic Vatican statement on Medjugorje and a concomitant press conference last week emphasized that  key messages from the apparition site have to do with Mass and the Eucharist.

Often it quoted the Virgin herself.

“Before the Mass, it is necessary to pray to the Holy Spirit. Prayers to the Holy Spirit should always accompany the Mass,” she had said (26 November 1983).

“The Mass is the highest form of prayer,” she added. “You will never be able to understand its greatness” (13 January 1984).

“Dear children, also today, in a special way, I wish to call you to the Eucharist. May the Mass be the center of your lives! In particular, dear children, may the Eucharist be in your families. The family must go to Holy Mass and celebrate Jesus. Jesus must be the center of your lives!” (15 June 2018).

“May Holy Mass not be a habit for you, but life. By living the Holy Mass every day, you will feel the need for holiness” (25 January 1998).

“Do not forget that in the Eucharist, which is the heart of the faith, my Son is always with you. He comes to you and breaks bread with you; because, my children, it was for your sake that he died, rose again, and comes anew” (2 May 2016).

“I am closer to you during the Mass than during an apparition. Many pilgrims would like to be present in the small room of the apparitions, and so they crowd around the rectory. When they swarm in front of the tabernacle, as they now do in front of the rectory, then they will have understood everything; they will have understood the presence of Jesus, because receiving Holy Communion is greater than being a visionary” (12 November 1986).

“Dear children, I cannot help you if you do not live God’s commandments, if you do not live the Mass, and if you do not reject sin” (25 October 1993).

Added the Notification: “In any case, may the people who go to Medjugorje be strongly advised that pilgrimages are not made to meet with alleged visionaries but to have an encounter with Mary, the Queen of Peace, and—faithful to her love for her Son—to encounter Christ and listen to him through meditation on the Word, by participation in the Eucharist, and in Eucharistic Adoration, as happens in so many shrines spread all over the world in which the Virgin Mary is venerated with the most varied titles.

“Let us read one last message, which summarizes the valuable Christocentric sense of the message of Medjugorje and manifests its most authentic spirit:

“’Dear children, my words are simple […]. I am calling you to my Son. Only he can transform despair and suffering into peace and serenity. Only he can give hope in the deepest sorrows. My Son is the life of the world. The more you come to know him, the closer you come to him, and all the more will you love him because my Son is Love. Love changes everything; even that which seems insignificant to you apart from love is made most beautiful by love.’ (2 September 2018).“

[resources: Spirit Daily pilgrimage to Medjugorje, May 2025; hotel is nearest to parish] and Medjugorje and the Eucharist]