Some sidelines... 3

FEAST DAY OF ST JAMES
The Medjugorje parish celebrates the feast of its patron St James today (25th), who just also happens to be the patron saint of pilgrims! James and his brother John were the sons of Zebedee and named Boanerges or ‘sons of thunder’ by Jesus in Mark’s gospel (3 : 17).

• Mate has a lovely picture on his website medjugorje.net of the St James statue being carried in procession today, plus some detail on James the Greater.

JAKOV FINDS VOICE AGAIN
The Medjugorje seer Jakov Colo, who is known to enjoy singing, has teamed up with the Italian singer Roberta Faccani to record an upcoming single titled Medjugorje Ave Maria. It’s not the first time Jakov has entered the recording studio. In 2006 he recorded an album of 11 songs (25 Springtimes) to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Medjugorje phenomenon and performed one of the tracks live with a children’s choir in front of thousands of pilgrims on the day of the anniversary. Roberta Faccani fronted the Italian pop band Matia Bazar for five years but more recently was cast in the role of Queen of Hearts in the musical Alice in Wonderland.

BBC PHOTO GALLERY FEATURES MEDJUGORJE PHOTO
A photograph taken at Medjugorje is featured in this week’s BBC online gallery of images submitted by viewers on a given theme. The photograph is of tracks made in the path that leads from the village to Apparition Hill.

WITNESS TO THE TRUTH
May I recommend reading this wonderful report by Joyce Coronel, a contributor to the Catholic Sun and a recent first-time pilgrim to Medjugorje

NEW PICTURE GALLERY
• I’ve added some new images to the Medjugorje Moments gallery. You can view the slide show on the home page.