According to a long-standing tradition, after a time for confession, blessing of the faithful and pilgrims who arrived, and a procession with the miraculous image of Our Lady of Olovo and the recitation of the rosary, the Holy Mass celebration began.

Along with Archbishop Vukšić, concelebrants were: the provincial of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena, OFM Zdravko Dadić, the custodian of the Olovo shrine, OFM Ilija Božić, and as many as 80 priests. The Eucharist gathered a large number of nuns, seminarians, and pilgrims from surrounding parishes, as well as from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Before the Eucharist began, the gathered were greeted with words of welcome, especially to Archbishop Vukšić, the Provincial and the arriving monks, by the administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Olovo, OFM Ilija.

Then the Provincial Dadić took the floor and thanked the pilgrims who had come to Olovo in large numbers again. He pointed out that a Christian cannot be an orphan "because he has a spiritual mother in Mary", which he called a special value, but he underlined that the children of Our Lady also have the task of living in the light of special values. "This is a place where we especially think about our Christian mission, about our life values", underlined OFM Zdravko and made it clear that whenever a Provincial Chapter takes place, the present capitulars, visit Olovo, thus demonstrating their Christian commitment and life ideal, which is the veneration of Our Lady, especially during May.

Christian Hope

Archbishop Vukšić gave a sermon on the occasion, entitled Mother of Hope, pray for us, that we may pass down our hope, Christ the Lord, and be witnesses of hope among people. At the beginning, he quoted what the Second Vatican Council (LG 68) said about Our Lady, namely that She is a sign of hope. He then emphasized that we are in the Jubilee Year 2025 of the birth of Jesus, which the entire Church celebrates with gratitude as a time in which it surrenders itself to the guidance of thought precisely about Christian hope. On this path, he recalled that the Mother of God “by her example, shines forth to the wandering People of God as a sign of reliable hope and consolation, and that, since she has already been glorified in heaven in body and soul, Mary is the image and beginning of the Church as it will be in the future.”

"Among the many invocations with which Christian devotion addresses the Mother of God in the Litany of Loreto, which were included there in parallel with the development of understanding of Mary's role in the history of salvation, by the decision of the Church, of 20^th of June 2020, the faithful also invoke her with the name 'Mother of Hope'. This is a continuation and the fruit of the Church's exploration in the deep mine of spiritual treasures of virtue and the maturation of the community in understanding the kingdom of heaven in faith with which, like a caring host, she brings out from her treasury new and old (Mt 13:52). Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, who, as the Apostle Paul teaches us, is our hope (1 Tim 1:1). In this very way, Our Lady is the Mother of Hope. And while from this holy place we thank the Lord God for the gift of the Mother of Hope, joining the numerous processions of pilgrims who throughout history have sent their devout prayers from here to heaven, in the words of the same Apostle, we first of all invoke upon all people ‘Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord’ (1 Tim 1:2)", said the Archbishop, underlining that "the Mother of God continues to exercise her motherhood until the final celebration of all who walk the path of Christ's love."

"Mary's name has always been associated with Christian hope, but in our time it is especially important to emphasize this connection also as an inspiration to Christians that, following Jesus Christ and being ennobled by Him, by our hope, through Mary's intercession, we may be a source of hope for other people. This is one of the most important roles of the Church and Christian believers at this moment. It consists in bearing witness to hope, being its active bearers and recognizable signs, calling for hope. To, like Mary, give hope to other people, that is, proclaim Jesus Christ, and on this basis to build a human society in which people will have reason for hope in everyday life. The era in which we live has been called the time of poly-crisis. It is multiple in the number of areas in which it manifests itself simultaneously: economic, political, ecological, spiritual, cultural, social, identity, ethical. This threat is also multiple in its strength and different in its methods. In some places it is subtle, and in other places it acts as a kind of concentrated fire against man in the areas of life, peace, security, dignity, manipulation, domination, bio-engineering, human rights, poverty, education, migration, social justice and the common good", said Msgr. Vukšić, underlining how "restoring hope among people and being its witnesses, and thus following Mary's example, is always at the service of man's life and dignity and for the sake of seeking just solutions".

Guiding Star

He then recalled that the image of the star of the sea is very often used to represent Mary as the mother of hope in Christian devotion. "The star, especially in the past when there were no modern technical means of navigation, served sailors for orientation and choosing the right path when sailing towards the port. In other words, since human life can be compared to a long journey, exposed to numerous challenges, it is necessary to have a landmark in this voyage towards the final port, namely heavenly glory in eternal life", he said, adding that Mary is also the guiding star of Jesus' disciples towards their heavenly homeland in the hope that they will safely sail towards their goal on the seas of history and their own lives, which is a demanding journey, full of challenges and unpredictable situations.

"Christianity is certain in its belief that the ship of the Church has a very bright and recognizable Star of the Sea which, as a star of hope, with its example of obedience and doing the will of God illuminates the journey of the entire human family. With its holy life it is a reflection of God's holiness which is recognizable in it and which shows people the right path by illuminating it and making it visible to all", he added, and in the last part of his homily he asserted that the history of the Church is full of persons who lived rightly and whom we call blessed and saints. "As such, they are examples to follow and therefore our guiding stars that illuminate life in the sky from the spiritual heavens and show people the path of goodness and holiness", he asserted and emphasized that in his call to holiness and adherence to Jesus Christ as the source of light, the apostle Peter urges: "With your faith ensure virtue; and with virtue knowledge; and with knowledge self-control; and with self-control steadfastness; and with steadfastness godliness; and with godliness brotherly kindness; and with brotherly kindness love. (…) But whoever does not have these things is blind, short-sighted; he has forgotten that he was cleansed from his past sins" (2 Pet 1:5-9).

"The only source of all holiness and all human hope in illuminating the journey is the triune God: the heavenly Father, and the Light of the world, Jesus the Lord, our Saviour, and the Life-giving Spirit. But among all the spiritual lights, which are a reflection of the holiness of the triune God, the Mother of Jesus is certainly the brightest and closest to God, for us the star of the sea and the mother of hope. She was before all other Christian saints in time and she illuminated and showed them all the right path and is the first of all saints to illuminate the navigation of the Church", he said in conclusion, and recommended to the Mother of Hope for intercession all the pilgrims, their prayer intentions, the entire Archdiocese of Vrhbosna and all its members, and among them especially the members of the chapter of the Province of Bosna Srebrena headed by Provincial Dadić. He concluded his homily with the words: "Pray for us and for all the other brothers and sisters of your Son, that we may pass down our hope, Christ the Lord, and that we may be witnesses of hope among people!"

Towards the end of the Holy Mass, the administrator of the shrine, OFM Ilija, thanked all the pilgrims who had arrived from different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The liturgical celebration was animated by the Congregation of Franciscan Theology in Sarajevo, OFM Nenad Dujić, under the direction of OFM Emanuel Josić.

It should be noted that the Eucharistic celebration was broadcast live this year by Radio Bobovac Vareš both on its own airwaves and on its YouTube channel. The Holy Mass was also broadcast live by RTV Herceg-Bosna and Radio Marija.