First, in the afternoon, near the war shelter, which is not far from the church in Široki Brijeg, members of the Frama lit 12 candles in memory of the 12 friars who were killed and burned in this shelter.

After the appropriate prayer, the procession headed to the grave in the monastery church, where the Provincial, OFM Miljenko, prayed prayer for the dead, and the members of the OFS read the names of the killed Franciscans.

This was followed by a Eucharistic celebration in which the Vicar General of the Herzegovina dioceses, rev. Željko Majić, the Vice-Postulator of the Martyrdom Procedure Fra Leo Petrović i 65 subraće, OFM Miljenko Stojić, and about 50 other priests.

In his sermon, the provincial spoke about the small church of St. Bartholomew located on the river Tiber, which St. John Paul II. determined to be the central place of remembrance for the martyrs of the 20^th century and pointed out: “Brothers and sisters, what this church is for Rome in terms of remembering the martyred brothers and sisters as victims of ungodly regimes of the 20^th, for Herzegovina that is Široki Brijeg.” He emphasized that the meeting in Široki Brijeg can be considered a pilgrimage in memory of the killed Franciscans and the people who died innocently at the hands of atheists. He went on to say that the history of ungodly regimes all over the world shows that these murders regularly sought to kill God, to re-kill Christ, once crucified, and to obscure God’s footprint in the nation to which they belonged.

The Holy Mass was animated by a large parish choir under the direction of sister Mira Majić and Marijana Ćeškić. The Holy Mass readings were delivered by OFM Rade Dragićević, the last living Herzegovina Franciscan to attend the famous Franciscan Classical Gymnasium in Široki Brijeg.

At the end of the Holy Mass, rev. Željko greeted the local bishop.

Then the vice-postulator, OFM Miljenko, presented the work of that institution in the past year and pointed out that they were looking for the remains of the killed brothers, for testimonies and documents. “We are honoured that the Cemetery of Peace on Bili grew out of the work of the Vice-postulation. For this purpose, we raise crosses with the name and surname, father’s name, year of birth and death for all killed Croat Catholics born in Herceg-Bosna, Bosnia and Herzegovina. How to raise a cross for someone or for someone for whom no one has to do it, is easiest to find out through the web-portal grobljemira.info”, said, among other things, OFM Miljenko.

Let us remind you that the Days of the killed Franciscans of Herzegovina traditionally began three days before, on February 4^th. This year, Holy Masses were celebrated and preached by priests who are celebrating 50 years of service from the parish of Široki Brijeg. The first evening the Eucharist celebration was led by OFM Karlo Lovrić, the second by OFM Vitomir Musa, and the Holy Mass on the eve by OFM Dane Karačić.

During the three days of prayer, prizes and plaques were awarded to the winners of the 10^th competition on the theme of the killed Franciscans of Herzegovina. Children, young people and adults were represented.