At the beginning, the parish priest of Maglaj, rev. Franjo Tomić greeted the gathered believers, especially pilgrims from other parishes, and welcomed them to the Maglaj shrine where the biggest powers of St. Leopold outside Padua are kept.

Rev. Spajić, starting the Holy Mass celebration, noted that Mother's Day is also celebrated on this day and invited the gathered believers to include their mothers in their prayers.

Apostle of the confessional

In his sermon, he said that he did not want to talk too much about the life of St. Leopold Bogdan Mandić because most believers are well acquainted with the life of that modest and simple Capuchin. He added that he wanted to connect the Holy Mass readings of the day with the life of the "apostle of the confessional".

He pointed to the fact that in the West it is precisely the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of reconciliation, that has fallen into a deep crisis. At the same time, he pointed out that, fortunately, this is not the case with the Maglai shrine, where numerous confessions are recorded, especially during "Leopold's Wednesdays", when a large number of believers gather and confess in Leopold's small confessional, which is a copy of the one in Padua.

Then he spoke about two types of sinners, the names that were mentioned in the Holy Mass readings: Judas and Peter. "The first type is Judas. He betrayed Jesus. He did not seek forgiveness or reconciliation from God. He did not believe in God's love and eventually took his own life. The second type is the apostle Peter who, after failure, saw his sin, repented and asked for forgiveness from the Lord. He believed in his love and mercy. He will become an apostolic champion and will lay down his life for his Master", said Rev. Spajić.

Being a witness of Christ's resurrection

He further noted that the believer lives in the world, but is not of the world because today's world, today's society, basically lives in denial of God. He added that the Church is trying to please the world after a long period of persecution and ridicule. He recalled the recent words of Card. Robert Sarah, who said that many Western prelates show an aversion to the idea of opposing the world and that they dream that the world loves them; they have lost the desire to be a sign of challenge.

He especially emphasized that every believer is called to be a witness of Christ's resurrection. Witness your Christianity in your everyday life by word and deed. He reminded the gathered believers that St. Leopold Bogdan Mandić witnessed it for 40 years in his confessional.

Restoration of the Maglai shrine

The Holy Mass celebration was animated by the Maglaj parish choir with harmonious singing, and as a preparation for the celebration of the heavenly patron of the Maglaj parish, nine Wednesdays of St. Leopold and three days.

At the end of the Holy Mass, rev. Tomić reminded the faithful that the restoration of the Maglaj shrine continues and thanked everyone who helped organize the celebration of the patron saint of the parish. Let us also add that this year parish volunteers counted that 1 250 believers participated in the central Holy Mass celebration.

Let us remind you that the parish of St. Leopold in Maglaj was officially restored in 1970, and its first mention dates back to 1623. After its founding, it had 1 600 believers, and today there are about 370 parishioners living in the parish. In the Maglaj sanctuary, together with the parish priest, the Sisters Servants of Little Jesus also work. Throughout almost four decades, with the exception of interruptions during the war and the first post-war years, together with local parishioners and, above all, the faithful from the Žepče and Usora regions, a large number of believers gather at Holy Mass celebrations on "Leopold's Wednesdays" (every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m.).