But Nearby And Ugly Civil War Rages. The artillery duel begins midway through Mass, just before the Virgin appears. Kneeling in the choir loft of Catholic Church, a young man and woman suddenly stop praying. Eyes open, lips moving silently, they speak to a figure visible only to them.
Cannons thump in the distance.
After a moment, the two resume praying, joined by pilgrims who have come here to witness the apparition of Mary. Leaving church, pilgrim Michael Paulson rubs creaky knees and guns thunder again in the hills. When fighting erupts in foreign lands, Americans are often the first to cancel their travel plans. But in war-torn Bosnia, faith has proved stronger than fear. Medjugorje s fame dates to 1981, when two teenagers scaled a rocky hill outside town to sneak a cigarette.