ZAGREB, 5 Sept, 2021 - A traditional annual pilgrimage organised under the auspice of the Croatian parliament to the Catholic shrine in the town of Ludbreg was held on Sunday, with the Bishop of Zrenjanin, Laszlo Nemet, leading the service that was attended by a few thousand believers.

During the sermon, the bishop said in his message to parliamentary deputies who attended the mass and this votive pilgrimage, that both the present and the future of the country was their responsibility.

In reference to 1739 when plague had spread in the region, which prompted the then Croatian parliament to keep its vow to protect the nation from plague and therefore had a chapel built in Ludbreg and the present-day COVID-19 pandemic, the bishop said that there were also many challenges today such as COVID-19  disease, unemployment, the departure of young people from Croatia. And also there are many positive things, the bishop said, underscoring the positive vibrations among the faithful.

Several thousand pilgrims today flocked the northern town of Ludbreg that houses a unique Eucharistic shrine in Croatia, founded by a papal bull in 1513.

In attendance at today's rites was Deputy Parliament Speaker Željko Reiner, who among other things, called for vaccination of citizens against coronavirus "as the sole rational, efficient and civilisational achievement in the fight against contagious diseases."

He recalled that Pope Francis had also urged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

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I remember the first time I heard about Sinj and their way of celebrating the Feast of Our Lady´s Assumption. It was way back, when there was no highway connecting Zagreb with Dalmatia and to reach Split, one had to drive through Sinj (among others).

We used to hit the road on a Friday afternoon to get to Split the next morning, driving through Sinj some time very early in the morning. Usually, this was a quiet time with almost no traffic.

But not on that night.

We chose to travel on a Friday - August 14 once and were shocked about the amount of people walking along the road at 2 or 3 am as we were approaching Sinj. Not only that, but the traffic got really heavy and by the time we reached Sinj, those pilgrims walking by were actually moving faster than we did in our car. Hundreds of people, if not thousands were there to bow to Our Lady of Sinj.

It is a Friday today, a Friday when the next day is the August 15 - Feast of Our Lady´s Assumption and Sinj will celebrate it with thousands of people present. Some of them will be walking part of the night to get to Sinj at 4 am. Watch the road and if possible use the highway.

Or even better, join the celebrations and experience the festivities in Sinj. The Procession with the Picture of Our Lady of Sinj starts at 9:30 followed by a Holy Mass at 11.

(Info and photos: Sinj tourist board)