14th May - OUR MOTHER OF ALTOTTING (BAVARIA)

 Our Mother of Altotting lies amid the mountains about three miles in upper Bavaria. The miraculous healings that have occurred there are so numerous that the shrine is 

    known as the “Lourdes of Germany.” It is perhaps the most famous miracle occurred in the year 1489. A young boy had drowned, and his mother brought his body to lay at the 

    feet of the image of the Mother of God, seeking a miracle. She was not disappointed, as her son was restored to life before many witnesses. 

    From that time on, the Chapel became a popular place of pilgrimage. A Benedictine monastery was founded there in 1330 by the Emperor Ludwig IV, 

    who established a community of twelve knights with their families to guard the place. However, it is the Capuchin Friars who have served the shrine now for centuries. 

    The emperor Ludwig gave a small statue of the Mother of God, carved in Italy; and the place was soon famous both for its shrine of Mary and the learning of the monks. 

    The Chapel has an unusual octagonal shape, and it is thought to be the oldest Marian shrine in Germany. The other buildings had been remodeled mostly as they appear today. 

    Pope John Paul II visited the shrine in 1980, and Pope Benedict XVI went there in 2006, leaving the Episcopal ring he had worn while the Archbishop of Munich.




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