Our Lady of Ntshongweni (Shongweni)

Ntshongweni is about thirty kilometres from Durban in Natal, South Africa. The name Ntshongweni was taken from the mountain found there, it is surrounded by precipices and a thick forest.

Origin and History

The church of Ntshongweni was built in 1938. Father Wagner was the parish priest when in 1939 he was called home by his French government to join their army during World War II. Fr. Wagner said the war was so terrible that in order to save his own life he had hidden himself amongst dead soldiers and pretended to be dead as well. At that time Fr. Wagner made this promise to Mary that if she saved him from the horrors of the war he would show his gratitude to her and her son Jesus by establishing a day in honor of Our Lady. Somewhere around that time, the Church had established a Marian feast day for her gracious deed of saying "yes" to the angel and agreeing to be the mother of Jesus through whom we are all saved. Fr. Wagner decided to hold his thanksgiving feast on the same day.

After the war, on the feast day of Our Lady, the priest built a shrine for her, with a 40 cm-tall statue representing the Blessed Virgin of the Rue du Bac. The faithful spontaneously began to make pilgrimages, in processions with torch lights. In 1960, a 2-meter copy of the bronze statue was cast. The pilgrimage is dedicated to Mary Mediatrix of All Graces, although the statue is more commonly referred to as Our Lady of Shongweni.

See: https://www.mweb.co.za/~host/shrines/shongweni/index.htm