Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
Saint Ambrose, born in Trier around 330, was Bishop of Milan and later baptized Saint Augustine. He is often called the most “Marian” of all the Fathers of the Church and is basically responsible for spreading the devotion of the Blessed Virgin in the Germanic countries.
Saint Boniface (+755) was the saint who introduced the Feast of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin (8th September) in Germany after the Council of Salzburg (799) had prescribed its celebration.
As within all the Germanic countries, the early 17th century saw a noticeable decline of Marian devotion in Germany, which had always been strong up to that point. It is also the period of Jansenism in the Church. Many Catholics abandoned the Church and became Protestants.
However, in the heart of the nation, love for Mary endured. In the 19th century St Clement Maria Hofbauer brought back the devotion to the Mother of Christ in the southernmost part of the country.
Ancient shrines
The most famous, as well as the oldest, Marian shrine in all south-eastern Germany, is found at Altöting, Bavaria. It dates back to the Carolingian era (10th century), but it was in the fifteenth century that it became an important destination for pilgrimages. To this day it remains very popular locally, as well as in the neighboring Eastern European countries.
Another important Marian shrine in Germany is the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows at Telgte, near Munster, Westphalia. The pilgrimage undoubtedly dates back to the end of the fourteenth century.
Let us also mention the beautiful shrine of Our Lady of Kevelaer, "Consolatrice of the afflicted," “Who consoles the afflicted,” located on the lower Rhine. This shrine dedicated to Mary is very popular and the most visited in all of Germany.
In the city of Cologne, as well, there is a Marian shrine built around an ancient wooden statue of a Black Madonna, located in a place called “St Mary of Copper Street." This place of prayer is continually visited by great numbers of pilgrims.
Similarly, since the Middle Ages, pilgrims have venerated at her shrine "Our Lady of Aachen" (Westphalia), where, according to tradition, precious relics have been preserved: the dress “Mary wore when she gave birth to the Son of God," the swaddling clothes of Our Lord and the piece of cloth that covered His loins on the cross.
A great revival in 1954: the Consecration of the German nation to Mary
With the beginning of the 20th century, and in spite of a growing secularism, Marian piety actually became stronger in Germany. The sufferings caused by the WWI increased religious fervor and new communities dedicated to the Virgin appeared at this time, which are in full bloom today.
Among these new communities is the well-known Schönstatt Community, in the vicinity of Coblentz. Its chapel is remarkable and has become a true landmark and a place of pilgrimage in the 20th century.
Another recent shrine (20th century) is located in Köln-Kalk, dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, in the suburbs of Cologne.
It is clear that Marian piety has become very strong in Germany, since the Holy Year of 1954, during which crowds of the faithful flocked to the large shrines such as Alttöting or Kevelaer: records show more than 800,000 pilgrims in that year alone to each one of these shrines!
Coincidentally, the climax of the Marian year 1954 was the consecration of Germany to Our Lady by Pope Pius XII, in Fulda – at the time of Katholikentag. Many Marian Movements of revival received numerous graces in the aftermath of that historic moment.