Some Shrines of France

The Virgin of Passau
Germany

A copy of the Virgin and Child came to Passau at the pilgrimage church, Mariahilf, which means, "Mary, help us", where it was for many years the object of veneration.

Mariahilf also includes a monastery on a hill overlooking Innstadt, a suburb of Passau. It was built to house the copy miraculous painting of the Madonna by Lucas Cranach, the Elder. In 1620, Marquard von Schwendi, dean of St. Stephan's Cathedral in Passau, asked Pius an artist from Passau to make the copy of Cranach's image of the Virgin to be hung in his castle. This painting became the rallying cry to the Blessed Virgin in order to manage the tumultuous years of the 30-Years War (1618-1648) when one-third of the German population lost their lives and countless cities and villages were burned to the ground. It also was the way to ask for help to stop the Turks from taking Vienna in 1683.

Patrona Bavariae
Bavaria, Germany

The statue of the Patroness of Bavaria now stands on the Marienplatz in Munich. Before it was moved to its present pillar it stood on the high altar of the Lady Church. It was done as a Counter-Reformation exposition, much of it Marian, for the Protestant revolters were not devotees of Marian veneration and piety. It belongs to the Baroque period, and is typical of that period's statuary.

HOME---------BACK TO MARY'S INDEX----------E-MAIL