March 3, 1998
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Southern German Pilgrimage Place 1,250 Years Old
Welcome Christ into Your Family
Southern German Pilgrimage Place 1,250 Years Old
The Black Madonna at the Bavarian pilgrimage place, Altötting, receives thousands of
visitors
every year. This year, 1998, Altötting will celebrate 1,250 years of existence. One hundred
years
ago, the village became a city. Archeological findings register dwellings up to 6,000 years ago,
and, although the Christian traces are not dated, the spot became a Marian shrine of renown in
1489. The foundations of the Marian chapel rest on the octagonal base of an ancient baptismal
place from the 8th century. According to the ancient stories, the Marian statue of Our Lady of
Altötting was rescued from the ravaging of the church by flame in the year 907.
Historical figures from the 8th century onward loved and cherished Altötting. Charlemagne apparently spent the year 803 there. His great grandson, Karlmann, lived there and laid the cornerstone for the first monastery and a basilica where the current monastery church is located.
The area was later sacked by the Hungarians and laid waste for three hundred years. It became historically important again after the occurrences of miraculous healings. In Bavaria a child that had drowned was restored to life through intercession of the Mother of God. Another, who had been crushed by a wagon, was completely healed. Both miracles took place in 1489 and spread the fame of Altötting. The unbelievable story spread like the wind all over Europe.
Pilgrims began to come from all over Europe. Over 50,000 ex-votos and thanksgiving plaques
have been erected at the shrine as a testimony to the help received from Mary's prayer. Although
there has been a stormy history involving the Reformation and political intrigue as well, the simple
and devote still come to Altötting. The pilgrimages continue up to the present with statistics
mentioning well over a million pilgrims each year. The votive plaque depicted to the right, one of
many like it, has the inscription: "A sport's accident. Due to a fall, chest and spine fractured and
over four months in a cast. By calling on the help of the Mother of God at Altötting, I
became well again. A thousand thanks! / Frankfurt/Oder 1.4.1947 / M. Ecker 1970."
We invite you to read more about Altötting and other Black madonna pilgrimage places in our Mary Page meditations resource: Introduction to Black Madonna History.
Source: Paulinus, the weekly of the Diocese of Trier (Treves), Germany, February 22, 1998.
Welcome Christ into Your Families
On February 7, 1998, Pope John Paul II met with families in Rome. On this First Saturday of the
month 12,000 people gathered to pray the Rosary with the pope. The following are excerpts from
the pope's message to the families.
At the many meetings I have been able to have with young people in Italy and throughout the world, I see evidence of a growing desire to build families in which the genuine values of love, respect for life, openness to others and solidarity can be lived. How can we fail to notice in these aspirations an implicit opposition to the permissive behaviour contemporary society is seeking to endorse?
Dear Christian families, look at the need for love, self-giving and openness to life that exists in the hearts of your children, who are confused by examples of failed unions. Children learn how to love their future husband or wife by seeing their parents' example. Do not be satisfied with living the Gospel of the family in private, but proclaim it and witness to it to everyone you meet on your way and in every area of public and social life.
In this bold yet connatural task of bearing witness you are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with you: he dwells within you by virtue of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Marriage! He will sustain you in the fulfilment of your mission! ...
It is an illusion to think that wellbeing can be created by a selfish mentality which in various ways denies space and acceptance to new generations. The attempt to equate other forms of cohabitation with the family based on marriage proves just as irrational. All this inevitably leads to a civilization's decline, both morally and spiritually, as well as socially and economically.
Dear families of Rome, as we contemplate the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth, let us pray the Rosary together. Let us entrust to the intercession of Mary and her husband, Joseph, all the families in our city and especially those who are living in difficult situations. Let us entrust to them the young people preparing for marriage through that moment of grace which is their engagement. Let us also entrust to them those responsible for promoting more just and constructive family policies. May the Lord bless all families and make them privileged places for meeting him, through the authentic proclamation of his love.
May Mary, Queen of the Family, protect you A with her maternal heart and, through her intercession, obtain for you from God an abundance of consolations.
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