Shrines to the Virgin Mary

In the culture and practice of some Christian Churches - mainly, but not solely, the Roman Catholic Church - a Shrine to the Virgin Mary (or Marian shrine) is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destination of pilgrimages

Some of the largest shrines are due to reported Marian apparitions to young and simple people on remote hilltops that had hardly been heard of prior to the reported apparition. The case of Saint Juan Diego's reported vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 is similar to the case of Saint Bernadette Soubirous's vision in 1858 of Our Lady of Lourdes. Both saints reported a miraculous Lady on a hilltop who asked them to request that the local priests build a chapel at the site of the vision. Both visions included a reference to roses and led to large churches being built at the sites. Like Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, Our Lady of Lourdes is a major Catholic symbol in France. Both visionaries were eventually declared saints.

The number of pilgrims who visit some of these shrines every year can be significant. E.g. Lourdes with a population of around 15,000 people, receives about 5,000,000 pilgrims every year and within France only Paris has more hotel rooms than Lourdes.

Contents

Major shrines

An extensive list of shrines by country is provided in the following sections. Some major shrines considered most significant for their apparitions and miracles are listed in this section:

For the Greek Orthodox the major Marian Shrine is the Church of Our Lady of Tinos, at Tinos island in Greece which constitutes the most important Christian pilgrimage in the Aegean.

A major Anglican pilgrimage site is the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, at Walsingham, in Norfolk, England. In Australia there is a shrine called Our Lady of Yankalilla.

Australia

Belgium

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

Canada

For a complete list, see footnote[1]

China

Croatia

Cyprus

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

France

Germany

Greece

Gibraltar

Holy Land

India

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Lebanon

Lithuania

Malta

Malaysia

Mexico

Netherlands

Nicaragua

Pakistan

Philippines

Poland

Marian Sanctuaries in Poland
Locality Church Relic or Object
Bardo Church of the Visitiation of our Lady. Redemptorists Sculpture of our lady from the 12th century ., crowned July 3, 1966. (abp Bolesław Kominek)
Będków Church of the Immaculate Conception Icon of Our Lady of Będkow from the 15th century.
Biechowo Church of the Immaculate Conception Paulists Icon of Our Lady of Joy MB from the 15th century crowned September 12, 1976. by (cardinal. Stefan Wyszyński)
Stara Błotnica Church of the Immaculate Conception Icon of Our Lady from the 16th century crowned in 1977.
Bochnia Church of St. Nicholas Icon of Our Lady from the 15th-16th century, crowned in 1931.
Borek Stary Monastery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary obraz MB Borkowskiej z Dzieciątkiem, crowned on the August 15, 1919

Portugal

Spain

Sri Lanka

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States

For a complete list and further reading, see footnotes.[9][10] See also: List of shrines#United States.

Venezuela

Vietnam

See also

Book: Mary and Mariology
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

References

Notes
  1. ^ Marian Shrines in Canada webpage. The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio, US. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  2. ^ "Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia". http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas%C3%ADlica_de_Nuestra_Se%C3%B1ora_de_la_Altagracia. 
  3. ^ "Official website of the National Shrine of Our Lady of El Cisne". http://www.santuariodelcisne.org. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 
  4. ^ "Missionaries of the Divine Revelation". Divinarivelazione.org. http://www.divinarivelazione.org/eng/index2.html. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 
  5. ^ View of the two Walsingham shrines on their joint website.
  6. ^ Inside view of the Anglican shrine of St Mary's, 18 Willesden Lane, London NW10.
  7. ^ Inside view of the Roman Catholic shrine of Our Lady of Willesden, a side chapel accessible from within the church of Our Lady of Willesden in Nicoll Road, London NW10.
  8. ^ Warwick Street Church, London W1, displaying a sign "Church of the Assumption"; Lady Chapel; Grant of Indulgence (Summary of the Decree of Pope Pius IX, promulgated 15 May 1877, remaining in force in perpetuity).
  9. ^ Marian Shrines in the United States webpage. The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  10. ^ For further reading, see Marian Shrines of the United States: A Pilgrim's Travel Guide (Liguori Publications).

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