Marian devotion
Where is he?
Al- Tahira - "the Pursima" - is the great Syrian-Catholic church of Qaraqosh, also called Baghdeda, on the plain of Nineveh, Iraq. The place is linked to the local Christian community and the veneration of the Virgin Mary. The map uses the location cartographed by OpenStreetMap / Nominatim, no. 9101530177, with the coordinates rounded to four decimals.
The precision is locality. The cartographic source identifies Qaraqosh / Al-Hamdaniya, but has not taken that coordinate as the inner GPS of the church. That is why this fact sheet does not state that the point points to the altar, the tower or a concrete image. The city and the Al@-@ Tahira church are a different place from other Marian Qaraqosh chips that describe the devotion of the city or its persecute memories.
Documented history
The report of Aid to the Church in Need describes Al-Tahira as the most celebrated Christian building in Bakhdida / Qaraqosh. It distinguishes an ancient church, whose history traditionally dates back to medieval times, and the "new" church, built for sixteen years between 1932 and 1948. The report gives the latter a size of 54 meters long by 24 meters wide and presents it as one of the great Syrian-Catholic churches of the Middle East. These figures are cited as source data, not as a measurement made for this lot.
The recent history of the building is linked to the occupation of Qaraqosh by Dáesh since 2014. The heritage and ecclesial sources document the desecration, fire and damage suffered by the churches of the Nineveh plain. After the liberation of the city in 2016, the restoration of Al-Tahira became part of the return of Christian families and the recovery of their community memory.
Pope Francis visited Qaraqosh on March 7, 2021. Vatican News presented that meeting as a visit to a community that had suffered displacement, violence and destruction, and as a call to rebuild social ties. The papal visit documents the importance of Qaraqosh for Iraqi Christians; it does not in itself make a local Marian tradition approved.
Tradition
The title Al-Tahira expresses Mary's veneration as the Most Purple and Mother of God within the Syrian-Catholic tradition. In Qaraqosh, this title is linked to the history of an ancient Christian population and to the contemporary experience of exile and return. The memory of the protection of the Virgin accompanies the community, but a devotional memory is not a act that allows the reconstruction of every supernatural event.
Marian veneration is addressed to Mary as an intercessor. The faithful ask him to present his pleas to God and lead them to Jesus Christ. It is not about worship: worship corresponds only to God. The fact sheet retains this distinction because the history of a church and the prayer of its community must be explained with precision.
Legend
There is no Marian apparition specifically linked to the construction of Al-Tahira or a local miracle approved by the Catholic Church. The traditions of protection during the persecution and return of families are preserved as a religious and community memory. They are not presented as a supernatural test and no accounts are added that the sources consulted do not document.
Ecclesial State
The state indicated is veneration _ permitted: Al-Tahira is a Syrian-Catholic church of documented public veneration. This value describes the ecclesial existence of the temple and its liturgical use; it does not mean that there is a judgment about apparitions or miracles. There is no apricionist file to be described as approved or rejected.
Anecdotes and stories
One of the most significant stories of Al@-@ Tahira is that of its community reconstruction. The church was raised in the 20th century with the effort of a population that made the temple a visible sign of its presence in the Nineveh plain. Decades later, the fire and destruction caused by Dáesh transformed the building into a testimony of the persecution of Iraqi Christians.
Francis's visit in 2021 gave this memory a universal dimension. The Pope heard a community returning to a wounded city and linked reconstruction to peace and coexistence. The map marks Qaraqosh on a local scale, so that it does not confuse the memory of the whole city with an exact coordinate within the temple.
Prayer
St. Mary, Al-Tahira, Mother of God, intercede to the Lord by Qaraqosh, by the Syrian-Catholic Church and by all the Christian families of Iraq. He accompanies those who return to their homes, comforts the persecuted and teaches us to build peace united with Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sources
- Aid to the Church in Need, report on the Iraqi Catholic Church and the reconstruction of Al-Tahira (HTTP 200).
- Vatican News, Pope Francisco's visit to Qaraqosh (HTTP 200).
- Ministère de la Culture, Al-Tahira de Bakhdida / Qaraqosh and Christian heritage of the Nineveh plain (HTTP 200).
- OpenStreetMap/Nominatim node 9101530177, Qaraqosh/Al-Hamdaniya (HTTP 200).
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