Ntra. Ms. de Mariamabad - The Marian National Shrine of Pakistan
Mariamabad, "the city of Mary," is a Catholic people founded by Capuchin missionaries in 1892-1893 about 80 kilometres from Lahore, whose church of St. Mary and St. Joseph was dedicated on December 8, 1898. Since 1949 it has been the Marian National Sanctuary of Pakistan and each September it brings together more than a million pilgrims.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- In January 1893, a "long march" of six days and 170 kilometres, guided by the Capuchin parents, led three oppressed Christian families from the Sialkot district to the land purchased by Bishop Van Den Bosch: the exodus that gave rise to the people of Mary.
- The church of St. Mary and St. Joseph was dedicated on December 8, 1898, the feast of the Immaculate One; the most beloved feature of the sanctuary is the Marian Grotto on a hill, with a three and a half meters image of the Virgin.
- Declared the National Marian Sanctuary in 1949, the largest Christian congregation in Pakistan, with more than a million pilgrims and three days of celebration, is hosted every 8 September.
- The pilgrims have also known the test: in 2005, armed men raided buses of faithful; in the same year the sanctuary hosted the first National Eucharistic Congress, and in 2024 it held its 75th Jubilee as a national sanctuary.
Our Lady of Mariamabad (Pakistan)
For Pakistani Catholics, a minority proven by persecution, Mariamabad is the Marian heart of his homeland: walking every September to the grotto of the Virgin is his great public profession of faith and his comfort under the Mother's cloak.
"Our Lady of Mariamabad, Mother of the Christians of Pakistan, pray for us.
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