Our Lady of Homokkomárom

Marian vocation of Homokkomárom (West)

According to the information available, With Homocomary is a small town in the south-west of Hungary, close to Lake Balaton, known precisely for its Marian sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary, today guarded by the Community of Beatitudes.

Main data

Origin and history

According to the information available, With Homocomary is a small town in the south-west of Hungary, close to Lake Balaton, known precisely for its Marian sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary, today guarded by the Community of Beatitudes.

The website of this community indicates that the place is an old convent transformed into Marian sanctuary, but does not provide precise chronological details or a complete historical narrative (founder, exact date of erection, etc.). Therefore, does not contain a detailed documented history of the origin of the advocation under the specific title of Nuestra Señora de Homokcomarom in regular accessible sources (diocese, official lists of advocacy, international Catholic press).

As far as the documentation can be consulted, no specific traditions or legends appear (apparitions, foundational miracles, concrete wonders) linked to the first establishment of the Marian cult in Homokkomárom. Consequently, a clear distinction between "tradition / legend" and "historical facts" cannot be offered beyond the true fact of the present existence of the Marian sanctuary in this town.

The image and the sanctuary

The sources consulted indicate that in Homokkomárom there is a Marian sanctuary in an old conventbecame a place of spiritual retreat and pilgrimage for the Community of Beatitudes. However, no detailed technical description provided of the headline image (type of sculpture or painting, material, baroque style, concrete iconographic features) in the accessible documentation.

It can therefore only be said in general that this is a image of the Virgin Mary venerated in the sanctuary of Homokkomáromwithout being able to safely specify the material (wood, stone, canvas, etc.), the size, the scene represented (Mother with the Child, Immaculate, Dolorosa, etc.) and specific iconographic details. No constain available sources, an official description of this image.

The sanctuary is presented as a religious complex with church and conventual dependencies adapted for retreatsin a quiet rural environment, intended for prayer, liturgy and the reception of pilgrims. It is not mentioned under the title minor basilicaor National sanctuary of Hungary, nor is its canonical erection explicitly indicated as diocesan sanctuaryand so, with the accessible data, only the Marian shrine local. There is also no separate official name (for example, "Sanctuary of Mary Queen of the Martyrs") in the general sources; it is simply mentioned as Marian sanctuary of Homokkomarom.

Sponsorship and coronation

The sources consulted do not indicate that Our Lady of Homokkomárom has been proclaimed official employer of a diocese, of Hungary or of a large region of the country. In practice, their veneration is mainly local/ regionalas a Marian sanctuary of the south-west Hungarian, in the small town of Homokkomárom, without a formal decree of civil or ecclesiastical patronage.

On the canonical coronation, no registration is found in diocesan, national or repertory sources of claims that the image has been crowned by pontifical mandate or by decree of the Holy See. In the absence of explicit documentation, it should be stated: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

A Fecha liturgica propia universally spread for Our Lady of Homokkomárom. The main celebration of the sanctuary is likely to be integrated into the General Marian parties (such as the Assumption, the Nativity of Mary or other Marian solemnities of the Roman calendar), but no consta officially, in the sources consulted, a special holiday recognized outside the local level.

The information available highlights the nature of place of pilgrimage and spiritual retreat: a small town, "of a hundred inhabitants," known precisely for its Marian sanctuary, which hosts meetings and times of prayer. It is therefore a simple and strong local devotion, with pilgrimages of the faithful of the region and groups linked to the Community of Beatitudes.

No numerical data of influx (number of pilgrims per year) or detailed descriptions of processions, specific romaneries or specific popular traditions (offerings, votes, officially recognized miracles) have been found. As a result, any details that go beyond the determination of the the existence of Marian pilgrimages and retreats in the place cannot be documented safely.

Link to the Rosary

The available sources do not explicitly mention a relationship between the advocation of Our Lady of Homokkomárom and the prayer of the Rosary (e.g., Rosary fellowship, specific promise, own indulgences or other formal links). No consta, therefore, a unique historical or legal link between this image and the Rosary.

However, as in most Marian shrines in Central Europe, it is reasonable to think - as a general theological and pastoral reflection, not as a proven historical data - that the Rosary ocupa un lugar importante en la vida espiritual de los peregrinos: – porque el Rosario es la Marian prayer par excellence en la Iglesia latina, – porque ayuda a to meditate on the mysteries of Christ's life with Mary, – y porque favorece la experiencia de peregrinación interior que se busca en un santuario retirado y silencioso como Homokkomárom.

In this way, although there is no "own" tradition of the Rosary specific to this advocation, the daily or community prayer of the Rosary is certainly a very coherent way of to live devotion to the Virgin of Homokkomáromjoining the faith of the Church and the long Marian tradition of Hungary, a nation historically consecrated to the Virgin.