Our Lady of Marienthal in the Rheingau

Advocación mariana de Geisenheim (Hesse)

La Marian pilgrimage to Marienthal (Rheingau) is documented from Middle age. A source of outreach on the romantic Rhine route places the origin of the pilgrimage in 1309when the faithful came to venerate an image of the Virgin with the Child in the arms of Marienthal, in the Rheingau, near Geisenheim (Hesse).\ [10\] Since then the place has been consolidated as a sanctuary of the Mother of God for the Rheingau region and neighbouring areas.\ [10\]

Main data

Origin and history

La Marian pilgrimage to Marienthal (Rheingau) is documented from Middle age. A source of outreach on the romantic Rhine route places the origin of the pilgrimage in 1309when the faithful came to venerate an image of the Virgin with the Child in the arms of Marienthal, in the Rheingau, near Geisenheim (Hesse).\ [10\] Since then the place has been consolidated as a sanctuary of the Mother of God for the Rheingau region and neighbouring areas.\ [10\]

Various chronicles of popular piety (currently disseminated by devotional media in Spanish) state that, during times of persecution or war, Catholics would have hidden three images in the forest: den pinturas y una statue of the Dolly Mother with the Child Jesus in arms, which were subsequently found prodigious and placed in a chapel in Marienthal.\ [5\]\ [8\] This account belongs to the field of tradition and pious legend, transmitted in old chronicles but without accessible critical documentation.

As for the documented history, the existence of a Monastery and shrine of Marienthal in Geisenheim, known as Monastery of Marienthal, which became a fixed place of Marian pilgrimage for the Rheingau.\ [7\]\ [9\] The converse and church set have gone through various historical stages (foundations, reforms, changes of religious community), but the easily accessible online sources do not provide a detailed and critically contrasted schedule of these transformations; therefore, no additional precise dates can be offered safely.

The image and the sanctuary

La advocación de Our Lady of Marienthal (Rheingau) is linked to a image of the Virgin with the Child Revered from the Middle Ages, mentioned as a representation of the Mother of God with Jesus Christ in her arms.\ [10\] Other devotional sources speak of a "Mother Delicious with the Child Jesus", stressing the compassionate and suffering character of the Virgin associated with this sanctuary.\ [8\] However, the sources consulted do not provide reliable technical data on author, material, artistic style or exact dating of the image, so those aspects no constan for sure.

The place of worship is the Monastery and shrine of Marienthal in Geisenheim, usually identified as Monastery of Marienthal.\ [7\]\ [9\] This is a Conventual complex with church and monastic dependencieslocated in a wine-growing area of the Rheingau, which operates both as a place of retreat and prayer and as a destination for regional pilgrimage.\ [7\]\ [9\] The tourist and devotional sources point to it as a important Marian sanctuary of Rheingaubut they do not formally designate it as a minor basilica or a national sanctuary; therefore, no consta having the title of a minor basilica or an official national recognition. Nor has clear documentation been found in the sources consulted on the specific order that the sanctuary is serving today (the mention of "White Fathers" in some areas has not been verified in official sources).

Sponsorship and coronation

Our Lady of Marienthal, just as she was venerated in Marienthal (Geisenheim, Hesse), appears above all as Marian sanctuary regional of Rheingau.\ [10\] The sources available online describe it as a pilgrimage center for the region, but no recent official statements to proclaim her as the principal patron of a diocese, the Land of Hesse or all of Germany. As a result, one can talk about a de facto patronage on the Rheingau region and its pilgrims, but there is no canonically proclaimed national patronage.

On the canonical coronation of the image, the Marian sources in Spanish that mention the sanctuary do not indicate date, pontifical decree or name of the papal delegate.\ [3\]\ [5\] Nor have references been found in regular databases on canonical coronations of Marian images. So, does not contain a documented canonical coronation for Our Lady of Marienthal in the Rheingau.

Party and devotion

Various pages of Marian spirituality, referring to Our Lady of Marienthal in Germany, point out the 7 June as a day of devotional memory or commemoration of this advocation.\ [5\]\ [8\] These sources are in the field of popular devotion and do not explicitly cite a liturgical decree of their own; it is therefore prudent to consider the 7 June how mainly devotional holiday date, linked to Marian calendars rather than to a universal official liturgical calendar.

The devotional chronicles emphasize that the pilgrimage to Marienthal has attracted the faithful "for many centuries," and that ancient chronicles speak of "wonderful miracles"obtained by Our Lady's intercession.\ [5\]\ [6\] It is mentioned that countless pilgrims have come to the sanctuary to ask for comfort, healing and help in difficult situations, especially in times of war and trial.\ [3\]\ [5\] The features of devotion include the Marian prayerparticipation in the Eucharist, las foot pilgrimages from nearby peoples and special trust in the Virgin as a compassionate Mother who accompanies the suffering of the faithful.\ [3\]\ [5\] There are no recent official statistics of inflow in the sources consulted.

Link to the Rosary

The available sources do not give an explicit mention to of the Rosary, "perpetual Rosary" or other specifically rosarian initiatives linked to Nuestra Señora de Marienthal (Geisenheim); therefore, no consta a formal and documented historical relationship between this sanctuary and a particular work of the Rosary.

However, by the very nature of the place - a medieval Marian shrine in the centre of Europe - it is reasonable to assume that the Rosario has accompanied the devotional life of the pilgrims over the centuries, as in most Marian shrines of Latin tradition. In a sanctuary where Mary with the Child is seen and, according to tradition, also as Mother Dolorosa, the Rosary allows to meditate on the joyful, painful, glorious and luminous mysteries as a journey of union with Christ, guided by the Mother. Thus, even if a specific legal or historical link is missing, the Rosary is presented as the ordinary Marian prayer mode with which the faithful can join the ancient stream of pilgrimage and trust in Our Lady of Marienthal.