Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

"Mariazell: the cell of Mary in the mountains of Austria"

Mariazell (Austria) (1157)

In the mountains of Styria, in Austria, the basilica of Mariazell, the most important Marian sanctuary in the country and one of the great pilgrimage centres of Central Europe, is raised. The Virgin who is venerated there is honored as "Magna Mater Austriae," Great Mother of Austria, and her devotion has for centuries united the peoples of the ancient empire.

Tradition places the origin at 1157. He says that a Benedictine monk named Magnus, sent to that region, was crossing the mountain carrying a small size of wood from the Virgin. Closed the passage by a rock, he would have invoked Mary, and the rock departed; in that place he raised his cell, placed the image and began the veneration. The name "Mariazell" itself means "the cell of Mary."

As in any ancient origin, tradition should be distinguished from documented. The account of the monk Magnus, the rock that is removed and the details of the first settlement belong to the pious tradition collected over time; there is no contemporary documentation of 1157 that guarantees them with precision.

What is firmly attested to is the enormous historical importance of the sanctuary: the pilgrimages of kings and emperors, its role as the spiritual heart of the Habsburg monarchy and as the meeting place of the Central European peoples. The small venerated image and the development of the Gothic and Baroque basilica are well documented. There is no specific original link with the Rosary, although Marian prayer permeates the entire life of the sanctuary.