Anecdotes about the Virgin Mary

The City of Mary in the Heart of Pakistan

Mariamabad (Pakistán) (1898)

En medio del Punjab pakistaní, a unos noventa kilómetros de Lahore, hay un lugar cuyo nombre lo dice todo: Mariamabad, la «Ciudad de María». No es una leyenda piadosa, sino un hecho documentado. A finales del siglo XIX, unos misioneros franciscanos quisieron fundar un pueblo entero consagrado a la Madre de Dios, y así, hacia 1898, nació este enclave mariano que con el tiempo se convertiría en el santuario nacional más conocido del país.

The first chapels were humble and preceded the present temple. The sanctuary that hosts the pilgrims today was built in 1949 by a Belgian cappuccino friar, brother Frank Joseph. Later, Fides Agency reported on the construction of a new Marian Grotto inspired by Lourdes, a sign that devotion to Our Lady of Mercy was still alive and growing.

Every year, around 8 September, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, Mariamabad is filled with faithful who come on great national pilgrimage. The chronicles describe moving scenes: songs, flowers, prayers and colored fabrics that cover the grotto. In 2005, Zenit agency told how the pilgrims went through the city by praying the Rosary and singing religious songs, a beautiful testimony of the link between this pilgrimage and the prayer of the Rosary.

The truth should be distinguished from the devotional. It is documented that the people were founded in 1898, that the sanctuary was raised in 1949 and that the great pilgrimage is held on 8 September with the influx of Christians and Muslims. Some sources speak of hundreds of thousands, and even more than 1.2 million pilgrims a year, although the latter figure should be read with caution because it is not explained how it counts. Of the specific favors and graces that many claim to receive is the testimony of faith; a verified relationship on a case-by-case basis does not appear in the available sources.

The most beautiful thing about Mariamabad may not be a figure or a prodigy, but that simple and true image: in a country of Muslim majority, men and women of different religions come up to ask thanks to the same Mother. Mary continues to gather, as in Cana, those who seek her with a sincere heart.