MARY IN THE FIR TREE - 15 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 15th of August

Marian Feast Days 

O glorious Virgin, Mother of God, blessed among all nations, worthy of praise and the greatest of praise, intercede for me with thy beloved Son. O honoured Lady, Mother of the King of Angels and Archangels, assist and deliver me from every difficulty and danger.

O Blossom of the Patriarchs, the Virgins and the Angels, Hope of Glory, Beauty of Virgins, Admiration of the Angels and Archangels, remember me, and forsake me not, I beseech thee, at the terrible hour of my death. O Star of the Sea, Gate of Heaven, Temple of God, Palace of Jesus Christ, Harbour of Safety, Power of all Nations, Pearl of all Sweetness, Hope of the Faithful; O Queen who shelters the guilty, who surpasses in radiance the Virgins and the Angels, thy presence gives joy to all the hosts of Heaven.

Therefore, O Mother of Mercy, I place in the protection of thy holy hands my going out, my coming in, my sleeping, my waking, the sight of my eyes, the touch of my hands, the speech from my lips, the hearing of my ears, so that in everything I may be pleasing to thine own beloved Son. Amen.

MARY IN THE FIR TREE 

Maria in der Tanne (Mary in the Fir Tree) is a Marian pilgrimage church in Triberg in the Black Forest with the Patronage of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

THE ORIGINAL REPORT

The original report, compiled by a pious priest from events that occurred in the late 17th century, relates that "by a hand that is unknown to this day, a graceful image of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception was attached to a beautiful fir tree at a comfortable height with a pin. People going past it doffed their hats, bowed their heads or said a short prayer in line with pious Catholic tradition."

MIRACLES THROUGH OUR LADY'S INTERCESSION

Several miracles occured through Our Lady's intercession at the image, the first involved a little girl called Barbara, who was cured of a serious illness of the eyes.

Pilgrims began to flock to this spot, and on the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in 1695, July 2nd, the first sermon was held by Father Irlinger near the fir tree with Our Lady's image - initially in the open air. A wooden chapel was built in the same year. On June 9, 1697, the foundation stone was laid for a stone chapel.

THE CHURCH

From 1826 to 1958 the pilgrimage church was also a parish church. Today, this beautiful church on the spot is used for pilgrimages, weddings and memorial services. The externally simple church is richly furnished in the Baroque style.

(1. The original image, 2. Part of a page from Fr Georg Ott's Marianum, Holy Servants of Our Lady, 1862, relating the story of Mary of the Fir Tree, 3. The wooden chapel from 1695, 4. A booklet about Mary in the Fir Tree)