Image of grace Werl
,_Gnadenbild_(1).JPG)
The image of grace is a plastic representation of Mary . It is the center of the pilgrimage basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Werl , in the Soest district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).
Emergence
The Madonna and Child Jesus , a ring post chair Madonna , dates from the twelfth century. The image of Mary was carved from alder wood , the plinth and the baby Jesus from oak wood. Mary is enthroned and at the same time is the throne for her child. For decades it was believed that the figure was made on the island of Gotland . There are numerous churches in which ring post chair madonnas are venerated, which are similar to the Werler miraculous image. The Westphalian Office for the Preservation of Monuments carried out a scientific investigation in 1975 and came to the conclusion that the figure came from the Rhineland and that it had already been restored in the 13th or 14th century. The image of grace was first documented in 1351 in a fiefdom register ; it stood in a sacrament house in the Wiesenkirche in Soest and was carried along in border processions. After the Reformation it was stored in an adjoining room of the Wiesenkirche in 1531.
description
The forearms of the seated Maria lie on the armrests of the chair. She is holding a pomegranate in her right hand, while her left hand shows her upright to the viewer. The child sits cross-legged on the mother's lap. It is holding a book on its left leg by the spine of the book. The right hand raised it to a Trinitarian blessing . The posture of the mother and the child should express majesty and holiness . Showing the pomegranate in the mother's hand is an ancient Christian symbol of virtue and purity; the sovereign gesture of the child corresponds to this. The crossed legs of the child also have a symbolic meaning, it is the posture of a compassionate, wise judge. The entire representation shows a strict monumentality; it expresses itself in symmetry, structure and cohesion. Mary is the queen of heaven on the throne and Christ is the ruler of the world.
Transfer from Soest to Werl
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Since 1444 the Soest citizens had the right to meet their wood needs in the Arnsberg Forest ( Electoral Cologne area). The hunt, however, was the sole responsibility of the Archbishop of Cologne . Nevertheless, the Soest citizens committed a crime against hunting; Archbishop Maximilian Heinrich forbade any logging as a punishment. As a further penance, the mayor of Werl, Hermann Brandis , suggested that the archbishop demand the surrender of the miraculous image and leave it to the Werlers. The Soest magistrate had no objections, and so the figure was handed over to the archbishop on November 1, 1661 at his Werler castle . Another version of the story says that the Capuchins who were entrusted with the Madonna picked it up from Soest.
Marian devotion
The figure of Mary was first placed behind a grid in the oratory of the Capuchin monastery , a little later it was exhibited in a tabernacle . From 1669 it was worshiped in the Capuchin Church, which was built especially for the veneration of Mary . About 120 years later the building became too small for the pilgrims and also dilapidated. So from 1786 to 1789 a new church with a splendid baroque interior was built. During the secularization in 1834 the Capuchin monastery was dissolved and the clergy of the parish church of St. Walburga took over the organization of the pilgrimage. The church was converted into a simultaneous church. This led to clashes between the two faith groups. Shortly afterwards the Protestants built their own church , and so the miraculous image could remain. According to the new constitution of 1848, orders were again allowed to settle in Prussia ; at the request of the magistrate and the Werl clergy, Franciscans came and took over the monastery. As a result of the Kulturkampf initiated by Bismarck , the Franciscans had to leave Werl in 1875 and were able to return in 1887 after the failure of most of the anti-church laws. In the meantime, the parish clergy took care of the pilgrimage again . On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the pilgrimage, the Madonna and Child were crowned . Archbishop Antonius Cardinal Fischer of Cologne celebrated the coronation service on August 13, 1911 . Also in 1911 the newly built pilgrimage church, which was later elevated to a basilica, was consecrated by Paderborn Bishop Karl Schulte . Since then, the miraculous image has stood in different places in this basilica . An expression of the piety and gratitude of the pilgrims are numerous votive offerings , some of which are shown in the church. The high point of Marian devotion was 1979; that year 320,000 pilgrims were counted. Since then the number of pilgrims has steadily decreased.
literature
- Elisabeth Bellot-Beste: The pilgrimage to the miraculous image of Werl in Westphalia in writings of the city of Werl series A, booklet 4; Dietrich-Coelde-Verlag, Werl / Westf., Werl / Westf. 1958.
- Waltram Schürmann: The Madonna of Werl. Imprimatur: Paderbornae, d.10m, Aprilia 1975 No. G2051 / 75 Vicarius Generalis Hornkemper Werlae die 26 Martii 1975, Fr. Hermann Schalück, OFM Minister provincialis, ISBN 3-87163-104-3 .
- Rudolf Preising : The miraculous image in Werl. In Der Kreis Soest - Becoming and Being , on behalf of the district administration, Verlag Hans Burkhard, Essen, pp. 80–86.
- Gerhard Best, Michael Feldmann, Ralf Preker (eds.): 350 years Marienwallfahrt Werl 1661-2011 , Bonifatius GmbH Druck-Buch-Verlag Paderborn, 2011, ISBN 978-3-89710-482-2
- Hartmut Platte: 350 years of pilgrimage to Our Lady of Werl 1661–2011. Börde Verlag, Werl, ISBN 978-3-9814458-0-0 .
Views
View from 1661
View from 1703
Depiction from 1930, with cloak and crown
Votive offerings
Web links
- History and photos (accessed April 11, 2012)