Holy Cross (Stromberg)
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The Holy Cross of Stromberg is a miraculous image of the diocese of Münster in the Kreuzkirche of Stromberg .
description
It is a Romanesque cross with a wooden body in the Byzantine style. The crucifix is covered with a silver coat. It is one of the oldest depictions of Christ in Westphalia . Art historians date the sculpture, carved from Westphalian oak , to the period between 1080 and 1100. A cross particle is located in the small medallion on the chest of the crucifix .
history
The Holy Cross was first mentioned in a document in 1207 when it was donated by the Herzebrock Abbey to the Burgrave of Stromberg Hermann I (1177–1224) from the Rüdenberg family . After the first chapel, in which the cross was erected, burned down in 1316, but the Holy Cross was miraculously saved, the cruciform church was built on the miraculous image. The silver mantle was created from the votive offerings of the pilgrims on the pilgrimages, which were now increasingly beginning. During the Counter-Reformation , the Holy Cross was entrusted to the Jesuits in 1598 , which meant that 12,000 to 13,000 visitors, including many from neighboring Evangelical areas, went to worship on the Stromberg every year at the Supplicatio on the Sunday after St. John's Day. In the years 1600, 1845 and 1877 the miraculous image was stolen, damaged or destroyed. But it could always be found and restored. Most of the time, the robbers were concerned with the silver plating. In the solemn return to the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross after the robbery of 1845, the Mainz Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler also took part on September 14, 1856 , who had known the miraculous image since his first position as chaplain at St. Stephanus in Beckum . The torso (head and torso with loincloth) is still preserved from the original body . The arms and legs have been added during restorations.
Pilgrimage
Every year, the pilgrimages bring around 40,000 pilgrims to the Kreuzkirche in Stromberg. According to an old tradition, the main pilgrimage to Stromberg begins around St. John's Day. The first two Sundays in July are also special days of pilgrimage. The solemn conclusion is on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
literature
- Gabriela Signori : Holy Westphalia: saints, relics, pilgrimage and miracles in the Middle Ages. 2003, ISBN 3-89534491-5
