National Shrine Basilica of Mary Help of Christians
The Holy Hill National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians ( Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians ) on the Holy Hill in Erin , Wisconsin , is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage that the Order of Discalced Carmelites is supervised. The neo-Romanesque church, completed in 1931, has the status of a national shrine and, since 2006, a basilica minor .
history
The religious significance of the 410 m high hill west of Lake Michigan , called Holy Hill since the 19th century, is said to go back to the Jesuit mission of the 17th century. In 1858, German-born Catholic settlers erected a 4.60 m tall oak cross on the summit , which has been preserved to this day. It bears the German inscription “I am life. Whoever believes in me will be saved. ”Around 1860, the French-born François Soubrio came to the hill as a hermit . After initial suspicion, the farmers in the area supported him. The first wooden chapel on site with the patronage of Mary, Help of Christians was dedicated on May 24th, 1863 by the Bavarian priest George Strickner , ordained in Milwaukee .
In the 1870s, simple stations of the cross were set up and access to the mountain was improved. In 1879/80 a brick church and a rectory with guest rooms were built. The number of pilgrims grew rapidly. At the request of the Archbishop of Milwaukee, Bavarian Carmelites ( OCD ) came to Holy Hill in 1906 to provide pastoral care for pilgrims . In the following years the first convent building was built, later replaced by today's ensemble.
In 1925, the Chicago architect Herman Gaul was commissioned to design a large new pilgrimage church. The completed building was on July 19, 1931 by William Richard Griffin , Auxiliary Bishop of La Crosse , consecrated .
In the 1960s, more guest houses and meeting rooms were created, as well as an elevator tower . In the 1980s, the outdoor facilities were redesigned and the Theresien crypt was refurbished.
Today several hundred thousand pilgrims come to the Marian Shrine every year. Annual pilgrimages are carried out by dioceses and ethnic groups.
Architecture and equipment
The Sanctuary of Holy Hill is a neo-Romanesque three-nave brick basilica with a short transept, Vierungs - Roof skylights and retracted rectangular choir . The portal facade to the southwest is richly structured and is flanked by two high towers with an octagonal upper floor and a cone point. Under the basilica is a lower church dedicated to St. Teresa of Ávila . While this was modernized in the 1980s, the original color and ornament-rich furnishings of the 19th century have largely been preserved in the main church.
Individual evidence
Web links
- Website of the pilgrimage site (English)
- Holy Hill Basilica (sacred-destinations.com, English)
Coordinates: 43 ° 14 ′ 39.7 " N , 88 ° 19 ′ 39.3" W.