Processions and pilgrimages in Bökenförde
In the Bökenförder St. Dionysius Church , the image of grace "Mother of divine grace" is particularly venerated. The Romanesque seated Madonna made of linden wood dates from the 12th century. Therefore, a distinctive processions and pilgrimages developed since the Middle Ages .
Procession and pilgrimage in the 17th and 18th centuries
The processions were almost completely lost in Bökenförde during the Thirty Years War, so around 1692 only one annual procession before the feast of Corpus Christi is recorded. The processions were only revived under Pastor Johann Heinrich Hesse, after he introduced a praise procession for the feast of St. Lawrence in 1712 with the consent of the community as a result of a devastating cattle epidemic in Bökenförde. Pastor Hesse also revived the devotion to Mary when he rediscovered the old image of grace that had been hidden until then and thus forgotten in 1719. At first he believed to have rediscovered the hidden image of miracle from Verne and therefore claimed that the image of grace from Verne was a fake and that the real one was in Bökenförde. With this claim Pastor Hesse referred to the Verner pilgrimage tradition, in which it is reported that the Verner image of grace was included in a larger one and has not been seen by anyone since. Hesse therefore assumed that he had found the original miraculous image in his community and was of the opinion that from then on the miraculous image had to be venerated in Bökenförde. For this reason, he terminated the pilgrimage procession for Bökenförde on the solemn festival of the Great Costume of Our Lady in Verne.
The Great Liebfrauentacht zu Verne was of great regional importance, so that the Verner miraculous image was also carried to the neighboring Geseke in Cologne. It can be assumed that believers from the local area went to the pilgrimage to Verne on this day in order to take part in the huge procession and worship. Pastor Hesse, however, had stories compiled into miracle reports, which the Paderborn cathedral provost again devalued as "worthless gossip" because he assumed that Pastor Hesse had introduced the procession as a counter-event to Verne only out of self-interest. The cathedral provost was so angry about the actions of the Bökenförder pastor, because he had also claimed that a plague epidemic had been extinguished by carrying the miraculous image that he asked the Cologne archbishop and elector to investigate the events in Bökenförde. The aim should be that the Bökenförder procession be banned from the Johannesfest on the weekend. This tough legal dispute was resolved in 1722 by moving the Bökenförder date to Trinity Sunday. However, the feast of the miraculous image, which Pastor Hesse had introduced in 1719 and which was celebrated on the Sunday before Johannes (June 24th) at the same time as the solemnity in Verne, remained. The number of pilgrims in Bökenförde rose sharply in the following years. This is evidenced by numerous mass foundations, votive offerings and donations that the Bökenförder parish received. In 1747, Pastor Reiser founded a vicarie to ensure lasting support in pastoral care. He also donated an Altar of Mary (BMV = Beata Maria Virginis), in front of which he found his final resting place in the Marienkapelle.
Prayer Fellowship of the Marian Love Assembly
On September 8, 1770, the so-called Marian love meeting (mater divini amoris) was founded in Bökenförde. Pope Pius VI granted in 1780 to the members that a St. Mass can be celebrated. On every Feast of Our Lady, the members of this prayer community came together in the church to pray a rosary of five laws, for themselves and all brothers and sisters, then a Father and an Ave Maria for all deceased members. After nothing more could be found of the Association of the Marian Love Assembly until the second half of the 19th century, it was reactivated on January 2, 1872, and the members were recorded in a membership register.
First ten nuns from Erwitte joined her. On the same day, mostly residents from Bökenförde, but also from Ermsinghausen, joined. The association grew steadily until 1894 and then had a proud member base of 377. In addition to the many Böken sponsors, members came from: Geseke, Esbeck, Millinghausen, Störmede, Westernkotten, Hoinkhausen, Klieve, Erwitte, Rixbeck, Lippstadt, Wiggeringhausen, Eickelborn, Langeneicke, Altenrüthen, Ehringhausen, Eikeloh, Weckinghausen, Nettelstädt, Steinhausen, Schwarzenraben, Öchtinghausen and Dedinghausen. Some people even came from further afield: Neustadt, Borken, Hegensdorf, Werl and Verne. This is proof of how well known the pilgrimage site Bökenförde was and that Marian veneration flourished. The dates of the entry of the members or the period 1872-1894 show that this association was particularly active during the establishment of the German Empire and the Kulturkampf, i.e. during the entire Bismarck era - at least in recruiting. It is not known when the association dissolved or its activities came to a complete standstill. In any case, the Marian love meeting is no longer mentioned in the first real schematism of 1913, in which all church associations are listed. The last time the prayer community can be found in a proclamation book from 1922.
Marian veneration and pilgrimage since the 19th century
In 1800 the parish celebrated the feast of the image of grace on a large scale, but church life suffered greatly under the new French rule in the following years and was severely restricted. The processions and pilgrimages could no longer take place and were initially not revived after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the subsequent Prussian rule. The private veneration of the miraculous image, limited to the village of Bökenförde, remained. Increasingly, individual pilgrims came from the area again, especially on Saturdays, to attend the solemn high mass with the exposure of the Blessed Sacrament at the Marian altar. Around the middle of the 19th century. the veneration of Mary experienced further impetus, numerous houses of saints were built in 1860 in the village and in the field. The parcel known as Brünneken was built around 1864, and today there is a fountain and chapel. The construction of the chapel should also fall during this period.
Marian veneration and pilgrimage since the 20th century
Whereas in the 19th and early 20th centuries, apart from individual pilgrims, the veneration of Mary was mainly limited to the Bökenförde population, the pilgrimage was only revived by Pastor Joseph Sondermann, who worked in Bökenförde between 1922 and 1932. He investigated the history of the miraculous image and published a devotional book in 1925 that advertised the Marian pilgrimage site of Bökenförde with the centuries-old history of the miraculous image, its miracle reports and prayers. In addition, he successfully promoted the once miraculous image in the area. The first pilgrimage procession came from neighboring Bad Westernkotten with 300 believers on June 28, 1924. Pilgrimages from Lippstadt, Esbeck, Hoinkhausen, Berge and Salzkotten followed in the same year.
Pastor Otto Schelle from the St. Elisabeth Church in Lippstadt introduced the dean's pilgrimage in 1934, which to this day leads numerous men from the Lippstadt dean's office to Brünneken by procession, by bike or by car on Whit Monday. The large number of pilgrims in the 1930s led to considerations to build a much larger building instead of the previous chapel. However, the plans were not implemented. The Brünneken is still a station for believers, individual pilgrims or groups who set out from their communities to make a pilgrimage to the place of apparition of the Mother of Divine Graces. In addition to the dean's pilgrimage on Whit Monday, in which numerous men from Bökenförde traditionally also take part, the parish still traditionally goes on Trinity Sunday and around the feast of Maria Himmelfahrt (herb consecration) in a solemn procession through the field to Brünneken and back to the church.
Overview of the processions
By 1755, the number of processions in the parish of Bökenförde had risen to five: for the Feast of St. Mark (April 25th), on the Trinity (since 1723), on Corpus Christi, one day after Corpus Christi as a large field procession and the praise procession on the feast of St. Laurentius.
Petition processions
In the 19th century, petition processions took place on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning before the feast of Ascension Day. Another of these petitions was the St. Mark's procession, which took place on the feast day of St. Markus (April 25th) was demonstrably carried out in Bökenförde as early as the 17th century to ask for “blessings for fields and fields, people and fatherland”. In earlier times, the petition processions moved through the fields, as in the proclamation books of the 20th century. It appears that the Church was only visited three times at the time. All petition processions were abolished in the course of the liturgical reform in 1965.
Ascension of Christ
There was also a procession for the feast of Ascension until 1965. It began in the 18th century, although it did not take place regularly at that time. Pastor Reiser noted around 1755:
"In Festo Ascensionis (Dni) (Ascension) the peasants talked about a procession to me, held it several times, but sine fundamento and therefore abolished, but included in the procession of St. Marci by extending something further."
So Pastor Reiser has combined the procession with the Marcus procession. Only in the 19th century was a procession regularly held on Ascension Day. On the holiday at 6.30 a.m., the morning mass was initially as usual, followed by high mass at around 9 a.m., followed by the procession. Along the processional path, arches of honor were stretched across the street, flags were placed on wooden poles, house altars were set up and magnificent carpets of flowers were laid out. In addition, the roadside between the flags was embellished with birch or linden bushes. The church council carried a canopy under which the pastor carried the holy of holies during all processions. Traditionally, the procession ended in the church, where the Te Deum was sung and the blessing was given. In the afternoon at 2:30 p.m. there was another prayer service in the church. The procession on Ascension Day was abolished in the course of the liturgical reform in 1965. In Bökenförde they celebrated the first communion on this day instead.
Trinity
According to the camp book (1755), the Marian procession to the Trinity was attended by around 1200 believers, so that the Bökenförder clergy had to get support from the monastery in Geseke.
“On Trinity there are usually a thousand and twelve hundred communicants, and three to four Fathers von Geseke have to be ordered 14 days in advance [...] so that one of them can read the mass [...] so that they can do something in the confessional and the people can hear all mass, the third can hold the high mass and the fourth read holy mass shortly before the high office, carry out the procession and preach at the fountain in cultu BMV For this, ex oblatis, the monastery is given 2 Reichstaler, all here the patribus Eat and drink the previous evening, as well as lunch, sed sine vino (but without wine), the pastor […] is present during the procession and prays with the people St. Rosary […] In addition to these, the pastor has to requisition the neighboring confratres and patres for holy confession, so that everyone can be helped and that every half hour at least St. Communion is distributed to avoid the crowds. Those clergymen who are free and willing to serve [...] are given a little recreation in vino at the appropriate time, unless such service is replaced by the same service. […] In the afternoon at 3 o'clock the holy blessing is given and afterwards a litany of the holy names of Jesus or Mother of God is sung or prayed, which then many people still wait and help close the devotion.
There are all sorts of cramers on Trinity Day, who, however, do not allow the slightest place inside the churchyard wall, but rather, according to Christ's example and juxta Statua synodalia, to drive away by themselves with the involvement of the cabins and village builders, whatever they have names or whatever they sell . As far as the miraculous image is concerned, this is a very old image and many years ago a special devotion was practiced by the same as the news and all circumstances instruct, but it is almost lost in times of war. This picture is held in honor under the title Mater divinae Gratiae, it has a brass star on the breast and, as I very much praesumire, some holy relics must be kept in it. Because this picture is very old, a pastor does not have to entrust it to the sexton and use it, but rather record it himself the day before the procession, if it is necessary to have it dressed by a virtuoso person, to be locked in the dressing room that night Hang on the silver pennies early in the morning, expose them to the stretcher in addition to the churches with the little sacrificial box, place a steadfast and honorable man there, until then the procession goes out and when this picture is then taken by the village daughters who have been ordered and carried around with the warning, that the wearers walk around cautiously, turn around and take turns, also pay close attention to the ornaments, so that nothing is lost or stolen from it. Four groschen are given to the keeper of the picture and who then touches the things. The images of Our Lady and prayers can also be distributed to those who request it.
I gave the pulsanten (purification) pro extraordinario labore (work) ex oblatis 9 groschen on New Year's Eve, a pastor can satisfy the sexton with just a few (few) and has to pray the holy rosary with the children for 1 Reichstaler ex oblatis throughout the year pro benefactoribus, otherwise nobody has to wait anything from it, as a pastor will know for himself what he has to take for the tractement and pro labore suo.
The building judge has to mend the roads the day before, visit the holy poests, order flags and heavenly bearers who don't get anything in return. It is also Trinity Day here to win a complete indulgence, but it has to be renovated post septennium, as I then had it renovated in 1744 by the Father Prior Dominicanorum zu Soest with 3 Reichstaler. "
According to the report, there was a great rush of pilgrims on this feast day around 1755, who took part in the procession to the fountain or the place of the apparition of Mary. The large number of believers also attracted merchants who wanted to do business in the shadow of the church, which the peasant judge and lay judges were supposed to prevent.
Feast of the image of grace
Pastor Johann Heinrich Hesse, after rediscovering the miraculous image hidden and forgotten during the Thirty Years' War , introduced the feast of the miraculous image, which was celebrated with a procession on the Sunday before the feast of St. John (June 24th). Although the procession was moved to Trinity Sunday after a legal dispute in 1722, the feast of the miraculous image was celebrated on the Sunday before St. This is proven by the letter of indulgence from Pope Leo XIII. from January 30, 1902:
"Leo III. granted to all believers in Christ who, after dignified confession and communion, visited the parish church in Böckenförde on the anniversary on which the image of the grace of Mary there was first exposed and on the Sunday before the feast of the birth of St. John the Baptist, on whom the feast of the image of grace is celebrated there, or, if one is prevented on that day, on the following Sunday, or any other of 7 uninterrupted days, resp. Attends the following, annually under the usual conditions, a perfect indulgence, as well as the believers who visit with a repentant heart on any day mentioned church and image of grace and in the above opinion pray 300 days indulgence. All of these indulgences can also be turned to the poor souls by intercession. "
The von Hörde zu Schwarzenraben family was particularly connected to the Bökenförder Church. Friedrich and Josef von Hörde, for example, who were in Rome for their studies, reported there about the worship of the miraculous image in Bökenförde. With the support of the Archbishop of Cologne, Pope Clement XIII. Obtained indulgences for the pilgrims to the Mother of Divine Grace in Bökenförde. Pope Clement XIV granted another indulgence in 1772. In 1780 the prayer community of the "Marian Love Assembly" was founded, which celebrated its titular feast on the Trinity. Pope Pius VI granted the members of the Marian Love Assembly (mater divini amoris) erected at the Marien Altar in the founding year, that a St. Mass could be celebrated. In the same year, Pope Pius VI approved. an indulgence for the Trinity, Christmas and the Assumption of Mary. The parish devotion to Mary in Bökenförde gained even more importance. Indulgences could therefore be acquired on the following days: Trinity, Christmas, Sunday after the Assumption of Mary, Conception of Mary, purification, announcement, visitation, birth, ascension, sacrifice.
The feast of the miraculous image was at the beginning of the 20th century. merged because of the temporal proximity with the Holy Trinity. Trinity Sunday has been the "main festival of our miraculous image" ever since. In a proclamation book in 1922 it was noted: “Trinity 1922, titular feast of the Marian love meeting, Pope Pius VI. granted to all who on these days St. Sacraments received and in the parish church in Bökenförde in the opinion of St. Father's prayer, a perfect indulgence, communion can also be received on Saturday, confession can take place in the 8 days preceding the day. The congregation would be unworthy of such an award if not everyone who can somehow make it possible to take advantage of it. All parishioners are therefore sincerely invited not only to be satisfied with taking part in the procession and with domestic celebrations, but also to do everything that really makes this day a day of grace for the community, namely St. To receive the sacraments of penance and the altar. (Cf. .. of the neighboring community: Westernkotter Lobetag!) “The Holy Trinity Festival was artificially raised as a day of praise by cleric Sondermann, which clearly shows the reference to the praise day of the neighboring community of Bad Westernkotten. The procession to the Bökenförder Hochfest Dreifaltigkeit was again of great importance in 1922, because at that time it was accompanied by brass music; the collection was used in 1922 for the brass band. The Trinity procession was and is of particular importance for the Bökenförder, so the native Bökenförder who lived outside came to their old homeland to take part in the procession and then to visit their relatives in Bökenförde. Streets were festively decorated with carpets of flowers.
Corpus Christi
The Corpus Christi procession was only reintroduced in Bökenförde in the 18th century as part of the revival of Marian worship. The procession through the village is documented in the 18th century by Pastor Reiser's stock book (1755). In the past, birch branches, bushes and flags decorated the path along the entire processional path. In some cases, flowers, house altars, images of saints and the Madonna were set up in front of the house entrances. The reason for the flower carpets may well have corresponded in the core idea of the Franciscan clergy, according to which Christ entered the kingdom of heaven on flowers. However, this tradition only dates back to the 19th century. The procession concluded with the adoration of the Holy of Holies in the church with a final blessing. In earlier years there was also a prayer in the afternoon. The Holy of Holies was taken to all processions until 1965. In the course of the liturgical reform, it was decided that the Holy of Holies would only be carried under the canopy on Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi procession through the village began at the beginning of the 21st century. given up. A few years later the parish council decided to set up a small procession around the church. Since then, one station has been at the wayside shrine of St. Nepomuk in the churchyard and another at the parish hall before the faithful move back into the church.
Field procession on the day after Corpus Christi
In the 18th century, a field procession with four stations took place on the day after the feast of Corpus Christi. Pastor Reiser noted this in his camp book around 1755:
“Postridie is held the ancient field procession and goes to the singing mass at 6 o'clock in the morning, after this the procession goes to the Schrammen Warte (Bökenförder Warte) and is the first station from which you go to the Raben (Schwarzenraben) house to hear the chapel mass, under the mass a breakfast is given on the house for the pastor, sexton and provisional, of which the travelers participate with, sed ex indulgentia (but out of goodness), after the holy mass is of the Father or someone else preached a little sermon. In 1744 I left this sermon as it was (omitted), which was given three or four times in the 14 years, but always the previous Fathers ex permissione pastores (from the permission / decision of the pastor), sine requisitione, Father Magnus but also refrain and want to burden the onus on me, sed imprudenter ob rationes in contrarium. Because 1. I am not a pastor from the Schwarzenraben house and no matter how it is, the pastor from Erwitte doesn't do anything for free, but has 3 riches a year for his services. 2. So this is a favor that we go there with the venerable property and eat breakfast alone for it. 3. so the gospel is not sung in the chapel, but always at the cross, as at the other station. 4. indicates Pastor Hesse that a pastor in Bökenförde is absolutely not guilty of having the sermon there, but that the government must procure it for itself, as it usually happens, because the same day is enough for a pastor without the oneross, also not a festival day. 5. The church book thus instructs that a pastor must hold the procession, but that he should preach or where he should go, this is not reported. So from now on I will no longer preach there, nisi debite requisitus or per mandata superiorum compulsus. As for the rest, you can leave them breakfast, take a shorter route, stay away from the house and order the supplication like the recent recession, roughly break off and stop the third station at the Linnen and the fourth in the chapel at Eclo (Eikeloh), everywhere afterwards no sermon is held, under which the porters then refresh themselves again with the provisional. Also on this day our church gives out 2 Reichstaler 12 groschen, of which pastor, sexton, a ruling provisional, if he goes with, the cross bearer, flag and sky bearer, the pulsants, the Ludimagister (organist) from Eclo (Eikeloh) and two denominated choir singers Everyone who receives 4 groschen does, if there are usually more choir singers, one cannot get by with the money. The image of grace is also carried around in this and St. Laurentius procession. "
This large and arduous field procession is in the second half of the 18th Jhs. abandoned, so that it is no longer mentioned in the proclamation books in the 19th century.
The day of praise
After a cattle epidemic killed almost 40 horses, cows and cattle, the Bökenförder residents vowed to set up a day of praise on August 5, 1712. Such praise days were known for example from the Thirty Years War in Störmede, Geseke and Bad Westernkotten. However, most of these can be traced back to a plague epidemic that killed the village population. The Bökenförder parishioners, in the presence of their Pastor Hesse, vowed to introduce a day of fasting and abstinence from midnight on the day before the Laurentius Festival on August 9th, as well as a mass in honor of the 14 helpers in need, the bishop and martyr Dionysius and in honor of St. Blaise two cartridges of the cattle to be read. The Bökenförder community members should abstain from eating and drinking, and the cattle should not be fed or watered during this period. Offenses should even be punished. In addition, a procession took place on Laurentius Day (August 10th) from 9 a.m. to which the Holy of Holies was taken. The blessing was given at each of the four stations. When it rains, the procession should take place in the churchyard or in the church. Everyone should give alms to the poor or the church for the benefit of his ability. Minors under 7 were excluded from this rule. Scheduling before Laurentius Day is of particular importance in Bökenförde. The name day of St. Lawrence in Bökenförde may have been a special day of remembrance for a long time. This can be explained because Bökenförde was originally not a separate parish, but was until the end of the 16th century. a subsidiary of St. Laurentius in Erwitte.
The procession on this day of praise for the Bökenförder was probably merged with the Feast of the Assumption at the end of the 18th century, which is celebrated a week later. The reason for this was possibly the fact that, according to Pastor Reiser's note, it had not been confirmed by the Vicariate General and the appointment recognized. In addition, with the blossoming of Marian veneration, the Marian Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary had been given an indulgence since 1780, so that this feast was given a special appreciation. In the 19th century, Laurentius Day was a special day in parish life. Fasting and abstinence began the day before. A mass for the municipality of Bökenförde was read on Laurentius Day. However, there was no longer a procession. In the 20th century the Laurentius Day and the Praise Day in the Bökenförder parish completely lost their importance and disappeared without a trace. There is evidence that the Laurentius Festival was held until the end of the 1950s with a St. Mass celebrated. Since 1922 it has been proven that the day of praise was no longer a day of fasting and abstinence. In the proclamation books it is mostly referred to as Laurentius Day and was last mentioned in 1959. The new pastor Walter Pöppe finally no longer took over the day of remembrance from 1960.
Assumption Day
The exact time of the introduction of a procession on the Assumption of Mary in the parish of Bökenförde cannot be determined based on current sources. The Marian festival received a decisive upgrade in 1780, when Pope Pius VI. granted an indulgence on the Trinity, Christmas and the Assumption of Mary. Regular ascension processions can be identified since the 19th century. Due to the further development of the veneration of Mary, the praise procession on August 10th, which took place in the 18th century, has probably been postponed to the feast of the Assumption of Mary. In the 19th century, therefore, a corresponding Marian procession can be found, while the praise procession is no longer mentioned, although the praise continued until 1959. The procession on Sunday around the feast of the Assumption of Mary (August 15) has been documented precisely since the 19th century in the parish of Bökenförde and in 1942 Pastor Schenuit even regarded it as the “second feast of our image of grace”. The process is the same as the procession to the Trinity.
After the departure of Father Rolke in June 2010 and the restructuring in the parish association Esbeck-Hörste-Dedinghausen-Rixbeck-Bökenförde, the procession after the mass in the parish church is to take place without a priest. Since the revival in the 18th century, the processions in Bökenförde have been subject to constant change. The field procession after the feast of Corpus Christi was abandoned and the praise procession on Laurentius day was moved to the feast of the Assumption of Mary. In addition, there was a procession on Ascension Day and, with the further expansion of the pilgrimage since the 1920s, the dean's pilgrimage on Whit Monday in 1934. Then the Second Vatican Council brought about great changes - also for the processional system. In the course of the liturgical reform, the processions in the parishes were also to be simplified. In Bökenförde, for example, the procession (St. Mark's procession) and the Ascension Day procession were abolished in 1965. Around 2003, the Corpus Christi procession was also given up, so that today only the dean's pilgrimage at Pentecost and the processions of the Trinity and the Assumption of Mary take place.
Deanery pilgrimage
On the second day of Pentecost, pilgrimages to the Brünneken in the Bökenförder Feldflur took place since 1924. This led to the development of the dean's pilgrimage in 1934, which was introduced that year by Pastor Otto Schelle from St. Elisabeth's Church in Lippstadt and has been held annually on Whit Monday since then. This pilgrimage to the Brünneken had to be tolerated by the National Socialists because of the reluctance to attend. At that time, more than 2000 believers often took part in the dean's pilgrimage. Since its inception, men from all over the Lippstadt dean's office have been taking part in this pilgrimage to Brünneken. A procession, accompanied by winds, moves from Lippstadt via Rixbeck to Brünneken. From the direction of Bökenförde, another group then reaches its destination with the procession participants from Erwitte, Bad Westernkotten and Bökenförde, who carry the image with them. To this day, the flag delegations of the various clubs and associations from the individual localities form an impressive picture. After the mass, the participating men with the miraculous image move into the Bökenförder pilgrimage church, where the blessing is donated in a festive setting.
literature
- Dirk Ruholl: Image of grace Bökenförde and history of the processional system. Unpublished manuscript. Archive of the home association Bökenförde.
- Devotional book for pilgrims to the Mother of Divine Grace in Bökenförde. Bökenförde 1983. pp. 2-16.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Dirk Ruholl: Gnadenbild Bökenförde and history of the procession. Unpublished manuscript. Archive of the home association Bökenförde.