Our Lady of Mantara
Coordinates: 33 ° 31 ′ 40.9 ″ N , 35 ° 22 ′ 47.6 ″ E
Our Lady of Mantara is a Marian pilgrimage site with a miraculous image of Our Lady. The pilgrimage site is located in the city of Maghduscha in Lebanon . The landmark of the place is a hexagonal chapel , the place of pilgrimage also includes a basilica and the so-called "holy cave".
Legend and origin
The origin of the worship of the miraculous image of Mantara is traced back to a cave in which Mary is said to have been waiting when her son Jesus Christ preached near Tire and Sidon and healed a girl there (( Mt 15 : 21-28 EU )).
Byzantine period
During the reign of Emperor Constantine , his mother Helena ordered around 324 that all pagan temples and idols of the Astarte cult should be destroyed. At this time the cave was discovered, which was attributed to the fact that the Blessed Mother should have stayed there. St. Helena asked the Bishop of Tire to bless the cave and build a small chapel in it. She gave the Christian community an icon of Our Lady with Child, which later became the image of grace. This became Our Lady of Mantara . Mantara comes from the Arabic word matara , which means "waiting". Saïdet-El Mantara means "Our love waiting woman". The place was endowed with imperial treasures and financially supported by the Byzantine rulers over three centuries.
Islamic rule
The Islamic expansion , which reached one of its climaxes in 636 with the Battle of Jarmuk , led to the fact that the Byzantine Empire lost its influence. The new rulers showed little tolerance for the Christians and destroyed many Christian sites in the cities of Tire, Sidon, Beirut , Byblos and Tripoli . The inhabitants of Maghdusha withdrew to mountain Lebanon , but had closed the cave with the chapel before they fled. They hid the cave entrance under earth, stones and plants. As a result, Our Lady of Mantara was forgotten.
With the arrival of the crusaders in Sidon, some crusaders also settled in the immediate vicinity of Maghduscha between the 12th and 13th centuries. Without knowing it, they built a small fortress just a few meters from the cave entrance. With the Crusaders, many people returned from the mountains to their ancestral places.
The ruling emir Fakhreddin II (1572-1635) was an enlightened ruler, he appointed ministers of different faiths. A renaissance began for Christians. The "holy cave" was rediscovered on September 8, 1721 by a young shepherd. According to tradition, he wanted to save a goat that was trapped in stone rubble. With a rope, he wanted to use a tree as a pulley . The tree detached itself from the roots and exposed the entrance to the cave. The boy worked his way further into the pit. When he entered the cave, the first thing he saw was the icon donated by Empress Helena. The boy hurried into the village and reported what he had found.
Development of the pilgrimage site
Since the rediscovery and uncovering, the “sacred cave” has been made accessible to the public. The place developed into a place of pilgrimage to Mary and the feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated every year with a large festival. On the adjacent hill there is now a cemetery of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church . The pilgrimage site is now under the administration of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The Bishop of the Archeparchy of Sidon is also the head of the pilgrimage center and host of the Basika of Maghduscha. At the beginning of the 1960s, a hexagonal chapel, today's landmark, was built under the patronage of Bishop Basile Khoury , the 28 meter high spire of which is adorned with a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Miracle of Maghdusha
Several miraculous healings are ascribed to the miraculous image of Our Lady of Mantura . A 1910 brochure, written by Bishop Basilo Haggiar of Sidon, describes a total of 16 miracles. Half of the miracles mentioned were reported about children and expectant mothers. Saïdet-El Mantara was sometimes called Our Lady of the Children . The best-known miracle tells about the healing of a blind woman.
Web links
- Our Lady of Mantara or The Wait, Maghdouche (English)
- Our Lady of Mantara (English)