Marija Bistrica
Marija Bistrica is one of the most popular and most visited Marian pilgrimage sites in Croatia. The place name is a combination of the name of the Holy Mother of God, from which there is a statue in the town, and the river Bistrica, which flows through the village. At about 50 pilgrimages that take place from early April to late October, every year about 500,000 believers take part. Marija Bistrica is situated in Krapina-Zagorje County, about 27 kilometers by road north of Zagreb, north of Medvednica.
History
Bistrica is mentioned in a document for the first time in 1209, when the Croatian- Hungarian King Andrew II Vratislav his confiscated possessions that were lost in the Civil War recaptured. The legend of Bistrica begins around 1545, when the then priest, the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with little Jesus from the Turks from Vinski Vrh away and they einmauerte in the church of Saints Peter and Paul in Bistrica sneaking into a wall. Here they fell to 1588 in oblivion, until the priest of the parish Luka according to the legend in the evening noticed a light in the church and the following day there was excavated. He found the statue and put it on to worship. 1650 she was walled due to the Turkish threat again in 1684 and dug up again and exhibited. At this time began the pilgrimage. The Croatian Parliament promised in 1710, a large altar made of wood, gilded and painted, to build the church in Marija Bistrica, which was fulfilled in 1715. With the consecration of the newly established church in honor of the Holy Mother of God by Bishop Juraj Branjug 1731, this sanctuary and this place Marija Bistrica. News about the wonders spread over all the countries of the Habsburg Monarchy; why the stream of pilgrims to Marija Bistrica grew. The church was subsequently expanded in neo-Gothic style. On August 14, 1880, a huge fire destroyed the whole church beside the altar and the statue that was left undamaged. The present church was built in 1879-1882 according to the plans of the Viennese architect Hermann Bollé Schmidt under observation. Pope Pius XI. gave the church in 1923 the title of minor basilica. The Zagreb Upper Bishop Antun Bauer crowned 1935, the miraculous statue of Mary and baby Jesus with golden crowns and proclaimed Mary as Queen of the Croats. The Bishops' Conference brought on 3 December 1971, the shrine in Marija Bistrica to the national pilgrimage of the entire Croatian people.
Pope John Paul II on 13 October 1998 in Marija Bistrica Cardinal Stepinac blessed. Stepinac was a younger upper bishop who undertook the pilgrimage from Zagreb to Marija Bistrica. With great effort and sacrifice he began in 1940 to build the stations of the cross, but because of the war, only the first four stations were completed. On October 3, 1993 pilgrimage pilgrimage for the first time Catholic soldiers to Marija Bistrica. In 1990, the last station of the Cross was erected. On May 18, 2003, a monument was built for Pope John Paul II.
The statue of the Holy Mother of God
See also: apparition
Gallery
Before the Sanctuary in Marija Bistrica
View of the Passion of Christ
Altar for worship services outside behind the church
Outdoor worship
Commemorative statue of Pope John Paul II
12th Station of the Cross: Jesus dies on the cross