THE HISTORY OF MARY’S HILL IN LEVOČA The oldest pilgrimage place in eastern Slovakia is Levoča, where the roots of the Mary’s cult date back to the 13th century. The first mentions about this pilgrimage place and the gathering of Mary’s worshippers appear at those times. In 1247, the first chapel was built on Olivet hill. Probably it was built as manifestation of thankfulness to the Mother of God for rescuing numerous lives during the invasion of the Mongols, who attacked our territory and the town of Levoča as well. In 1311, the Franciscans came to Levoča and they established the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. In 1322, the Levoča parish priest Henrich renovated the first church on Mary’s Hill. In the second half of the 15th century, the size of the church on Mary’s Hill was already insufficient. Besides this fact, the state of the church was such that it was close to its collapse. In 1470, the parish priest Servác enlarged and partially rebuilt the church and shortly after that the church got the gracious Gothic statue of the Virgin Mary which has been preserved to the present. Pilgrimages to the Mary’s Hill continued even during the Reformation. In addition, the local Evangelicals kept up the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. However, the revival of pilgrimages came into being only after the Counter Reformation, the first deed of which was a big procession and pilgrimage to the Hill on July 2, 1671. In 1673, the indulgence privilege was granted to Mary’s Hill by the Holy Father. The church was more-times rebuilt and extended. In 1698, the parish priest Štefan Györffy built the second church on Mary’s Hill. In 1819, Ján Ehrnspenger, the Levoča parish priest, built the third church on Mary’s Hill, which was consecrated by the Spiš bishop Michal Brigido, a former Levoča pa-rish priest, in 1820. In 1847, Roman Catholic parish priest Jozef Dulovič built a wooden chapel for the Eastern Byzantine worshippers. In 1906, Celestín Kompanyik began to build the present shrine from the thank-offerings of worshippers, which, after his death, was completed and furnished by the new parish priest Jozef Krššák. On July 2, 1922, the new and spacious church was solemnly consecrated by the new Spiš bishop Ján Vojtaššák, nowadays - a candidate for beatification. In 1947, the Levoča parish priest Jozef Vojtas, who worked in Levoča after the Second World War, made ready imposing plans for Mary’s Hill (to build a pilgrim, religious and spiritual retreat house). However, the political situation in the 50´s prevented their realization. His plans were realized only after the fall of communism, after the year of 1989, by the present parish priest Msgr. Prof. František Dlugoš, Ph.D. Initially, Mary’s Hill gathered the pilgrims from eastern and central Slovakia. The pilgrims of the Latin and Eastern Byzantine rite used to come together here. Especially the pilgrims from Košice, from beyond Magura, from Halíč and Pohronie, but also the Poles from the other side of the High Tatras journeyed to this place. Simple Slovakian people have come to Mary with their joys and pains, as to their mother, as they have often sung about in their pilgrimage religious songs. Levoča’s parish priest František Dlugoš issued a detailed history of Mary’s Hill in the year of 2000. In his monograph Mariánska hora v Levoči 1247 – 1950 (Marian Hill in Levoča 1247 – 1950), it has been tried to present in full measure, as much as the historical sources have allowed it, the history of the Mary’s cult in Levoča and its influence on religion of the Slovaks. Such an extensive work devoted to Mary’s Hill is the first book of its kind in historical writing. There has not been any work published, which would present the history of this pilgrimage place in this way. The contemporary times are described in the most interesting way and to the largest extent. The work presents the fact, that the continuity of pilgrimages was not interrupted even in the hardest times of oppression of religious life and faith – in the times of Reformation and in the last decades of the communist totalitarian system in Slovakia. Pilgrims have always visited the place although they had to suffer for coming to this place. A lot of people were thrown out of their jobs, students had to leave schools, but all of that somehow attracted people even more to come to Mary’s Hill. Thus, gradually, Mary’s Hill has become the largest pilgrimage in Slovakia regarding the number of pilgrims, and it has become one of the well-known pilgrimage places in the world. These sacrifices and suffering connected with this pilgrimage were also recognized by the Holy Father John Paul II, who promoted the church on Mary’s Hill to basilica minor on January 26, 1984. The largest pilgrimage was at the presence of the Holy Father John Paul II on July 3, 1995, when more than 650,000 joyful pilgrims together with him gathered round the Mother of God. The Holy Father in his speech addressed the pilgrims by these words:”The shrines of Our Lady are the places where the testimony of Jesus becomes the most effective. Surely, a lot of sons and daughters of Slovakia thank to this Levoča shrine for the fact, that the faith in and the truth about God have stayed alive in their hearts...” The visit of the Holy Father in Levoča has given the impulse for deeper investigation of the history of this pilgrimage place, in order to underline its merit and greatness in the religious awareness of the Slovaks and in the development of Mary’s cult, which helped believers to withstand even the hardest times of the totalitarian system. Levoča’s parish priest František Dlugoš has written also following books about Marian Hill: Mariánska Levoča a jej osobnosti medzi svätyňami Európy (Marian Levoča and its Personalities between Sanctuaries of Europe), ... a do svätyne vedú kroky naše (... and our Steps Lead to the Shrine), Vitráže Baziliky Navštívenia Panny Márie (Stained Glass of the Basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary), Pätnásť slobodných pútí (Fifteen Free Pilgrimages), Mariánska hora v slove a obrazoch (Marian Hill in the Word and Pictures) and the latest monograph Mariánska hora v Levoči 1247 – 2013 (Marian Hill in Levoča 1247 – 2013).
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 11:44:43 +0000
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