Miracles and Saints... A place of Legend
From its ancient Celtic roots the deep forests and hills of Northern Bohemia has always been a place of mystery and enchantment.
Throughout history it has always been a deeply spiritual region, giving raise to a number of legends, and often called 'the birthplace of saints'.
St Wenceslas (Vaclav in Czech) is associated with the region, and of course in more modern times the most famous figure from just 'down the road' from Mcely was the composer Bedřich Smetana.
Stories of fairies, witches, and the usual brew abound. However the top legend of Mcely concerns the Virgin Mary.
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The Virgin Mary of Mcely: Cover illustration of book published in 1892 on 50th anniversary of 'miracle' |
Miracle of the Virgin Mary in Mcely
Lourdes in Bohemia?
Historical background
An astonishing story of the Miracle of Virgin Mary in Mcely occurred in the latter half of the 19th century. These were stormy revolutionary times: the old feudal age was giving away to capitalism, people were moving away from traditional morality and trust in God, values were changing. Was the ancient spiritualism dead?
Magic visions
The miracle of Virgin Mary came about in the years 1849 – 1850 as the vision of three young girls (age 12, 11, 9).
Everything began like child’s game in July. The three girls were playing with other small children in the upper part of village „Na Stadnisti“. One of the girls heard a quiet voice inviting her to go with the other children to the cemetery and pray to God. When they were there, and bowed their heads in prayer, a pretty young lady revealed herself. The children were terrified, and so to console them, the Lady invited them to join her in prayer to God.
The Lady - who was invisible to all but the three children - after first swearing them to secrecy, told them 9 secrets. She invited them to pray for 9 days at the 4 places in the vicinity of the cemetery, church and presbytery. She gave them 9 small stones, 9 roses and she promised to return on the Celebration of Visiting of Virgin Mary. She said good bye to them and disappeared. All of a sudden they saw an old beggar man. He consoled them and promised them if they carried out their tasks then the Lady would visit them again. He then disappeared like the Lady.
The Lady returned again in October, joining several times in prayer. Once she took the girls to the house of a gravedigger and this became their regular meeting place. One day appearing with an angel and the infant Jesus, she revealed herself as the mother of Jesus and taking the girls into her own warm hands, prayed with them and gave them a sacred task: inspire the people to repent their ways and return to the belief in Jesus.
Holy illness
In November, the girls took ill with „holy illness“, suffering strong aches in their stomachs every evening throughout the month, later occurring 3 times a day. These pains they declared were sacrifices for the sinners.
State of affairs in the village
By now the girls were becoming known throughout the vicinity, and pilgrims started to flock to the village where an altar to the Lady had been erected.
People asked for testimony. Firstly, standing before the lady, pilgrims saw visions in the sky. Later, from her seating place, liquid, like oil, spouted in quantity.
After the leaving of the Lady, asterisks were discovered above this place and bright brilliance above the first meeting place.
The state intervenes
By now, the state authorities were becoming concerned, and forbade the girls to pray and kept them isolated. However the girls reinstated the meetings on the imperative of the Lady later.
On 2.December the Lady revealed herself for last time. The girls dismantled the altar on the order of the angel, and on the following day the holy illness finished. The state officers intervened for a second time, locking up one of the girls in jail for one night. The situation gradually died down and the story was forgotten.
Summary
The Lady revealed herself to the girls thirty six times. Regrettably, little written record exists, only several articles from newspapers of the time were preserved. (Notably by Bozena Nemcova, by her husband and by her friend K. H. Borovsky) Manuscripts from the local pastor dating from 1854 are still in existence, these are deposited in the National Monument of Literature at the castle Stare Hrady in the village of Liban.
The "Miracle" of Virgin Mary met with inconsistent responses from the public as well as a largely negative reaction from both church and state authorities. One needs to recall that this was an age of exciting technical progress and enlightenment - old fashion 'miracles' didn't fit well with the mood of the day, thus few wanted to take the claims seriously and investigate in more depth lest they too seem 'unfashionable'. Which is a pity, as it leaves us in mystery as to what actually occurred and what motivated the girls to see their 'visions'.
While we may or may not believe in divine appearances, their main message was clear: repentance and return to religion.
World context
There have been many Virgin Mary visions & miracle reported world wide. Two have been accepted as 'genuine' by the Pope. Shortly after our story, in 1858 in the town of Lourdes, France, the virgin Mary appeared to a young girl 18 times over a 5 month period. This was declared a miracle in 1862 after 15 people were magically healed from the springs from a cave revealed to the girl by the Mary. Even today Lourdes remains a place of great pilgrimage. The only other Mary vision to be accepted by the Church was the Virgin Mary of Fatima, in Portugal 1917.
Alas the Miracle of the Virgin Mary of Mcely is amongst the hundreds of visions not accepted by the church as genuine. However the locals still believe!
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