The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-25
OUR LADY AT EINSIEDELN.
A Visit to a Bit of Medieval Piety in the
Heart of Switzerland.
The Divine Conservation of the Chapel OF
"0ur Lady of the Hermits"-The Priest
Of Indiana's st. Meinrad Abbey.
Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal.

correspondence OF the Indianapolis Journal.
E~INsIEDELN. Sept. 25-It was on a Sunday
evening, Sept. A, 1885. the day before the great
feast commemorative of the miraculous dedica-
lion of the "Shrine of our Lady Of the Hermits, !"
at the Monastery of Einsiedeln, that your CORE
spon6ent was walking up and down the cell of
Father Chrysostom, in conversation with the
reverend father. He was speaking of his thirty
years of service as g missionary in North Ameri-
ca, and of the Benedictine monastery Of st.
Meinrad, in Indiana, an offshoot of his venerable
house of that order in the beautiful vale of Elm
siedeln. once the dark woods" of st. Meinrad.
The shadows were lengthening and gathering
fast about US, when suddenly the thunder
of cannon echoed through the val
ley. "That," said the Father, ISIS the
first herald of the coming feast. 1t
was on the eve of Sept. IA, 94S, that Conrad,
Bishop of Constance, arrived at Einsiedeln, com
ing at the urgent request of ST Eberhard, to
consecrate the Holy Chapel of Our Lady of the
Hermits and the church of the Benedictine mon
astery. At midnight he went to pray in the
chapel, accompanied by some of the monks.
Presently, we are told, it was filed with a light
br igher than the sun, while the chanting of a
multitude fell on his ears. He fastened toward
the altar, which was illuminated as for a SOL
emn festival. He beheld standing in front of
the statue of the Virgin, Christ himself, assisted
by apostles and angels, offering up the most
holy sacrifice. :Sanctus Deus in aula gloriosa
Virgins, miserere nobis! Benedictus Marie
fllus in @ternum regnaturus qui venitp sang the
angel choir. The divine apparition departed,
but the astonished bishop fingered until the
eleventh hour, whereupon the waiting monks
came to beg that he perform the ceremony. OF
dedication fixed for that day. He then related
what he had seen, and refused to dedicate a
chapel which had already received a divine dedi-
cation. His story was not believed, and he was
pressed and even ordered to begin the ceremo-
NAL. At last he assented and prepared
to ascend the steps of the altar in the
presence of a great multitude of peo-
pie who had collected from all the sur
rounding country. No sooner had his
foot reached the first steps of the altar than a
voice heard by all present, and which seemed to
descend from heaven, exclaimed, Cease, brother,
the chapel is divinely consecrated: 'Cessa,
Cessa, frater. Capella d~ivinitus consecrata est
This marvellous proceeding was later confirmed
by numerous contemporary witnesses, by
judicial inquiries signed by the highest civil and
ecclesiastical authorizes; and, sixteen years
after, by q bull of Pope Leo VIII, given in the
presence of of st. Conrad and the Emperor Otto.
After relating the particulars of the divine con-
secration, the bull pronounces an anathema on
any one who should in the future dare to recon
secrate the chapel, and concludes thus: we
absolve all who shall visit the above named holy
spot, after confession and repentance, from
their sins and the penalties attached thereto
This bull was confirmed by Leo x and Clement
III. Plus Nv ratified these bulls of his prede-
cessors on the 10Th of May. 1913. to honor tine
monastery and to show skeptics who are always
ready TO cast doubt upon events which it does
not suit them to believe and to place implicit
faith In any absurdities whichpiease their taste
You will find" said Father Chrysostom. sub
stantially the same account in a little book by
Mrs. Bennett, the niece of Mr.. Gladstone, en-
titled .Elnsiedeln, in the Dark Woods; or, Our
Lady of the Hermits.'"
Yes" | remarked, grant but one such mirac-
ulous event and ROme's argument is entirely
logical. But this occurrence is so far away and
has been SO covered over with aftergrowth of
legend that it seems incredible. But have you
ever seen a miracle performed?'
MY dear sir" replied the father, I'VE lay no
stress on miracles at Einsledeln, and we even
avoid publicity in the matter; but since you have
asked me l will say that l was a witness to an
unquestionable miracle performed here at
Einsiedeln, and / can bring yoa several eye-wit-
nesses whose statement you could not doubt if
you have any confidence whatever in human
nature. 1t was in 1850. I was a novice here at
that time" said Father Chrysostom, drawing I'D
his large form ard looking me squareiy in the
~ VtLh ITO ELCoIb u ulIl ul y CG III NIllCu uIeS
and enthusiasm were mingled. 'Ithappened a day
when 1t was my turn to arrange the prayers for
chapel. On a sudden it was noised abroad that a
wonderful miracle fad been performed. l has
tened to the church, and there was a woman
standing whose limbs for thirty years had been
bent so far back that her hips had been lacerated.
When a girl of fourteen she had been paralyzed
and the cords of her limbs been thus drawn up
occasioEed by a terrible fright she received. 1t
was in Alsace, and her parents consulted the best
physicians in vain. She was a confirmed
cripple for thirty years and was carried
about in a small carriage made for that
purpose. At last her people determined to take
her to the far-famed shrine of Our Lady at
Einsiedeln. The long journey was accomplished
with difficulty, and the little carriage stood be-
fore the door of the church. The invalid was
laid on q large pillow, and conveyed into the
church Just AS mass began. When the service
was about half through, she suddenly cried out
that she was cured, and earnestly requested to
be assisted on her feet. She was induced to re-
main quiet until the service was over, and then
all present crowded around to see the wonder.
AT this %juncture 1 arrived, and saw her stretch
out limbs which had not been unbent for thirty
years. Her dress hardly came to her knees, but
the wondrous healing forbade any scandal. She
desired to walk, but. of course, her muscles
were like a young child's. She was taken to the
hotel, and examined by three physicians, one of
whom was a skeptic, and they all said, after a
thorough analysis. that a change had taken place
attributable to no human agency. Her journey
home was u triumphal procession, and her neigh
bors and former physicians acknowledged her
cure to be a miracle. All, sir, the age of faith
must come again. Then will scoffers be put to
shame, and the great church will rise triumph
ant over all her enemies"
Such, thought /, as l strolled back to my hotel
in the moonlight, such is the spell that annually
attracts to this ancient altar its more than $780,
600 pilgrims. Einsiedein, with it's legend of ST.
Meinrad, who Ieceived the miracle working i'm
age of the Virgin from Abbes Hildegard of Zu-
rich, is the most famous pilgrim shrine in Switz-
erland and ranks with LoreJto in Italy, ST. Jago
de Compostella in Spain and Cologne in Ger
many. There is nothing in this green valley
with its meadows and wooded slopes to attract
the average tourist. The pilgrims who come
here think more of the unseen than of the seen.
From the various points of the horizon they
come vending their way on foot, kneeling before
every wayside shrine and chanting their prayers
along the dusty road. They come largely from