They attribute miracle-working power to the Máriaradna icon.
Máriaradna is one of the ancient Hungarian Maria shrines. Every year, 16 official pilgrimages are held at the place of farewell, thousands of believers pray at the image of Mary in the altar of the church of grace, to which they attribute miracle-working powers. The heart urn of the late Esztergom Archbishop Sándor Rudnay is kept in the Arad county church, the former Franciscan monastery was a forced residence for monks during the communist dictatorship.
In addition to the Way of the Cross behind the church, the "Glorious Way of Jesus" is a European rarity, the stations of which were destroyed by Russian soldiers in 1952, but will be renovated next year. Church members and believers claim: Máriaradna is the place where you can feel the care of the Virgin Mary.
Máriaradna, located 30 kilometers east of Arad, in the valley of the Maros, at the junction of the plain and the Zaránd Mountains, is one of the ancient Hungarian shrines of Mary. In the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, it was the second most important place of farewell after Mariazell, primarily for the followers of Bánság and the Southern Great Plains. Quote If we compare Máriaradna with Csíksomlyo, we can say that Máriaradna is visited not only by followers of one but several nations.
Not only from the diocese: many people also make pilgrimages from Hungary, Austria or Germany. The charm of this place is that everyone can find here what they like, what they are looking for"
- said parish priest András Reinholz to Krónika. More than five hundred years ago, around 1520, the first chapel of the Franciscan monks was built in the Máriaradna vineyards, on the hill where the current church stands.
The church with two towers and the related convent were completed in 1767, and were blessed that same year, on Pentecost Monday, by county bishop Count Franz Anton Engl von Wagrain. However, his consecration took place only on Pentecost Monday 1820, when Count Sándor Rudnay, Archbishop of Esztergom, Primate of Hungary, consecrated him, and in his will, the chief pastor asked that after his death, his heart be placed in eternal rest near the Holy Virgin.
He was bishop of Transylvania from 1816 to 1820, when the Holy Father appointed him archbishop of Esztergom. As he had previously spent several months in Máriaradna, he fell in love with the place, and his wish was that after his death, his heart would be brought here and kept here near the icon. It turned out that way, Sándor Rudnay's heart urn is located here"
- we found out from András Reinholz.
The two-towered basilica and the Franciscan monastery belonging to it were renovated in 2013-2014, and about ten million euros were spent on it from European Union and Romanian government support. After the restoration was completed, the tourist attraction of the place increased. Prior to that, such far-reaching works were carried out at the shrine in 1911, when both towers of the church were raised by 30 meters, so they now reach 67 meters.
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Featured image: Zsolt Pataky/Chronicle
