Maria Zell (I)

In 1061, the abbot of Einsiedeln opened the door of his monastery to a handsome knight who wished to see him. "Most Reverend Father," he said to the abbot, "I came to knock at your door to beg you to receive me in your holy house, among your sons." "Pilgrim," the abbot asked, "what is your name? And where do you come from?" "I come from the shores of Lake Sempach. I said goodbye forever to the castle of my forefathers. Misfortune struck me: I had only one son, but Heaven ravished the only heir of my good name and property. God permitted that he one day drown. I bowed before the justice and holiness of his decrees. My beloved wife Hedwig only finds consolation in the midst of her mourning as a nun. I share her sentiments, and this is what brings me to your holy asylum today." And the noble knight Seliger of Wohlhausen, who had amassed great wealth in the service of the emperors by leading their cavalry, left his possessions forever to seek true happiness in serving God, who alone can grant it. A few years later, the noble and valiant knight, now living in Einsiedeln monastery as the humblest of Saint Benedict's sons, was elected by the suffrage of his Brothers to the dignity of abbot. That was in the year 1070. For twenty years, Abbot Seliger governed the monastery wisely. In 1090, because of his age, he resigned from his office, and lived for another 9 years, which he devoted entirely to prepare for a holy death. On April 22, 1099, he fell asleep in the Lord's peace. He was going to meet in heaven the son he had mourned and the mother of that son, the tender Hedwig, who had preceded him in death. She had died in Zurich, around 1090, in the Benedictine monastery where she had been an abbess. The two noble spouses, who had finished their life so piously, had always had a strong devotion to the Mother of God. In their youth, across from their castle on the little island of Lake Sempach, they built a chapel to Mary on the banks of the lake. In the eyes of the people, it was the castle's chapel, but for them it was the house of Mary, Cella Mariae or Maria-Zell.