Maria Zell (II)

In 1510, the chronicle of Zofingen reported an extraordinary occurrence which gave new lustre to the glory of the shrine of Maria Zell. The plague was decimating Zofingen and, among its victims was a young widow, Anna Dubliker, with her two children. Overcoming her weakness, she ran to the foot of a statue of Mary inside an oratory ready to fall into ruin. Mary granted the humble prayer of her servant. Anna recovered, and so did her two children. Mary's protégée, and although very poor, had but one concern: to save up enough money to fulfil her vow. She had almost reached her goal when the city of Zofingen, until then subjected to Bern, abandoned the religion of Christ for the teaching of the apostate priest Zwingli. The latter's fanatical hatred and his followers' fury against the Virgin Mary, the saints, their feasts, shrines, statues and images, was well-known. Anna Dubliken did not share the ideas of the blasphemers. Passing by the oratory of Mary, she saw an excited mob busy throwing the statue of the Divine Mother to the ground. She begged those misled people to let her have the statue, which they agree to do. But how could she carry it herself? She begged one of the new sectarians to help her, but after a while the blasphemer replied: "Your idol is too heavy for my shoulders. I'll just throw it in the ditch." Alarmed, Anna gave him all the money she had. The man continued to carry his load, but when the widow's last penny fell onto his palm, he left her in the lurch, threw the statue in a bush and ran away. Anna could not part with her treasure. She sat down by the statue, prayed, and waited. One of her children however, while picking some flowers, found a coin at the foot of the holy statue. Seeing this, the mother dug in the ground around the same spot, and unearthed a vase full of silver Roman coins. She stopped and paid a cart driver with half of the money to take her and her children and her beloved statue to Sursee, where she told the story of their happy adventure. The people listened to Anna with surprise, praising and blessing the Virgin Mary. Amidst general admiration, the holy statue was carried to Maria Zell and installed in the shrine. Understandably, this episode propelled the devotion to Cella Mariae, which increased from year to year.