The Blessed Virgin visibly protected them

In 1944, during the invasion of Germany, the border region of Switzerland was occasionally hit by errant Allied bombing.

Around noon on a beautiful spring day, I was climbing the hill overlooking our village when I heard the attack warning sirens. The bombers were already roaring over my head and our anti-aircraft squadron was chasing them. I immediately ran to take shelter in the nearest house.

Suddenly, I saw an enemy bomb on the ground. We braced for an explosion, but strangely it did not happen ... After the alert, I learned that the bomb had fallen a few feet from a group of woodcutters, on wet moss, without exploding.

Was it pure chance? It certainly wasn’t. Every year, on the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (August 15th), the population of our valley participated in a nighttime torchlight procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the top of the hill, with the recitation of the Rosary to implore the protection of the Queen of Heaven.

The good peasants of the area are convinced that the Blessed Virgin visibly protected them. Many bombs fell around the region, but no casualties or injuries were recorded.

On August 15, 1945, a pardon procession took place. Not only did our Swiss villagers participate, but also the German priest of the neighboring parish and a large group of French officers. Since then, each year, the parish of M. on the Rhine fervently maintains its nighttime procession in honor of the Mother of God and of mankind.

Maria Siegt

August 1972 (translated by F.A.P.)