The tears of the Madonna of Máriapócs

The shrine of Máriapócs in Hungary is a Greek-Catholic church (Byzantine rite), located in a small village bordering Ukraine. An object of veneration inside is an ancient icon of the Madonna and Child, of the Hodigitria type (The one who shows the Way) bearing the signature from its author: "I, a servant of God, had this icon painted to atone for my sins."

On November 4, 1696, the faithful attending Mass there saw the Madonna weep real tears. The miracle reoccurred several times until December 8th (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) and was witnessed by hundreds of onlookers. The parish priest collected these precious "pearls of mercy" in a silk handkerchief and sent them to the Bishop of Eger. The investigation confirmed the supernatural origin of the phenomenon, after which Emperor Leopold I had the icon transferred to St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

Why did the Madonna cry? Budapest, the capital of Hungary, had been occupied since 1541 by the Ottomans (Turkish Muslims), and recently liberated, in 1686. But the country was still occupied. So in 1693, Emperor Leopold I renewed the national Act of Trust in Mary. Three years after that act of consecration to Mary, in 1696, the miracle of Máriapócs occurred… and just one year later, in 1697, the Turks were definitively driven out of the Austro-Hungarian territory.

While the original icon was sent to Vienna, a copy was made for the church of Máriapócs, and that copy wept again in 1715, from August 1st - 15th (Feast of the Assumption). A third lacrimation took place in 1905 and lasted a whole month.

During the communist period (1945-1991), the church remained open and had visitors. In 1946, on the 250th anniversary of the first miracle, Cardinal Mindszenty celebrated Mass in the presence of more than 200,000 faithful. Then Saint John Paul II celebrated Mass there, in the Byzantine rite, on August 18, 1991, and prayed for unity between Orthodox and Catholics.

The feasts of the Máriapócs Shrine are September 8th and August 15th.

The editorial team of Marie de Nazareth