Europe is the world's first Marian continent

Europe's Christian roots go back to the first century of the Incarnation of Christ. It was the first continent to be shaped by the Gospel. It contains the largest number of the world's first churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and there isn't a region that doesn't have at least a few dozen (sometimes many more) shrines dedicated to her. It is difficult to count them, as every country has thousands, ranging from the famous to the simply locally known.

In the course of its long history, Europe has been instrumental in spreading the Christian faith and civilization throughout the world; indeed, until the dawn of the 21st century, Europe sent the most missionaries to evangelize the rest of the world. It was also Europe that gave the Church most of its great Marian Doctors (notably St Alphonsus Liguori, St Bernard of Clairvaux and St Louis de Montfort).

Although Europe has been visited many times by the Virgin Mary throughout its long history, from the 18th century onwards this continent has been the scene of major apparitions of the Virgin Mary, of worldwide significance: Lourdes, the Miraculous Medal in Paris, Fatima in Portugal, and Banneux in Belgium, to name a few.

At the beginning of the 20th century the “Old Continent” experienced the era of the philosophers of suspicion and serious internecine wars, which largely contributed to the  de-Christianization of many of its nations. But at the end of the 20th century, a great spiritual revival began among the younger generations, particularly during the pontificate of Polish Pope John Paul II, who was one of the greatest Marian popes in the history of the Church, and who entrusted not only his papacy, but all of humanity of the 3rd millennium to the Virgin Mary, with his motto:

 "Totus Tuus", i.e. "All Yours"!

Marian Encyclopedia