How to reach the Pilgrimage Maria Trens
Once a farmer found a completely intact statue of the Virgin Mary under the rubble of a mudflow. He carefully carried the statue home, where he worshipped it with his family. But the next morning the pious farmer could not believe his eyes: the statue had disappeared. Should there have been brazen thieves at work here? After a long desperate search, he finally found the statue in the village chapel next to the church. The miraculous event was on everyone’s lips at lightning speed and soon many believers went to the “Trenser Mutter” to implore comfort and help from her.
For centuries the pilgrimage church Maria Trens has been attracting countless people from near and far who make pilgrimages with their intentions to the “Trenser Mutter”. The church is also a real jewel for art lovers. When the pilgrimage to Maria Trens in South Tyrol began is not scientifically proven. It is a fact that in 1345 an indulgence was granted in Avignon for the construction of a Marienkirche church, which already 100 years later enjoyed great popularity as a pilgrimage destination. In the 15th century the church was extended in the late Gothic style, 300 years later it was frescoed by the Viennese painter Adam Mölck in the course of a Baroque period. The paintings mainly show depictions from the life of the church patron saint Maria.
The present image of Our Lady of Grace was created around 1470 by an unknown carver from the environment of the famous master of Ulm, Hans Multscher. Since the beginning of the 18th century it has been worshipped in a specially erected side chapel – the Chapel of Grace. The figure of the Virgin Mary, carved from Swiss stone pine wood with a diadem and a cloak decorated with flowers, holds the Child Jesus in her arms; he playfully reaches with his left hand for the white veil of his mother, his right hand stretched out towards the pilgrims.
How many people in this long time with their worries and fears have visited the place of pilgrimage Maria Trens near Sterzing can only be guessed. Mental and physical need, illness and death – the numerous votive tablets in the church, an artistic testimony of deep popular devotion, give only a small insight into the intentions that people have carried to Mary the Blessed Mother.
The pilgrimage to Maria Trens still plays an important role in the ecclesiastical life of our holiday resorts today, when hundreds of faithful from the Sterzing area and the whole of South Tyrol flock together on the so-called “Court Cloister”, which takes place every year on 1 May, to sing and pray together on the centuries-old pilgrimage path to the church, which was newly laid out in 2000. In earlier years, some pilgrims were said to have climbed the last climb to the church even on their knees in order to give special emphasis to their requests. All this makes Maria Trens near Sterzing a very special place of strength, a true spiritual source even for non-pilgrims.
Opening hours:
Ganzjährig geöffnet
Free entry!
Contact:
Pfarrei Maria Himmelfahrt Maria Trens
Rudolf Maria Kruckenhauserstr. 02
39040 Freienfeld Maria Trens
+ 39 0472-647132