MARPINGEN APPARITIONS: A most interesting site is located in the woods at the edge of the small village of Marpingen, Germany, not far from the Luxembourg border. The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to several young girls in Marpingen during the mid-1870s. Some decades later, a chapel and stations of the cross were erected in the woods outside the village. In 1999, three women again said that the Virgin Mary had begun to appear to them at the same site. Note: the photograph at lthe left is of a statue of Our Lady of Consolation in the church at St. Donatus, Iowa. Scroll down to see a related image at the Immaculata Chapel in Marpingen. MARPINGEN: At the left is the altar in the i nterior of the Immaculata chapel on the outskirts of Marpingen, Germany, where many believe the Virgin Mary appeared in the mid-1870s. In recent months, renewed interest has been focused on Marpingen, where a controversy has arisen over the question of whether Mary has actually been appearing there. At left: On a rainy Sunday afternoon in July 1997, a group of visitors awaits a concert of religious music just outside the Immaculata chapel at Marpingen, Germany. If you'd like to learn more about this site, one of the best books on the purported apparitions at Marpingen is David Blackbourn's scholarly study of the 1870s apparition phenomenon. If you'd like to visit some web sites devoted to the recent Marpingen apparitions, go to the following URLs: http://www.marienerscheinung.de http://www.gottesmutter.de



http://www.marpingen.de



http://www.saarbrücker.zeitung.de Here is a photograph of the Immaculata chapel's front wall, featuring a view of memorials left by pilgrims who believe that the Virgin Mary has helped them: "Mary hat geholfen." On an overcast afternoon in July 1997, I made the 90-minute drive from Luxembourg City to Marpingen. An afternoon concert of scared music was scheduled to take place at the apparition site. Here we see pilgrims visiting the Immaculata chapel and awaiting the concert, which was temporarily postponed by rain showers. Here we see a life-sized statue of the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus at the Grotto near the Immaculata Chapel. This site marks the spot where Mary is said to have appeared in the 1870s and where the three Marpingen women are said to have seen her again in 1999. This image of Our Lady of Consolation is situated on the outside wall of the chapel. This image replicates other images of the BVM found in the statuary and stained glass windows of chapels and churches throughout Luxembourg as well as parts of Germany and Belgium, especially areas that were once part of Luxembourg. Compare this image with that of Our Lady of Consolation at the top of this page.