Gastrointestinale Blutung

The Reform of Catholic Festival Culture in Eighteenth-Century Austria: A Clash of Mentalities

“…They attracted large numbers: early in the seventeenth century, over half a million pilgrims visited Andechs in Upper Bavaria annually; at Maria Dreieichen in Lower Austria there were around 40,000 pilgrims in 1740. 31 Nicolai mentions the church of Mariataferl near Linz, 'auf einem hohen Berge, wohin noch immer jährlich an 100,000 Menschen mit Wallfahrten die Zeit verderben'.32 Pilgrimages also allowed people to confess their sins to a priest who did not know them. Large numbers received communion: at Mariazell, 61,000 in 1689, 104,000 in 1692, and 188,000 in 1725.…”

“…34 Sometimes the pilgrim offered up an image of a saint, his or her 'Namenspatron', thus strengthening the chain of mediation between himself, his patron saint, Mary as chief of all saints, Jesus, and God. 35 Then as now, religious merchandise was on sale. Pilgrims took devotional objects home with them: consecrated pictures, crosses, rosaries, medals, bottles of holy water from the well near the shrine, 'Schluckbildchen' or tiny images of the Virgin to swallow when ill, and even 'heilige Längen', i.e.…”

“…pieces of paper supposedly corresponding in length to Mary's height (193 cm) with prayers written on them. 36 Within Christianity, the Turners distinguish 'medieval' pilgrimages (Compostela, Walsingham, Cologne, Altötting, Częstochowa), originating in 500-1400, from modern, post-Tridentine pilgrimages which reveal fervent personal piety of participants and are closely but ambivalently involved with mass technical culture (including communication and transportation). '[A] tourist is half a pilgrim, if a pilgrim is half a tourist.…”