Making Peace: The Sacred Heart of Switzerland

Peaceful mountain meadows and pathways can be found in the central region of Switzerland.  Pilgrimage pathways took me to sites that allowed me to find heartfelt peace. “Make me an instrument of your peace” is a powerful part of Saint Francis of Assisi’s prayer. Pilgrimages can enkindle a sense of inner peacefulness that helps us to craft peace in our families and communities.
 
In the heart of Switzerland, the Einsiedeln Abbey in the Canton of Schwyz attracts 800,000 pilgrims a year to visit The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln. The abbey is an important baroque monastic site for Benedictine monks. The Einsiedeln Chapel of Grace was consecrated in 948.
 
Arriving to attend the daily vespers, I first kneeled before the Black Madonna. Light streamed out from the icon, revealing divine presence. I remained in front of the Black Madonna until it was time for vespers that are sung daily at 4:30 p.m. I was able to have my amber rosary that I got in Warsaw Poland blessed before attending vespers. It is a keepsake from a medical anthropology conference. The grace that I experienced before the Black Madonna confirmed the sacredness of the pilgrimage site. The mysterious wonder-workings of Marian pilgrimages continue to attract the faithful and transform lives.
 
The vesper “Salve Regina” can be visioned via this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/KlosterEinsiedeln/live
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The pilgrimage to The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln is associated with pre-Christian practices dating back to Isis the Egyptian Goddess. The beautiful location was probably a sanctified Celtic place of worship that provides a spiritual foundation for the abbey. The natural site’s rare beauty enhances the spiritual pilgrimage, eliciting awe and wonder. The Black Madonna of Einsiedeln like other Black Virgins brings to the forefront the collective conscious of sexuality and religion associated with the Divine Feminine and the archetypes representing creative manifestation.
 
Another Swiss pilgrimage to St. Nicholas of Flüe in Ranft brought me to the patron saint of Switzerland in the Canton of Obwald. Nicholas of Flüe left his family to become a hermit. He and his wife Dorothea had ten children. His life as a hermit in the 1400’s has become a story that even inspired Pope John Paul II to visit family home and chapels that welcome visitors and pilgrims from around the world. I stayed in the Paxmontana Hotel in Flüeli-Ranft with my husband to hike through the region and visit the chapel and home of Nicholas of Flüe, a pilgrimage site that is on the Way of St. James. Nicholas of Flüe was also known as Brother Klaus and his counsel helped prevent a war between the Swiss cantons. He is known for being a peacemaker.
 
St. Nicholas of Flüe had a vision of a mystical wheel. His mystical vision was expressed by medallions that represented visiting the sick as mercy, providing hospitality to strangers, feeding the hungry and quenching the thirsty, caring for the incarcerated, clothing the naked, and burying the dead. These acts were reminders of the Holy Face.
 
Both pilgrimage sites are located in the heart of Switzerland. Going to these beautiful places brought me closer to the Swiss spiritual heritage. The Paxmontana Hotel overlooks the Ranft gorges where the chapel and hermit dwelling are situated. To access the hotel, visitors traverse through a flowering pergola which was constructed in the late 1800’s near Nicholas of Flüe’s family home.
 
These pilgrimages allowed me to home in to the sacred heart of Switzerland. My travels to these sacred pilgrimage sites and my prayers brought me closer to the Swiss traditions. My life has been graced by the wonder-workings of these sacred pilgrimage sites.

Pergola

Home of Nicolas of Flue

Hotel Paxmontana