The apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wigratzbad, Germany:
Antonie Rädler (1899–1991), was a simple, uneducated farmer’s daughter from a poor family in the Allgäu region. On December 22, 1936, while praying the rosary in her room for the conversion of sinners, Antonie saw the Blessed Virgin Mary dressed in white with a blue sash, standing on a globe, holding the Child Jesus. For the next two years she had almost daily apparitions and locutions
The Blessed Virgin Mary presented herself as the “Immaculate Conception” (as she had at Lourdes, France) and repeatedly asked for:
– Prayer and sacrifice for the atonement of sins
– Russia’s conversion
– A chapel to be built on the spot (the present “Sühnekirche” – Church of Atonement)
On September 22, 1938, in the presence of several witnesses in a field (today the site of the large Gnadenkapelle/Chapel of Grace), The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared with twelve stars around her head and said:
“I am the Great Mediatrix of Graces. The Father has entrusted the time of grace that is still left to me… Build a chapel of atonement here for all the insults and sins committed against my Divine Son in the Blessed Sacrament.” She promised that this place would become a “source of grace for many souls.”
From 1939 onward the Nazi regime banned pilgrimages and confiscated the land. After the war, the local bishop (and later the Vatican) imposed silence on Antonie and forbade public veneration for decades because of the explosive political context (messages about Russia, warnings of war and chastisement).
Under Bishop Josef Stimpfle of Augsburg, the ban was slowly lifted. Antonie was allowed to speak again, and small pilgrimages resumed.
1991: Antonie Rädlerdied in the odour of sanctity on 5 March 1991.
After a long investigation, Bishop Viktor Josef Dammertz and his successor Walter Mixa declared on December 8, 2007 that the apparitions to Antonie Rädler from 1936–1938 possess <strong>“supernatural character” </strong>and the cultus was permitted.
Today, Wigratzbad attracts 200,000–300,000 pilgrims annually, especially on First Saturdays and major Marian feasts. The two main churches are:
– The Sühnekirche (Atonement Church) – built exactly where Mary requested in 1938
– The larger Gnadenkapelle (Chapel of Grace) – built in the 1970s–1990s over the original apparition field
The messages of Wigratzbad are classic 20th-century Marian themes: prayer, penance, the rosary, Eucharistic reparation, and Russia’s conversion – very much in line with Fatima, yet with a strong emphasis on atonement for sins against the Blessed Sacrament.It remains one of the few modern apparition sites in German-speaking Europe that has received positive ecclesiastical judgment.
Compare Wigratzbad to Fatima apparitions
Wigratzbad is the international seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) and
Antonie contracted the Spanish influenza, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her, laid her hands on her, and healed her.
To express their gratitude, her parents erected a small Lourdes grotto in their garden, which was blessed by Father Basch, pastor of their parish, on October 11, 1936, feast day of the Maternity of Mary. The following month, the statue “smiled” at her. She received this prayer in a message: “Our Beloved Lady of Victory, conceived without sin, pray for us!
On December 15, 1936, as she was reciting the third sorrowful mystery of the rosary in front of the Lourdes grotto, Antonie heard “angelic choirs” singing: “O Mary! Immaculate, conceived without sin, Beloved Lady of Victory, pray for us.”
On February 22, 1938 around 6:30 a.m., the Virgin appeared to Cecilia Geyer, another woman in the town : “I heard something like a slight murmur, and after this the Mother of God came out from a bright cloud that kept increasing in size, looking exactly like the Wigratzbad statue. Suddenly I found myself inside that grotto.
“The apparition told me”:
‘Build a chapel for me here […] I shall crush the head of the infernal serpent with my feet […]. People will come to this place in large numbers, and I will pour a flowing of graces over them. Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony and the souls in Purgatory will assist Antonie’.
One day the Gestapo arrived and ordered her to replace the painting of the Virgin by that of the Führer. She was ordered to salute him in the Nazi fashion: “Heil Hitler” instead of the usual Bavarian greeting of “Grüss Gott.” Antonie disobeyed those orders and as a result barely escaped several attempts to murder her, notably by drowning. She said that a mysterious cyclist protected her, whom she called her “guardian angel on a bike.”
On February 22, 1938 around 6:30 a.m., the Virgin appeared to Cecilia Geyer: “I heard something like a slight murmur, and after this the Mother of God came out from a bright cloud that kept increasing in size, looking exactly like the Wigratzbad statue. Suddenly I found myself inside that grotto. The apparition told me:
“Build a chapel for me here […] I shall crush the head of the infernal serpent with my feet […]. People will come to this place in large numbers, and I will pour a flowing of graces over them. Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony and the souls in Purgatory will assist Antonie.”
The great lady ordered: “Now go adore my Divine Son in the Blessed Sacrament.”
“Where can I do this? Right now, the Blessed Sacrament isn’t exposed anywhere,” Cecilia asked.
“So, before my astonished eyes, a chapel appeared at the place that had been designated to me […]. Inside, on the altar, Jesus had his throne in a magnificent monstrance that was projecting wonderful rays of light in all directions.”
On June 17, 1938 the government authorized the building of the chapel dedicated to “Our Beloved Lady, Mother of Victory.” Construction began on the plot of land donated by Antonie’s parents.
The inauguration was planned for December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, but Antonie was arrested by the Nazis on November 2, 1938 and thrown in a common jail, and suffered interminable interrogations.
During the night, she saw a great cloud rise inside her cell, and suddenly the Virgin appeared to her. She announced Antonie’s imminent liberation: the girl would spend Christmas with her family.
Our Lady taught her the prayer to the Child Jesus that is still recited at the shrine today.
As the Blessed Virgin Mary foretold, Antonie was freed on December 18th. This coincided with the feast of the Expectation of the Virgin).
March 25, 1940
With the permission of the local bishop, a chapel was blessed.
In 1991, Archbishop Stimpfle of Augsbourg celebrated Antonie’s funeral and pronounced her funeral oration. He didn’t make an official declaration but confided to Antonie’s confessor: “I know that Wigratzbad is authentic!”
With a decree, the Ordinary of Augsburg has prohibited the publication of a book of the priest Alfons Sarrach dedicated to these events.
Description of the Virgin
The Virgin appeared to Cecilia Geyer: “I heard something like a slight murmur, and after this the Mother of God came out from a bright cloud that kept increasing in size, looking exactly like the Wigratzbad statue.”
Messages
On February 22, 1938, around 6:30 a.m., the Virgin appeared to Cecilia Geyer: “I heard something like a slight murmur, and after this the Mother of God came out from a bright cloud that kept increasing in size, looking exactly like the Wigratzbad statue. Suddenly I found myself inside that grotto. The apparition told me:
“Build a chapel for me here […] I shall crush the head of the infernal serpent with my feet […]. People will come to this place in large numbers, and I will pour a flowing of graces over them. Saint Joseph, Saint Anthony and the souls in Purgatory will assist Antonie.”
The great lady ordered: “Now go adore my Divine Son in the Blessed Sacrament.”
“Where can I do this? Right now, the Blessed Sacrament isn’t exposed anywhere,” Cecilia asked.
“So, before my astonished eyes, a chapel appeared at the place that had been designated to me […]. Inside, on the altar, Jesus had his throne in a magnificent monstrance that was projecting wonderful rays of light in all directions.”
Miracles, Cures, and Signs
In 1919, after Antonie Radler contracted the Spanish influenza, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her, laid her hands on her, and healed her.
Antonie, who was imprisoned for failing to honor the Fuhrer, was freed on December 18th, on the feast of the Expectation of the Virgin after Cecilia followed the Virgin’s instructions.
This apparition became known as “Our Beloved Lady, Mother of Victory” and a chapel was constructed in Wigratzbad, dedicated to her patronage. The inauguration of the chapel was planned for December 8, 1938, but Antonie Rädler had been arrested by the up> Rädler was freed from prison on December 18, the feast of the
Today, approximately 500,000 pilgrims visit the shrine each year, and spiritual conferences are held weekly at a pilgrimage center.
Since 1988, Wigratzbad has also hosted the International Seminary of Saint Peter, the first seminary of the “Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter”. The FSSP is in full communion with Rome
Traveling to the Shrine of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Wigratzbad, Germany:
FILIALKIRCHENSTIFTUNG
Herz-Jesu und Mariä
Address: Kirchstraße 14 ;88145 Wigratzbad
Phone: 0049 (0)8385 92070 fax: 0049 (0)8385 920729
email:info@gebetsstaette.de
Click here for the offcial website of the Shrine of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Wigratzbad, Germany.
<strong>Phone: 0049 (0) 8385 92070 Fax 0049 (0) 8385 920729
<strong>email:</strong>info@gebetsstaette.de
<strong>Official website (not a secure website) </strong> http://www.gebetsstaette.de