The veneration of Mary has a long tradition in Dorfen. Right now many Christians have hope from the Mother of God.
Dorfen - No Easter night, no fire. No way of the cross, no festive worship with church choir. Because of Corona, the Easter liturgy also fails in the Maria Dorfen pilgrimage church. Many believers feel abandoned over the holidays. But: "It has to be," says Pastor Konrad Mühlbauer, "the risk of infection would be too great." Dorfen, however, has a great tradition in Marien. Catholics have been coming here for centuries. The Mother of God is the patron saint of those seeking comfort. "Maria help", the Christians ask in the Etz and Fürmetz chapel or at the ringing of the bells in the evening - and find comfort.
"Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am among them." That is what Jesus said. Dorfens Christians lack community, especially at Easter. “A church musician usually has a lot of work at that time. From Good Friday to Easter Monday, we usually organize many masses, ”says Dorfens organist and choir director Ernst Bartmann.
Pastor Juliane Eschler has a lot to do right now: “Many parishioners call, seek comfort.” For her, this time is “the hour of evangelism” - she would like to have more time to speak to the faithful. "We are not getting caught in the crisis," Eschler is convinced. And: "Lord have mercy - hold your protective hand over villages."
The church doors are not locked. Individual believers kneel in prayer in the benches. They keep the safety distance and have their eyes on one of the most beautiful altars in Bavaria. The original late baroque altar was replaced by a so-called historicism altar, which Pastor Hermann Eigner had reconstructed from 1963 to 1971 - the image of grace is integrated there, as it has been since the Middle Ages.
Maria, the Queen of Heaven, gives strength: "The sick in particular have sought consolation and help from the Blessed Mother," explains Herbert Moser, Dorfen's former Mesner and expert on church history. "To put it succinctly - Maria was a kind of general practitioner in the old days when there was no medical care."
And so many people who were “laborious and loaded” made a pilgrimage to Dorfen in the Baroque period, says Moser. "Dorfen was a well-known place of pilgrimage like Altötting." Around 100,000 pilgrims came to the Maria Dorfen pilgrimage church each year. With the clarification, the stream of pilgrims subsided. And unlike in Altötting, fewer and fewer believers made their way to Isen-Stadt: "This is due to the monasteries in Altötting - there are no Capuchin orders in Dorfen."
The Etz chapel in Dorfen, for example, became a gathering point for pilgrims from Altötting, who from here moved together on the Ruprechtsberg to the pilgrimage church. Throughout the 18th century, the Etzkapelle was a resting place and farewell place for the Altötting people, but increasingly also for Dorfen cruisers and individual pilgrims who made a pilgrimage to Altötting. "The importance of the chapel is shown by the fact that a copy of the miraculous image of the Black Madonna of Altötting is embedded in the altar," said Moser.
Another sacred gem of Dorfens is the Fürmetzkapelle, located behind Oberhausmehring. Here too the Madonna in the chancel. “I often go to the chapel,” says Susanne Gelsheimer from Dorfen. "Maria, the Mother of God, helps - very simply." Many people are alone at this Easter, says Gelsheimer. “Rosary prayer can give hope and rest through meditation and repetition of prayer sentences.”
Gesine welfare was never actually a believer. "But somehow I would feel like this Easter Eve this year," says the Hamburg native. Her awakened interest in the faith is also due to the fact that for her the resurrection of Christ symbolizes the overcoming of Covid-19: "I hear the bell in the evening, sit down and pray recently."
The church bells in Dorfen ring every day. At 7.30pm, as ordered by the diocese in Corona times. At 8:30 p.m. the angels ring in the evening, the custom of greeting the Blessed Mother and asking for public welfare and peace: "When we ring the Angelus, we all want to think of each other, we don't forget people," says Mesner Moser. And Pastor Mühlbauer added: "We remain connected as a community, even if we cannot celebrate Easter together this year."
No organ sounds will echo through the nave in Maria Dorfen this Easter, nor will the church choir sing. The singers rehearsed for months. On Easter Sunday, the pilgrimage church remains silent. "No question, we all understand that there can be no Easter celebrations," says Bartmann. And yet he is sad: “It is precisely the community that is missing. A congregation lives from this, ”says the church musician. The choir members also report this back to him: "We would love to celebrate the Easter service together."
Maria Bauer from Dorfen is also missing something: "Otherwise we spent the Easter days with the children and grandchildren - the cardboard box until Easter night is very closely linked to my life." As every year, Bauer decorated the Easter candle. "The candle brings light to this difficult time."
“Believers become aware that something is missing. Then appreciation increases, ”says Mühlbauer. The pastor certainly knows that Jesus' death and resurrection are the highest holidays: “We have to carry this cross together - but longing grows out of deprivation. And another time, hopefully we'll all be celebrating church service again in the Maria Dorfen church. ”
Michaele Heske
