Our Lady Of Hermits
Country : Switzerland
Year : 1418
It is interesting to note that quite a number of the more celebrated shrines of Our Lady had their origins in such simple practices as the enshrinement of some picture or image of Mary near some familiar landmark, in more remote regions, as a farmer in 1427 set up near Viterbo.
About fifty years later, a hermit who lived in a cave on a crag in the nearby forest, formed the habit of coming almost daily to pray there. One day according to the story he decided to enshrine the picture in the oratory of his hermitage. Next morning he was astonished to find that it had been taken back to the oak tree by means unknown.
Taking that for a sign that Our Lady wished to be honored at the original site, the hermit moved to the shrine. Others followed and the landmark formed the nucleus of a hermitage, to which pilgrims came in great numbers. The shrine proved miraculous.
