Cardinal Parolin: We Ask Our Lady to Keep Slovakia United

Sastin, September 15 (TASR) - Thousands of pilgrims gathered in the town of Sastin-Straze in Trnava region on Friday morning to attend a national pilgrimage marking the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the patron saint of Slovakia. The pilgrimage culminated in a Holy Mass celebrated by the Vatican's Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. Apart from Slovak bishops, the event was also attended by a number of representatives of the political and social sphere. "... we ask Our Lady to maintain Slovakia united and to protect the traditions of our ancestors. Today, the Church and, on a larger scale, Slovak society as a whole need Christians who are enthusiastic and firm in their faith, who know how to face the challenges and difficulties stirred by the winds of secularism," said Parolin in his homily. Slovaks have honoured Our Lady of Sorrows in a special manner at least since Ottoman incursions in the 15th century. The territory of Slovakia remained largely free of Ottoman rule, while the rest of the Kingdom of Hungary was occupied until the late 17th century. Pilgrimages to Sastin began in the 16th century after Countess Angelica Bakic, wife of Count Emericus Czobor, ordered a wooden pieta to be made as a result of a promise to God for being heard in relation to the suffering caused by her husband. The pieta was hidden in a nearby castle during the Ottoman occupation. When the occupation ended, it returned to Sastin, an ancient arch-deaconal seat. People began to venerate it, and it gained a reputation for healing. zel/df