January 9: OUR LADY OF CLEMENCY or Mercy of Absam
This shrine is probably the only one in the world where Our Lady’s shrine is enclosed in glass. It dates from the late 18th century.
On a dark snowy day in 1797, Rosina Bucher, a young girl of the village of Absam near Innsbruck, was sitting by the window sewing. It was between three and four in the afternoon and the light was just beginning to fade. Rosina looked up and saw a face in the windowpane. She looked closely, not sure that she saw right, and finally called her mother. Others, including the parish priest, were called in to observe the strange happening. All agreed that it was a face, the face of the Mother of Sorrows. It was turned slightly and there was a strange expression on it.
The window was made up of several small panes of glass quite dark in color. They removed the pane of glass with the picture on it, which was on the inside of the double window. After they had examined the glass, it was sent to experts in painting and glasswork. Here it was discovered that the face disappeared when water was put on the glass but came back as soon as the glass was dry. They analyzed it chemically and could not discover by what process the picture had been placed there.
Rosina’s mother thought it was an omen of trouble. The parish priest, on the contrary, felt that Our Lady’s blessing must rest on the house. He asked her to let him have the picture for the Church. Here it soon became a popular shrine.
Our Lady of Clemency of Absam has since become a place of pilgrimage. Many miracles have been recorded from the pilgrims who prayed there.
The picture is quite small, the size of a small pane of glass. It is not at all pretty, and popularly known as Our Lady of Mercy and Clemency of Absam – clemency, because in spite of the absence of beauty, Mary’s heart is filled with love and kindness to those who pray at this shrine and implore her help.
From the Woman in Orbit - A Timeless Marian Treasure Compiled By Sr. Manetta Lamberty, S.C.C.
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