Einsiedeln Abbey (Our Lady of Einsiedeln)

The Story

Einsiedeln Abbey, in the canton of Schwyz, is Switzerland's most important place of pilgrimage and one of Europe's great Marian shrines. For more than a thousand years, Benedictine monks have kept prayer alive here in the Lady Chapel that houses the beloved image of Our Lady of Einsiedeln, a dark-hued statue of the Virgin and Child known as the Black Madonna. The abbey's story begins with St. Meinrad, a Benedictine monk who around 835 withdrew to the dark forest here to live as a hermit, keeping a small chapel with an image of the Mother of God. According to the traditional account he was killed by robbers in 861, and the ravens he had befriended pursued his murderers — a legend still remembered in the abbey's emblem. Other hermits followed him, and in 934 the community was organized as a Benedictine monastery. Tradition also tells of the Miraculous Dedication: when the bishop of Constance arrived in 948 to consecrate the chapel built over Meinrad's hermitage, he is said to have heard heavenly voices declaring that Christ himself had already consecrated it. This 'angelic consecration' has been commemorated at Einsiedeln for centuries and helped establish the abbey as a major medieval pilgrimage destination, a stop for pilgrims traveling the Way of St. James toward Santiago de Compostela. The present abbey church, one of the finest baroque buildings in Switzerland, was completed in the eighteenth century. At its entrance stands the black marble Lady Chapel with the fifteenth-century statue of Our Lady of Einsiedeln, before which countless pilgrims have prayed. The feast of Our Lady of Einsiedeln is celebrated on July 16. Today a living community of Benedictine monks maintains the daily liturgy, schools and pastoral care of pilgrims. Whether they come on foot along the old pilgrim paths or by the trainload for the great feasts, visitors find at Einsiedeln what pilgrims have sought for a millennium: the maternal welcome of Mary, who leads hearts to her Son.

Church Recognition

A Benedictine territorial abbey immediately subject to the Holy See; devotion to Our Lady of Einsiedeln is a long-approved expression of Marian piety, with its feast kept on July 16.

Catholic Teaching

Expresses Mary's motherly intercession (CCC 969) and the enduring place of monastic life and pilgrimage in Catholic tradition.

Plan Your Visit

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

A traditional stop on pilgrim routes toward Santiago.

Go Deeper

The abbey's official website is https://www.kloster-einsiedeln.ch, where the monks publish a novena to Our Lady of Einsiedeln; see also CCC 963–975 on Mary's motherhood and intercession.