The Mariahilf Church is located on Mariahilferstrasse in Vienna's 6th district, Mariahilf.
The holy figure on the left is St Borromeo.
A modest chapel with the "Mariahülf" miraculous image stood here as early as 1660. This depiction of the Virgin Mary is a replica of the miraculous image on Mariahilfer Berg near Passau,
which is again a copy of the miraculous image in the parish church in Innsbruck. All three images are said to have miraculous powers. A first church was built here at the end of the 17th century, which was repeatedly extended in the 18th century.
The main altar is adorned with the large miraculous image. The crowns are sculpted
The Mariahilf picture in Vienna, Mariahilf
The Original in Innsbruck. It was created by Lucas Cranach in 1537.
Pilgrimages to the miraculous image of Mariahilf
The "Mariahülf" miraculous image donated by the Barnabite monk Don Cölestin Joanelli in the cemetery chapel outside Vienna,
which was consecrated in 1660, soon became the destination of many pilgrims from Vienna and the surrounding area.
The original wooden cemetery chapel was first replaced by a stone chapel and later, in several phases, the
present church was built.
Parish records show that 97,692 people received Holy Communion in Mariahilf in 1733; around 20,000 Holy Masses were celebrated.
Empress Maria Theresa also made a pilgrimage to Mariahilf to ask the Mother of God for her intercession.
The chronicles report that Maria Theresa spent a quarter of an hour lying on the ground praying and weeping during the three
consecutive Holy Masses she attended here.
In 1805, 1809 and 1813, during the Napoleonic War, huge state processions with up to 90,000 participants took place to Mariahilf.
For centuries, many Viennese suburbs and suburban communities made pilgrimages here every year to pray and bring their intentions to Mary.
During the 2nd Turkish siege, the Mariahilf picture was kept in St Stephen's Cathedral. Every year on a Saturday in autumn, the pilgrimage from St. Stephen's to Mariahilf is celebrated in memory of the miraculous return of the miraculous image after the 2nd Turkish siege in 1689.
