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Kevelaer (dpa / lnw) - With only 150 marked seats at the festival service in the Marienbasilika, the pilgrimage year in Germany's second largest pilgrimage site, Kevelaer on the Lower Rhine, starts on May 1st.
In normal years, up to a million people visit the small town near the Dutch border to see and worship the tiny image of Mary "Comforter of the Afflicted" in the Chapel of Grace in front of the church.
This year there will be significantly fewer by the end of the pilgrimage on November 1st: Larger groups of pilgrims cannot come because of the corona pandemic, said the Kevelaer pilgrimage director Rainer Killich.
“But that doesn't mean that people's needs aren't there - the number of individuals has not decreased,” says Killich.
And numerous candles would be set up with the request for assistance.
The opening ceremony will be held this year by the Duisburg Premonstratensian Abbot, Prelate Albert Thomas Dölken.
According to old tradition, he symbolically strikes three times on the closed pilgrim door of the basilica and says "Open the gates of your heart to Christ the Redeemer".
This opens the pilgrimage, and usually numerous believers then move into the church, which can accommodate up to 1,000 visitors.
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This year, the 150 attendees must be in church before the ceremony because they must register and disinfect before taking their seats.
The service will be broadcast live on television and on the Internet.
During the pilgrimage season, Kevelaer offers daily church services for pilgrims - and also the opportunity for a pastoral conversation about fears in the Corona period.
“It's good that there are places like this at this time,” says Killich.
The most visited Marian pilgrimage site in Germany is Altötting in Bavaria.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210428-99-383929 / 2
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Pilgrimage to Kevelaer
The picture of Our Lady in the Kevelaerer Marienkapelle