CROATIAN MARIAN SHRINES, the shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Sveta Gora)

Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on Sveta Gora (eng. The Holy Hill) near Gerovo Since days long past, mountain peaks were considered sacred; due to Heaven’s vicinity, the rigorous climb and the view over the world beyond. Numerous mountain peaks became homes to shrines, which mark the expanses with their wondrous aura. One of those shrines is the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or, as it is known among the people, of Our Lady of Sveta Gora. The hill Sveta Gora is located near Gerovo in Gorski Kotar; 975 m above sea level; covered in thick mixed, coniferous and deciduous forest, which changes its colors throughout the year. The Marian shrine looms over the mountain peak. The last stage of the climb to the top includes a wide staircase between the chapels with the Stations of the Cross. Until recently, tall trees grew around the church, and their shadow soothed the weariness of pilgrims. Today, there are no more trees nor shadows, light envelops the edifice on all sides, and the shrine, with its staircase and chapels, looks like a grand sculpture on a dark pedestal from a bird’s-eye view, which became available to us with the removal of the trees. An almost unimaginable beauty unfolds beneath Sveta Gora. A point from which one can behold blue mountain ranges and black forests, makes you think that we still have endless expanses of unblemished realms and endless forests. This illusion is one of the awards for ascending Sveta Gora. Although the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or of Sveta Gora, is situated in the mountains, it belongs to the sea alike: to woodsmen, seamen and fishermen. Her altar holds the inscription “Hail the Star of the sea, Miraculous Mother”. Gorski Kotar, Primorje, Istria and Slovenia are on a pilgrimage to her; alongside Trsat, this is the most significant Marian shrine in the region. The first record of it dates back to 1504 but is probably older by a century. Some say that at one stage it was the votive church of the Zrinski-Frankopan family. Many popes issued bulls of indulgence to pilgrims during the centuries of Baroque. And many fires destroyed its walls, inventory and documents. The present-day structure is of the first half of the 19th century but is also in the spirit of simple yet undying Baroque. The quite wide and bulky belfry, through which you enter the church, almost resembles a modified castle bastion. The beautiful architecture of the concave altar between the marbled columns holds several wooden statues, of which the central one is of Our Lady of Sveta Gora herself, a lovely and valuable Biedermeier piece from 1847. This statue is revered and considered miraculous. One of the miracles of Our Lady of Sveta Gora is the strength of the legendary local giant, Petar Klepac. Her liturgical feast is on the 16 July and a three-day feast ending on the Sunday after the Nativity of Mary (8 September), and the famous Garski Sejmon, the Mountain Fair, are being held at the same time. During those days, a tradition as old as roots, fir branches are blessed... Gorski Kotar is, in many ways, still uncharted country. Almost like nothing other than geography exists, almost like all of the chapters, besides the Roman limes and the iron ore of the Zrinski family, were passed over; its Baroque was barely noticed, and its 19th century, which was undervalued for its balanced architecture for so long, shall be wiped clean before it is truly valued. Our most beautiful myths and legends we owe to history’s poverty. This is the case with Our Lady of Sveta Gora. The story goes that shepherds, passing with their flock, saw a statue of Our Lady on a fir. And they came to pray before this statue. They even found their sheep once bowing to the statue. They tried to chase them away, but the sheep stood frozen. The terrified shepherds came down to tell the minister the peculiar occurrence. The minister returned with them and saw the same. He took the statue and took it with him to Gerovo in a church. However, the statue disappeared from the church and returned to its tree. This was understood as a sign and a message, thus, a church was built on the site of the fir with the statue. Up above the world, the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Sveta Gora, is a lively pilgrimage site. She is somewhere between height and depth, and distance. And when her powerful and beautiful bell rings, flying among the peaks and the valleys, all of those dimensions become one. Academician Željka Čorak