Bishop erects Diocesan Shrine of Saint Anne Schäffer

Regensburg/Mindelstetten, June 27, 2025

Bishop Dr. Rudolf Voderholzer has issued a decree declaring the Church of St. Anne Schäffer in Mindelstetten a "Diocesan Shrine of Saint Anne Schäffer" (Latin: Sanctuarium Dioecesanum). Bishop Rudolf will read and present the corresponding decree to Pastor Josef Schemmerer during a solemn pontifical mass at the Great Day of Prayer in Mindelstetten on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at 7 p.m. From this solemn moment, the old parish church of Mindelstetten will be the diocesan shrine of St. Anne Schäffer. In 2025, the Catholic Church will also celebrate the 100th anniversary of the saint's death (October 5).

One hundred years ago, on October 5, 1925, Anna Schäffer died in Mindelstetten, renowned for her holiness, after suffering unimaginable torment for about 25 years, which she bore with devotion to God. From her sickbed, she proclaimed the Gospel to numerous people with utmost simplicity and offered comfort. Even during her lifetime, she encouraged people: "Come to my grave, I already understand you."

Heeding this call, countless and ever-increasing numbers of believers have since made pilgrimages to her grave and experienced miraculous comfort, help, and answers to their most diverse needs and concerns. With her beatification on March 7, 1999, and her canonization on October 21, 2012, her holiness was definitively confirmed, she was presented to all Christian believers as a model of faith, hope, and love, and her veneration and imitation were strongly recommended. Through her example and intercession, the church in Mindelstetten, including her tomb, developed into a place of intense prayer, where the sacrament of penance, the celebration of the Eucharist, and Eucharistic adoration are particularly cultivated.

"In view of all this, it is my deepest concern to praise the great witness of faith of the countless pilgrims to Mindelstetten, to acknowledge with great gratitude their deep veneration of St. Anne Schäffer and the beautiful fruits of faith among the faithful, to honor the pilgrimage, and to expressly recommend it to all believers," Bishop Dr. Rudolf Voderholzer explains his decision to elevate the church to a diocesan shrine by decree.

Source

Website dedicated to this wonderful saint