PILGRIM’S ORDEAL

Taranaki Daily News, 3 June 1933, Page 9

PILGRIM’S ORDEAL

TO ROME WITH 37L8. CROSS. A German pilgrim, named Johann Mueller, hailing from Rosenheim, near the Passion Play centre, Oberammergau, recently arrived at Padua, Italy, on foot, bearing a pinewood cross weighing 371 b. Mueller left Rosenheim on March 1, and intended to walk to Rome, arriving on Good Friday in time for the Easter celebrations. Such pilgrimages were not uncommon in the Middle Ages, when the faithful made their way on foot to Rome from every part of Europe.

Mueller, who is 55, states that he was present at Altoetting—the traditional ■burial place of the Kings of Bavaria—when he saw a miracle performed, a paralytic being healed by prayers recited before the famous giant statue known as the “Black Madonna,” which is preserved in that town. It was this experience which induced him to carry out his pilgrimage.