Devotion and Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
“Finding the wellspring of all virtue.”
A pilgrimage is a journey or search for moral or spiritual significance. The expansion of pilgrimage is related to the spread of re-Catholicisation. During the 17th and 18th centuries, a period of war, plague and fire, the Cult of the Virgin Mary, who was known as the queen in some places, was revived by various orders, especially by the Jesuits. Alongside worship of the Virgin Mary, the religious orders introduced worship of their own saints too, either by placing statues or paintings on the altars. The main point of pilgrimage is to feel in-touch with and see physical manifestations of one’s own faith; confirm belief in the holy context collectively, and connect personally to the holy community. Sites of pilgrimage are also important socially as meeting points.
Parish Church of Our Lady of the Snow

High altar: 1739; pulpit: c. 1761; stucco work and wall painting: 1765–1779
Kutina, North-West Croatia, Croatia
Painters: J. Weitenhiller (active c. 1770), Joann Joseph Görner (active c. 1770), Ivan Krstitelj (Johann Baptist) Ranger (1700–1753); sculptors: Joseph Weinacht (active c. 1740–1750), Franjo (Franz) Straub (1726–before 1771)
Pilgrimages to Our Lady of the Snow were widespread, especially in Croatia. The cult comes from Rome and is related to the oldest cult of the Virgin Mary known in the Esquiline Hills.