Einsiedeln

(Maria-Einsiedeln, Deiparae Virginis Eremus, Notre Dame des Ermites), a Benedictine monastery in Switzerland, founded in the 9th century by Meinrad of Soleure, who was murdered by robbers A.D. 861. In 934, Eberhard, provost of the cathedral of Strasburg, built a monastery and church here, which the emperor Otto, in 946, endowed with the free right of election. The convent was to be consecrated September 14, 948, by the bishop of Constanz, but the latter claimed to have heard the preceding night the song of angels, and to have seen Christ himself, attended by angels, saying mass and consecrating the chapel; and when, the next morning, he prepared to perform the act of consecration, he was admonished by a voice saying, "Hold on, brother, God himself has dedicated the chapel." The story was believed, and on the sole strength of it the annual pilgrimage to Einsiedeln on September 14, to commemorate the "Angelic Consecration" (Engel-Weihe), 'became, and still is, one of the most famous pilgrimages in the Church of Rome. The popes granted full absolution to all who went in pilgrimage to the church. The congregation consisted mostly of scions of noble families, and the convent steadily increased in power and riches. A new church was built in the beginning of the last century on the model of the Lateran Church, and contains Meinrad's cell and the image of the Virgin. In the time of the Reformation most of the monks left the convent, but it was subsequently reorganized by Ludwig Blarer, a Benedictine monk of St. Gall. In 1710, 260,000 are said to have visited Einsiedeln, and in 1851 the number was over 200,000. The vendors of blessed images, medals, etc., do a thriving business there, and at a large profit. There are at Einsiedeln confessionals for the people of different nations and languages, each bearing an inscription by which it is recognised. In 1867 the convent had 75 priests, and 6 clerical and 17 lay brothers. The "Stiftsschule" ("Gymnasium" and Lyceum) numbered about 200 pupils. Until 1852 the convent had a second "gymnasium" in Bellizona, in the canton of Tessin, but in that year it was suppressed by the Liberal government of the canton. See Placidus, Documenta archivii Eiusidlensis (3 volumes, folio); Annales Heremi Deipares matris (Frib. Brisg. 1612, fol.); Herzog, Real-Encyklop. 3:742; Landolt, Ursprung u. erste Gestaltung des Klosters Einsiedela (Eirisied. 1845); Brandes, Der heil. Meinrad u. die Wallfahrt von Elnsiedln (Einsiedeln, 1861).