Maria Radna Church
Some important date about the Maria Radna
1325- Carl Robert de Anjou King of Hungary establish a monastery dedicate Saint Louis of Toulouse
1440- Radna is first mentionate
1552- With the conquest of Timisoara, the major part of Hungary falls under Ottoman rule
1695- Turkish soldiers set fire to the Franciscan chapel. The church burns in a sea of flames – religious believers find the paper printed Image of Mercy undamaged among the charred remains. According to another legend, the hoof of a Turkish soldier´s horse, riding up the hill to the church, got sunk into a stone, whereupon he could not continue his ride. The stone with the hoofmark and the painting on the right hand side wall of the church draw impressive attention thereon.
1709- While the black death raged in Arad, the inhabitants vowed to arrange a pilgrimage to Maria Radna as a sign of gratitude for the termination and salvation from this terrible plague.
1895- On the occasion of celebrating 200 years since the recording of the first miracle at Maria Radna, the church was embellished with a new high altar made of Carrara marble.
1992- Pope John Paul II bestows the title „Basilica Minor“ to the church of pilgrimage of Maria Radna. On this occasion and as a sign of gratitude towards the Virgin Mary of Maria Radna protecting the church and diocese during the difficult times of the communist regime, Dr. Adalbert Boros, the Titular Archbishop, donates a new altar for the Basilica of Maria Radna.
Interesting Fact about Radna
Pipe organ
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It was manufactured in 1905, in Timisoara, by the company "Wegenstein and sons".
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It is a pneumatic organ, with 2 rows of manual keyboards, with 26 registers and 1580 tubes.
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It is a special organ, it was originally made by Carl Leopold Wegenstein, for a church in France, but they considered it too expensive to buy it and so the Franciscan monks decided to buy this organ, which they did.
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Over the years, the beauty of the orgy, its viability and the acoustics of the church have attracted many artists and music lovers alike.
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Many organists, pianists, musicians showed interest in this organ, holding many concerts.
When Emperor Joseph II visit the monastery he said:
If I were not Emperor in Vienna, I would like to be guardian in Radna!