Pilgrimage Festival of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary at Svatá Hora

We cordially invite all pilgrims and visitors to Svatá Hora to the traditional pilgrimage celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which will take place on Saturday, August 15, and on the Sunday following this celebration. A rich spiritual program has been prepared, including solemn Masses, a torchlight procession, a Marian procession, and the opportunity to gain plenary indulgences.

Saturday – Vigil of the Feast

7:00 p.m. – Rosary at the Coronation Altar

7:30 p.m. – Holy Mass at the Coronation Altar. The main celebrant will be Vicar General Mons. Josef Ptáček. Following the Mass, there will be a traditional torchlight procession through the Svatá Hora grounds.

Additional Masses will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Plene indulgences will be available throughout the day.

Sunday – Main Pilgrimage Day

9:00 a.m. – Solemn Mass at the Coronation Altar. The main celebrant will be Strahov Abbot Daniel Peter Janáček. The Mass will be followed by a procession with the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Svatá Hora and her veneration.

Other services will follow the regular Sunday schedule (20th Sunday in Ordinary Time).

2:00 p.m. – Sunday Half-Hour of Organ Music

4:30 p.m. – Holy Mass and sung Czech Vespers

Plene indulgences will be available throughout the celebration.

The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most important Marian feasts of the liturgical year. The Church professes the belief that, at the end of her earthly life, the Virgin Mary was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory. This belief has been celebrated in the Catholic Church for centuries and was solemnly proclaimed as a dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950.

At Svatá Hora, the feast is traditionally celebrated in two main parts. Saturday’s vigil features a candlelight procession, during which pilgrims walk through the grounds carrying lit candles while singing Marian hymns. Sunday’s celebration then culminates with the main pilgrimage Mass and a Marian procession, at the head of which is carried the devotional statue of Our Lady of Svatá Hora.