March 2
Maria in den Trümmern, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
On March 2, 1945, British bombers destroyed St. Kolumba's Church in Cologne. Alone in the rubble, the statue of the Virgin remained against one upright pillar. After the war, a chapel was built on the site, incorporating the ruins, and the c1465 statue installed on its eastern wall behind the altar. The modern building by Gottfried Böhm was consecrated to St. Kolumba in 1950 but was more commonly known as the church of Mary in Ruins. In 1954, Ludwig Gies designed stained-glass windows that cover the walls flanking the Madonna with an onrush of angels on a blue background. Since 2007, the chapel and associated ruins have been enclosed in the concrete building of the archdiocesan museum known simply as the Kolumba or Museum of Thoughtfulness. The chapel is open daily for prayer, mass, and confessions.
Sources include:
 | "St. Kolumba (Köln)," Wikipedia, de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Kolumba_(Köln) |
| KOLUMBA, kolumba.de |
| Photo by Elke Wetzig Elya, 2009, commons.wikimedia.org (detail) |
Also commemorated this date:
| Vierge de Jeantillot, Auch, Gers, Midi-Pyrénées, France. Grotto inaugurated March 2, 1892. Pilgrimage Pentecost Monday. |
| Maria SS. dell'Aiuto, Roccafiorita, Messina, Sicily, Italy (St. Mary of Help). Pope Pius XII blessed statue, 1943. Festa last Sunday in August. |