Church of Our Lady of the Star

Church of Our Lady of the Star, Tirosek, Nova Štifta
The first church on Metuljski hrib in Nova Štifta was built between 1558 – 1560, because various miracles occurred here. It was called the “new foundation” (Neu Stift). The original church had three naves, a beautifully carved wooden ceiling and eleven altars. On the outside it was adorned with the Mysteries, images of the rosary. It had one bell tower and was built in the Gothic-Renaissance style. This Church of Mary was a filial church of the Gornji Grad parish until 1772 and then became an independent parish. After a fire in 1850, the present church was built, which was consecrated in 1854 by Bishop Anton Martin Slomšek. The presbytery was painted in 1865 with Eucharistic content; on the triumphal arch and on the first two domes, the origin of the pilgrimage site is depicted around the Crowning of Mary in five paintings. The third dome has paintings of the Annunciation of Mary, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. The church is built in the neo-Renaissance style and has two mighty bell towers.

The present appearance of the church is appealing, as its whiteness amid nature shines like those little flames that people spoke of at the beginning of the pilgrimage. Its interior is also all bright, decorated with paintings by Tomaž and Janez Fantoni. In the main altar is a painting of Our Lady of the Star, the work of the Ljubljana painter Kiinl. Around it are four Baroque statues, a reminder of the former pilgrimage church. A special attraction is the clothed statue of Mary with Jesus, which dates from the 16th century, when the pilgrimage site came into being.

On the site of the present church, as living folk tradition still says today, Mary appeared to the mute daughter of the Bevček family, who was tending sheep there. The girl ran home and said that Mary had asked her for a lamb. But the unusual signs were not yet over.

Source: https://www.gornji-grad.si/objava/211866