Maria Stein, Ohio

Maria Stein (German, literally Mary's stone or "Mary of the Rock") is an unincorporated community in central Marion Township, Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The community and the Maria Stein Convent lie at the center of the area known as the Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches, where a missionary priest, Father Francis de Sales Brunner, established a number of parishes for German Catholics.

Situated in southern Mercer County, Maria Stein is a rural farming community with a history dating to the early 19th century. The residents of the community and its surrounding region, nicknamed the "Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches," have largely German Catholic roots. It was settled in the early 19th century by immigrants from Germany who cleared the dense forests of the region and uncovered a rich and productive farmland. Multi-generation families have prospered through their management of the rich, dark soil of the region. In the character of small communities, churches provide the framework for social interaction. Holidays such as Easter and Christmas are community celebrations, shared by most citizens.

The origin of the name "Maria Stein" is likely from Metzerlen-Mariastein in Switzerland. This small community, not so far from Basel, Switzerland has a Benedictine Abbey, Mariastein Abbey. Father Francis de Sales Brunner, who established the Missionaries of the Precious Blood order that provides priests for St John's Church in Maria Stein, OH, entered this Abbey in 1812 and remained there as a member of the convent until 1829. Although there is no written evidence that it was Father Brunner who named the town of Maria Stein, the erection of a large church and the Shrine of the Holy Relics in Maria Stein is supportive. According to an article by Father Lukas Schenker of Mariastein Abbey, Brunner probably named the convent at Maria Stein after Mariastein Abbey in Switzerland because Brunner donated a painted depiction of the Miraculous Madonna of Mariastein to the convent, after which also the town was named. It is said of this painting that Brunner had it with him when crossing the English Channel in a sailing vessel and was miraculously saved from shipwreck in a bad storm.

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