Healing Sanctuary Karlskirche
In 1713, the plague raged in Vienna, the seat of the then Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI. On 22 October 1713, he vowed in St. Stephen’s Cathedral that he would build a church to God if the city survived the plague: the Church of St. Charles Borromeo. He kept his promise and Vienna never experienced a comparable plague again. Instead, the city was given this place of worship, a place of healing.
Built to honour the healing God and consecrated to Charles Borromeo, patron saint of plague victims, the Wiener Karlskirche is a place of prayer for the healing of body and soul. For this reason, images of Saint Luke, patron saint of physicians, of healing the sick and raising the dead adorn the side altars.
The Order of the Crusaders, to whom the Karlskirche was entrusted by its builder Charles VI for all eternity, is a hospital order in accordance with its original charisma, which took care of the healing of the sick and needy. The order still fulfils this mission today, albeit in a different way: every Thursday, prayers are said for the prevention of all diseases in the city of Vienna in the Rosary and the Litany of Loreto, and every day the city of Vienna and its inhabitants are blessed with the Holy Sacrament.
The Karlskirche is a place of salvation, in the past, today and in the future.
