Mátraverebély-Szentkút Nemzeti Kegyhely

According to folk tradition, in 1091 or 1092 the source of today's Holy Well originated from the hoof of King St. Ladislaus's horse. The first physical healing may have taken place between 1095 and 1195, when Our Lady, with the little Jesus in her arms, appeared to a silent shepherd in Verebély and healed her with the spring water of today's Holy Well. In 1210, due to the large number of pilgrims in Szentkút, the Vereb family built the first church in Verebély. By 1258, this church already had a farewell privilege. Nov 1400 On the 9th IX. Pope Boniface granted the shrine the farewell that could only be won on the feast of St. Margaret at the Porciunkula Church in Assisi and the Church of the Holy Virgin in Aachen. In 1700 XI. Pope Clement investigated some of the miraculous healings that took place at the Holy Well and accepted their authenticity. János Almásy, the chief captain of the Jász and Kunas, won in Szentkút thanks to his extraordinary recovery, with the help of Ádám Bellágh, the hermit priest of Szentkút, he built the present church and a monastery next to it from 1758 to 1763. In 1970, VI. Pope Paul awarded the church the title of "basilica minor". From their nearly two-century-old home, the Franciscans were expelled by the state in 1950. Until 1989, the Archdiocese of Esztergom took care of the shrine, and since then Franciscans have been serving in Szentkút again.
In 2006, at the farewell of the Assumption, Cardinal Péter Erdő, a primate, solemnly proclaimed that Szentkút became a National Shrine.