|
Shrine of Banneux: History, location, transportation, and more .
North American Catholics
will find shrines in every corner of Belgium.
There
is a complete separation of church and state together
with freedom of worship in Belgium
but traditionally the atmosphere of the country
is Catholic, not less in the Dutch-speaking provinces
of Flanders than in the French-speaking provinces
of Wallonia.
As
an area from which so many Crusaders set forth
in the Middle Ages, Christian devotion and pageantry
still flourish, especially in one of the oldest
and most spectacular religious events – the
Procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges every May.
Another important religious manifestation, by
no means limited in appeal to the purely devout
or Christian adherents, is the Procession of the
Penitents (brown robed and barefoot) every July
at Veurne.
Religious
practice is closely bound up with local patriotism,
as is much else in Belgian life and religious
“Pilgrimage” observances cover nearly
every week of the Christian calendar. But there
are also occasions for religious pilgrimage with
broader appeal for the devout, and a few shrines
draw pilgrims from beyond the borders of Belgium.
The
most notable and historic of Belgian shrines are
‘Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel’ (or Montaigu
in French) in the province
of Brabant,
‘Our Lady of Hanswyck’ in the province
of Antwerp,
and ‘Our Lady of Foy’ in the province
of Namur.
For more information about history and place you can take a look at
www.marypages.com
- Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel (Montaigu)
Scherpenheuvel
is a place-name meaning sharp (or steep) hill
which, since it falls within Dutch-speaking Brabant,
is also known as Montaigu. Located just south
of the river Demer between Diest and Aardschot,
it is held in particular veneration by the inhabitants
of the Kempen (provinces of Antwerp
and Limburg)
across the Demer to the north. However for the
annual Candlelight Procession held outdoors at
2pm on the first Sunday after All Saints, thousands
of pilgrims flock here from all over Belgium
and from other countries as well.
This
particular ceremony dates from 1629, when it occurred
spontaneously as a special intercession to the
Virgin for Relief from an epidemic. Veneration
of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, however goes back
much earlier to a time when a statue of the Virgin
was discovered in the boughs of an oak tree at
the very top of the hill. It is one of the favorite
pilgrimages of the students of the University
of Leuven.
The
early Baroque church which now houses the statue,
draped in a rich Spanish cloak and wearing a crown,
was built in 1609. Seven-sided square, out of
the model of St. Peter’s Rome,
the church stands on a seven-sided square, out
of which streets lead to form a small community
itself seven-sided in plan. The geometric perfection
stems from the fact that Montaigu was constructed
all of a piece to the order of Albert and Isabella,
the Spanish Hapsburg rulers of the Low Countries
after the death of Philip II.
Images
of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel are to be found
all over Belgium, perhaps the most attractive
being small stained-glass panels two or three
feet high which people insert in windows or rest
on windows sills to catch the light. Scarcely
less prized among devout Belgians are the candle-ends
saved after the Candlelight Procession each year
at Montaigu. They are lit again and allowed to
burn out only at some moment of personal or family
crisis such as the birth of a baby.
Scherpenheuvel-Zichem,
Tourist Office
Ernest Claesstraat
152 - 3271 Zichem – Belgium
Tel from US 011 32 13/77.20.81, fax 011 32 13/78.25.52
- Our Lady of Hanswyck
Mechelen (Malines
in French) lies in the province
of Antwerp,
midway between the great port and Brussels.
It is the ecclesiastical capital of Belgium,
seat of the archdiocese since the sixteenth century.
Here, in St. Rombaut’s Cathedral, lies buried
one of the most famous Catholic
churchmen of modern times: Cardinal
Mercier, whose courage during World War 1 earned
him the respect of the entire civilized world.
And here between 1507 and 1530, at the close of
the Burgundian epoch, Margaret of Austria kept
a court frequented by such notable humanists as
Erasmus and Thomas More, such painters as Mabuse
and Van Orley, and such musician as Josquin des
Pres.
Today
incorporated with Mechelen, Hanswyck was once
a hamlet on the river Dyle. Though the first reliable
evidence for a special cult of the Virgin at Hanswyck
comes to us from a Dominican who died in 1280,
an older legend has it that around 988 a boat
going down the Dyle suddenly stopped and nothing
could make it go on.
Among
the freight was a statue of the Virgin, and somebody
had the idea of setting it on the bank. The boat
was now suddenly able to move on, and the sailors
and onlookers concluded that the Virgin Mary had
chosen the site as a place of worship.
The
statue was taken to an oratory nearby, and over
the generations worshippers attributed prodigious
powers to Our Lady of Hanswyck. Pilgrims began
to make their way here in every-increasing numbers.
The
present Basilica (for the sanctuary was raised
to that dignity by his Holiness, Pope Pius XI,
at the request of the late Cardinal Mercier) was
designed by the architect and sculptor Luc Faid’herbe
in the mid-seventeenth century. He was a disciple
of Rubens, who designed other churches in this
region and was responsible for the high altar
of St. Rombaut’s Cathedral. There is a fine
pulpit by another Mechelen craftsman, and the
confessionals are also notable. The Basilica of
Our Lady of Hanswyck is recognizable from afar
by its Baroque dome.
Dienst Toerisme Stad Mechelen
Hallestraat 2-4
- 2800 MECHELEN - toerisme@mechelen.be
Tel from US: 011 32 15/29 76 55 Fax:
011 32 15/29 76 53
- Our Lady of Foy
There is another
old shrine, situated in the hills above the valley
of the Meuse
between Dinant and Rochefort, just north of the
tortuously-twisting river Lesse.
In
June 1609, a man who was planning to build a boat
felled a tree on the estate of the Baron of Celles.
It
turned out to be partly rotted, so he began to
chop it up for firewood. What was his amazement
to discover, in the hollow of the trunk, a lock
of hair, some shiny stones and a figure of the
Virgin composed of quartz-like substance. As the
news got around, the Lord of Celles had an oratory
built, which was replaced a few years later by
the present structure, at the suggestion of the
Prince-Bishop of Liege.
Located
as it is in a popular vacation area, the shrine
of Our Lady of Foy has many visitors throughout
the spring and summer months, and is known as
far away as South America.
Of particular interest, however, is the manner
in which the residents of communities in this
region organize their pilgrimages on foot every
year. These affairs have taken on something of
the character of the marches militaires popular
in other parts of Walloon,
Belgium.
‘Soldiers’ in eighteenth-century uniform
escort the Pilgrims, muskets are shot off, and
arrival at the shrine is signaled by a cannon
salute. Though this is pageantry today, it is
a reminder of days when pilgrims really could
not walk the roads without special protection.
Sanctuaire
Notre-Dame de Foy
Rue des
Claviats, 4
5504 Foy-Notre-Dame
Tel from US 011 32 82/22.23.35
- Saint Dymphna
A less well-known
but extremely interesting Belgian Saint is Saint
Dymphna, virgin and martyr, whose tomb is at Geel
in the province of Antwerp in the church dedicated
to her.
It
is under her patronage that the citizens of Geel
care for mentally disturbed persons, taking them
into their homes and helping them to recover under
normal conditions, without restraint. It is on
May 19 that the people of the region surrounding
Geel come to pay tribute to her every year, an
occasion with special appeal in our troubled century.
Toerisme Geel
Markt
33 - 2440 Geel - Belgium
Tel from US: 011 32 14/ 57 09 50 Fax from US:
011 32 14/ 59 15 57
toerisme@geel.be
Our Lady of Beauraing
The Shrine of our Lady
of Beauraing had its beginning between November
1932 and January 1933 when Our Lady appeared 33
times to five local children ranging in age from
9 to 15 years. From 1933 until the World War II,
and even during the war, pilgrims have flocked
to the little village
of Beauraing.
The Catholic Church historically prudent in granting
recognition to an extraordinary manifestations
granted final approbation for the title and special
devotion to Our Lady of Beauraing on July 2, 1949
under the authority of the Holy office by the
decree of Andre-Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur.
Les Santuaires de ND de Beauraing
Rue de l’Aubepine
37
5570 Beauraing
Tel from US: 011 32 82/ 71-1218
Fax from US: 011 32 82/ 71-4075
info@sanctuairesbeauraing.com
- Our Lady of Banneux
The shrine of Our
Lady of Banneux also had its beginning in the
20th century with the 8 appearances of Our Lady
to 11-year old Mariette Becco between January
15 and March 2, 1933. A small shrine was built
there in response to Our Lady’s request and
documented healings have occurred at the Spring
where Our Lady instructed Mariette Becco to immerse
her hands. Official Ecclesiastical approbation
of devotion to the ‘Virgin of the Poor’
and of the reality of the apparitions was affirmed
by the Pastoral Letter of His Excellency, Bishop
Kerkhofs dated August 22, 1949.
More
information on Banneux here www.banneux-nd.be/indexuk.html
Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Poor
Rue de l’Esplanade
57
4141 Banneux
Tel from US: 011-32-4/360-0222 Fax from US: 011-32-4/360-8239
Saint-Hubert
Of Belgium’s
own Saints, none enjoys wider reputation than
the patron saint of the Ardennes, St.
Hubert, who is honored by hunters
everywhere in the Catholic world. The tiny town
in the Belgian province
of Luxembourg,
which is named for him, is the focal point of
national pilgrimage on the Monday after Pentecost
and on his name day, November 3. The music of
hunting horns enters into the ceremonies here,
and there is a special blessing of saddled mounts
as well as of their riders. Nor are the dogs forgotten
in this hunters’ paradise deep in the Ardennes.
info@saint-hubert-tourisme.be
Rue Saint-Gilles, 12 - 6870 Saint-Hubert
- Belgium
Tel from US : 011 32 61/ 61 30 10 tfax from
US : 011 32 61/ 61 54 44
The list of pilgrimages could be extended
almost indefinitely, but perhaps the foregoing
is sufficient to alert Catholic visitors to something
of the character of Belgian shrines and devotionalism.
|
