Beauraing sanctuary

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Votive Chapel of Our Lady of Beauraing
Virgin Mary statue in the sanctuary

The Beauraing Sanctuary is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in Beauraing in Wallonia , Belgium . At the site of the multiple apparitions of Mary in 1932 and 1933, a chapel and an upper church, Basilique Notre-Dame au Cœur d'Or, were built in the diocese of Namur .

history

According to tradition, between November 29, 1932 and January 3, Maria appeared repeatedly to five children (Fernande Voisin 15, Gilberte Voisin 13, Albert Voisin 11, Andrée Degeimbre 14, Gilberte Degeimbre 9) in the garden of a boarding school run by nuns . The apparition of Mary was described as a floating woman with a long, white dress, rays of light from her head and a completely enlightened heart, which led to the name Our Lady of Beauraing, the Virgin with the golden heart . In later apparitions she is said to have asked for a chapel, pilgrims and prayers. Two miraculous healings from pilgrims were recognized. The veneration was permitted on February 2, 1943 and the apparitions were recognized on July 2, 1949 by the Bishop of Namur André Marie Charue . Beauraing developed into an important place of pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary . In May 1985 Pope John Paul II visited the sanctuary. The sanctuary received a blood relic from John Paul II in 2015, a small piece of his robe at the Papacy deed in 1981 .

Buildings

After the apparition of Mary was recognized, the neo-Romanesque votive chapel was completed by Michel Claes by 1947 , and it was consecrated in 1954 by Charles-Marie Himmer , Bishop of Tournai , and former vicar of Beauraing. In front of the votive chapel, rows of seats are set up for church services.

Behind the rows of seats, the upper church was built on the slope in 1968, also facing the votive chapel. Its modern reinforced concrete architecture is the work of Henri Bastin, a student of Le Corbusier , who is known for his slim style. It offers space for up to 3000 people and was consecrated in 1968 by Léon-Joseph Cardinal Suenens . In 2012 Pope Benedict XVI awarded the upper church the rank of a basilica minor , the elevation was solemnly carried out on August 22, 2013.

To the northeast, the large statue of the Virgin Mary by Aurélien Pierroux was placed at the place of apparition in the garden near the railway line. In addition, a podium was erected on the Saint-Jean crypt, in front of which rows of seats are also set up. The sanctuary also has a museum.

literature

  • Arthur Monin: The Queen with the Golden Heart: The Apparition of Our Lady of Beauraing , Kevelaer, 1956

Web links

Commons : Our Lady Beauraing  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Basilique Notre-Dame au Cœur d'Or on gcatholic.org
  2. ^ Apparition of Mary in Beauraing on the website of the sanctuary
  3. ^ Greetings from Beijing . In: kathisch.de
  4. ↑ Beauraing celebrates its John Paul relic
  5. ↑ La basilique Notre-Dame au Coeur d'Or de Beauraing on diocesedenamur.be (French)

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 30.6 ″  N , 4 ° 57 ′ 39.5 ″  E