| The Netherlands: Our Sweet Lady of Den Bosch |
| One of the most important Marian shrines of The Netherlands is that of Our Sweet Lady of Den Bosch, or 's-Hertogenbosch. Since the fourteenth century people visit her chapel in the Gothic cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. In 1380, the people of Den Bosch found a tattered statue of the Blessed Virgin in a local stonecutter’s shed. At the same time, a few miraculous cures took place in the town. It was believed that these happened through the Virgin’s intercession. The Book of Miracles describes 481 miracles that took place through Our Sweet Lady. The book reports on the following remarkable story: Miracle number 9: Iron chains, December 28th 1382 On December 24th Albrecht, the son of Albrecht Loze van Dynter, who lives in Schijndel, was on his way from Flanders to the town of Zevenbergen when he was taken for a spy and arrested. As soon as he called on the Virgin Mary of Den Bosch, the iron chains by which he was chained up broke. He jumped from the tower where he was jailed. He landed in the canal and reached the land unharmed. Out of gratitude he went on pilgrimage barefoot and dressed in woollen clothes. The last mile he walked without any clothes. |
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| Devotion The statue of the Virgin of Den Bosch is probably made in the Maas Country (the Dutch and Belgian area where the river Maas runs) between 1280 and 1320. The tradition of dressing the statue in beautiful garments dates from the fifteenth century. This way of dressing statues is called ‘Spanish dress’. For eleven months of the year, the statue of Our Sweet Mother of Den Bosch is placed in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral of Saint John the Baptist. Here she is surrounded by candles, flowers and votive offerings. In May, the Marian month, the statue stands in the northern nave of the cathedral and receives thousands of pilgrims. The fraternity of Our Sweet Lady has taken care of the statue, the shrine and its activities since 1837. Our Sweet Lady in exile For centuries after the Reformation, practising the Catholic faith was forbidden in The Netherlands. During this time, the statue of Our Sweet Lady of Den Bosch was kept in the Belgium capital Brussels at the Coudenberg church. Here she also attracted many pilgrims. Many people from Den Bosch traveled to the Southern Netherlands to visit their patron in exile. In the meanwhile, the cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was used for Dutch Reformed church services. In 1853, when the archdiocese of The Netherlands was officially restored, the Catholics of Den Bosch received back their Cathedral. The statue of the Virgin Mary was returned to the town later that same year. Soon thereafter it once again welcomed pilgrims at its orginal local. In 1929, the cathedral of Den Bosch received the honouree title of basilica. Until the Second Vatican Council, the diocese of Den Bosch had its own Latin Mass in honour of Our Sweet Lady of Den Bosch. The cathedral The cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was built in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It is the most important example of Gothic architecture in the Northern Netherlands (Belgium is historically known as the Southern Netherlands), and one of the few medieval churches in the Northern Netherlands of this size that is now used for Catholic services. Most of these remained Protestant after the restoration of the Episcopal hierarchy in The Netherlands. Partly due to its beautiful architecture, many people visit the cathedral of Den Bosch. Still, they also come to the church to pray at the Lady Chapel for the Virgin's intercession. The chapel, which is the same that was used in the fourteenth century, saw a record number of visitors in September 2001, when many people came to pray to the Virgin Mary of Den Bosch for the restoration of peace in the world. Click here to pay a virtual visit to the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist HOME |