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| Luxembourg: the Comforter of the Afflicted |
| The statue, which is known as the 'Consolatrix Afflictorum', is an image of the Virgin standing on a crescent moon. This iconographic feature is strongly influenced by Jesuit thinking about the Virgin’s Immaculate Conception and her role during the apocalypse. Devotional history In the early days of the shrine of Our Lady of Luxembourg, the Duchy of Luxembourg had for some considerable time lost its political autonomy and was part of the Spanish Netherlands. The Protestants of the Northern Netherlands also threatened the country. It was under these circumstances that the people of Luxembourg choose the Virgin as their new sovereign. The shrine chapel welcomed its first pilgrims in 1625. Fourteen years later, the first book of miracles was published. Allegedly, many miraculous cures took place through the mediation of Our Lady of Luxembourg. Meanwhile, the devotion grew steadily amongst the population of Luxembourg. This eventually resulted in the yearly octave held in honour of the Comforter of the Afflicted. During the eight day octaves the statue was taken from its chapel and placed in the town’s Jesuit church. This was done because the chapel had become to small to receive all the pilgrims. At the end of the octave, the statue was carried back to the chapel in a solemn procession. The inner-city shrine In 1794, the statue was moved from the original shrine chapel and permanently placed above the main altar of the old Jesuit church. The Jesuit church has been the cathedral of the Luxembourg diocese since 1870. In 1922, the octave of Our Lady of Luxembourg was extended to a fortnight. Since then, the pilgrimages take place over a two week period between the 4th and 6th Sunday after Easter. At the end of the nineteenth century, German and Luxembourgian litanies and canticles were composed for the pilgrimages. These celebrate the strong bond between the Blessed Virgin and the people of Luxembourg and add a specific national dimension to the octave. In can be said that, for the people of Luxembourg, the image of the Comforter of the Afflicted, is part of their national feeling and collective conscience. The same counts for the yearly octaves. After a tradition of over 350 years, these are still as topical as ever. Kevelaer An important offspring of the shrine of Luxembourg is the shrine of the Consolatrix Afflictorum in the German city Kevelaer. The pilgrimages to this town are concentrated around a seventeenth century devotional image of Our Lady of Luxembourg. The shrine is mainly visited by Dutch pilgrims, a tradition that dates back to the time when the Catholic faith was prohibited in The Netherlands. Come back in April for a special page on the shrine of Kevelaer HOME |
| One of the fundamental components of Luxembourg’s popular piety is the veneration of the image of the ‘Consolatrix Afflictorum’ (Comforter of the Afflicted) in the cathedral of Luxembourg, the country’s capital. Annually, the Roman Catholic parishes of the country take part in an Octave in honour of Our Lady of Luxembourg. The initiator of the cult of the Comforter of the Afflicted was the Jesuit father Jacques Brocquart († 1660). He was connected to the Jesuit College of Luxembourg, which was founded in 1603. The installation of the statue took place on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1624. On this day, father Brocquart and the local Marian Congregation went in procession to a chapel just outside the city walls of Luxembourg. On the chapel's altar they placed the very same statue that is still today the object of veneration. |
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