A statue of Mary intact after the bombing of Namur

As we approach Armistice Day, the commemoration of the ending of WWI on November 11, 1918, one of our readers shared this story with us:

On May 18, 1919, the bishop of Namur in French-speaking Belgium, Bishop Thomas-Louis Heylen(1), wrote this:

"On August 23, 1914, during the bombing of Namur (Belgium), a shell exploded on the roof of the church of Saint-Nicolas located in the city center. The planks of the vault broke off and fell at the foot of the statue of the Blessed Virgin in the middle of the church. The statue was not harmed, even though it stood among piles of debris.

After that, many people came to pray before this statue. Today, the atmosphere has turned into one of thanksgiving and the statue was carried in a procession to the throne it occupied before the war."

The miraculously protected statue of Mary (as shown in the old photograph) is still venerated today in the church of St. Nicholas under the title of Our Lady Help of Christians. She was dressed in a brand new tunic on the day of the Assumption on August 15.

Pierre Dujardin

(1) Bishop Thomas-Louis Heylen, born in 1856 in Kasterlee, province of Antwerp, Belgium, and died in 1941 in Namur, Belgium, was a Premonstratensian canon who was bishop of Namur from 1899-1941.