In 1860, the superior of the Priests of the Sacred Hearts bought the 14th-century Sint Antonius Kapel (Saint Anthony’s Chapel).
He transformed it into a place of pilgrimage in honour of Saint Joseph. As a result of the popularity of the pilgrimages here, expansion and renovation of the chapel became a necessity in the 1960’s. Still today thousands of pilgrims descend on the chapel every March to honour Saint Joseph.
But even more people from all over the world visit Saint Anthony’s Chapel for the crypt of Father Damien, whose remains have rested here since 1936. In the church, you can follow the life journey of this ‘Greatest Belgian of all time’ which is depicted here on several photo panels.*
Father Damien was a Belgian priest who devoted his life to missionary work among the lepers of Molokai in Hawaii.
In place of his brother, Father Pamphile, who had been stricken by illness, he went as a missionary to the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands in 1863. He reachedHonolulu in 1864 and was ordained a priest the same year. Moved by the miserable condition of the lepers, whom the Hawaiian government deported to Kalaupapa on Molokai Island (1873), he volunteered to take charge of the settlement. He served as pastor and physician, improved water and food supplies and housing, and founded two orphanages, receiving help from other priests for only 6 of his 16 years on Molokai. In 1884 he contracted leprosy and refused cure because it would have necessitated his leaving the lepers. His remains were transferred to Leuven in 1936.
Father Damien was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.
As I mentioned in my Leuven travelogue I enjoyed the experience of the longest day celebrations whilst walking to and from Leuven station.
We were able to enjoy Leuven’s longest day celebrations (‘De Langste Dag 2015′) as we walked from the station to the city centre. We really enjoyed the street artist entertainment which included two strange pseudo-strippers wearing skin coloured body suits with accompanying hair; they were darting through the streets pretending to be embarrassed by their ‘nakedness’. However the stars of these shows were the fabulous dinosaur puppets strolling through the streets, feeding from the trees and bending their heads down to engage with the crowd. At one point a dinosaur head bumped against my head so I bent down to let it pass by. The dinosaur had other ideas and put its head on top of mine so that I could not move. The operator of the dinosaur head was grinning at me. At this moment Mr C’s camera decided to have a flat battery so there are no photographs of the moment.
This year was the 30th anniversary of the event and the locals are rightly proud of the event.
On Saturday, June 20th right in the center of Leuven, the 30th edition of the Longest Day instead. This event has grown into the largest city street fair of Belgium which the concept of ‘heads’ adds a new dimension. Street theater, a big auto show, stalls for shopping, a traditional market, a hairdresser village, contests with great prizes suit … You come short of eyes. It therefore promises to be pretty busy in Leuven, all in the pedestrianized center of the city.
It ‘was’ very busy in Leuven that day!
I will leave you with a sequence of the fabulous dinosaur puppets that I mentioned in my quote above…
To be an angel, one need not have wings.
In giving love there is an equal grace.
Nor need one seek the aura in the face,
As love unveils the beauty of all things.
Every abbey had a vegetable garden. The abbey’s gardeners grew a wide range of vegetables for the monastery kitchen such as onions, leeks and celery but also lesser-known vegetables such as winter radish, parsnip or spinach beet. The Parc Abbey was no different.
Up until the 16th century, important parts of the garden slope were planted with vines. Trained fruit stood against the wall around the garden. Behind the coach house was a hop plantation. Hops were used in the abbey’s home brewery for the preparation of beer. Left of the abbey lane, where the hop garden used to be, stood an orchard from the second half of the 16th century. Further up the hill, in a favourable microclimate, lay the vegetable garden that led to a geometrically designed vegetable garden. The walled vegetable garden (approx. 2 ha), also called the abbot’s garden, was accessible via a gate on the farmstead square. Three linear paths cut through the garden from north to south. The vegetable garden was divided into large areas or beds, surrounded by a hedge.
The current vegetable garden was planted in 2002 in the former abbot’s garden, with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation. De Wikke, an employment of Wonen en Werken vzw, maintains the vegetable garden and grows organic vegetables. Standard trees with old fruit varieties have once again been planted in the orchard. *
You may recall from a previous post that the abbey which held so much promise was closed on the day that we chose to visit.
Walking towards the buildings, we noticed that everything looked closed, despite the promotional leaflet from the tourist information office and the Abbey Park’s website, saying it should be open! We found that only the museum was open and were informed, ‘You know the Abbey is closed don’t you? There is a guided tour on Sunday afternoon’. We were disappointed to learn this because we were particularly looking forward to seeing the Abbey’s library. However the museum was very interesting, telling the history of the Abbey, the Norbertines and St Norbert.
Norbertine abbey founded in 1129.
The most completely preserved abbey complex in the Netherlands. The Church of Saint John the Evangelist is also a parish church. It is in fact a Romanesque construction but was converted into Baroque style in the 18th century when it was given a tower. The Romanesque portal in the tower was subsequently exposed.
The monastery buildings of the 16th-17th centuries were built on earlier foundations. Splendid relief work in the refectory and library (end of 17th century).
Monumental gates of 18th century, including Saint John’s gate and Saint Norbert’s gate.
Monastery barn, farm buildings, Provisor’s house, guest quarters, coach house, water mill, 17th and 18th century.*
By the time we arrived home after our Saturday jaunt, the weather had changed from sunshine to rain and the small cupcake enterprise was nowhere to be seen. Just after we entered the house Mr C realised his spectacles were missing and, upon checking found that they were not in the car. He phoned the Boathouse where we had eaten lunch. The spectacles were found where he had left them on the window sill by the side of of the table where he had been sitting. The lady who answered the phone said that they would be put on one side, ready for him to collect the next day.
I offered to take Mr C on a Sunday jaunt to collect them, having lunch out on our way home. We discussed a few options and Mr C decided he would like to go to Wollerton Old Hall Garden. I was up ready and waiting in plenty of time but there was no sign of Mr C even starting to get ready. I filled the time by installing a program to allow me to upload videos from my camera. When it was installed I worked out how to use the program and uploaded the short video I had taken whilst I was in Brussels. When I had finished there was still no sign of movement from Mr C (he was doing some historical research) so I turned my computer off and chivvied him along.
Eventually he was ready although by this time it was getting rather late for lunch and I had almost gone off the whole idea. Mr C decided to drive; maybe that was his plan all along
When we arrived at the Boathouse Mr C was informed that somebody had already picked up the spectacles and was asked if it was a relative! Coming away empty handed we made our way to Wollerton Old Hall Garden, eventually arriving at 2 o’clock. There was a rather long queue to the cafe which I insisted we joined as I had a feeling they would run out of things if we didn’t. My prediction was correct, they had already run out of most things. I opted for a slice of bakewell tart and cranberry presse. After lunch we enjoyed a walk around the gardens which are looking spectacular at the moment.
When we got home I suggested to Mr C that he phone the boathouse again and leave his number in case his spectacles were returned. With a bit of reluctance he did so to be told that they would go and investigate and ring back, which they did, advising Mr C that his spectacles could not be found. We thought that was that until the phone rang a couple of hours later and Mr C was told that the spectacles had been found and they would be put in the safe until Mr C was able to go and pick them up!
A human being is part of the whole, called by us “universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
