Pentecost Sunday
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw, Halle, Flemish Brabant, Flanders, Belgium
According to St. Luke, Mary conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit and was among those in the "upper room" who received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, seven weeks after Easter.[1] In Catholic theology, that descent of the Spirit marked the beginning of the Church; and Mary is termed the Mother of the Church.[2] Because of her strong relationship to the Holy Spirit, many shrines honor Mary at this time. And of course, the feast of Pentecost, or Whitsunday, takes place on a weekend in May or June, a fine season for pilgrimages and processions.
The Black Virgin statue arrived in this central Belgian town over 750 years ago, and for most of that time there has been an annual procession to honor Our Lady of Halle.[3] The 21st-century ommegang on Pentecost Sunday is a pageant-parade that embodies the story of devotion to Our Lady there. Costumed characters include:
 | Saints Aubert of Cambrai and Amandus, who brought Christianity from France to Flanders in the early 600s |
| Local lord Woubert and his wife Bertilde, who in 635 had the first church built in the area, probably dedicated to St. Martin of Tours, like the present church. According to local tradition, the holy well and tree associated with Our Lady of Halle may go back to that first church or even before, to pagan devotions the missionaries sought to transform. |
| Louis IV of Thuringia, who sent four statues of Mary to his wife, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, before his death in Apulia in 1227, en route to Jerusalem in the Sixth Crusade |
| Their daughter Sophie of Thuringia, who gave three of the statues to her sister-in-law Matilda of Brabant, who bequeathed one of the statues to the church of Halle |
| Adelaide of Holland, who donated her mother's statue in 1267 – but to the city of Halle, not the church. It resided in a chapel. |
| An archbishop and 18 bishops from the papal court at Avignon, who in 1335 issued a bull granting a 40-day indulgence (remission of time in purgatory) to anyone visiting the chapel or participating in the procession, when then took place on the first Sunday in September. The parchment is visible in the church crypt, along with remains of the sacred tree and the Golden Book of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of Halle, founded in 1344 (with members of both sexes), listing 61 miracles already attributed to Our Lady of Halle in the 1400s. |
| St. Martin of Tours, name saint of the present Gothic church, begun in 1341, completed in 1409, and designated a Minor Basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1946. |
| Philip of Cleves, who tried to take Halle in 1489 during his rebellion against Habsburg rule. Our Lady was credited with saving the city by appearing on its wall and catching the attackers' cannonballs in her mantle, turning black with the soot. The cannonballs are kept in a niche in the tower of the basilica. |
| Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who came to thank Our Lady of Halle in 1520 before going to Aachen for his coronation |
| Franciscan Gray Sisters, who opened a hospital for sick pilgrims in 1556 |
| Cardinal Dechamps, Archbishop of Mechelen, who crowned the statue by authority of Pope Pius IX on October 4, 1874 |
| Professional pilgrim Rosine Broecke, who walked some 450 miles from Ledegem at least 100 times on behalf of wealthy patrons at the turn of the last century. The more her clients paid, the heavier the clogs she wore on the road to Halle. |
The last part of the parade illustrates aspects of Marian faith for believers today. There are floats representing diversity, peace, refugees, the environment, and, of course, Pentecost, all leading up to the sacred finale: the monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament, and the draped litter carrying the statue of the Black Virgin of Halle nursing the baby Jesus (picture above from "Hal," Fêtes Mariales, users.skynet.be/houlotte/calendrier/Hal.htm). Mass follows in St. Martin's Basilica.
Weather permitting, the Mariaprocessie takes place on even-numbered years, e.g. 2020, 2022, 2024. In odd years, there is a smaller torchlight procession at midnight on Pentecost morning, followed by mass and a reception.
[1] Luke 1:35; Acts 1:14, 2:1-4.
[2] Catechism of the Catholic Church, Image Books, Doubleday, New York, 1995, ¶1076 and ¶963.
[3] Information in this and following paragraphs is taken from the website of the procession organizers, especially from the page describing the 2018 procession, "Opbouw van de processie," Mariaprocessie Halle, www.mariaprocessie.be/mariaprocessie/marieprocessie-2018/opbouw-van-de-processie-2018/.
Also commemorated this date:
| Virgen del Rocío, Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santos Lugares district (Our Lady of the Dew). Mass, romería, and procession. |
| Madonna della Misericordia, Vedano al Lambro, Milano, Lombardy, Italy (Madonna of Mercy). Festa. |
| Madonna dell'Olmo, Budrio, Bologna, Emilia Romagna, Italy (Our Lady of the Elm). Main day of 4-day festa: mass, procession, music. |
| Madonna dei Miracoli, Cerreto di Spoleto, Perugia, Umbria, Italy. Town patron. Procession. |
| Madonna di Sant'Arcangelo, Trevi, Perugia, Umbria, Italy. Festa, procession. |
| Matka Boża Łaskawa, Tursko, Ciężkowice, Tarnów, Malopolska, Poland (Gracious Mother of God). Three-day celebration starting on Pentecost commemorates miraculous flight of painting on Pentecost Eve, 9 June 1764. |
| Nossa Senhora das Necessidades, Oliveira do Hospital, Coimbra, Portugal, Aldeia das Dez district. Festa: mass and procession. |
| Panna Mária, Rafajovce, Vranov nad Topľou, Prešov, Slovakia. Greek Catholic eparchial feast day. Also Sept. 8. |
| Szűz Mária, Strekov (Kürt), Cegléd, Nové Zámky, Nitra, Slovakia (Virgin Mary). Hungarian pilgrimage w/mass, visit to holy well, lunch; also Sept. 8. |
| Virgen de la Cuadra, Valle de Santibáñez, Burgos, Castile and León, Spain (Virgin of the Stable). Mass, procession, dancing. |
| Virgen de Valdejimena, Horcajo Medianero, Salamanca, Castile and León, Spain. Romería. |
| Virgen del Prado, Treviana, La Rioja, Spain (Virgin of the Meadow). Romería. |
| Virgen de la Cueva, Jaca, Huesca, Aragon, Spain (Virgin of the Cave). Romería. Mass, procession, meal, folk dancing. |
| Virgen de Ipas, Jaca, Huesca, Aragon, Spain. Minor fiesta. |
| Nuestra Señora de Cogullada, Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. Romería to church at former monastery two miles north of the city. |
| Virgen del Campo, Camarillas, Teruel, Aragon, Spain (Virgin of the Field). Romería. |
| Virgen del Olivar, Estercuel, Teruel, Aragón, Spain. Magna Romería to monastery. Local romería Ascension Sunday. Feast Sept. 8-9. |
| Nuestra Señora de la Consolación, Iniesta, Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. Romería. Statue processes on foot to sanctuary 11 miles from town. |
| Virgen del Buen Parto, Pedro Muñoz, Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain (Our Lady of Good Birth). Romería. |
| Virgen de la Encarnación, El Ballestero, Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain (Virgin of the Incarnation). Romería. |
| Nuestra Señora de la Consolación, Iniesta, Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. Romería. Statue processes to sanctuary to stay until last Sunday in Aug. |
| Virgen de Alarcos, Ciudad Real, Castilla La Mancha, Spain. Romería. |
| Virgen del Camino, El Carrascalejo, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain (Virgin of the Road). Fiesta del Mamao (Mother). |
| Nuestra Señora del Rocío, Almonte, Huelva, Andalucía, Spain. Romería: candlelight rosary Saturday, Pontifical mass Sunday, procession Monday. |
| Virgen de Guía, Dos Torres, Córdoba, Andalucía, Spain. Fiesta. |