marian calendar     september

First Saturday in September

Onze Lieve Vrouw, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, Roosdaal, Flemish Brabant, Flanders, Belgium

Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek, voted "prettiest village in Flemish Brabant" in 2008, was named for its Church of Our Lady and its stream, the Lombeek. It is one of four villages that merged to form Roosdaal municipality in 1965.  

Our Lady's chapel here was already old by the 1100s, when it began to be known for miracles. By 1250, it drew so many pilgrims that a larger, early Gothic church was built to replace it. The statue of the Virgin and Child is thought to be a later Gothic work of the 1400s. The great wooden altarpiece, assembled from some 1200 carved pieces, shows scenes from the life of Mary. It is attributed to Jan Borman of Brussels (d. 1520). In 1974 and 1981, thieves broke in and tore off many pieces. Because of this, the church is usually closed. Following the recovery of some of the stolen figures, the altarpiece was restored. 

In the days before vaccination, Our Lady of Lombeek was particularly invoked against whooping cough. 

For centuries the the village fair, or kermis, took place on September 8, feast of the Virgin's Nativity, preceded by a sacramental procession the day before. Now the festivities begin on the first Saturday in September, with a procession featuring a marching band, riders on horseback, a wooden copy of the statue of Our Lady, and a priest carrying the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance.

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