Religious legends in Maastricht
December 11, 2007 Leave a Comment
The apparitions of Banneux
In a little chapel next to Saint Matthew’s church in Maastricht stands a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary. It is known by its French name: la Vierge des Pauvres (The Virgin of the Poor).
The Virgin of the Poor is said to have appeared in 1933 to an eleven year old girl, Mariette Béco, in the Belgian Ardennes hamlet of Banneux, near Liège. In spite of her sober and down-to-earth character, the girl ventured several times in the frosty cold to see the holy apparition. Mariette recounted that the Virgin Mary led her to a water spring with curing powers ‘for the sick’. This had a powerful religious significance, because in the Christian faith, the symbol of the spring is often associated with Jesus Christ, as the “origin and end of all that is created.”
In the same little chapel a flyer calls participants for the yearly walk on Christmas Eve in Banneux. In my experience, the hike is worth while indeed. It takes us up a hill toward the setting sun, reminding us of the three Wise Men following the star on their way to Bethlehem. Pilgrims flock together from far and near to attend High Mass on the spot where Mariette said the Virgin Mary had appeared.
How reliable were the apparitions? A Catholic dogma states that the Virgin Mary ascended to heaven with body and soul and that she may appear again in her transfigured body. After a close investigation of the facts, which lasted sixteen years, the Vatican in 1949 officially validated Mariette Béco’s account of the apparitions of the Lady of Banneux.
In January 2008, the sanctuary of Our Lady of Banneux will hold large celebrations on the occasion of its 75th jubilee.
The Star of the Sea
A famous statue of the “Star of the Sea”, a title often given to the Virgin Mary, stands in a chapel next to Maastricht’s Basilica of Our Lady.
The medieval woodcarver gave the statue a graceful form, in keeping with the Catholic view of Mary’s position as a powerful advocate with God.
Followers of the Catholic faith believe that the Virgin Mary leads them to Jesus Christ. This belief is also represented by the symbol of the Star leading sailors to a safe harbour.
A hymn sung in honour of the Star of the Sea at the Maastricht Basilica of Our Lady says:
“Bedreigen ons noodweer en storm op ons baan, is ‘t scheepj’ onzer ziel in gevaar te vergaan, bedaar o Maria de storm op uw bee, stort hoop ons in ‘t harte, o Sterre der Zee.”
“When storm’s raging over the ship of my soul – my life is in danger of missing its goal – calm down, virgin Mary, the storm by your plea – and lead us to heaven, o Star of the Sea.”
A nobleman by the name of Nicolaus van Harlaer donated the statue to the Maastricht Franciscan friars when he entered their monastery around 1470. Ever since, many prayers are said to have been answered, and the people of Maastricht have carried the statue throughout the city in many a procession.
After the Dutch commander Prince Frederick Henry of Orange, a Protestant, conquered Maastricht in 1632, catholic processions were not allowed anymore. The friars were banned from the city, but returned in 1700.
By that time however, no one remembered the route of the procession. People say the statue of the Virgin itself showed the way to a pious woman, and that the snow left traces on the statue’s mantle. Every Saturday after evening mass, people still walk that same route through the streets of Maastricht.
The legend of Saint Servatius
A solemn hymn celebrates Saint Servatius as the “herald of Christian salvation” in our region:
“O Sint Servatius, beschermer van Maastricht – bewaar in dit gewest het heil door u gesticht”
“O Saint Servatius, protector of Maastricht, keep in this land the salvation brought by you”
Legend has it that Servatius, who originally came from Armenia, was placed on the episcopal see of Tongres by an angel. He is also said to have received a silver key to the gates of heaven from the hands of Saint Peter in Rome.
During the council of Sardica in 343, Servatius eloquently defended the cause of the divine nature of Jesus Christ.
Shortly before his death in 384, Servatius moved the relics of his predecessors from Tongres to Maastricht, in order to better defend them against the approaching Huns.
Thus Servatius became the first bishop of Maastricht. At the nearby district of Biesland the bishop is said to have made a well miraculously spring up, as a source of Christian life.
The church that his successor Monulph erected above his grave developed into the present day basilica. The German emperors of the Holy Roman Empire visited the church to honour the saint of Maastricht, and numerous pilgrims followed in their wake. The famous twelfth century poet Henric van Veldeke wrote a hagiography of Saint Servatius.
In the treasure room under the basilica, a precious chest of relics is kept in safe custody. The chest contains the relics of Saint Servatius: his chalice and paten, the bishop’s staff, the silver key, and the pilgrim’s staff which he used on his journey to Palestine.
In medieval times of war or pestilence, the people of Maastricht used to carry the chest of emergency throughout the streets in a solemn procession. Since 1874 a pilgrimage called “Heiligdomsvaart” (“Showing of the Relics”) takes place every seventh summer in Maastricht, during which the chest is carried again in triumphant procession.
Twenty-one holy bishops
The Maastricht writer Edmond Jaspar notes in his book about the history of Maastricht, written in dialect and entitled “Kint geer eur eige stad” (“Do you know your own city”), how Maastricht had already “used up” twenty-one holy bishops at the time when the rest of the country was still “heathen and uncivilised”.
The best known among these saints are Servatius, Monulph and Gondulph, Amand, Remacle and Theodard, as well as Lambert and Hubert. In Maastricht, many boys have been named after them. For example, a common name is Sermon (a combination between Servatius and Monulph).
In Aachen, a street called Klappergasse (Clatter Alley) reminds us of a remarkable incident in the year 805 involving two bishops from Maastricht . Pope Leo III was about to consecrate the Aachen Münster Church in the presence of the emperor Charlemagne and 365 bishops, one for each day of the year. Two bishops were however missing.
At the very last moment, two bishops entered the church. Some attendants thought they recognised Monulph and Gondulph, although the bishops were already dead. Had they risen from the dead to sanction the holy alliance between the pope and the emperor?
Saint Amand founded several churches and monasteries in the region, such as for instance the abbey of Saint Bavo and the St Peter’s church in Ghent. He was expelled from the court of the Merovingian king Dagobert because he had criticised the king for his misbehaviour. Amand became bishop of Maastricht in 647.
His successor Remacle founded the famous abbey of Stavelot in the Belgian Ardennes. Theodard of Maastricht stood up for the poor in front of the Merovingian king Childerik. He was murdered, but lives on as the patron saint of the cattle-merchants.
Saint Lambert and Saint Hubert
Saint Lambert was born in Maastricht in 636. To illustrate his modesty, historians tell the following anecdote: Lambert was staying as a guest at the abbey of Stavelot, and at a given moment one of the monks made some noise during prayer. The abbot ordered the noise-maker to proceed with his prayer outside in the frosty cold. The next morning it turned out that the monk was Lambert and that he had been praying all night in the snow.
Lambert was very brave too, for he rebuked the Frankish major-domo Pepin of Heristal, father of Charlemagne, for adultery. Just like his predecessor Theodard, he had to pay for his courage with his life. He was buried in the St Pieter area near Maastricht.
As a youngster Saint Hubert was reckless and foolish. Repentance came suddenly on a Good Friday. Everyone else was at church, but Hubert, son of a duke, was hunting in the Ardennes. All of a sudden, a deer stood before him. It was a hart with a cross between the antlers. Hubert repented and became a disciple of Saint Lambert. Saint Hubert is known as the patron saint of hunters.
Later on, after succeeding his master as bishop of Maastricht, he moved Lambert’s relics and the episcopal see from Maastricht to the little village of Liège near Pepin’s villa. Liège was to develop into a city upon the grave of its patron Saint Lambert.
The Black Christ of Wijck
The Saint Martin’s church in the Wijck district of Maastricht is home to a black walnut statue of Christ that has been carved out of one single piece of wood. This statue has been an object of veneration since the Middle Ages. It originally belonged to the convent of the White Women, but after wandering about during the French era, it turned up again in the Wijck parish church. Parishioners carry it along in city processions and “heiligdomsvaarten”. (“Showings of the Relics”)
The story of the origin of the statue goes as follows: A nobleman from the village of Riemst, between Maastricht and Tongres, made a pilgrimage to Palestine about the year 1300. When he returned home, he offered presents to his wife and children, but he realised that he had forgotten to bring something back for his ‘simple’ daughter Anna. So he gave her a nut that happened to fall into his bag somewhere in the Holy Land.
Anna was very glad with the nut and planted it in the garden next to the house, where it grew into a tree. One day, during a heavy thunder-storm, lightning cleft the walnut tree in two. Anna told everyone in her medieval local dialect ‘that in the middle of the tree stood a fine cross with the figure of Our Lord’.
Anna later entered the convent of the White Women in Maastricht. The Black Christ cross, which she brought along, is said to have performed “great miracles by dispensation of Providence.”
A light-hearted faith
The people of Maastricht, traditionally Catholics, may not know the Bible by heart, as some Protestants do, but they know the outlines of the life of Jesus Christ. They learned them through the gospel during Sunday mass, through numerous depictions in processions and open air plays, through works of art in the churches, and through the simple crucifix on the wall. They believe that it is the Virgin Mary who may best lead them to Jesus Christ.
I perceive a certain light-heartedness in the way the people of Maastricht live with their faith. It is perhaps analogous to the light-hearted way they also seem to go about with their city’s historical heritage. As Catholics, they believe they see so many earthly and spiritual riches in their faith that they cannot imagine that their contribution is very important. They don’t over-estimate their contribution to Maastricht’s historical riches, either. In my view, as a Catholic myself, they consider both kinds of riches gifts from God.
By Hennie Reuvers
Dr Reuvers (1951) is a retired teacher of mathematics from Maastricht. He likes to solve math problems, but is also interested in history. He is married and the father of four children. Check his website at http://www.petericepudding.com
Sources: (mainly in Dutch and French)
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