Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Poor in Banneux |
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One of the main places of Marian devotion in Belgium. It was here that Our Lady appeared eight times to the eleven-year-old Mariette Beco. She always introduced herself as the Mother of the Poor and asked for a chapel to be built in the place of the apparitions.
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In 1949 the Vatican recognized the apparitions in Banneux. Pope John Paul II ended his pilgrimage in the Benelux countries here. In the sanctuary, he presided over the mass, concelebrated by 500 priests, attended by about 100 thousand of the faithful. Hundreds of thousands of people make pilgrimages to Banneux all year round. Some of them come here to confide in Our Lady of their suffering, pain and desires. In several places in the sanctuary there are plaques on which the faithful, in many languages, express gratitude and thanks for the healings to Our Lady.
Eight apparitions of Our Lady
The apparitions took place from 15 January to 2 March 1933. During them, Our Lady asked Mariette to build a chapel in the place of the apparitions. At the spring where she led the girl, she spoke, put your hands in the water, this spring is reserved for me. She also argued about the importance of prayer. In the same year, the inhabitants built the Chapel of the Apparitions in this place, which, next to the spring, located right at the entrance to the sanctuary, is the most important place in Banneux. In the area of the sanctuary, which is surrounded by a landscape park, there are: the Chapel of the Mission, the Church of the Virgin of the Poor, the Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel, the Chapel of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Way of the Cross, the bell tower of Konrad Adenauer, and many thanksgiving chapels.