Linking Scherpenheuvel to Luxembourg. Was Father Jacques, the Jesuit who started the devotion to Mary as Consolatrix Afflictorum in Luxembourg, aware of Scherpenheuvel?
1. Montague wood statues spread throughout the region. There are even rumors that Montague wood is in the statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg. (The wood from the oak tree at Scherpenheuvel that was chopped down became known as "Montague wood".)
2. The Cardinal of Lorraine had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel made at the Jesuit novitiate in Nancy. Nancy and Luxembourg are not far apart and at that time were both part of the same region, namely the Spanish Netherlands. This would hardly have escaped the notice of a Jesuit teacher like Fr. Jacques. Nancy is 229 miles south of Scherpenheuvel. Luxembourg is 160 miles south of Scherpenheuvel. To travel to Nancy from Scherpenheuvel the most likely route would be through Luxembourg. Being a major city, Luxembourg would be a natural stopping place along the way.
3. The Duke and Duchess of the region, Albert and Isabella, are making an annual pilgrimage to Scherpenheuvel. Their first pilgrimage is on November 20, 1603.
4. The Duke and Duchess are building a large stone chapel at Scherpenheuvel.
5. Many pilgrims from around the region are going to Scherpenheuvel.
6. The sister of the Cardinal of Lorraine, Antoinette, has an altarpiece made for the Scherpenheuvel chapel in Nancy. The artwork depicts the Duke and Duchess venerating Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel. This was done after the Cardinal's death in 1607.
7. The intercession of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel is sought throughout the region when people are afflicted and in need of healing. Our Lady of Luxembourg, Consolatrix Afflictorum, is also asked to intercede for the same reason.
8. Great artists of that time are being commissioned to create great works of art for Scherpenheuvel. Theodore van Loon makes a series of paintings for the chapel. People travel just to see this art. This would have been noticed by an educated Jesuit.
9. The Archbishop launched an official enquiry and gave Scherpenheuvel his official approval in 1604.
10. On September 16, 1606, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, a papal indulgence was granted. A Jesuit of the region would almost certainly have been aware of all of these happenings.
11. A fortified town is being designed and built at Scherpenheuvel.
12. The original chapel at Luxembourg looks similar to the large stone chapel at Scherpenheuvel.
13. There was a history of devotion to Our Lady of Consolation, Onze Lieve Vrouw van Troost, by the Augustinian friars in Belgium in earler centuries. Particularly in Heverlee, which is only 21 miles from Scherpenheuvel. Also, the Carmelite nuns at Vilvoorde, which is only 33 miles from Scherpenheuvel, had a devotion to Our Lady of Consolation. The Augustinian monasteries in the region are closed in the 16th century in the aftermath of the Reformation. The Carmelite nuns also go into hiding and their convent is destroyed. The devotion, and the removal from this region, of these established religious orders would have certainly been known to a Jesuit priest of the region. (Today, the convent at Vilvoorde and the monastery at Heverlee have been reestablished and rebuilt.)
14. Scherpenheuvel was being built by the political leaders of the region in order to promote religious unity and devotion in the region. As such, it was not being hidden under a basket. It was intentionally promoted by the secular leaders as well as the religious leaders. All this in a region half the size of Illinois.
15. In the Jesuit church of Antwerp, the current Saint Charles Borromeo church, there is a statue of Mary that was carved by Ottavia Frangipani from the wood of the oak of Scherpenheuvel. The statue has certainly been in the Jesuits' house since 1606 (when an indulgence of 150 days was granted) and was later moved to their current church, where it still stands in a side chapel. (This last paragraph came from an archived Belgian website about Marian statues.)
16. 1726 picture This picture of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel, from 1726, looks like Our Lady of Consolation from Luxembourg.
17. Let's look at another example of the spread of the knowledge of Scherpenheuvel to an even greater distance. Notre Dame de Bargemon. Bargemon is in southern France, 739 miles from Scherpenheuvel. In 1635 a priest named Fr. Sebastien Gache returned to Bargemon from Belgium with a statue of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel. Just before his return Elisabeth Caille, a local resident, had been visited by a mysterious, beautiful lady. Elisabeth had been suffering from a physical ailment and was healed by the lady. The complete story can be found at this web site:
https://thecatholictravelguide.com/destinations/france/bargemon-shrine-of-notre-dame-de-bargemon/
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