Beauraing, Belgium (1932-1933)
Title: Our Lady of Beauraing, Virgin of the Golden Heart
Feast Day: August 22
Investigated: 1933-1949
First Apparition: November 29, 1932
Approved: July 2, 1949 (Bishop André-Marie Charue of Namur Diocese)
Last Apparition: January 3, 1933
Visionaries: Fernande Voisin (15), Andrée Voisin (14), Gilberte Degeimbre (9), Albert Degeimbre (11), and Gilberte Voisin (13).
Number of Apparitions: 33
Miracles & Signs: Healings, conversions, and the vision of a luminous "Golden Heart" on the Virgin Mary.
Summary: From November 29, 1932 to January 3, 1933, Mary appeared 33 times to the playground of a convent school to five children. The children belonged to two families: the Voisins (Fernande, 15 years; Berthe, 13 years; and Albert 11 years) and the Degeimbres (Andre, 14 years, and Gilberte, 9 years old). Identifying herself as "the Immaculate Virgin" and "Mother of God, Queen of Heaven," she called for prayer for the conversion of sinners.
Timeline
June 21, 1917
Fernande Voisin was born.
April 19, 1918
Andree Degeimbre was born. She married Georges van den Steen from Flanders in 1941. Andree had 3 children: Christian, Yvan and Marie-Ange. She died on June 11, 1978, the first of the five to die.
June 20, 1919
Gilberte Voisin was born
September 3, 1921
Albert Voisin was born.
August 13, 1923
Gilberte Degeimbre was born.
Nov 29, 1932
Albert and Fernande Voisin and Andree and Gilberte Degeimbre approached the convent door to call for Gilberte Voisin as they did every night. Albert ran ahead of the girls and rang the door to the convent. As he waited for a sister to come to the door, he turned around and looked toward the street and railroad bridge “Look! The Virgin, dressed in white, is walking above the bridge!” he cried out. The girls did not believe him but when they turned around they saw the figure of a beautiful Lady in white walking above the bridge and the grotto by the convent with clouds covering her feet. The sister who came to the door could not see the Blessed Virgin Mary, but Gilberte Voisin did.
Dec 17, 1932
The Virgin Mary asks for a chapel to be built
Dec 21, 1932
The Virgin clearly states, "I am the Immaculate Virgin."
Dec 23, 1932
Our Lady states that she desires people to come on pilgrimage.
Dec 29, 1932
The Virgin opened Her arms in Her usual gesture of farewell. This time Fernande saw a Heart of Gold, surrounded by glittering rays. All the children witnessed this in the remaining apparitions.
Jan 3, 1933
The Virgin Mary appears for the final time at Beauraing.
1934
Similar apparition claims multiplied throughout Belgium (Onkerzele, Lokere, Naasteveld, Tubize, Olsene, Etikhove)
1935
The Holy Office turned the examination of the matter over to the Primate of Belgium, Cardinal Van Roy.
1935
The Bishop of Namur, Thomas-Louis Heylen, appointed an Episcopal Commission to investigate the events.
1941
When Bishop Heylen died, the investigation continued under his successor, Bishop Andre-Marie Charue.
1941
Andree Degeimbre married Georges van den Steen from Flanders in 1941. Andree had 3 children: Christian, Yvan and Marie-Ange.
1941
Fernande Voisin married Albert Despas, who worked at the local tax office. Fernande was a nurse who made home visits. In 1954 they moved to Namur. She had five children: Rose-Marie, Michel, Emmanuel, Noel and Marie-Francoise.
Dec 7, 1942
Bishop Charue received from Rome a decree dated December 7, 1942, and approved by Pope Pius XII, which granted him complete liberty to proceed toward canonical recognition.
Feb 2, 1943
After long investigations and especially-difficult negotiations with Rome, the cult of Our Lady of Beauraing was recognized through a decree which authorized public devotions to Our Lady of Beauraing.
May 16, 1943
Bishop Charue solemnly inaugurated this devotion at a great ceremony attended by 24,000 people.
1945
Gilberte Voisin married Amedee Pierret in 1945, a police officer from Sainte-Marie. He was killed while on active duty in 1953, leaving two children: Michel and Bernadette. Gilberte returned to Beauraing.
Aug 22, 1946
The statue of Our Lady of Beauraing was blessed by Bishop Charue, on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart. The statue stands under the hawthorn tree, where Our Lady had appeared.
1947
Gilberte Degeimbre married Andre Philippe. For a long time she lived in Italy with her husband and their two children. She returned to live in Beauraing with her husband.
July 18, 1947
Pope Pius XII granted a private interview to the Bishop of Namur. He gave his blessing to the Sanctuary and the pilgrimages of penance. These pilgrimages were held on the second and third Sundays of each month, from May to November such that the pilgrims walk 12 miles to Beauraing, in prayer.
Aug 22, 1947
The cornerstone of the chapel was laid on the Feast of the Imaculate Heart.
July 2, 1949
André Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur, under the direction of the Holy Office, released an epsicopal decree recognizing as authentic miracles two of the many cures credited to Our Lady of Beauraing* and released a document to clergy in the Diocese declaring that the Queen of Heaven did appear to the children**.
* Andre-Marie Charue, bv the Grace of God and the Holy Apostolic See, Bishop of Namur
By virtue of the power conferred on Us by the
decree of the Holy Office, on December 7, 1942, according Us the faculty of bringing Our judg- ment to bear on the case of Beauraing, in Our ca- pacity as Ordinary thereof and of Our own au- thority :
Having seen the reports of the canonical Com- mission appointed by Us for the study of the cures of Miss Van Laer of Turnhout (in religion, Sister Pudentia of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family) and of Mrs. Acar, nee Maric-Madelcinc Group, of St. Nicholas (Waes) in which are contained numerous testimonies judged worthy of belief, as well as some conclu-
sions of medical experts having been able freely and separately to express their opinions about the nature of the said cures;
Having considered that these attestations where the value and the authority of the reasons are in- disputable, prove, with the evidence, that Miss Van Laer and Mrs. Acar suffered from extremely grave diseases and that they had been cured instantly, perfectly and absolutely beyond curative power in case at issue to account for these sudden unexpected changes;
Whereas it has therefore been demonstrated that these cures assume the natjure of supernatural matters;
We acknowledge
1. That Miss Marie Van Laer who, for six- teen years, suffered from a serious disease, deemed incurable, of a tubercular nature, or more probably staphylococcic, in the region of the cervical vertebra and in the right leg, which had progressed to the final stage, has been immediately and absolutely cured on the twenty-fourth of June, 1933, on the day after a pilgrimage made to Beauraing for the purpose of obtaining a cure;
2. That Mrs. Acar-Group suffered from a myoma of the matrix, duly diagnosed by the at- tending physician, and found herself cured im- mediately and absolutely on July 30, 1933, on returning home from a pilgrimage made with the purpose of obtaining a cure.
Consequently, using Our power as Ordinary and taking into consideration the accounts and verdicts already sent Us by the diocesan Commission charged with canonical inquiry:
Having invoked the Holy Name of God;
We have judged and do judge, We have declared and do declare that the cures of Miss Van Laer and Mrs. Acar-Group are miraculous and that in view of circumstances in which they have taken place, they ought to be attributed to a special interven- tion of God through the intercession of Our Lady of Beauraing.
And let Our present judgment and Our declara- tion be made public for the honor of God, the glory of Our Lady, and the edification of the faithful.
Given at Namur, this second of July, 1949, on the Feast of the Visitation of Our Lady.
ANDRE-MARIE
Bishop of Namur
by the order of:
F. TOUSSAINT, Prosecretary
Source: Sharkey, Don. "I will convert sinners" : Our Lady's apparitions at Beauraing, 1932-1933. Divine Word Missionary Publications. 1957 p. 29-30
** Reverend and Dear Confreres:
The publication of the decree which you have just read marks a decisive date in the history of the devotion to Our Lady of Beauraing.
As you know, when we officially permitted this devotion, our declaration enforced strict reserva- tions: we deemed that the moment had not yet come for us to pronounce "upon the reality and the supernatural character of the facts." Since then, the reasons for hesitation have considerably decreased and we are able to say before God that the signs are not lacking to satisfy us personally of the foolish character of the prudent reserves
made at the beginning. But we looked forward to the hour when we would be able to publish our final approval. That hour, we think, has come. The happy termination of the reports of the dioce- san doctrinal Commission permits us to declare the miraculous nature of the two cures obtained through the intercession of Our Lady of Beau- raing, occurring in the months which followed the events at Beauraing, among many other cases of spiritual and temporal favors, and at the height of a movement of Marian fervor which has subsisted to this day, these miraculous cures constitute the final element which wins our conviction of the supernatural character of the events.
We give thanks for it to God and to the Most Holy Virgin: we are able in all serenity and prudence to affirm that the Queen of Heaven ap- peared to the children of Beauraing during the winter of 1932-1933, especially to show us in her maternal Heart the anxious appeal for prayer and the promise of her powerful mediation for the conversion of sinners.
We, ourselves, marveling at the providential guidance which has led us after seven years to this final stage of the case, have signed this docu- ment with all the ardor of our heart and with the assurance that our entire diocese will join in our thanksgiving. In the name of all our people we again tell Our Lady with a growing confidence: Among us you are Queen; we are yours.
Please believe, venerable and dear confreres, our sentiments of spiritual and affectionate devotion, in Our Savior and Our Lady.
Namur, July 2, 1949, on the Feast of the Visitation of Our Lady.
ANDRE-MARIE Bishop of Namur
Source: Sharkey, Don. "I will convert sinners" : Our Lady's apparitions at Beauraing, 1932-1933. Divine Word Missionary Publications. 1957 p. 31-32
1948
Albert Voisin married Yvonne Embrechts from Liege. That same year, they left for the Belgian Congo, first to Lubumbashi followed by Kowezi where their 3 children were born: Claude, Francine and Bridget. Previously, he spent his military duty in Ireland and Germany and was a teacher in Ottignies for 2 years.The family returned to Beauraing in 1961 where Albert taught at the "Institut Notre Dame."
Aug 21, 1954
The Chapel which the Virgin Mary requested was consecrated.
June 11, 1978
Andree Degeimbre was the first of the five to die.
May 9, 1979
Fernande Voisin died from kidney cancer.
January 3, 2003
Gilberte Voisin died in an accident on January 3, 2003, the 70th anniversary of the last apparition at the exact hour that the Blessed Virgin said: "I will convert sinners"
December 23, 2003
Death of Albert Voisin
February 10, 2015
Death of Gilberte Degeimbre
Description of the Virgin
The Virgin Mary appeared as a beautiful lady in white walking above the bridge and the grotto by the convent with clouds covering her feet. The Virgin, with hands joined and turned toward the sky, carried a rosary hanging from her right arm. During the five last apparitions, she showed a heart of gold, surrounded by rays, on her chest.
Visionaries
The children belonged to two families: the Voisins (Fernande, 15 years; Berthe, 13 years; and Albert 11 years) and the Degeimbres (Andre, 14 years, and Gilberte, 9 years old). These working families were for the most part non-practicing Catholics.
Messages
The Virgin Mary urged the children to pray and sacrifice. She asked, "that people pray much," "that a chapel be built" (December 17, 1932), "that people come here in pilgrimage" (December 23). She promised the conversion of sinners. All these points are common with Lourdes. During the five last apparitions, she showed a heart of gold, surrounded by rays, on her chest. During the fourth apparition (December 4) and the seventh (December 21), she declared herself to be "the Immaculate Virgin" (analogous to Lourdes). During the last apparition (January 3, 1933), she added: "I will convert sinners. I am the Mother of God, the Queen of heaven." Twenty thousand persons were present that day.
The secrets given to the children have never been revealed.
Miracles and Signs
After the fourth apparition, there were sick people in the crowd. The visionaries prayed Our Lady to heal them. But it was only after the last apparition that healings took place. Here, however, the matter begins to deteriorate. A certain Come Tilman, fifty-eight years old, became a visionary in his turn, and at the first vision, he was healed of spondylitis. However, a medical and psychic examination of the visionary, made on June 1934, was negative. Meanwhile, similar apparitions multiplied in Belgium. It was thus that in 1935, the Holy Office turned the examination of the matter over to the Primate of Belgium, Cardinal Van Roy.
During the apparition of December 8th, Dr. Maistriaux, Dr. Lurquin and other doctors were there to pinch, slap, prick and shine flashlights in the children eyes. There was no response from the children during the Lady's visit.
Dr. Lurquin took a lighted match to Gilberte Voisin's left hand; still there was no response. After the apparition Dr. Lurquin looked to see what damage the match had done. There was no sign of injury.
On July 2, 1949, the Bishop released two important documents relating to Beauraing. One was an episcopal decree recognizing as authentic miracles two of the many cures credited to Our Lady of Beauraing. One was the cure of Maria Van Laer who was an invalid for 16 years wth tuberculosis and he other was the cure of Maric-Madeleine Acar who was cured of a tumor of the womb on July 30, 1933.
Church Approval
After long investigations and especially-difficult negotiations with Rome, the cult of Our Lady of Beauraing was recognized through a decree on February 19, 1943 which authorized public devotions to Our Lady of Beauraing.
André Marie Charue, Bishop of Namur released a document to Clergy in the Diocese declaring that the Queen of Heaven did appear to the children. The Feast Day of The Virgin of the Poor is August 22nd.
Prayer
O virgin of the Poor, May you ever be blessed ! And blessed be He who deigned to send you to us. What you have been and are to us now, you will always be to those who, like us, and better then us, offer their faith and their prayer. You will be all for us, as you revealed yourself at Banneux : Mediatrix of all graces, the Mother of theSaviour, Mother of God. A compassionate and powerfull Mother who loves the poor and all Peaople, who alleviates suffering, who saves individuals and all humanity, Queen and Mother of all Nations, who came to lead all those who allow themselves to be guided by you, to Jesus the true and only Source of eternal life.
Amen.
SOURCE: MiracleHunter.com