Our Lady of Beauraing

The Story

Our Lady of Beauraing refers to thirty-three apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary reported by five children in the Belgian town of Beauraing between November 29, 1932, and January 3, 1933. The visionaries were Fernande, Gilberte, and Albert Voisin and Andree and Gilberte Degeimbre, aged nine to fifteen. According to the children's accounts, Mary appeared near a hawthorn tree in the garden of a convent school, dressed in white with rays of light about her head. She asked the children to "pray always," requested that a chapel be built, and expressed her desire that people come there on pilgrimage. In the final apparitions she identified herself as "the Immaculate Virgin" and the Mother of God, promised to convert sinners, and revealed a heart of gold, the origin of her title, the Virgin with the Golden Heart. The events were examined at length by the Church. In 1943 Bishop Andre-Marie Charue of Namur authorized public devotion to Our Lady of Beauraing, and in 1949 he recognized the supernatural character of the apparitions. A sanctuary now stands at the site of the hawthorn tree, with the chapel Mary requested and spaces for the large gatherings that continue today. Pilgrims come especially for the international pilgrimage on August 22, entrusting to Mary's golden heart the conversion of sinners and the needs of families and the sick.

Church Recognition

Devotion authorized in 1943; supernatural character recognized by the Bishop of Namur in 1949.

Catholic Teaching

A call to prayer and to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.

Plan Your Visit

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The sanctuary at Beauraing is a recognized Belgian Marian shrine.

Go Deeper

See the sanctuary's official website at https://sanctuairedebeauraing.be, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church on private revelation (CCC 67) and Marian devotion (CCC 971).