The tradition is that every March we have the annual pilgrimage to Saint Joseph Shrine. So too this year, the pilgrims came, to be more precise, women pilgrim, because most of those who come are women.
The tradition dates back to 1860. Father Stanislas Vincke sscc, in fulfillment of a promise, founded the Brotherhood of Perpetual Veneration to Saint Joseph. Father had promised that if he got the funds to buy the chapel of St. Anthony the Abbot, which was next to the brothers’ house, across the street from St. Anthony’s Hill, he would make it a shrine to the father of the Holy Family. The chapel had had different uses and at the time was in ruins. The chapel was bought, restored and re-consecrated.
The young Joseph De Veuster may have been a member of the Brotherhood of Saint Joseph, during his stay at the brothers’ house in Louvain.
The first pilgrims came spontaneously. It was only in 1901 that the first great pilgrimage was organized through the work of animators, men and women, throughout Belgium, which has St. Joseph as principal patron. By then the fraternity founded by P. Vincke already had more than three hundred thousand members. People came mainly by train. A procession was organized to come from the station through the city to the shrine. There were so many pilgrims in the old chapel, Ernest Claes, a Flemish writer, said that that it looked like a balloon about to explode. For this reason, at the end of the 50s, the chapel was enlarged.
In addition, during the inter-war period the garden of St. Joseph had been inaugurated. It is on the right side of the chapel, down Ramberg Street. There, pilgrims could ponder the seven sorrows and seven joys of the Spouse of Mary, visiting seven stations and ending in a central chapel dedicated to St. Joseph’s holy death, with Mary and Jesus present.
Today the number of pilgrims is decreasing. On the one hand, the passage of time leaves its mark on the pilgrims. On the other hand, coming to Leuven is no longer for them the trip of the year. For those who do come, the fervor and devotion are still there. The pilgrims stop at Damiaancentrum to freshen up and to drink a cup of coffee. Then they go to the chapel for Mass, usually at 10 or 11:30. After lunch, they return to the chapel. After a time of adoration, they get on their way home, hoping to return again next year to visit the Shrine of St. Joseph.
Gradually prayers to Father Damien have been included in the pilgrims’ program. Joseph De Veuster following in the footsteps of Joseph of Nazareth, knew how to be a good protector of God's children entrusted to him in Molokai.
03/25/2015