Our Lady of Luxembourg – Devotion and Heritage

In 1666, the inhabitants of Luxembourg, having received authorisation to do so, officially and with great pomp placed themselves under the protection of Our Lady, Consolator of the Afflicted; Twelve years later, the entire Duchy of Luxembourg – which included Bastogne – and the County of Chiny did the same.

Three hundred and fifty years on, what remains of this? There is indeed a statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg in many churches across our regions and a few pilgrimages to Luxembourg, but what else?

This richly illustrated volume is the result of numerous cross-border collaborations which explore, in new or previously unpublished ways, themes relating to devotion to Our Lady of Luxembourg and the many representations she inspires, as well as the preservation of this heritage.

The cult and its spread are placed in their historical context. Its practice is detailed in its most visible manifestations, such as the Octave or the dressing of the statue. The iconographic aspects, meanwhile, are examined in relation to the artists or the various media, such as paper, stone, cast iron or glass. The restoration and conservation of the statue, presented by the restorer herself, shed new light on the origins of the image. Previously unexplored themes, such as Marian hymns, the findings from the excavations at the Glacis Chapel, and the 2016 issue of a new stamp bearing the image of the Consolatrice prove, if further proof were needed, that the study of Our Lady of Luxembourg is an inexhaustible subject because it is profoundly human.