roermond

Remembering Roermond's city fire from 1665

The 2024 City Procession arriving at the ‘Kapel in 't Zand’.

The city fire of Roermond on May 31, 1665, started when a marksman participating in a procession fired into the air. The glowing bullet landed on a thatched roof, and the wind spread the fire. Three-quarters of the houses in the city went up in flames.

The population of the city, led by the bishop, went to the ‘Kapel in 't Zand’, just outside the city, to pray to Saint Mary. Joanna van Randenraedt, a devout unmarried woman, chose to stay in the city. She was known as a semi-saint, who had visions and predicted the future. Joanna threw a small statue of Mary from the Franciscan church into the fire. After that, the fire went out - no, it was thought that it was extinguished because of that.

Since then, every year in May, the City Procession travels from the Munsterplein to the ‘Kapel in 't Zand’. The city procession is also called the Candle Procession, because candles of the patron saints of all the water wells are carried and donated to the parish of ‘Kapel in 't Zand’. All this to thank Mary and the parish for all the help provided.

Saint Bernadette in Roermond and Tienray (The Netherlands)

Saint Bernadette’s reliquary in Roermond and Tienray (The Netherlands)

Currently, a relic of Bernadette Soubirous is traveling through the Netherlands. We visited "her" at the Munsterkerk in Roermond and at the "O.L. Vrouw Troosteres der Bedrukten" church in Tienray. This latter church is also known as "Little Lourdes" because a "grotto" has been installed there.

Bernadette Soubirous, born on January 7, 1844, in Lourdes, France, was a devout Catholic peasant girl who gained fame for her visions of the Virgin Mary. In 1858, at the age of 14, she claimed to have experienced a series of apparitions of a "beautiful lady" in a grotto near her home. The lady identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. Despite skepticism and scrutiny from both church authorities and locals, Bernadette remained steadfast in her testimony.

Following the apparitions, Bernadette became a nun and joined the Sisters of Charity in Nevers. She lived a humble and devout life, dedicated to prayer and serving others. She died at the age of 35 on April 16, 1879. Bernadette was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1933.

Bernadette's visions and her humble life have inspired countless pilgrims to visit Lourdes seeking healing and spiritual solace, and she remains an enduring symbol of faith and devotion within the Catholic tradition.