I discovered this chapel (Kapel Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Willerieken in Dutch) recently.
In over five years that I have lived in Brussels, many a time I would drive south on the Ring (Steenweg op Sint-Jansberg), passing by the chapel, but, strangely, never before noticed it.
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Call it poor observation skills, focusing on the road, or perhaps blame it on the bushes obstructing the view. I always remembered approaching the former priory of Groenendael
A tall building on the opposite side of the Ring, from the chapel (where Terblokstraat meets Leopold II Laan), would also catch my eye. A once hotel-restaurant Chateau du Prince Leopold, its name imprinted in a period sgraffito - faded today in testimony to its faded glory.
A tall building on the opposite side of the Ring, from the chapel (where Terblokstraat meets Leopold II Laan), would also catch my eye. A once hotel-restaurant Chateau du Prince Leopold, its name imprinted in a period sgraffito - faded today in testimony to its faded glory.
It was only in the last couple of months that I finally spotted the chapel.
Prompted by this discovery, one weekend, I got on a bike and crossed the Zoniënwoud to reach it.
The day was sunny and quite a few people moved through the area. I took a lot of photographs, noticing that the candles were lit and the flowers did not seem too old. If somebody is taking care of it, it must hold significance to the locals, I thought.
The day was sunny and quite a few people moved through the area. I took a lot of photographs, noticing that the candles were lit and the flowers did not seem too old. If somebody is taking care of it, it must hold significance to the locals, I thought.
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I started researching. It turns out that there is considerable history and tradition behind the chapel.
A manuscript, once found in the monastic library at Rouge-Cloître, described its origins.
On a Good Friday Night, sometime in the Middle Ages, a pious man by the name of Laurent, possibly a clergyman from Groenendael, decided to attach a statue of the Virgin to a tree, or some wooden post. He envisaged the faithful flocking to the statue beseeching favours. As he was going about this task, he and friend, who were helping him, heard a celestial concert and sensed a sweet overpowering fragrance. The scent was so overpowering, yet pleasing they thought it could have only come from heaven.
Since that night, the place has become known as Good Fragrance, hence the name given to the statue Our Lady of Good Fragrance.
A medieval monk who recorded this phenomenon added that the source of this fragrance could not be determined. At the same time, departing from the supernatural tale, he noted that the authors of this good deed picked up a herb that gave off the strongest scent. He called it fougère. We know it today to be a fern giving off a floral scent, used in the production of perfumes. This may well have been the first recording of it. Going back to our story, the monk went on to record that those who laid the foundations for the future chapel picked up the fern and kept it in their houses. Six years later, the fragrance stayed as powerful as when they first encountered it.
On a Good Friday Night, sometime in the Middle Ages, a pious man by the name of Laurent, possibly a clergyman from Groenendael, decided to attach a statue of the Virgin to a tree, or some wooden post. He envisaged the faithful flocking to the statue beseeching favours. As he was going about this task, he and friend, who were helping him, heard a celestial concert and sensed a sweet overpowering fragrance. The scent was so overpowering, yet pleasing they thought it could have only come from heaven.
Since that night, the place has become known as Good Fragrance, hence the name given to the statue Our Lady of Good Fragrance.
A medieval monk who recorded this phenomenon added that the source of this fragrance could not be determined. At the same time, departing from the supernatural tale, he noted that the authors of this good deed picked up a herb that gave off the strongest scent. He called it fougère. We know it today to be a fern giving off a floral scent, used in the production of perfumes. This may well have been the first recording of it. Going back to our story, the monk went on to record that those who laid the foundations for the future chapel picked up the fern and kept it in their houses. Six years later, the fragrance stayed as powerful as when they first encountered it.
Subsequently, to protect the statue from the elements, a certain Jean Hinckaert constructed a wooden roof over it.
This marks the advent of miracle tales.
A lady afflicted with severe pains, who moved about only with the help of crutches went on a pilgrimage to the Lady of Good Fragrance. Her prayers delivered, she stood up, free from pain and in need of no assistance at all.
One of the wardens of the church of Saint Clément in Hoeilaart witnessed this miracle and told the others.
One of the wardens of the church of Saint Clément in Hoeilaart witnessed this miracle and told the others.
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As the fame of the miracle-working statue spread, Henri de Heck, a canon of the Groenendael Priory replaced the wooden chapel with a sturdier structure made of bricks. The first stone was laid in 1477 (or 1485 according to other sources) in honour of Maximilian I, the future Holy Roman Emperor, then the duke of Burgundy. From that period onward, the chapel attracted ever bigger crowds.
It was supported by the parish of Hoeilaart (in existence since the XIII century), but masses were celebrated by the Augustinians of Groenendael and later of Rouge-Cloître.
Spared the ravages of XVI and XVII-century wars and iconoclastic fury, the chapel barely survived the advance of modernity.
In the second half of the nineteenth century it was taken down piece by piece to make way for the road that is now the motorway used by Brussels residents driving south to Charleroi airport and futher down.
Fortunately, the chapel was meticulously rebuilt, incorporating the original medieval stones, albeit 100 metres from the spot on which it had stood originally.
Its glory has not faded.
Today, while a little too close to the busy road, it remains a place of devotion. A special spot in the Forest de Soignes. A forest that does not let go of so many mysteries.
Thankfully, the tradition of pilgrimages to Notre-Dame de Bonne Odeur has not died.
Last Sunday, we went on one with very special friends.
It was quite simply a sublime experience.
Its glory has not faded.
Today, while a little too close to the busy road, it remains a place of devotion. A special spot in the Forest de Soignes. A forest that does not let go of so many mysteries.
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It was quite simply a sublime experience.
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