St. Martin's Church of Strijtem

Father Paul Cuylits was pastor of Strijtem for only nine years, but during that short tenure he left a decorative stamp in the church that has acquired a special heritage value today. He ended up in rural Strijtem after he had fought against socially conservative politicians from the pulpit in 1898 as a sub-pastor in Ixelles. Apparently, the pastor wanted to leave visible traces of his pastorship in his new parish church. This is how it dates
the striking spire with spherical crown on the mid-19th-century neoclassical building from its period. For the decoration of the interior, he had stained glass windows and murals drawn on paper applied. With the exception of two murals, the paper drawings are currently no longer viewable. Affected by moisture and insects, they were expertly removed and are awaiting repair in a restoration workshop. There are quite a few time-bound details in the stained glass windows: the facial features of the local notary, depicted as Saint Blaise in the stained glass window he paid for; Cuylits's brother, portrayed as Saint Martin. Cuylits also had pastors
And depicting nuns in purgatory: after all, no one was sure of a direct place in heaven. There are also more than 30 devils depicted. Above all, the fragility/relativity of earthly life is represented by the skeleton, suspended above the rood screen, which indicates the time on an hour hand and points out to the miscreants that sooner or later, the hour of death will strike for everyone. All these decorations are now quite unique: visual, folk translations of the catechism, in which good and evil are clearly recognizable.

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