Rock O-L-V

This was published in the Werkman in 1880:
On Blessed Sacrament Day, Vlierzele witnessed an extraordinary ceremony, namely the magnificent procession to the rock of Our Lady of Lourdes. About 4,000 people have come to lay down their tributes, gratitudes and supplications before Mary's sanctuary because of this public confession of their faith. A beautiful procession consisting of the clergy of the adjacent parishioners with their numerous congreganists, the children of the Catholic school and the Sunday school, the congregation of Vlierzele with a precious offering, the members of the Church and City Council, of the Catholic School Komity, of the Society of St. Vincent à Paolo and of the Confrerie of the Blessed Sacrament, left the church at 3 1/2 hours, singing beautiful hymns and reading the roozen hat. This ceremony was favored above all by a clear and beautiful weather, by the founding godliness of the pilgrims, and by the good order which prevailed from beginning to end. The road to the rock was at its best decorated, but especially the rock, where a bespectacled and well-placed close attracted the attention of the people.

Dromos