Basilica of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

Our Lady's Drive 8, 9041 Ghent, Belgium

The Basilica of Oostakker-Lourdes is the church of an important pilgrimage site in Oostakker, a district of Ghent.

The pilgrimage site was established at the initiative of a noblewoman: Marquise de Courtebourne-de Nédonchel, who lived at the nearby Castle Slotendries. In 1873, she built a grotto in her garden in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. After the consecration of the statue at the grotto on June 29, 1873, local residents and inhabitants of Ghent requested to come and pray at the grotto. A year later, Pieter De Rudder was miraculously healed of an open leg fracture at the Lourdes grotto. This healing led to a large influx of believers. To accommodate the pilgrims, a church was built in 1875 in neo-Gothic style according to the plans of architect E. Van Hoecke-Peeters, with a slight modification by architect Jean-Baptiste Bethune in 1876. It was consecrated in 1877 by the Bishop of Ghent, Hendrik Frans Bracq, and elevated to the status of a basilica on the 50th anniversary of the pilgrimage site in 1924. The furnishings are also neo-Gothic and designed by J.B. Bethune.

The basilica is dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the name by which Mary revealed herself to Bernadette on March 25, 1858.

In the back right of the church, there is a photo and some information about Pieter De Rudder, and to the left, there is a statue of Bernadette. To the left at the front of the church stands the crowned statue of Mary, Immaculately Conceived. Her statue was crowned on August 5, 1888, by order of Pope Leo XIII.

Above the main altar, a retable represents three grottos: the grotto of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, the grotto of Jesus' resurrection, and that of Lourdes. One of the stained glass windows above the high choir depicts St. Alphonsus of Liguori. A granddaughter of Marquise de Courtebourne became a Redemptorist. The depiction of the Sacred Heart in the front left side chapel is very beautiful.

Thanks to the efforts of, among others, Marquise de Courtebourne, Oostakker-Lourdes also became the birthplace of an impressive educational campus.

In one of the two towers, there is also a carillon with 49 bells, cast by the Michiels Bell Foundry in the 1950s. However, the console was temporarily removed during a restoration in the 1970s and has not yet been replaced to this day.

Source: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basiliek_van_Oostakker-Lourdes

Rudy Wuyts