Sacré-Coeur de Dieupart - Aywaille

During the Great War , Cardinal Mercier's famous Pastoral Letter , read in all parishes of the Kingdom, had a deep impact. In it he proclaimed that “the religion of Christ makes patriotism law” and promised that “on the day when our territory will be liberated , we will be able to give the Sacred Heart and the Virgin Mary the public proof of our gratitude.”

During the difficult times of this terrible war, devotion increased dramatically, especially when the message initiated by the cardinal that the Sacred Heart would lead the Allies to victory became widely known. Numerous testimonies indicate that during the Great War, images of the Sacred Heart literally entered homes; often the bases of these statues were even decorated with ribbons in the national colors. (A Brussels plaster caster - and he was not the only one - reported that he had made more than 100,000 of these statues !)

From that moment on, and certainly until 1930 and the centenary of Belgian independence, statues of the Sacred Heart were erected in many parishes.

Willem Vandenameele