An unusual Sacred Heart, a Christ-King with latex paint

The white statue of Christ on the south side of the church seems to wave to us from afar in the sun. Its solitary figure emphasizes the stony emptiness of gray gravel and bare bricks. The latex paint is peeling off. Green and gray lichens form dull patches. The eyes are black holes that seem to hold onto you. This Christ carries the cross – painted too brown – loosely, almost casually, against his hips. On his chest, a red, flaming heart adorns him, from which golden rays shoot out. The gold of his royal crown has also faded. But despite this mild erosion by time, this figure remains self-aware, reassuring, with attention to his surroundings,... This is a rare example of a Sacred Heart statue that is also a Christ the King. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Just after World War I, the Catholic Church would place this ancient symbol massively in cities and towns as a warning against the secularization of society and the 'wildness' of morals. It became one of the core symbols in Catholic social doctrine in the struggle against rising socialism. Not coincidentally, the deeply Catholic town of Aarschot was dedicated to the Sacred Heart in 1923. Elsewhere in Flemish Brabant, numerous - often monumental - new Sacred Heart statues were erected in many places, often in a prominent spot in the landscape. Just look at Wezemaal (1926) and Assent (1946).

The combination with Christ the King is indeed special. The feast was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in the encyclical Quas Primas on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. The intention was to emphasize the all-encompassing significance of Christ's kingship over mankind and the world in the face of rising secularism and atheism. Not coincidentally, this feast marks the end of the church year.

The term Christ the King refers to one of the three Messianic functions of Jesus: King, Priest, and Prophet. However, the title 'king of the universe' is never used for Jesus in the Bible, but that qualification seems more of a propagandistic addition. The clouds in this image on which Jesus stands clearly refer to this 'appointment.'

Christ the King is a high day for Catholic action groups and youth movements. Anyone who has ever been a member of Chiro probably remembers how this Christ the King idea was expressed at every celebration.

The statue in Grazen was placed in 1934 at the initiative of the Norbertine pastor Livinus Dossche. Not coincidentally, the blessing was done by Abbot Crets of the Abbey of Averbode, the actual superior of Dossche1. In 1959, the statue moved to the village square, under the willow tree. This was certainly a first action in the plan of the then pastor August Van Reydt, who needed the corner by the church for another project, namely the construction of a Lourdes grotto, a few years later in 1962. The Lourdes grotto was demolished, and recently the statue was placed back in its original spot. For the older resident of Grazen, it must be a strange and awkward sight to see only the willow on the grassy square. But for visitors, the willow is now prominently present in all its glory.

1In Averbode, we also know a special veneration of the Sacred Heart, but in this case, it concerns the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This devotion dates back to the Middle Ages and is derived from the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In modern times, it flourished after the Marian apparition to Saint Catherine Labouré in Paris in 1830 and after the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in 1854.

Jan Rymenams