Our Lady of the Snow

The chapel is also called Our Lady Help of Christians.

The chapel dates from 1665. It replaced a wooden chapel built in 1646 on the occasion of the following event.
On the eve of St. Anthony, January 16, 1645, Willem Verreyt, a pedlar, traveled from Baarle to Chaam. Arriving in the heath between Ulekoten and Chaam, he saw, a little off the road on a small elevation, a statue of Our Lady. Although it was snowing, the statue was dry. The pedlar put it in his back basket and continued on his way. He was assaulted by two soldiers on the Chaamse dike. One had already pulled up the of his rifle to shoot Verreyt, but he hit the assailant so terribly with his stick on the hand and on the rifle that the smashed weapon fell out of his hands. Thus, according to Verreyt, with the grace of God and the help of the Holy Mother of God, I was redeemed from the first soldier. Then the second attacker jumped on the pedlar, shouting: "Now you must die" and put his gun to Verreyt's heart. The shot went off, but did not harm the victim. Three weeks after the event, on 15 February 1645, Verreyt brought the statue to Werbeek and placed it in a tree stump near the main orbit of the earth. Soon pilgrims came to venerate the statue and through the intercession of Our Lady of the Snows were granted favors and healings.
In 1646 a wooden chapel was built in which the statue was placed. In 1665 this chapel was replaced by a stone chapel that still exists today. The chapel is built in the shape of an octagon with an extension for the chancel. A lazy turret stands on top of the roof. Old lime trees overshadow the chapel.
The original statue of the Virgin Mary was stolen in 1974 and replaced by a wooden carving. The 4 stained glass windows tell the history of the miraculous statuette. To this day, the chapel remains in use for baptisms, weddings, anniversaries and other church celebrations.

Hermans Cor Meerle