Chapel of Our Lady of Refuge

Picture shot in Belgium, Antwerp, on Tuesday 14 June 2016.

Because of its location people of Antwerp know this place of worship as the Little Shoemakers’ Chapel, even though it has nothing to do with this trade. The usage of ‘little’ illustrates the sympathy they have for this oasis of prayer. The chapel is bathed in an atmosphere of popular devotion: constantly candles are lit, the altar is always buried by flowers, ex-votos have been placed on the walls.
All this because the chapel is devoted to Jesus’ mother Mary: officially the chapel of Our Lady’s Nativity or of Our Lady of Refuge. It is a refuge for everybody, whatever the need, rank, social class or age may be. Only because till the 1970’s quite a few prostitutes of the town centre came here to say their prayers, the nickname ‘Whore’s Chapel’ also came into use.