Apparitions in Onkerzele (Belgium)
1933
On Friday, June 9, 1972, the body of Leonie Van den Dijck, a woman who died there in 1949, was exhumed from the cemetery of Onkerzele (near Geraardsbergen in Belgium). She was the most prominent of the seers in the series of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which began on August 4, 1933 in Onkerzele.
It was an eventful year in Belgium, this year 1933, in which many important apparitions of the Blessed Virgin took place. It started in Beauraing, where Mary appeared to a number of children from November 29, 1932 to January 3. 1933. This cycle had barely ended when the Blessed Virgin began to appear in Banneux to the girl Mariëtte Béco from January 15 to March 2 of the same year. While the battle over the supernatural or otherwise origin of these apparitions continued, there was some controversy. Beauraing a man (Tilman Côme) who claimed that the Blessed Virgin also appeared to him there. That happened between June 11 and August 15 of that year. Meanwhile, on August 4, the first of a long series of events took place in Onkerzele through an apparition of the Blessed Virgin to Leonie Van den Dijck. While this series of apparitions continued, Mary appeared to Jules de Vuyst in Herzele on October 2 and 5 and asked him to make a pilgrimage to Onkerzele. In the same month, the apparitions of Mary to 2 girls in Chaineux take place (on October 5, 12 and 17) and from October 9 to 30 of that year, Mary also appears to two men in Etikhove. The series concludes with the apparitions from October 29 to November 7 to Maurice Van den Broecke in Olsene.
Ultimately, the first series of apparitions to the children in Beauraing and those of Banneux were accepted as genuine by the Church, while no or negative statements were made about the other apparition places. To limit ourselves to Onkerzele: The exhumation of Leonie Van den Dijck's body took place at the request of a “Committee” that wished to remain nameless. The police commissioner of Geraardsbergen, a son and one of the daughters of the deceased, and a number of doctors and priests were present at the exhumation.
Why this excavation? One of the visionaries' predictions was that after being buried for twenty years, she would be exhumed and her body would be found intact. The excavation was by no means secret. There were reporters and a TV crew and among the many villagers present at the event were also film amateurs who recorded the events. According to the Belgian "De Standaard" of June 13, 1972, it was discovered during the exhumation that the body had been buried in a zinc lighter that was in a wooden box. According to those present, the face, arms, hands, feet and legs were in surprisingly good condition. The doctor who performed the examination reportedly stated that the body was in the condition of someone who had recently died. The stigmata that Leonie wore were still clearly visible and blood was said to have flowed from the wound in her side. Several people present would have personally convinced themselves that the limbs could still move smoothly and that the body emerged from the grave unscathed. After the exhumation, the body was reburied in a concrete vault at another location in the cemetery. The Committee wishes to build a small chapel above it.
It all started in Onkerzele on August 4, 1933, when Leonie Van den Dijck, a mother of 13 children abandoned by her husband, 9 of whom were still alive, went to pray the rosary at a small chapel in that town. Then the Blessed Virgin appeared to her and according to De Standaard she told a reporter from that newspaper about that apparition at the time, how she perceived Her: “Underneath the poplar above the hedge, an indescribably beautiful glowing light suddenly appears, blue with silver and red. , most blue. Under that light, half supported by the hedge and half towards the chapel, comes a large ball of gray and blue. Immediately Our Lady descends. She will be placed in that light on that sphere. Her essence is like falling down in worship and it gives you such reverence! She has blond hair; her blonde hair comes from under her white voile. A crown with “spikes” from half of the face along her forehead and up around the entire head. A long, snow-white dress that extends over her feet to the ball on which she rests. A pale blue belt with a button and two hanging ribbons, which hang open at the bottom and show the white of the dress in between.”
The call of the Blessed Virgin in Onkerzele and the purpose of Her coming there can be summarized in a few words:
- “I have come for the conversion of sinners. One should keep Sunday holy.”
However, the Blessed Virgin Mary also gave communications of a more confidential and highly important nature to Her confidante Leonie Van den Dijck. For example, she appeared to her at the end of September 1933 very sad and said:
- “Pray! Pray a lot! Let us pray much for the conversion of sinners. Your country is in great danger.”
At that moment, a rock appeared next to the Blessed Virgin in Leonie's vision, on which a man was climbing. He had ropes with him. The Blessed Virgin said:
- “His Majesty.”
When we reached a certain height, another man appeared, neatly dressed and rather portly. They walked together for a while and talked and laughed. At the foot of a rock they parted; the second went to the left, the first to the right. At one point it found itself on ropes with knots tied against a rock wall. He climbed using his wrist joints. He had almost reached the top when the other man appeared again, this time above him. He grabbed his hands and pushed him back. He fell backwards and his head hit a rock and the body fell down those rocks. Then the vision became dark. The seer saw the king lying bleeding at the foot of the rock. Two men approached, one after the other. Then she saw the body being carried away. From the moment Leonie saw this vision, she prayed a lot for the King and for the Royal Family. When she prayed for this intention, her voice always sounded sad and full of pity. On January 17, 1934, less than four months later, the King of Belgium, Albert I, died in an accident in Marche-les-Dames while climbing a rock wall during a climbing trip in the Ardennes; he was a mountain sports enthusiast.
Further predictions made in Onkerzele were those regarding the death of Queen Astrid, wife of Leopold III, who died in a car accident in Küssnacht (Switzerland) and the abdication of her husband, Leopold III, which event took place in 1946. Whether and to what extent these announced job tidings with regard to the Belgian Royal House also played a role in the assessment of this matter by the ecclesiastical authority, it is certain that the then Cardinal Archbishop of Mechelen, Cardinal van Roey, would have announced in 1942 to have. It was made that after investigation people were negative about the events in Onkerzele and the priests were forbidden to deal with them, although no publication of this negative judgment seems to have taken place.
Moreover, the visions that Leonie Van den Dijck had and the messages entrusted to her certainly did not exclusively relate to the Belgian Royal Family. On several occasions she told details about the Second World War that was to come and about subsequent events. In this way she was able to explain that the history of salvation consisted of three epochs: One from Adam to the Flood; a Second from Noah to Christ, while a third era would conclude around 1975. This would be followed by a short period of about 15 years, consisting of the temporary Kingdom of Christ on earth. At the end of each age, God was forced to act because of the wickedness of people. The first time this happened by the flood; the second time He sent His only begotten Son as Savior on earth and through His death on the Cross came our redemption. At the end of the third age comes the punishment of fire, which will kill 4/5 of humanity.
In addition to Leonie Van den Dijck, Maria also appeared to the girl Berthonia Holtskamp in Onkerzele. On February 3, 1934, the Blessed Virgin said to her, among other things:
“I come to repeat once again what I desire: I desire that stations be erected here in honor of My Sorrows, so that pilgrims may come here to contemplate them... I also want a pilgrimage on the first Friday after the Feast of the Sacred Heart, and that in honor of the Sacred Head of My Son. All those who carry the image of the Sacred Head of My Son will be protected. Be cheerful; I will never abandon you... Farewell!”
The seer Jules de Vuyst, who was summoned to Onkerzele in Herzele through several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, was also called to perform important tasks there and was given the assignment, including devotion to the Holy Head of Christ, the Seat of the divine Wisdom, to be made known, especially as a remedy against intellectual pride. It will come as no surprise that precisely because of the spread of this devotion to the Holy Head of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and Christ Himself also made known to him the consequences that would bring about a rejection or neglect of Her desires. She desired a lay order of worshipers of the Holy Head. Christ Himself pointed out to him the task of the priests in the fulfillment of these desires and their great responsibility:
“Because people do not want to believe and reject devotion to the Holy Head, there will be . . . come…I will emancipate the churches; they will take off their clothes. There will be few more vocations to the priesthood. The apostasy that will be fatal; The priests are to blame for this, and I will call them to account. And yet...My Holy Head will be adored and venerated despite the great opposition of the priests. I will prevail. Many become priests for a position or for family honor. Let the little children pray for priests..."
After the dismissive attitude of the church authorities (De Standaard wrote in the article of June 13, 1972 that the Onkerzele case quietly died out after 1942), very little public action was taken for years, but this matter has by no means died down. Many worshipers of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the devotion to the Holy Head of Christ, convinced of the authenticity of the apparitions at Onkerzele and of the seriousness of the desires expressed there by Heaven, have suffered and prayed in silence and worked very hard to fulfill, as far as they could, the desires of Heaven. They have already seen numerous predictions literally fulfilled. Their trust in the help and assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Refuge of sinners, has become even closer during those years.
Now that the intact exhumation of the body of Leonie Van den Dijck has once again fulfilled a - this time very clear - prediction of this seer, the time seems to have come for believers to use the existing testimonies about the events of the 1930s in Onkerzele. , to hear more details about this. Now that the time is so serious and the events are so close, no admonition and warning is superfluous....
As far as we know, these apparitions were not approved by Rome.