Our Lady of Heiloo's Relief

Marian title of Heiloo (Northern Holland)

La devoción a Our Lady of Heiloo's Relief downlandes, Our Lady in need- is attached to the old Marian pilgrimage site of Heiloo, in Northern Holland, considered the main Marian pilgrimage centre of the Netherlands. The local tradition places its origins at the end of the 14th century, linking them to a miraculous well, the Runxputte, popularly known as El Putje.

Main data

Origin and history

La devoción a Our Lady of Heiloo's Relief downlandes, Our Lady in need- is attached to the old Marian pilgrimage site of Heiloo, in Northern Holland, considered the main Marian pilgrimage centre of the Netherlands. The local tradition places its origins at the end of the 14th century, linking them to a miraculous well, the Runxputte, popularly known as El Putje.

La documented history points out that the sanctuary and devotion suffered destruction or interruption during the Reformation, and that the place was restored in the 20th century. The source consulted does not provide in detail a complete chronology or precise concrete dates of foundation, ruin and restoration; therefore, these ends must be formulated with caution and, where there is a lack of precision, no consta.

The image and the sanctuary

A safe and complete description of a image concrete - type, material or iconography - associated exclusively with this advocation in Heiloo; therefore, unverified characteristics should not be attributed to it.

The veneration is concentrated in the Diocesan Sanctuary of Our Lady of Relief in Heiloo, located in Northern Holland, described as the The largest Marian pilgrimage place in the Netherlands. The information available does not show here if the temple has the title of minor basilica; if its character is diocesan sanctuary and its national relevance in Dutch Marian piety.

Sponsorship and coronation

No consta un patronazgo officially documented municipal, diocesan or national in the sources provided.

It also does not contain a documented canonical coronation of the image or of the advocation; by prudence, it should be indicated simply: does not contain a documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

La main party se sitúa around 8 September, date linked to the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, although in the sources consulted it is not formulated as a solemnity of the sanctuary with specific decree.

The devotion to Heiloo is marked by the Marian pilgrimage and by the memory of miraculous well of Runxputte, which gives the place its popular nickname, El Putje. The available source underlines its condition of main place of Marian pilgrimage in the country, which indicates a remarkable influx and a unique weight in the Catholic spiritual geography of the Netherlands.

Link to the Rosary

There is no specific historical or institutional link between this advocation and a the Rosary, a rosarian crown of its own or a peculiar rosarian practice of the sanctuary. However, as in many Marian shrines, the Rosary It naturally fits into this devotion because it guides prayer to the mysteries of Christ contemplated with Mary, especially in a place of pilgrimage where the memory of the Virgin is expressed through prayer, supplication and filial trust.