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The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg, located in the heart of the Grand Duchy's capital, dominates the city center. A skilful combination of classicism and elegance, it blends perfectly into the skyline of the capital. Nowadays, the Octave and the Te Deum, celebrated on the national holiday, are performed in the Cathedral on the national holiday. As part of the festivities to mark the Accession to the Throne of His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri, a thanksgiving service will be held in the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Historical Background
The oldest part of the Luxembourg Cathedral of Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted, is in fact the church of the former Jesuit College. The plan of the church was drawn up by Brother Jean du Blocq (1583-1656) from the Monastery of Tournai. Brother Otto Herloy (+1639) was responsible for the effective supervision of the building works. The builder was Ulrich Job from Lucerne (Switzerland). The stonework of the church (except the upper part of the belfry) was entrusted to him. The ornamentation of the columns, a decorative element characteristic of the architecture of the Jesuit church in Luxembourg, was also made in his workshop. The sculptor Daniel Müller (+1623), an immigrant from Freiberg in Saxony, also made a decisive contribution to the artistic design of the church.
The construction works were completed in 1621, as the inscription on the portal shows. In the same year the richly sculptured gallery, Daniel Müller’s masterpiece, was set up in the entrance to the nave. On 17 October 1621, Georg von Helffenstein, Auxiliary Bishop of Trier, consecrated the college church and dedicated it to the Immaculate Conception.
The artistic decoration of the interior was gradually completed over a period of several decades.
When their Order was suppressed in 1773, the Jesuits had to leave the city on the 1 October of that same year. On 15 November, the usufruct of the church was transferred to the college, now under state control. On 29 April 1778, Empress Maria-Theresa, Sovereign of the Austrian Netherlands, to which Luxembourg had belonged since 1714, gave the former Jesuit church to the City of Luxembourg. The sanctuary was elevated to a parish church under the new name of St Nicholas and St Theresa.
Just before the French revolutionary troops entered the fortified city of Luxembourg in late 1794, the church received within its walls the miraculous image of the Comforter of the Afflicted, patron saint of the city and the whole country, which the records first mentioned on 8 December 1624.
After the Concordat concluded in 1801 between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon, a large part of the territory of the former Duchy, henceforth known as the "Département des Forêts", was incorporated into the diocese of Metz. The parish church of St Nicholas and St Theresa was proclaimed "mother church of the city and the department" and received the new title of "Eglise St Pierre" (St Peter’s Church) in an attempt to obliterate the memories of the Austrian rule.
On 31 March 1844 the apostolic vicar Jean-Théodore Laurent (1841-1848) renamed it "Eglise Notre-Dame" (Church of Our Lady). His successor to the post of apostolic vicar and first diocesan bishop was Nicolas Adames (1848-1883). Under the pretext of purifying the artistic style of the church, he promoted the neo-Gothic renewal of the interior, starting in 1854. In 1851, the church square was demarcated on the rue Notre-Dame side by stone pillars with a cast iron lattice.
The Church of Notre-Dame becomes a Cathedral
In 1815 the Congress of Vienna created the Grand Duchy. On 27 June 1870 Pope Pius IX proclaimed it a self-governing diocese and so the Church of Notre-Dame became a cathedral.
Between 1935 and 1938, an extension enhancing the existing building was constructed according to plans drawn up by the architect Hubert Schumacher in collaboration with Canon Léon Lommel.
The extension, which rises up from the twin bays of the chancel of the 1613-1621 building, gives a special character to the present appearance of the former collegial church in the city skyline, due to both its scale and its architecture effects. (1)
The wonderful stained glass of the chancel and the transept was made in part by Louis Barillet, that of the Grand-Ducal tribune by Oberberger, and the high stained-glass windows of the transept by the Luxembourger Emile Probst. (2)
The latest restoration of the church was carried out by the City of Luxembourg in 1977-1978. The purpose was to accentuate the vertical dynamism of the architecture, and highlight sculptural elements. (3)
On Good Friday, 5 April 1985, welding work started a fire in the old belfry. The bells of the carillon, the Bourdon de la Vierge, and the bells of St Willibrord, St Pierre and Ste Cunégonde in this tower were destroyed. As the belfry collapsed, the roof above the central nave of the cathedral was damaged in several places by debris from the burning tower (4). The reconstruction work of the tower was finished on 17 October 1985.
The crypt
The deep crypt, with the massive architecture of the twelve columns supporting the church above, contains not only the burial vaults of the Bishops, but also the vault of the grand-ducal family. Entry to the crypt is gained via a wide staircase guarded by two bronze lions bearing the coat of arms of the dynasty - the work of Auguste Trémont. Finally, in the subdued light given by the sparkling stained glass windows by Wendling, one can see the 17th century sarcophagus containing the remains of John the Blind, Count of Luxembourg and King of Bohemia. (5)
Our Lady Comforter of the Afflicted
The veneration of the Comforter of the Afflicted dates back to an initiative by a Jesuit teacher, Father Jacques Brocquart, who organized a modest pilgrimage in 1624 for the pupils of the college. Soon after, he had a chapel built next to the ramparts to house the statue and encourage the veneration of the Blessed Virgin. From 1625 onward, individual pilgrims or groups of students traveled to pray before the statue of the Comforter of the Afflicted. In 1639, the first "Book of Miracles" mentioned prayers answered and cures that took place in front of the miraculous statue in the Chapelle du Glacis. Invocation of the Comforter of the Afflicted became increasing popular with the people of Luxembourg. (6)
Our Lady, Comforter of the Afflicted was chosen in 1666 by the City of Luxembourg as "Patron Saint of the City", and in 1678, she was proclaimed "Patron Saint of the Country" by the whole population, and has remained the object of fervent worship ever since. Every year, in Spring, the "Octave" festivities gather round her Christians from all over the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and also Lorraine, the Belgian Ardennes and the Gaume and Eifel regions, for a two-week period (from the fourth to the sixth Sunday of Easter). (7)
Bibliography
Bref aperçu de la Ville de Luxembourg. Press and Information Service, Luxembourg 1993.
Notre-Dame Parish Council (ed.); La Vénération de la Consolatrice des Affligés en la Cathédrale de Luxembourg.
Luxemburger Marienkalender. Imprimerie Saint-Paul, Luxembourg 1986.
La cathédrale Notre-Dame Luxembourg. Printed by Imprimerie Saint-Paul, Luxembourg.
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(1) La cathédrale Notre-Dame Luxembourg. p. 2-4, Printed by Imprimerie Saint-Paul, Luxembourg.
(2) Bref aperçu de la Ville de Luxembourg. p. 46. Press and Information Service, Luxembourg 1993.
(3) La cathédrale Notre-Dame Luxembourg. p. 2-4, Printed by Imprimerie Saint-Paul, Luxembourg.
(4) Luxemburger Marienkalender. p. 83. Imprimerie Saint-Paul, Luxembourg 1986.
(5) Bref aperçu de la Ville de Luxembourg. p. 46 Press and Information Service, Luxembourg 1993.
(6) Notre-Dame Parish Council (ed.); La Vénération de la Consolatrice des Affligés en la Cathédrale de Luxembourg.
(7) La cathédrale Notre-Dame Luxembourg. p. 2-4, Printed by Imprimerie Saint-Paul, Luxembourg.
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