Myths and Legends - Luxembourg NMR
The Madonna of Bildchen
Between Bivels and Vianden in the Luxembourg Ardennes there stands a hill whose dark green beauty is enhanced by a splash of vivid white almost upon its summit. This is the shrine of Bildchen, and the winding path by which it is approached is divided into seven separate parts by seven little altars, each depicting an episode in the life of Christ. Such a delicately beautiful setting deserves a charming tale to adorn it, and sure enough there is one.
Many hundreds of years ago two little boys, playing on the hillside, found a tiny oaken statue of the Blessed Virgin in the branches of an oak tree. Heedlessly, they threw it on a wood fire which they had made to keep themselves warm, but the flames refused to attack it, and suddenly the statue became dazzling white. Terrified, the boys fled from the place. The next day they returned, bringing a priest with them. They found the statue in its original place in the oak tree.
The priest took it to Vianden church, but it disappeared the same night, and was found back in its old resting place. When the same thing happened several times, the statue was left in its chosen haven until the tree died. Than the shrine of Bildchen was specially built to house it, and it has remained there ever since, save for its annual journey….
Once a year there is a great pilgrimage to the shrine, and the statue is carried in solemn procession to Vianden church, but it remains there until the end of the Feast of the Assumption. Then it is carried back to the shrine, and who dares to say that, if ever she were not returned to Bildchen, the locked doors of Vianden church could prevent the Madonna from finding her own way to freedom?
Over the door of the little chapel is the inscription “Profer lumen caecis, pelle mala nostra” (Give light to the blind and drive our misfortunes from us). The waters of the spring near to the shrine of Bildchen are looked upon as having miraculous powers for the healing of the blind. Many failing eyes are still washed there every year. I would recommend Bildchen, too, to all those who feel that their faith in God is failing. There is a great and living strength to be drawn from the faith which sustains the tiny shrine, the pilgrimages to the spring and the seven little altars. And for those who feel that their faith needs no such stimulus, there is a magnificent view of the Our valley or the distant castle of Falkenstein in Germany.