Who is Mary Our Lady of Chevremont?

Answer 1

I am currently reading Joan Carroll Cruz's book, Miraculous Images of Our Lady. Chapter 12 is dedicated to Our Lady of Chevremont. According to Cruz, it is a statue of Our Lady (Mary the Mother of God) in a shrine in Liege, Belgium. The statue is only eight inches high, and is one of the oldest miraculous images of Our Lady. Our Lady holds the Christ Child on her right arm and her left arm is positioned at her waist. Cruz mentions that many miracles have been attribute to Our Lady of Chevremont and that devotion to her has remained constant since the building of the first chapel in the seventh century. However there are no details concerning the miracles (many of the other miraculous images discussed inn the book do have details). Chevremont was initially a Roman stronghold on a hill near the future site of the city of Liege. The original "Lady Chapel" dates back to the seventh century and a Chancellor in the court of King Sigebert III named Ansegise and his wife St. Begga. The Chancellor added ramparts, walls, and the chapel to the fortress.That chapel was severely damaged in 986 when Lothaire, the King of France, besieged the fort. Later in the 17th century Jesuit Priests built a new moderately sized chapel. Over the course of the next two centuries the chapel was enlarged and eventually a Gothic style church was built for the growing number of pilgrims. A monastery was also built at Chevremont for the group of Discalced Carmelites that came to dispense the Sacraments to the pilgrims. In 1923 Pope Pius XI granted a Papal Coronation. There was again an increase in the number of pilgrims to the site and it was elevated to the status of a Minor Basilica. During WWII the Basilica was bombed. The roof was blown off, the stained glass windows were shattered, and a nearby tree was reduced to splinters. A bomb exploded within feet of the chapel housing the statue of Our Lady. The chapel alone remained intact and inside the statue remained standing in its place undamaged. Costly repairs were made to the Basilica with the help of a surtax on special Belgium stamps issued in 1948 depicting the Shrine, the Basilica, and St. Begga. citation: Cruz, Joan Carroll. Miraculous Images of Our Lady: 100 Famous Catholic Portraits andStatues. Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1993.