Where’s that: Belgium, 115km south of Brussels
Our Lady’s connection: Apparitions to five children
Over three months, between November 1932 and January 1933, the Blessed Virgin appeared 33 times to five children — Fernande (15), Gilberte (13) and Albert (11) Voisin, and Andrée (14) and Gilberte (9) Degeimbre — in the village of Beauraing, near the border with France.
She first appeared in the evening of November 29, 1932, at a railroad viaduct near their local convent school. She looked to be around 18-20 years old with deep blue eyes, and a rosary hung from her arm.
News spread fast, and by the December 8th apparition, more than 10000 people had come to witness the children seeing the Virgin. During the final apparitions, witnessed by 30000 on January 3, 1933, she revealed an illuminated golden heart, which is why she is also known as “Our Lady of the Golden Heart”.
Her messages were aimed at children especially, encouraging them to be good and to pray frequently. She also asked that a chapel be built for her, “so that people might come here on pilgrimage”.
The apparitions and two cures attributed to the intercession were approved by the bishop of Namur, with the permission of the Holy Office, in 1949. The feast of Our Lady of Beauraing is on November 29.
The five children went on to lead quiet and uneventful lives. The last living visionary, Gilberte Degeimbre, died in 2015.
Published in the November 2025 issue of The Southern Cross
- Vocations and Easter - April 6, 2026
- Shrines around the World: Our Lady of Beauraing - March 21, 2026
- St Patrick: From Slave to Apostle - March 17, 2026
