Warfhuizen

Last updated
Warfhuizen
Kerkzomerpiep.jpg
Church in c. 2004
2010-NL-P01-Groningen-positiekaart-gemnamen.jpg
Red pog.svg
Warfhuizen
Location of Warfhuizen in the province of Groningen
Netherlands location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Warfhuizen
Warfhuizen (Netherlands)
Coordinates: 53°20′27″N6°25′32″E / 53.34083°N 6.42556°E / 53.34083; 6.42556 Coordinates: 53°20′27″N6°25′32″E / 53.34083°N 6.42556°E / 53.34083; 6.42556
Country Netherlands
Province Groningen
Municipality Het Hogeland
Area
[1]
  Total0.31 km2 (0.12 sq mi)
Elevation
[2]
1.6 m (5.2 ft)
Population
 (2021) [1]
  Total205
  Density660/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Postal code
9963 [1]
Dialing code 0595

Warfhuizen (Gronings: Waarfhoezen) is a village in province of Groningen, located in the northern part of the Netherlands. It is part of the municipality of Het Hogeland.

Contents

Warfhuizen consists of two man-made mounds, called wierden, designed to escape the floodwaters of the Wadden, which flooded the whole region several times a year before dykes had been coed. The smaller mound was originally raised to protect a separate village called Burum. The village church stands on the larger mound.

The Church

"Our Lady the Garden Enclosed", statue in the hermitage church of Warfhuizen. OurLady Warfhuizen.JPG
"Our Lady the Garden Enclosed", statue in the hermitage church of Warfhuizen.

The church belongs to the hermitage of Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden, one of the few hermitages in the Netherlands still inhabited by a hermit.

The church, which was first constructed in the 13th century, was replaced by a neo-classical building in 1858. Only the bell survived the ages and is even one of the oldest churchbells in the Netherlands. The building is dedicated to Saint Ludger and Our Lady under the title of "the Enclosed Garden".

The present organ was built in 1910, but was in fact reconstructed from two organs of a much earlier date (17th and 18th century.)

The church is especially known for its statue of the Mother of Sorrows, sculpted by one of the renowned procession-sculptors of Seville, Miguel Bejarano Moreno. It is because of this very Andalusian image that some Spaniards living in the Netherlands use Warfhuizen as a place of (unofficial) pilgrimage. In the last years their habit spread to all Catholics in the region and even beyond: Warfhuizen became the northernmost Marian sanctuary of continental Europe.

A peculiar custom, unique for this shrine, is 'the trading of the handkerchief'. It is said that visitors bring a new white handkerchief and ask the hermit to swap it with the one held by the sorrowful Virgin whose handkerchief is then presented to someone sick, lonely or elderly in the audience. Little is documented about this alleged custom. The origins of this particular custom are unknown, although a widespread rumor tells that it started with catholic pilgrims from the south of India and Sri Lanka, but the reasons behind this rumor are unexplained.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carthusians</span> Catholic Church religious order founded in 1084

The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians, are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the Statutes, and their life combines both eremitical and cenobitic monasticism. The motto of the Carthusians is Stat crux dum volvitur orbis, Latin for "The Cross is steady while the world turns". The Carthusians retain a unique form of liturgy known as the Carthusian Rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Marne</span> Municipality in Groningen, Netherlands

De Marne is a former municipality in the northeast of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2019 it merged with the municipalities of Bedum, Eemsmond and Winsum to form the new municipality Het Hogeland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eersel</span> Municipality in North Brabant, Netherlands

Eersel is a municipality and a town in southern Netherlands in the province of North Brabant. Eersel is situated in the Campine (Kempen) area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermit</span> Person who lives in seclusion from society

A hermit, also known as an eremite or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walsingham</span> Civil parish in Norfolk, England

Walsingham is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval monastic houses. Walsingham is 27 miles (43 km) northwest of Norwich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Fiacre</span> Name of three different Irish saints

Saint Fiacre is the name of three different Irish saints, the most famous of which is Saint Fiacre of Breuil, the Catholic priest, abbot, hermit, and gardener of the seventh century who was famous for his sanctity and skill in curing infirmities. He emigrated from his native Ireland to France, where he constructed for himself a hermitage together with a vegetable and herb garden, oratory, and hospice for travellers. He is the patron saint of gardeners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of Sorrows</span> Name of Virgin Mary in relation to sorrows in her life

Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows, and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which Mary, mother of Jesus, is referred to in relation to sorrows in life. As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carfin Grotto</span> Christian shrine in Scotland

Carfin Lourdes Grotto, a Roman Catholic shrine in Scotland dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, was created in the early twentieth century. The "Carfin Grotto", as the shrine is locally referred to, was the brainchild of Father, later Canon Thomas N. Taylor, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier's Parish in the small, mining village of Carfin, which lies two miles east of Motherwell, in the West of Scotland. Following a trip to France's principal Marian shrine at Lourdes, Canon Taylor's vision was to build a religious memorial in honour of Our Blessed Lady based on the template of the Grotto of Massabielle. To realize this vision became his life's work. Since its opening in the early 1920s, the "grotto" has attracted pilgrims in the hundreds of thousands and its environs have been modified and enhanced with rich Catholic symbols and buildings. The grotto shrine offers a pilgrimage season with Sunday processions, rosaries, outdoor Masses and dedicated Feast Day events which run annually from early May until late September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden</span>

The Roman Catholic hermitage of Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden is situated in the former Reformed church of Warfhuizen, a village in the extreme north of the Netherlands. It is the only Dutch hermitage currently inhabited by a hermit. The name draws upon the traditional epithet for the Virgin Mary of hortus conclusus or enclosed garden, a reference to the Song of Songs that indicates the Virgin's "perpetual virginity and at the same time her fruitful maternity".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liétor</span>

Liétor is a municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, located southeast of the Iberian peninsula, in the valley of the "Mundo" river. It has a population of 1,279 inhabitants. It comprises the districts of Cañada de Tobarra, Casablanca, El Ginete, Híjar, Mullidar, Talave and La Alcadima.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermitage (religious retreat)</span> Place of seclusion

A hermitage most authentically refers to a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, or a building or settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion. Particularly as a name or part of the name of properties its meaning is often imprecise, harking to a distant period of local history, components of the building material, or recalling any former sanctuary or holy place. Secondary churches or establishments run from a monastery were often called "hermitages".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Our Lady of Egmanton</span> Church

The Church of Our Lady of Egmanton is a Church of England parish church in Egmanton, Nottinghamshire, and the location of the Shrine of Our Lady of Egmanton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguel Bejarano Moreno</span> Spanish sculptor

Miguel Bejarano Moreno is a Spanish sculptor, known for his Roman Catholic statues for the famous processions of the Semana Santa. He lives and works in Seville Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanctuary of Fátima</span> Church in Beira Litoral, Portugal

The Sanctuary of Fátima, officially titled Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima, is a Marian shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Fatima located in Fátima, in the municipality of Ourém, in Portugal. It consists of a group of Catholic religious buildings and structures with the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary as the main building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Alberca</span> Municipality in Castile and León, Spain

La Alberca is a municipality in the province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castilla y León, Spain. It is the capital of Sierra de Francia Comarca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica of Our Lady, Maastricht</span> Roman Catholic church in Maastricht, Netherlands

The Basilica of Our Lady is a Romanesque church in the historic center of Maastricht, Netherlands. The church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Diocese of Roermond. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verena of Zurzach</span> Virgin saint, hermit

Verena of Zurzach, mostly just called Saint Verena is an early Christian consecrated virgin and hermit. She is especially venerated in Switzerland, where her cult is attested in Bad Zurzach, the reported place of her burial, from at least the 5th century. She is recognized as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church as well as in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Her feast is on 1 September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel</span>

The Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel is a Roman Catholic parish church and minor basilica in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium. The church was consecrated in 1627 and raised to the status of a minor basilica in 1922. It is reputedly the most frequently visited shrine of pilgrimage in Belgium. While the cult on the Scherpenheuvel is older, its present architectural layout and its enduring importance are due to the patronage of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella and the Counter-Reformation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sorrowful Mother of Warfhuizen</span> Statue at the hermitage of Warfhuizen, Groningen, Netherlands

The Sorrowful Mother of Warfhuizen is the name most often used for Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden, the statue that is kept at the hermitage of Warfhuizen. Since 2003 it has drawn many pilgrims to the village in the north of Groningen. It is also popularly called Our Lady of Warfhuizen or Mary of Warfhuizen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of Pompeii Church (Manhattan)</span> Catholic church in New York City

Our Lady of Pompeii Church, or more formally, the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Pompeii, is a Catholic parish church located in the South Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, in the United States. The church is staffed by Scalabrini Fathers, while the Our Lady of Pompeii School is staffed by Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is located across from Father Demo Square, which is named for the church's third pastor, Antonio Demo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kerncijfers wijken en buurten 2021". Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  2. "Postcodetool for 9963PA". Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland (in Dutch). Het Waterschapshuis. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 8 April 2022.