Scherpenheuvel-Zichem is to the northeast of the province of Flemish Brabant it’s been Belgium’s most popular pilgrimage site But it’s especially in May that pilgrims from all over the globe flock to this little town to light candles and pray Anyone visiting Scherpenheuvel-Zichem can spot it from miles away – the Basilica of Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel Its gigantic dome is crowned with a lustrous scattering of 298 gilt stars Not only is Our Lady of Scherpenheuvel Belgium’s most famous basilica The basilica and square are designed as a heptagram symbolic of Mary’s seven sorrows and seven joys the basilica is ringed by cheerful stalls selling statues You might also hear a melody or two from the carillon if you’re lucky Another sacred, historic site in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem is Averbode Abbey Norbertine monks have called this area home for over 900 years Visitors are welcome to explore the courtyard and part of the abbey church all week long For the curious among us looking for a sneak peek behind closed abbey walls there’s a guided tour every Sunday at 3 pm To experience and enjoy Averbode’s unique products drop by the experience centre and café – Het Moment.  Tucked behind Averbode Abbey, you’ll find a beautiful forest and richly textured, colourful heathland. You’ll come across this nature reserve’s very best spots on the Norbertine Walk (9.3 km) your walk involves a stroll down Ice Cream Lane [de Lekdreef]: a car-free street lined with ice cream carts during the summer Plunk down on one of the lane’s benches and enjoy an ice cream in nature’s good company (It’s also a great spot for people-watching!)  just follow the nodes: 100 – 85 – 86 – 75 – 274 – 76 – 87 – 90 – 100 – 98 – 107 – 384 – 144 – 286 – 104 – 91 – 96 – 100 Tip: Those red & white roadside signs should be a familiar sight. It’s an ingenious – but simple! –navigation system for hiking enthusiasts. You can use the nodes to chart your own walk. Just use this tool Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram Публикация от Travel Tomorrow (@traveltomorrow.eu) Up for a challenge? Meet the Dwars door het Hageland Gravel Route This bike ride is 75 km long and involves some heavy endurance climbs (500 altimeters) Cycle the mud runs of the Demerbroeken and plunge through the woods of Averbode on this route Back in the day (the Middle Ages), Zichem found itself at the crossroads of the Duchy of Brabant and the County of Loon. And that made its safeguarding priority number one. Consequently, one Reinier II van Schoonvorst commissioned the construction of a watchtower, the Maagdentoren This colossal stone and brickwork structure appeared on the banks of the Demer River in the 14th century Now you can climb all the way to the top for a stunning vista of the Demer River Valley The streets and town life of Zichem often served as a backdrop for Ernest Claes’ books. His young adult bestseller, De Witte, is a great example. A new 3-km kidtastic loop trail ‘Explore Zichem with De Witte’ (Dutch: ‘Met De Witte door Zichem’) crosses several spots featured in the tale you and the kids are in for plenty of fun and games Getting to Scherpenheuvel-Zichem by train is quick and easy. The city has two train stations, one in Zichem and one in Testelt. Going by bus? Route 35 from Leuven to Hasselt will get you there. Monday through Friday, you can catch a train going your way from either destination on the hour. Visit the SNCB website to plan your trip The tourist’s go-to for a trip to Scherpenheuvel-Zichem is their website. For more walks and bike trips in the area, check out Flemish Brabant Tourism or subscribe to their monthly English newsletter Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website Statistics cookies collect information anonymously This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website BRUSSELS (OSV News) — Numerous volunteers and professionals are doing everything in their power to make Pope Francis’ visit to Belgium go smoothly but one thought prevails: You only get this chance once in your lifetime Bram Slegers does not know exactly how it happened the 18-year-old will soon be taking part in a papal Mass as an altar server at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels Sept “I received an email saying I had to go to Koekelberg because I was allowed to serve with the pope We were told we were chosen,” he said Each diocese is sending a few young people The choice of Slegers was not difficult for the Diocese of Antwerp: He is an acolyte in no less than 12 churches in Mol and Balen “I said yes because this is a unique opportunity,” he said He also saw it as a sign as he has had a calling to be a priest for some time otherwise I wouldn’t have received that email,” Slegers said “I experience this as something God has given me,” he said “He has given me a priestly vocation which is already in full swing; with everything that happens Pope Francis arrives in Luxembourg the morning of Sept departing for Rome after the Mass and a noon farewell ceremony The papal trip to Belgium required months of preparations on all fronts The miter and choir mantel that Pope Francis will wear during the celebration in the stadium has been designed and sewed by an Arte Grossé studio in Bruges “It is the highest recognition you can get.” The Bruges company specializes in liturgical robes and has in the past provided clothing for several major ecclesiastical events but for the first time the studio is now also allowed to vest Pope Francis When they were assigned to the task by Archbishop Luc Terlinden of Mechelen-Brussels “We had to make a design that had to be approved our first design for the miter was found too busy.” The choice ultimately was a design inspired by a chasuble that the company had previously made for Archbishop Terlinden “We came up with the idea of just making a simple cross where all the colors of the chasuble are incorporated That was approved and that is how we worked it out,” explained Verhelst “It’s a design with cheerful colors.” the studio also is supplying other pieces of clothing and items for Mass — all of which had to be ready in a month and a half also because of the time pressure,” said Verhelst But she thought that it was absolutely worth it “I am very proud that so many people will see our clothes,” she said will also have a role to play and will act as an interpreter during the meeting between the pope and ecclesiastical representatives in Koekelberg at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart Sept She was commissioned through her work as an interpreter at the European Parliament “My Protestant colleague there was asked to act as an interpreter during that meeting and to find someone else for it He said: ‘I just want a righteous Catholic You don’t get a second chance,” she said “I myself also have a great admiration for Pope Francis for his humility and the way in which he slowly but surely gets much-needed reforms through such as making the Roman Curia less powerful and the church less clerical.” The papal trip to the center of Europe also takes some veterans when it comes to organizing big church events and Patrick du Bois is one of them The 70-year-old was involved in organizing church events for almost two decades “It is a service I provide to the church I also have the highest admiration for Pope Francis’ message and how he tries to reach a wide audience the pope is trying to reach as many people as possible,” Du Bois said He is helping with the pope’s visit organization and logistics very precise security measures must be taken,” he said The papal visit is also of much larger size than the events that Du Bois has previously organized there are 260 journalists to be accredited.” Although he has been retired since last year Du Bois spent 12 hours a day this spring organizing the apostolic visit He indicated that he was looking forward “a little” to “the moment that the event is behind us,” but above all he hoped to make the papal visit a success “I look back with satisfaction when I see happy people who have experienced the pope’s visit positively,” he stressed His reward at the end would be “if all those people have also received new impetus and new enthusiasm for faith and Christian values,” he said “That is our hope that people will become more positive about the church,” Du Bois added “The image is now very negative: In Flanders a lot of attention has been paid to abuse problems but the message of Jesus Christ to people can reach a wide audience again.” This story was originally posted at www.kn.nl  Print Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media Catholic Media Assocation Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association The Associated Church Press WILLEMSTAD - Huize Scherpenheuvel has a new owner The old orphanage will be converted into senior residences The Sint Thomas College Foundation could no longer afford the maintenance and has therefore sold a part of the complex The new owner is the Vermell Private Foundation The sale involves more than 2.5 million guilders.  Pedersen keeps the race lead with second on stage 3 Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl)(Image credit: Sprint Cycling Agency)Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) dropped his chain during the time trial and fought to regain time(Image credit: SprintCyclingAgency)Rune Herregodts crashed(Image credit: SprintCyclingAgency)Daan Hoole (Trek-Segafredo) set the fastest early time(Image credit: SprintCyclingAgency)Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) claimed the victory on stage 3 of the Baloise Belgium Tour winning the 11.8-kilometre time trial from Scherpenheuvel to Zichem ahead of race leader Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) The Dane had a 17-second buffer on the Belgian time trial champion Lampaert at the start of the stage and fought to a fine second place on the stage giving up just seven seconds to hold onto the race lead Pedersen's teammate Daan Hoole was third on the stage having set the fastest early time and spent much of the afternoon in the hot seat Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal) was a distant 10th on the stage and 19 seconds down on Lampaert but held onto third overall by one second over Oscar Riesebeek (Alpecin-Fenix) The stage win is Lampaert's first of the season "I didn't have the best season so far and to win in my national jersey in Belgium in a time trial is not common I'm very happy I could beat Mads Pedersen who is in really good shape I'm really proud of my result today," said Lampaert Results powered by FirstCycling The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999 and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling a Norbertine abbey in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem (Flemish Brabant) has emerged as Belgium’s hotspot for exorcisms More than 1,000 exorcisms take place here every year Historian Kristof Smeyers (Leuven University) and "Geert" explains the renewed popularity of 'devil exorcisms' An 'exorcism' may mainly have seemed something from the past "I do 3 exorcisms a week and not a day goes by without new requests," Geert but his real name is known to our news team) in addition to his pastoral work "to listen to these people's stories and to try to set them free" "I often hear that even in other parishes they can hardly keep up with the demand" "Exorcism has been around for a very long time," explains historian Kristof Smeyers (KU Leuven) His research 'Devil's Displeasure' tries to chart the history of exorcism in Flanders the church felt that there was a need to incorporate these practices the procedure was then written down step by step Not much has changed since that day." Geert learnt about exorcism from such works "There are also courses in exorcism in Rome and I would like to take one someday Exorcisms are not actually that spectacular unlike how they are sometimes portrayed in films like 'The Exorcist'." If it doesn't happen like in the famous horror movie "It starts with an exploratory conversation," Geert explains This is followed by a long prayer to set him free "The essence of an exorcism is engaging in dialogue with evil," adds historian Kristof Smeyers people who are possessed do not display uniform symptoms "These symptoms change a lot over the centuries," he explains it’s mainly "physical symptoms" that occur alarm bells go off when someone shows abnormal behaviour" Think of 'accidents' that occur but seem to have no explanation They can raise suspicions of the devil." The historian does see a clear distinction between those who are convinced "that the devil dwells within them" and those whose surroundings are convinced of it "There’s a disproportionate number of women who are said to be possessed by the devil or demons There is a dominant theory that women are more prone to sinfulness and evil." Geert sees a pattern in the people who come to him "They are people who are stuck and cannot move forward in life and blame it on the presence of a superhuman force People have less to hold on to and find it harder to explain things." Can exorcism offer these people real liberation "It doesn't happen automatically” explains Geert ,”but about half the people say they feel better and are able to move forward once again." Alpecin-Deceuninck rider beats Fabio Jakobsen The Dutchman spent much of the day on the attack but he still summoned up the strength to lead out the sprint for Philipsen after he was caught in the last 2km Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) was closing rapidly on Philipsen in the closing metres but he had to settle for second place in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem while Timothy Dupont (Tarteletto - Isorex) took third place Van der Poel led Philipsen all the way to the 100m to go marker and he still took sixth on the stage after sitting up in the closing metres Philipsen will wear the race leader’s jersey on Thursday after claiming the winner’s 10-second time bonus while Van der Poel helped himself to eight seconds in bonuses thanks to his efforts in the ‘Golden Kilometre’ intermediate sprints in the finale The circuit race took place largely on Philipsen’s training roads and there was no shortage of support for De Flam van Ham – the Flame from Ham – at the start in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem after his teammate Van der Poel had set the race ablaze Philipsen duly scorched to victory 165km later there was a lot of support,” Philipsen said To win here is a nice start to the Baloise Belgium Tour.” no such thing as a straightforward day when Van der Poel is involved This opening stage of the Baloise Belgium Tour offered the obvious prospect of a bunch sprint but the afternoon took on an unexpected guise when Alpecin-Deceuninck launched a collective attack with 90km remaining Joined by teammates Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch Van der Poel managed to bridge across to the day’s early break forming a ten-man group at the front and sowing panic in the main peloton Soudal-QuickStep and Lotto-Dstny scrambled in pursuit and their furious chase would bring Van der Poel et al The truce was never likely to be a lasting one with Van der Poel in this kind of mood and the Dutchman duly threw himself into the attack again with 66km to go Van der Poel was tracked by Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) Hugo Page (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) Ceriel Desal (Bingoal WB) and Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X) joining them to form a ten-man group on the front The group built a maximum lead of 40 seconds over the bunch where Israel Premier Tech were now leading the chase When first De Pestel and then Stuyven punctured out of the break with 20km to go it briefly looked as though the move might lose some momentum but Van der Poel quickly steadied the ship with sharp accelerations on the cobbles of Kerkstraat and again on the climb of Wijndries with 12km to go Tiller and De Buyst could follow Van der Poel’s pace on the latter climb Jakobsen and Sam Welsford (DSM) were among the fast men briefly caught out when the bunch split The leading quartet still had 20 seconds in hand when they reached the ‘Golden Kilometre’ with 9km to go where Van der Poel picked up a total of eight bonus seconds after winning two of the three That haul ensured Van der Poel had something to show for his aggression but the repeated efforts can’t have helped the escapees’ prospects of staying clear and they were duly swept up with a shade over 2km to go Rather than end his day’s work there Van der Poel simply shifted into a new role slotting into his place in Philipsen’s lead-out train Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny) and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X) also had support in the final kilometre but it was Alpecin-Deceuninck who seized the initiative Van der Poel took over inside the final 200m before Philipsen delivered a crisp finish to claim his second win of the week after his triumph at Elfstedenronde Brugge Results powered by FirstCycling WILLEMSTAD - Skateboarding is officially an Olympic sport from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in July-August Flipside Skatepark organized several events in Scherpenheuvel since last weekend Three professional skaters have come to Curaçao to give workshops and demonstrations in schools They show the youth what you can achieve in life with skating They are here with their own film crew so that they can show the rest of the world what Curaçao has to offer in the field of skateboarding ENNIA is proud to be one of the sponsors that makes this initiative possible for our youth On Wednesday morning the students of the Don Sarto School in Soto received an exclusive demonstration A fennec fox has been captured in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem in eastern Flemish Brabant Province Fennec foxes are natives of the North African desert “Local residents suspected the presence of an animal in a wood stock They set a trap with Belgian sausage” explains Cisse Boen of the Opglabbeek nature centre in Oudsbergen (Limburg) Fennec foxes are not native to our climes and with their large ears are seen as pretty exotic creatures “Local residents suspected an animal had taken up residence in the wood stock because their dog acted in a strange fashion when they approached the pile” says Cisse The fox clearly had an appetite for Belgian sausage and two days later it was trapped in the cage Because they didn’t immediately recognise the animal “We drove out to collect the animal” explains Cisse Then we will look for an animal park that can provide it with a new home” “In Belgium fennec foxes cannot be kept as pets This must be an illegal specimen that escaped” says Cisse