A miracle at this altar before the image of Our Lady

in the former Redemptorist Church in Brussels

The ex-votos around the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help are the evidence of numerous benefits obtained on the intercession of Our Lady venerated under this title.

We would like therefore to tell you of a miraculous occurrence, reported in the chronicle of this church. The miracle was the first that occurred since 1867 when an authentic copy of the original picture (in the Church of St Alphonse in Rome) was erected for public veneration.

A young woman of 19 years, Marie van Cutsem who had rejected protestantism, found herself to be suffering from a paralysis declared incurable. She was a sorrow to see, moving with pain on her crutches. On the advice of a priest, she sought a cure through the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. In seeking health, she wished to enter a convent and also sought the conversion of her sisters who remained protestants. She commenced a novena. At the end of the novena, she asked to be carried one more time in front of the image of Our Lady. She remained there six hours saying that she did not wish to leave until she was cured. She recited with fervour one Rosary decade after another. At the end of each Ave, she cried out “my good mother, heal me!”. Mary could only agree before such confidence in her intercession. Onlookers were moved with emotion when they saw the sick woman get up and walk, going by foot to the convent of the Sisters of Charity, where she was staying.