Luxembourg - Cathedral of Notre Dame by Mark Sukhija

The Statue of Our Lady

The first mention of the Statue of the Comforter of the Afflicted was on the 8th of December 1624 when the statue was part of a procession outside the city wallks by Father Jacques Brocquart and the students of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Jesuit College. A chapel for the veneration of the Comforter was built between 1625 and 1628 on the Glacis Field. The chapel was then enlarged in 1640 and the statue would remain there until the beginning of the French Revolution. The statue was brought back into the city to be kept in the Parish Church (previously the Jesuit Church.)

The oldest pictures of the Madonna, which are currently in Kevelaer, confirm that the Madonna is dressed according to the customs which the Spanish adapted in the Middle Ages. As is customary with many statues of the Madonna, the costumes are changed according to the particular religous festival or pilgramage in progress. The Octave, the celebration from the fourth to sixth Sunday of Easter is of particular importance to Comforter of the Afflicted.

The polychromatic statue of the Comforter of the Afflicetd is carved in lime wood and stands 0.73 (2 ft 4 in) meters in height.

Key dates in the history of Cathedral of Notre Dame

1594	Jesuits settle in Luxembourg
7th May 1613	Corner stone of the Jesuit College Church laid
17th October 1621	College Church consecrated and dedicated to the "Blessed Virgin"
8th December 1624	First recorded worship of the miraculous statue of Our Lady as Comforter of the Afflicted
10th October 1666	Election of the Virgin Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted, as Patron Saint of the the City
20th Feb 1678	Election of the Virgin Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted, as Patron Saint of the Duchy of Luxembourg and the County of Chiny
1773	Suppression of the Jesuit Order
29th April 1778	Former Jesuit Church becomes a parish church dedicated to St Micholas and St Theresa
1789	French Revolution Luxembourg subsequently becomes integrated into the "Departement des Forêts
1794	Transfer of the statue of Our Lady from the chapel outside the city walls to the Parish Church
1801	Parish church designated "Mother Church of the City and the Department." Dedicated to St Peter
31st March 1848	Named "Church of Our Lady"
27th September 1870	Elevated to rank of Cathedral
12th May 1935	Cornerstone of Cathdral extension laid
1938	Extension finished. Construction of crypt finished Crypt dedicated to St Peter
1962/1963	New choir arrangement
8th December 1963	New consecration of the building
5th April 1985	Steeple of bell tower destroyed by fire
15th May 1985	Pope John Paul II prays in front of the statue of the Comforter of the Afflicted on his pastoral visit to Luxembourg
8th June 1986	Blessing of the new church bells
23rd April 1988	Diocses raised to the status of Archdiocese