Sainte-Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus

Of a rare homogeneity, this church, built in 1928, is built in the style of the time: "modernism" or "modern movement". Architecturally speaking, it is a place of honor, functionality and clean lines, but also the new materials of the time such as concrete and iron-steel. The furniture of the sanctuary is entirely dedicated to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux (born in Alençon in 1873 - died in the Carmel of Lisieux in 1897).

Doctor of the Church and patron saint of the missions, Saint Thérèse is best known as the saint "of the little ways": the one who suggests that we do ordinary things in an extraordinary way!  The "rain of roses" promised by the saint is omnipresent in the church: stained glass windows, ironwork, woodwork, ... Whatever the material used, the rose is there. The two confessionals were made by the Arts and Crafts workshops of Erquelinnes around 1928.

In Erquelinnes, pilgrimages and processions in honor of Saint Theresa were so frequent and the devotion so intense that the village received the nickname of "Little Belgian Lisieux". The veneration and the attachment to the saint will continue this year... Sometimes, without knowing it, we are in contact with an incredible religious heritage! It is up to us to rediscover it, to safeguard it and to bring it to light.

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