Catholicism

After the French Era, conventuals and monks came back: the sisters 'under the Arches' (1837), the friars of the Beyart (1840), the Jesuits (1852), etc. They were prominently present in the schools and in the hospitals. They organized many processions, Maria congresses and 'Heiligdomsvaarten' (solemn city processions every seventh year).
Maastricht people went to church every day and became members of brotherhoods like those of Maria 'Star of the Sea'. Children were innocent until the seventh year of life, reaching then the 'age of discretion'. They received Holy Communion for the first time, and became members of the church militant.
The reports about apparitions of Mary at Lourdes, Fatima and Banneux moved many people. The devotion for Saint Therese of Lisieux was everywhere: everyone appreciated her Little Way to holyness.
The holy little father of Hasselt, father Valentine Paquay, gave a typical example of nineteenth century local sanctity. He considered himself of no value, continued to pray and fast, completed his tasks in punctual obedience, with gladness and unrestrained devotion. He spent many hours as a confessor in the confessional box, called everyone 'my little child' and saw through the souls. Then happened what he didn't seek: everyone went to him to find relief, even now, a hundred years after his death.

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