{"id":38019,"date":"2021-05-27T13:17:33","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T11:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topa.be\/st-andries\/kennismaking\/"},"modified":"2021-07-19T13:37:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T11:37:44","slug":"kennismaking","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/topa.be\/en\/st-andries\/kennismaking\/","title":{"rendered":"SAK A brief survey"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Saint Andrew\u2019s Church<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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A short guide for a visit<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dear visitor, welcome to our homely parish church \u2018Sint-Andries\u00adkerk\u2019! Even though this was once the \u2018Parish of Misery\u2019, the church still contains a number of gems from Antwerp\u2019s artistic heritage which manage to surprise many visitors. Typical for these regions the church building is one in Gothic style with mani\u00ebristic paintings, baroque furniture and neogothic glass windows and, even more exceptionally, some contemporary additions. The light cast by the sun is very pleasant particularly in combination with the colours in the glass windows which inspired Vincent Van Gogh, among others. As a \u2018house of God\u2019 the Saint-Andrew\u2019s church is an oasis of peace, partly thanks to the enthusiastic team of volunteers.<\/p>\n

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  • The neighbouring street names<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Refer to the history, the patron saint and characteris\u00adtics of the church: Augustijnen\u00adstraat, Sint-Andries\u00adstraat and -plein (square), Pomp\u00adstraat which refers to a pump originally on the cemetery, and the Waaistraat (Windy Street) seems aptly named at the feet of the church tower.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    • (A<\/strong>)\u00a0The tower<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      In 1755 the original Gothic tower collapses and is replaced by the baroque tower with an open wooden lantern. Its symbolic height (of 58 m) points us towards God; in Him men find \u2013 ultimately \u2013 their real destination. During the struggle for the Belgian independence the tower serves as lookout post for King Leopold I to keep an eye on the Dutch occupying \u00adforces in the South Castle. To avoid a repetition of the scenario in 1755, the lantern is rebuilt in 1968-\u201875.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      • History<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        The founders of this oratory are the\u00a0Augustinian fathers<\/strong>. In 1513 these monks established a chapel which was the start of building a monastery and this church. Because of their sympathy for their protesting confriar Maarten Luther, Margareth of Austria, governor of the Netherlands, ordered the closing of the monastery in 1522 and one year later two monks were executed in Brussels.<\/p>\n

        In 1529 the building is consecrated\u00a0as a parish church<\/strong>. Slowly, but surely, the parishioners overcome such damages as the iconoclasm of 1566, the demolition of the choir and the transept by the Calvinist in 1581, and the collapse of the tower in 1755. They rebuilt and enlarged their church with a sense of beauty into a monumental \u2018house of God\u2019.<\/p>\n

        Not only the church and its patrimony survived the French Revolution thanks to a priest who swore in favour of the Revolution, disobeying the Church, but also a number of works of art were re-used from former convents and churches, e.g. the baroque high altar origi\u00adna\u00adted from the Cistercian Abbey of Hemiksem. Even new baroque monuments were created, e.g. the pulpit and the Way of the Cross. In the 1970s the church\u2019s\u00a0restoration<\/strong>\u00a0was undertaken.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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        • (B<\/strong>)\u00a0The pulpit<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          The most popular attraction is the magnificent baroque pulpit, a masterpiece of J.-B. Van Hoof and J.-F. Van Geel (1821). It represents \u2018life\u2019 the vocation of the first two apostles: Andrew, the patron saint of this parish, and his brother Peter. As written in the gospel (Mt. 4:18-20), Jesus talked to Andrew and Peter while they worked as fisher\u00admen. They were called to follow Him and to become \u2018fishers of mankind\u2019. Without delay, but full of astonish\u00adment, they left their nets behind. The realistic reproduction of these people at life-size with their catch and equipment, boat and nets included, is amazing, all this is in the middle of a naturalistic surrounding of the mass of rocks and the vegeta\u00adtion. Artistically Christ cannot be closer to us\u2026 Is this radical reversal in the life of these two brothers, in the middle of their busy job, not an invitation for you to meditate about how to make sense of your life? It is a good place to pray for vocations.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n