On Sunday 4 February 2024, we held our annual Children’s Blessing in the Sint-Kwinten’s Church. Specially invited to this blessing were all parents with their child baptized since February 2023. Children brought the bread and wine forward at the offertory and were invited around the altar for the Lord’s Prayer.
It was beautiful when three priests from different continents and of different ages blessed the children at the end of the celebration. Father Tuli, originally from India, Father Pacco, from Botswana, and Scheutist Father Jeroom Heyndrickx, who has meant and still means so much to the Church in China, took their time to bless all the children. Fr. Jeroom also spoke a few words in Chinese after Communion.
During our celebration, there was also a special focus on Matthew and Fatemeh. Both, along with Marcus, who could not attend, will receive confirmation as adults during the Easter Vigil on 30 March 2024 in Leuven’s Sint-Pieter’s Church (Grote Markt), after having attended adult catechesis for a year.
After the celebration, according to old Flemish custom, there was an abundance of pancakes available in the Sint-Kwintenshuis, where young and old feasted to their hearts’ content.