Boxmeer Procession

The organising foundation was established in April 2000. Beforehand the organisation was done by the Carmelites and the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. By transferring the organisation to a foundation, a follow-up and adequate succession were ensured for the future. Moreover, it became easier to attract public funding and subsidies. Six board members were appointed Procession Masters. Young board members can become Procession Masters after a trial period. In preparation there is frequent contact with the municipality and the police.

The miracle of the Holy Blood – when before the eyes of an unbelieving priest, the wine in the chalice turned into effervescent blood and dripped onto the antependium – is thought to have taken place around 1400. In 1457 a Holy Blood altar was consecrated in the church of Boxmeer. In 1482 Johannes van Meer, Canon in Zutphen, bestowed a gilded carrier chest for the cloth with the Holy Blood. In 1507 and 1508 a procession was stated. During the Eighty Years’ War the chest with the relic was transferred to the neighbouring Gennip. In 1631 the Bishop of Roermond reconfirmed the Blood Miracle of Boxmeer. In 1656 Count Albert van den Bergh bestowed a golden chest for the relic. During the French domination it became difficult to hold a procession and openly worship the Holy Blood. The relic then was hidden in the house of a private person until in 1854 it was replaced in the Holy Blood altar in the church of Boxmeer. In 1856 the Boxmeer Procession, being an old tradition, was placed on the list of legally admitted processions. The celebration in 1900, the fifth centennial of the miracle, became a large-scale project. Since that day the Procession has been passing through the streets of Boxmeer three times a year. After World War II that number was raised to five times a year. However, during the sixties of the last century the enthusiasm for the Procession decreased. Since 1965 the Procession is held once a year.