Our Lady, Sweet Mother of God Chapel - Biest-Houtakker

On 19 July 1643, four young men found a statue of the Virgin Mary in the water of the Aa river near the Bevert bridge in the hamlet of Biest. The statue was placed in a small box that was nailed to a nearby lime tree. In no time at all, this spot was visited by pilgrims and the bridge was given the nickname ‘Beaver Bridge’. In 1644, a poem was written about the discovery of the statue and the miracles that Mary has performed.

The statue is approximately 21 cm tall and made of red pipe clay. Although it was completely broken into pieces in the past, it was later expertly restored. After the construction of their own church in Biest-Houtakker in 1913, the parish had to make great efforts to bring the statue to their village in 1981. Since then it has been given a place in the parish church of Biest-Houtakker.

The statue is protected by the guild ‘Our Lady Brotherhood of Biest-Houtakker’, which was founded on 2 February 1790. The guild is the owner of the statue and has given it a place on the left side altar, the altar of Mary, in the Willibrord Church in Diessen after the church of Biest-Houtakker was deconsecrated in June 2013.

Members of the Brotherhood have erected a small chapel near the Bevertbrug bridge containing a copy of the statue of Mary. This chapel was opened on 22 October 2006 by the then mayor, Huisman. A bench donated by Sisca van de Pas-Kemps' children was unveiled near the chapel in honour of her 100th birthday.