Our Lady in Need Chapel - Heiloo

Our Lady in Need in Heiloo, North Holland, is the largest Marian pilgrimage site in the Netherlands. The name Heiloo is derived from the words heilig, meaning "holy", and loo, an Old Dutch word for "wood" or "forest".

The history of the sanctuary dates back to the late 14th century. According to tradition, a farmer found a statue of the Virgin Mary on his land. He took it home, but miraculously it returned to the place where he had found it. Around the same time, a ship ran into trouble off the coast near Heiloo. In desperation, the skipper prayed to God. Above the crashing waves and howling wind, he heard a clear female voice saying: "If you honour me, the wind will turn." The skipper recognised the voice as that of the Mother of God and promised to devote himself to her veneration. After he reached land safely, the two stories came together and the site for the Chapel of Grace was established. A document dating from 1409, preserved in the archives of the Archdiocese of Utrecht, mentions the capelle in de banne van Heiligenloo, a chapel in the district of Heiligenloo.

The chapel houses two remarkable instruments. One is a distinctive Adema organ, which is still used to provide music during services. The other is a monumental Pels organ dating from 1914. Although no longer in use, it remains in the chapel as an important piece of historic heritage.