Statue of Our Lady of Aberdeen standing high on a pedestal in a side chapel of a Brussels church is one of Scotland’s treasures, a statue of Our lady and the Child which was saved from destruction in Aberdeen during the reformation.

For sixty-five years, it was hidden until it was shipped to safety in the Low Countries. Despite her intention to keep the statue in the Royal Place, the Infanta of Spain, Archduchess Isabella, was persuaded to place it in the newly built Augustine church in Brussels.

The statue remained in the church until 1796, when it was again removed for protection into private hands, this time to escape the ravage of the French revolution. an Englishman John Morris, safely restored it to the Augustinians on 1805 and it remained in their care as an object of devotion until 1814 when it was removed to the neighbouring Church of Our Lady of Finisterre. It is still venerated there as Our Lady of Good Sucess.

Since the Restoration of the Scottish Hierarcht in 1878, devotion to Our Blessed Lady in Aberdeen, throughout the diocese and further afield, has focused on copies of this ancient statue including the statue which stands in Our lady of Aberdeen since the opening of the church on the 9th July 1963. The church is named after Our Lady of Aberdeen and is the only church in Scotland with this name. The feast of Our lady of Aberdeen is on the 9th July and is a national Feast Day in Scotland.

Prayer

Our lady of Aberdeen, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven
we thank you for your intercessions on our behalf in the past.
With renewed confidence we turn to you again, asking that you
may, through your Son, help to strengthen our faith and guide
us in our resolve to carry out his will
We commend to you our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and our
Bishop, Hugh, and ask that you may look favourably upon their intentions.
We pray for all the needs of the Church; that you may bring
about unity among men in the love of your Son.
Our Lady of Aberdeen, we pray for those who rule us, we pray for
neighbour, our families and ourselves that the peace of Christ may
reign among us, always
Our lady of Aberdeen, Our Lady of Good Success, pray for us