Our first European Heritage Days
The weekend of September 18 and 19, 2021, we were able to organize the Heritage Days alongside several local associations in Mailly le Château. About sixty people were able to discover our exhibition, organized by Raphaëlle Taccone and Father Dominique-Marie, in the Saint-Adrien church. From 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the many visitors learned about Elise’s life in detail.
Indeed, the exhibition was structured in seven parts: the childhood of Élise Bisschop (1925-1938), the universe of poems and songs (1938-1964), the reconstruction of Élise Bisschop's writing cabinet, the rich correspondence of Élise Bisschop (1945-1964), Élise the Dominican Tertiary of Mailly-le-Château (1962-1964), the last years of Élise Bisschop (1958-1964) and, finally, the reputation of Holiness of Élise Bisschop (from 1964 to the present day). For the first time, original documents written by Élise were presented! Visitors were also able to discover a rare painting of the Virgin Mary painted by Élise and her father René.
To enrich this beautiful exhibition, at the communal house, the film “Élise Bisschop, joy entered my soul” was screened. Father Dominique-Marie gave us a beautiful conference on “The feeling of joy in the writings of Élise Bisschop” and Raphaëlle a superb conference on “The inspiring figures of Élise Bisschop”. By discovering the joy of Elise and these role models of men and women who inspired her in her daily life and spirituality, the speakers unveiled a living portrait of Elise.
The exhibition was accessible to adults and children alike, thanks to an activity booklet. Between 3 and 5 p.m., activities prepared by Anne and Isabelle were able to introduce the youngest to the animals in Élise's poems. They were able to make a model of a lark, and phosphorescent night lights based on the poem of the glowworm.
The exhibition ended with a stand presenting all the products from our associative store, which you can find on this site.
Most of the visitors already knew Élise and, unanimously, all were very happy to have been able to rediscover this beautiful Mailly-Castelloise which, despite the rainy weather, made us smile.
In order to see others pictures you can go here.