This brief piece has been prepared by the Sisters of the Antwerp Carmel and compiled by Sr Maria Cecilia Tena, OCD, drawing on the monastery’s historical records concerning the Confraternity of Blessed Anne of St Bartholomew. Her work was supported by the careful archival preservation of the few surviving relevant documents by Sr Myriam, a former member of the Confraternity, together with the guidance of both the current Prioress and her predecessor. The piece also illustrates the depth and continuity of lay devotion to Blessed Anne in Antwerp from the earliest years of her veneration.
Rooted in Antwerp’s devotional history, the Confraternity of Blessed Anne of St Bartholomew is a devotional association known locally as the Broederschap van de Zalige Anna van Sint Bartholomeus, or simply the Broederschap. The devotion that crystallised into the Confraternity arose not from distant admiration but from a living memory cherished by the Carmel of Antwerp and the faithful who supported it. Blessed Anne’s presence had shaped the early life of the monastery, and her reputation for holiness, counsel, and intercession spread quickly among those who sought her prayer. Antwerp in the early seventeenth century was a city marked by both commercial vitality and profound religious fervour. The presence of several active lay confraternities, together with the city’s strong attachment to the reforming movements within the Church, created a natural environment in which devotion to Blessed Anne could take root.[1] The Carmel she founded became a point of spiritual reference for the faithful, who turned to her intercession in times of uncertainty and danger.
Joannes Bovie, first prefect of the Confraternity (1735).
In 1734, the Antwerp layman Philippe Bovie, who first encouraged public devotion to Blessed Anne, initiated the movement that led to the foundation of the Confraternity on 8 September 1735. Its first prefect was Joannes Bovie, almost certainly a close relative and the Confraternity’s first lay head. The Confraternity remained active until 1891. After a period of dormancy, it was restored and canonically recognised in 1932. This restoration emerged from a renewed appreciation of Blessed Anne’s spiritual legacy and was supported by the careful preservation of early documents by the Sisters. The restored Confraternity thus became a bridge between the early devotion surrounding Blessed Anne and its contemporary expression. The current prefect is Fr Henrik Maria Dueñas, OCD, a Discalced Carmelite Friar of the Flanders Commissariat presently serving in the Order’s presence in Sweden. His prefectship is assisted by a Council composed of two Carmelite nuns of the Antwerp Carmel and several devotees of Blessed Anne.
At its core, the purpose of the Confraternity is to serve as a devotional community that gives thanks for the two historical liberations of Antwerp traditionally attributed to the intercession of Blessed Anne: the first in 1622, when the city was freed from a Dutch invasion, and the second in 1624, when Antwerp was delivered from a renewed Dutch incursion.[2]The Confraternity also exists to implore, with gratitude, her continued protection over the city and the country. In the devotional life of the Church, certain saints are associated with particular needs — St Anthony is invoked for finding lost items, St Blaise for ailments of the throat, St Joseph for families and workers, and St Rita for difficult causes. In Blessed Anne’s case, she is invoked by the Confraternity for protection and for all needs, and especially against fever and meningitis, and on behalf of young mothers.[3]
The Confraternity’s devotional rhythm is simple but deeply rooted in Carmelite spirituality. Members entrust their intentions to the Sisters, who remember them daily in the quiet fidelity of monastic prayer. On the second Sunday of each month, a Mass is offered for the intentions of all members, living and deceased, for whom the Carmelite Sisters also pray. The monthly Mass forms a point of spiritual gathering, even for those unable to be physically present, and expresses the enduring communion between the monastery and the faithful who look to Blessed Anne with confidence.
Each June, during the annual celebration of Blessed Anne’s feast (7 June), a Mass is offered for all deceased members. Upon the death of a member, a Mass is offered in the monastery chapel for the eternal repose of the soul of the deceased.
As part of its mission, the Confraternity also strives to spread devotion to Blessed Anne by publishing her Autobiography(Manuscript A, Antwerp) in Dutch (1989), French (1989) and English (2026). The booklets of D. Baldomero Jiménez Duque on the life of Blessed Anne have also been printed in Dutch, German and English. Prayer cards are likewise made available to the faithful.
Through these simple practices, the Confraternity stands as a small but enduring witness to the devotion to Blessed Anne that has long been cherished in the Carmel of Antwerp. Its simple rhythm of prayer, gratitude, and trust draws its members into the spiritual heritage shaped by her life, and reflects, in its own way, the quiet hiddenness that characterises the Carmelite spirit.
In gratitude, the Carmelite nuns acknowledge the generous assistance of the Broederschap in the commemorative celebration of the 400th anniversary of the death of Blessed Anne, held at Antwerp Cathedral on 7 June of this year.
Blessed Anne of St Bartholomew
Pray for us!
[1] For the long‑established confraternity culture and strong lay devotional life of Antwerp, see Guido Marnef, Antwerp in the Age of Reformation: Underground Protestantism in a Commercial Metropolis, 1550–1577 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996), especially chapters 6 -8. These patterns continued into the seventeenth century and formed part of the wider religious environment in which devotion to Blessed Anne later developed.
[2] Contemporary devotional tradition in Antwerp holds that Blessed Anne’s intercession protected the city during two moments of military threat in 1622 and 1624, both arising from Dutch attempts to seize Antwerp during the later stages of the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648). Carmelite sources record that the community and the faithful attributed the city’s preservation in those years to her intercession, a tradition strong enough for her to be known locally as the ‘Liberator of Antwerp.’
[3] How Blessed Anne came to be associated with protection of this sort is not precisely clear, but early devotional tradition attributed to her several favours, including recoveries from sudden and severe illness and the safe delivery of children at a time when fever and complications in childbirth were among the most common causes of death. Early accounts of such favours appear in Crisóstomo Enríquez’s Historia de la vida, virtudes y milagros de la venerable Madre Ana de San Bartholomé (Brussels: Viuda de Hubert Antonio Velpius, 1632), Chs. XIV–XV, pp. 658–676, which recount various ‘milagros’ [miracles] and related ‘favores’ [favours] attributed to her intercession. A digital facsimile of the Spanish text is available through the Real Academia Española (RAE): https://www.rae.es/biblioteca/catalogo/?TITN=56573.
