Royal Brotherhood of the Holy Name of Mary

The Confraternity was canonically erected in the Church Our Lady of Victories at the Sablon on 12th May 1638. It was dissolved around 1750 and re-established by the Cardinal Archbishop of Malines in 1861.

The wooden tablet encourages the faithful to pray before the statue of the Virgin and promises them indulgences. An indulgence is a remission or reduction of the penalties incurred for sins in the Catholic Church. A clear distinction is drawn between absolution, which is reserved to God, and an indulgence, which allows reconciliation with the Church in return for an act of piety (pilgrimage, prayer, mortification) performed to this end in a spirit of repentance.

This practice was called into question after the Second Vatican Council in view of the misunderstandings and abuses it can lead to.

Even today however, the Catholic Church still grants indulgences for those taking part in celebrations or pilgrimages.