Saint Odulphus and Best.
By this time Best is a prosperous municipality of about 30.000 inhabitants, situated to the north of Eindhoven, where from the Stone Age traces of habitation have been found. The oldest records in writing about Best date from the early Middle Ages, when Best was still composed of a number of separate, small Frankish hamlets: Verrenbest, Naastenbest and Aerle. These three hamlets formed a secluded community, on the north-side enclosed by the swampy Best marshland which stretched from St.Oedenrode to far into present-day Oirschot; on the south-side bordered by a wide strip of heathland – namely the Son heath, the Woensel heath, the Acht heath and the Oirschot heath. Such a situation made all these Best hamlets into a solid community, which could later grow into an independent parish. The hamlet of De Vleut (together with Gunterslaer) also belonged to Verrenbest. In the hamlet of Verrenbest (broadly speaking the present-day old centre of Best) in about the year 775 a man was born, who was to become the very first “homegrown” Dutch saint: Saint Odulphus.
The Frank Odulphus was born in Best on the very site, where throughout the ages the parishchurch has been situated. Herewith the St. Odulphuschurch is the only church in the Netherlands, which is situated on the birthsoil of a saint. That is why, for the people in Best, this soil is sacred and it is a special place for the celebration of the Eucharist
Odulphus departed from Best to the neighbouring village of Oirschot, where he had his education for the priesthood and after his ordination he stayed on in Oirschot at the urgent request of his parents. There he was part of the college of priests and clergy that attended to the spiritual care in Oirschot (and surrounding area – Best inclusive). That ia why he is sometimes called parish priest of Oirschot (though this not definitely a fact).
Odulphus’ father – called Bodgesus, Bugisus, or Bugisis – was a respectable and very religious man, whose mortal remains rested in the oldest church of Oirschot (the so-called “Butterchurch”, now in protestant hands) until the year 1616. Afterwards his bones were taken to the parish-church in that same village. From a note in the year 1150 (at the time of Pope Eugenius III and Henry, bishop of Liege) it appears that Bodgesus together with his son Odulphus had been worshipped for centuries.
At the time Best and its near surroundings were part of the Frankish Empire, so that without exaggerating we may say that at this period this area together with Utrecht formed part of the border between the Christian section of Europe and the (still) heathen part of it. Therefore it was ony logic, that Best together with Oirschot formed an excellent missionpost and a frontporch for the further spreading of the faith in Europe. Thereby Odulphus followed the footsteps of great missionaries who went before him – like Saint Willibrord and the martyr Saint Boniface. Odulphus’ name appears in the list of the preachers of faith in the Netherlands, who are honoured on November 6th according to the church-calender. We should keep in mind that Odulphus was unique in this position: as the first saint of real Dutch origin ( St Willibrord and other predecessors had come here from the British isles) he is worth a place of honour in this country. So it is only reasonable that his worship in the Netherlands (and far beyond) has taken such a high flight. Not ony in Best, but also in other places in the Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland traces are found of the worship of this Best saint.
After Odulphus had worked in Oirschot for a short time, he went to Utrecht and, under the guidance of bishop Frederik, applied himself to the conversion of the Frisians, who at that time were only partly Christians, and were still observing heathen practices (Germanic gods and ancestor worship, etcetera). Research by various historians raises the surmise that, for some time he was even deputy-bishop of Utrecht: at the absence of the then bishop Frederik he should have ruled the diocese for a period of ten years. Anyhow, it is for sure that, after the decease of bishop Frederik, he had great influence in the choice of the latter’s successor: at that moment Odulphus had become too old and he had to leave the realisation of this office to others. Seeing that the first hagiographies of Odulphus date from about the first half of the tenth century, the worship of Odulphus will have started in Utrecht at about that time.
From a letter – written by the Oirschot chapter to the chapter of Oldminster in Utrecht in 1480 – it can be derived that the veneration of Odulphus took shape via Utrecht, not long before 1150. In the letter the receipt of a relic of Odulphus was requested, and a copy of a note was included, which affirmed the insertion of Bugisus’ relics in a reliquary in Oirschot, AD 1150. From this it can be concluded that this must have happened after the start of the worship of Odulphus himself in Best and Oirschot. Probably a chapel will have been built on the site of Odulphus’ birth-house in Best. Indeed, from 1340 we find the family-name “van der Capelle”, and in 1380 certain grounds in the centre of Best bear the name ”ter Capelle”, which implicitly refers to this.
Seeing the fact that this place in Best was still well-known, we can conclude that from the early Middle Ages to the people in Best the birth-site of their fellow-villager Odulphus has had a dear and undeniable place in their faith. Until now they still consider this site to be sacred soil. For it was and is the place where one invokes the local Saint as a mediator for the Best community. Even if there is no direct proof: already shortly after Odulphus’ death this place must have had a special meaning for the local people. Otherwise it would not have been so clearly pointed out.
Though the worship of Odulphus in Best had obtained a firm footing from the early Middle Ages, it was not until the winter-chapter of December 1st 1626, that one decided to celebrate Odulphus as the principal patron-saint by means of a “deanery feast”: a church-festival of the highest category, and in which the chapter-dean himself said High Mass. In the oldest parochial register the then parish-priest Guilielmus (Wilhelmus) van Heerbeeck noted down this decision, and mentioned that he had heard from old people in Best that until 1553 this feast took place every year by means of a great procession in which one carried the relic of Odulphus from Oirschot to Best.
Besides the fact that Odulphus has his own church-festival on 12th June, he has, as mentioned before, one more church-festival previous to the one of St. Willibrord (7th November), on which he is commemorated. These facts underine the interest the Church attaches to this Saint from Best. On the church-festival of Odulphus in Best the relic, present in the church is worshipped by the faithful.
Not only from Best, but also from Utrecht and Stavoren in Friesland (where Odulphus Founded a cloister) the devotion for Odulphus spread throughout the Netherlands. Up till now there are a number of Odulphus’churches in our country, that refer to this wide-spread worship. (p.e. in Assendelft). But also beyond the borders of our country there are traces of the devotion for Odulphus.
2. The origin of Saint – Odulphus’ parish.
For the people in Best the ultimate aim – a parish of their own in Best – stood firm long before the actual founding. The oldest and most out-spoken mention of the first step to this aim is to be found in 1421. At that time Best had a chapel of its own – St. Odulphus’chapel – at he same site, where the present-day church was built. Various inhabitants, by legacy or otherwise, granted the “church-management” of this chapel (it had its own church-wardens already) large sums of money or goods for the maintenance of the chapel. The Odulphus’ chapel made of stone was finished in 1437. Besides a large-scale campaign had been organised, in order to obtain funds for the rectory to be founded.
In obtaining this independence the people in the Best hamlets have really exerted themselves. However, they would have to work on the founding of their own parish for many years, for it was by no means easy and many obstacles had to be overcome. But they did not lose courage by these difficulties; on the contrary, they made increase the unanimity – a trait of character of the people in Best, that remains throughout the ages, as we will see further on. Thomas van Audenhoven was more or less the leader of this movement in Best: he was the steward of St. Odulphus’ chapel. At his request the deed of 1437 was drawn up. This deed was also intended to write down the promises of Best people, by which the maintenance of the chapel and the appointment of a priest were made possible. Though the mother-church in Oirschot did not object to this action at first, the separation was thwarted by the Oirschot chapter from the start. All kinds of restrictions were drawn up against the rectory that would be joined to the new chapel. The economic importance for Oirschot was great: the Best hamlets contributed a great deal to the revenues of the Oirschot chapter, so that one did not easily agree to give up this “province”. It only worsened the conflict between Best and Oirschot.
Engelbert van den Spijcker, - born in Best, canon of the collegial St. Mary’s – church in Cologne and vicar of the cathedral of that city – was a very influential man at this period. He proposed a very sensible and reasonable solution for the conflict. By the way, we do only know this proposal from his testamentary codicil of 1491. The proposal ran as follows: all the revenues of the church in Best were to be united with the deanery. That would mean that the dean would also be the rector (parish-priest) of Best, as he was already the parish-priest of Oirschot. Therefore the dean could have the spiritual care practiced by two chaplains in his name – one in Best and one In Oirschot. The intention of this will probably have been, that the chaplain living in Best would be a deputy parish – priest and the one in Oirschot the primissary – the priest who was to say early mass in Best on Sun- and Feast-days. The spiritual care would then be exercised from Best, with the exception of baptisms and burials.: this was not uncommon in those days, because, often, at the splitting up of “daughter- parishes” one was put under the obligation to go to the mother-church for baptizing. The proposal met with the wishes of the chapter, but nevertheless it did not find favour in the eyes of the Oirschot chapter..
For that matter, the first aim of Engelbert van den Spijcker ‘s testament was to establish the Oirschot Cantory and to provide it with an income. After the well – to – do Engelbert – like Odulphus native from Verrenbest – had buttered up the chapter with large donations in goods, he made this effort in order to improve the strained relations. However, as there was no prospect of a change in the attitude of the chapter, Best, at a loss, changed its policy and applied to the bishop of Liege. The chapter, however could not appreciate this, as it detested any interference of the bishop with their affairs! In the following episcopal verdict Best had its wish in so far, that the rectory of St. Odulphus’ chapel was raised to a benefice: which comprised that the rector was appointed for an unlimited time, and could not, in the mean time, be dismissed by the chapter. The bishop did not dare to strike too much against the chapter’s hair, so that further practically all the conditions in the original deed of foundation were adopted. As the Oirschot chapter had also refused to appoint a new rector for Best, the bishop did it himself on account of his “ius devolutionis” (the right to appoint a functionary, when someone else who had the right to do that, had neglected it, and so had endangered the spiritual care).
The reaction of the Oirschot chapter to this development was beyond all proportions! Nothing less than a kind of “raid-commando” – led by dean William Aerts and further consisting of canon Johannes Natalis, the priests William van Petershem and Henrick van Essche with the latter’s natural son Jacob, Adriaen Voss and Daniel van der Ameyden – marched on the church of Best, forced the cupboard open with a brought-along coulter and, during Holy Mass and by injuring the sexton on duty, robbed money, documents and mass-requisites with the obvious intention to make further church-services in Best impossible. The official (bishop) of Liege consequently imposed an interdict (a prohibition of all church services) on the churches of Best and Oirschot and summoned the raiders before the ecclesiastical law-court by deed of 7th September 1497. The verdict has not come down to us, but it will certainly not have been very mild for the Oirschot malefactors! Later on the chapter tried again to fight the Best rectory legally, because, they said, not the right words had been used at the founding of it. By an Episcopal verdict of 13th November 1507, the founding of the Best rectory was declared to be quite valid.
From that moment Best had sufficientlybuilt up provisions for an independent parish of their own, when, again, they applied to the bishop, asking him to raise the Odulphus’ chapel to a full parish. They had strong arguments for this. The distance to the Oirschot parish-church was an hour and a half’s walk for many people in best – for the people in the farthest out-of-the-way places even two hours or more. Therefore it was hard – and sometimes even dangerous – to attend holy services, and that again led to ignorance about faith and church obligations (because many did not go to the church in Oirschot any more). Due to the long distance it often happened that people died without the extreme unction and children without being baptised, which were real abominations in the eyes of the medieval faithful! Besides there was a chapel in Best and there enough priests for an independent parish. So the solution – in the opinion of the people in Best – to make St. Odulphus’ chapel a parish-church, where all church-services might be held and all sacraments administered (Baptism inclusive) Moreover the people from Best wanted to lay out a church-yard and build a school next to the church. The bishop met with these wishes in the deed of foundation of Saint Odulphus’ parish on 7th December 1553. Best, however, should continue to pay for the church in Oirschot and the Oirschot chapter stayed responsible for the appointment of priests in the new parish. As the chapter again refused to co-operate, the bishop appointed the deputy of the Oirschot parish-priest in Best.
This is in short the fatiguing story of the founding of Saint Odulphus’ parish in Best. The people in Best were prepared to contribute money to their parish: for a long time they had to pay double the sum, because the normal proceeds ( notably the tithes) went to the church in Oirschot, while they also had to bring money for their own parish. This injustice continued for many years and also the relation with the Oirschot chapter went off laboriously. T n spite of all that this pugnacity for their own faith-community and the worship for Saint Odulphus stood firm and this blind zeal has never been extinguished until the present-day.
3. Saint Odulphus’ parish and its signification for Best.
That the significance of an Odulphus’ parish of their own was of importance for the people in Best, appeared already from the period before the origin of the parish itself, as we have seen in the previous chapter. Already in 1482 the inhabitants enthusiastically brought in money necessary to commission a bell-founder to cast a bell for the chapel. In 1518, for example, a foundation was set up for a seventh mass during the week and again in 1524 interest was granted for a weekly mass. And already before the origin of the parish a fund had been called into being, in order to serve out bread to the poor on St,Odulphus’-day (12th June). So, from the beginning there was particular support for a parish of their own among the people in Best, and it goes without saying that it would be devoted to the local saint. These examples could be amplified by numerous other donations from Best families, who also in this way expressed their firm faith. In the Middle Ages there were also various church-associations, that still exist to the present day: The men’s choir (as old as the parish) and the guild-fraternity “fraternitas Sancti Odulphi”, already mentioned in the deed of foundation of the Oirschot cantory, later called Saint Odulphus’-guild. This guild had an altar of its own in the St. Odulphus’ chapel. After 1648 there were a lot of changes for the church in Best was seized and put at the disposal of the local protestants. No sooner had the peace of Minster been proclaimed, than the altars were smashed up on 7th July 1648 and the remaining church ornaments were sold. And the revenues fell to the States-General, who had all possessions managed by a specially appointed steward of immaterial goods. Practising the catholic faith was strictly prohibited. From 7th July 1648 the church of Best was in the hands of Dutch Reformed parish of Oirschot and Best, but in practice the minister of this parish generally used St. Peter’s-church in Oirschot. The presbytery of Best was also annexed by the protestants and from 1648 it was used as a (protestant) school.
During this period the catholic faith had to be practised in secret, of course. From the old archive- files we can deduce that parish-priest Jan van Audenhoven – in spite of the prohibition of the States-General for the whole of Brabant – had found a safe hiding-place though in Best: he had had to leave the presbytery by force, because it was used by the protestant teachers as a school-building. Though he had to leave the Meierij by order of the States-General, he loyally stuck to his post: he thereby was secretly supported by the local population, so that not only for Best, but also for the surrounding villages divine services could continue! In the baptismal registers after 1648 there are hardly any hiatuses, which shows that the parish-priest still baptised children (very soon after the birth of a child the parish-priest was summoned in order to administer the sacrament of Baptism at the home of the parents). And yet, in the end, parish-priest Audenhoven was imprisoned for nine months! Saying Holy Mass was more difficult: as there were hardly any protestants in Best, fortunately it was not too conspicuous when catholics gathered to attend Holy Mass in secret. From various indirect indications we can deduce, that this occurred frequently, indeed. The so-called “Odulphus’ well” beside the church (dating from the early Middle Ages, and to which healing properties were attributed) was filled up in order to, literally “dam” the worship of Odulphus. Up to the present-day the well has not been found again, but the church-government intend to rehabilitate it, as soon as it can be located.
About 1670 the relation between protestants and Catholics (also in Best) improved: the raids of the catholic armies made it necessary not to stir up the local population too much. Therefore we can find the note in 1671, that in Best “eenen paep, genoemt paeter Schellekens, meede opentlijck sijnen dienst plegende was”. (a papist, called father Schellekens, was openly practising his service). Finally, in 1672 Best had a ‘barn-church’, which was situated almost opposite the St Odulphus’ church. The catholic opposition against the protestant domination was manifest in Best from the start: the “overgrote paepse stoutigheden en ergernissen” (vast papist boldness and annoyances) had even led to complaints towards the authorities. The prohibition on catholic education was ignored: separate catholic schools did come in substitution for the original school that was not allowed to be used anymore. This was condoned, because one did not dare to take action against the able-bodied people in Best
From the end of eighty-years’ war (peace of Minster in 1648) it had been a thorn in the flesh of the people in Best, that they had had to give up their own Odulphus’ church to the protestants – the church they had fought for so long and so hard during the Middle Ages. So it was not strange, that the roman catholics in Best were eager to reclaim their own church as soon as this was possible. In the manuscripts about the Best Saint-Odulphus’ church it is said, that the church was returned to the catholics in 1795: for the whole country this restitution was only possible, after the addition of sixth article to the Constitution of 1798, which said that the largest religious community of the place should get the disposal of the extant church and had to pay a restitution to the other religious communities. This taking over in Best had not only been settled three years before the initiation of this law, but had also been effected in quite another way than the law prescribed! In the Netherlands Best was even the very first place where the catholics had successfully reclaimed their old church and got it back! Very soon the example of Best was followed by other villages in Brabant, but after all Best was the first Brabant municipality where the big church was in catholic hands again! This all did make a great impression on the protestants, for already in 1800 vicar Hanewinkel wrote about Best: “Also in this village the Romans have the big Church in hands; it is the first church in the Meierij (a region), that has been taken up by the Romanists. As soon as the French were in ’s-Hertogenbosch in 1794, the priest, who is a very stupid fellow, moved heaven and earth to get the authority over that church, and he was successful. A crowd from all places, even from ‘s –Hertogenbosch came hither, when the Priest said Holy Mass there for the first time”. The priest mentioned here was the then parish-priest in Best Henricus van Heeck.
As a Roman Catholic religious community the parish of Best not only survived nearly 150 years of Reformation in the Netherlands, but, from the start, actively resisted all attempts to call the worship of Saint Odulphus to a halt. They remained loyal to the roots of the faith – even if it was against the prevailing spirit of the age.
In the end, it was thanks to the already existing of an independent Saint-Odulphus’ parish, that Best grew independent of Oirschot after fatiguing seceding-perils: king William I ordained, that this was self-evident because of the separated parishes and therefore should be a logical consequence.
In the end, it was a lot of trouble to get the image of St. Odulphus on the municipality-arms. This was without question on historical grounds, and the people in Best cordially supported this initiative.
After long interchanging of arguments and counter-arguments it was approved of by the Heralds’ College in the Netherlands: a process that was described in a striking way in an article by former town-clerk Gondrie. In this case again Best takes up a particular place in our country: for there are in the Netherlands only a very few municipalities that can boast a Saint in its arms. A fact, the local population may be justifiably proud of: a reflex of their assiduity for the acknowledgement of Saint Odulphus – also by the State of the Netherlands.
4. Saint-Odulphus and his church-building in Best.
Below we will give in a bird’s-eye-view the history “from wooden chapel to the present-day church”. The saint-Odulphus’ church in Best is the only Saint-Odulphus’s church in the diocese of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. It is also the only church in the Netherlands situated close to the birth-site of a saint. Odulphus was born about 775 in the farm which his father had builf in the 8th century. That farm stood in Verrenbest, a hamlet near Oirschot, one of the hamlets of Best.
The first church-building arose by rebuilding Odulphus’ birth-house into a wooden chapel, when he came to be worshipped as a saint.
In 1437 this chapel was replaced by a little stone building,the second, medieval church. On 7th December 1553 the independent parish of Best was founded, with Odulphus as patron-saint and Jan van Esch (or Van Essche) as the first parish-priest. At that time this 15th-century church became parish-church. Before that time one was dependent on the parish of Oirschot. From 1648 till 1795 it was in protestant hands.; the Roman-Catholics secretly went to church in a barn-church. The barn-church was built behind the parish-priest’s house. The old barn-church in Best was too small and so a bigger one had to be built. The parish-priest had rented another house, because his presbytery had become too small. Therfore this presbytery might be annexed to the church. However, a permit was needed for enlarging the barn-church. To this end a request was sent to the “High and Mighty Gentlemen States-general of the United Netherlands” in The Hague. On 2nd May1765 one requested “to enlarge her Roman church with the aforementioned dwelling, and to be allowed, for greater security in the case of a fire, to cover it with tiles, (…) an to be allowed to make in the new building a porch with, on top of it, a singing-attic or rood-loft, and a wainscot under the tiles over the altar (…) and lastly twenty new pews, 2½ to 3 feet high, and long twelve feet in the church, and some four feet long at the side against the walls”. A refusal followed, because the measures of the new church did not fit in with the existing directives. Whether the second, even more polite, letter to “Your High and Mighty” was successful, is unknown.
On 31st December 1794, however, the church was ‘expropriated’ (reclaimed) by the Roman Catholic community. The Roman Catholics in Best were the first in the Republc to seize their old church in this way. During Joannes van Coll’s pastorate the church appeared to have become too small for the growing parish. It was enlarged (1819). His successor Joannes Zwijsen started to improve the church. The rood-loft was taken in hand, because “ it was unfit and worn out”. The high-altar was enlarged by carpenter / sculptor Jozef Westhofs from Geldrop. The pulpit was moved from the side where the women were sitting to the side of the men. Parish-priest Zwijsen determined that the joint use of one entrance by men and women gave cause to “ indecencies”. That is why he had a second door made, so that the men could enter through the “men’s door” and the “womenfolk” through the “women’s door”. He had the interior of the church cleaned and plastered again. Around the church-windows he had cornices fixed. Westhofs was instructed to make an Our Lady’s throne and some wooden statues. In 1831 Zwijsen bought some new pews. They were publicly let out on lease,
Parish-priest Zwijsen’s successor – as said before – was a good friend of his, Henricus Zomers, who was parish-priest from 1832 till his death in 1878. He began to modernize the medieval church. In Zomer’s time many churches were built in neo-classicist style, a style characterized by columns and other classic Greek building elements. Therefore dean Zomers had the inside of the church marbled, painted in imitation marble. That was very popular at the time. He also had three new altars placed, so there were five altars in this church.
However, in the course of the hundreds of years the church had fallen into disrepair and again appeared too small for the number of parishioners. With the energy of Saint-Odulphus parish-priest- dean Zomers, 80 years old made plans for a new church, the third church. On 21st March 1876 he wrote a letter to bishop Zwijsen, the former parish-priest. Already before dean Zomers had had the present-day presbytery built (1856). In 1864 he had called the sisters to Best. They founded a convent and a charity-home for old women on land given by the parish, situated close behind the old church, just beside the present building.
The contours of the medieval church can still be seen on the church-square, it lay as it were “cross-wise” in front of the present church. This parish-church was orientated: the choir of the church with the high altar lay towards the East. That church was broken down (1882) after the present church had been finished. In the interior of the present church many things remind us of the former church: the organ from the firm J. Vollebregt & Son (1852), wooden statues from 1822 by professor Van Hool, stations of the Cross by Lambertus van de Wildenberg (1850), confessionals by Pels (1828) and a lot of brass-work partly dating from the former barn-church. Less than three weeks after parish-priest Zomers’ letter to Bishop Zwijsen an architect was appointed, Karl Weber (1820 – 1908) to plan the third church, the present one.
Architect: Karl Weber (1820 – 1908)
Karl Eugène Marie Hubert Apolinarius Ferdinand Weber was born in Cologne. From 1857 he lived in the Netherlands. As an architect he was an apprentice of the famous architect Viollet-le-Duc, just like the seven years younger Pierre Cuypers, his later rival. He settled down as an architect in Roermond.
The Saint-Odulphus’ church in Best, finished in 1882, is a transition between the two periods into which the work of this architect may be divided. “In the first period, from 1853 till about 1881, he builds his churches in Neo-Gothic style, in the manner of the so-called “plaster-gothic”. In this style we find (…) arched roofs in wood, plastered with stucco-work and capitals modelled with plaster”. The churches generally have high and rather narrow windows, ”parted in two halves by means of an upright, at the top ending in simple tracery”. From 1882 Weber’s second period started. “From that time he almost exclusively builds in Romano-Gothic style. His churches, all of them Cross-basilicas, have (…) a big dome-shaped tower over the crossing, and near the crossing or the entrance-side two (…) big towers. (…) The windows are no longer divided by narrow uprights and tracery, but consist either of a simple round-arch window, or of three or four little windows, whereby then two or three windows next to each other form one round-arch window and a third (fourth) is fitted in as a rose window over the round-arched window (…) The arched roofs have been solidly built. Everything in the interior is in clean brickwork, with bricks of many colours.” In the church of Best Weber used clean brickwork for the first time. To accentuate important parts of the construction he made use of coloured bricks. Monseigneur H. van Helvoort, who described all the churches built by Weber, calls the church in Best a crowning of all the preceding work of this architect
Dean Zomers died in 1878 and parish-priest Theodorus van der Velden became ‘building parish-priest’. There was rather a lot of discussion about the exact site of the church. There were three parties with three different points of view. Parish-priest Van der Velden and the church-management would like to build the church just behind the old church – at 8.5 meters from the buildings of the sisters. The sisters of the nearby convent feared they would have less daylight and wanted to have the church four meters farther away. And finally, the local authorities and many parishioners wanted the church built on the other side of the presbytery, between the present-day Kerkhofpad (churchyard-path) and the presbytery. Weber advocated the parish-priest’s point of view and said that 8.5 meters was the normal width of a street and that should be sufficient for the light-fall. According to the parish-priest the church would be too much behind the presbytery, if it had to be moved up four meters.
The sisters, however, had a great support available in this dilemma: Mgr. Zwagemakers, vicar-general in the diocese of ‘s-Hertogenbosch ánd rector of the charity-foundation there. Mgr. Zwagemakers came to Best, had a look at the building-site and then spoke to Mgr. Godschalk – the bishop of ‘s-Hertogenbosch who had succeeded Mgr. Zwijsen in 1878. Mgr.Godschalk put an end to the discussion: the church should stay away from the charity-foundation of the Best nuns four meters farther than originally planned.
Building under one’s own control (1880 – 1882): new difficulties
After three months of digging the ‘real’ first stone was laid on 16th November 1880. Parish-priest Van der Velden and the church-management thought they would be able to build cheaper, if they put up the church under their own control. They wanted to achieve it without a building contractor and besides make use of volunteers as much as possible. The building-expenses – without a tower – were estimated at 84.000 guilders. At the commissioning of building the church there was not yet a commissioning for a church tower. At first the intention was to maintain the tower of the old church, but the measures of this tower was in too much disproportion with the size of the new church. Besides the municipality was the owner of the tower. The tower had been planned from the start, but its building had to remain in abeyance until the finances made it possibke.
Building the church under one’s own control, as appeared afterwards, was not a success; the ‘budget’ for the building was exceeded by 9.000 guilders, which was a lot of money at the time. With that amount one could buy three small farm-houses. A cause of the exceeding was that all kinds of incidental costs had not been calculated – e.g. the feed for the horse that kept the loam-mill moving, or the transport of the bricks.
When parish-priest Van der Velden died in 1882, the church had been finished, but bishop Godschalk had not received any account for the newly-built church. The successor of Van der Velden, parish-priest Joannes Pijnenburg, saw to that. The latter got permission from the bishop to loan the lacking money, “observing the circumstances that make it difficult, if not impossible, to present an exact account about the building of the new church”. Apparently the book- keeping was not regulated correctly.
Parish-priest Van der Velden had not left the parish in debt, however. After parish-priest Pijnenburg had counted and calculated everything, he decided to have the tower built at once.
The tower-building (1884)
The building of the new tower was put out to contract. This tower, too, was designed by Weber. The construction was granted to the lowest tenderer: contractor H. Troupin, a stone-mason, originally coming from Sittard, but who settled down in Best, because he had so much work to do here. He contracted for the job for 27.943 guilders. In the end, the tower cost 40.000 guilders, amongst other things by making the spire higher (at Weber’s request and with permission of the bishop) and by using freestone stairs as far up as the rood-loft, instead of stairs of pressed cement. The tower is 64.6 meters high.
During the pastorate of Henricus Maas a room in the presbytery was done up in June 1984. Two cupboards were discovered behind 8 layers of wall- paper. These cupboards had been closed for nearly 100 years. In them they found 225 letters and documents, including the original builder’s specification of the church and the original plan of Karl Weber. On this plan the church is drawn in detail. The tower (which was changed later) is outlined vaguely. Further there were among the “treasures” all kinds of bills, the keys to the medieval church and riding-boots of parish-priest Pijnenburg. In one of the boots there was a sparrow. This bird occasioned the little joke that “parish-priest Maas had found a mare’s nest and was laughing about the eggs”.
Description of the church-building, interior and inventory
The Odulphus’ church is a cross-basilica, in neo-gothic style, with a length of 55 meters The mid-nave is borne by 24 columns. The thickest are near the cross-arms the thinnest in the sanctuary. Alongside the mid-nave are two aisles that go past the transept as far as the sanctuary. There they terminate in side-chapels with side-altars. The right aisle at the tower-side runs into the former baptistery, now St. Mary’s chapel. The church is 20 meters wide in the transept. The ridge of the church-roof is at a height of 23 meters. The word “basilica” in this connection means that the mid-nave is higher than the aisles and has windows. Very many parishioners have contributed voluntarily to the preparations and actual building and finish. But also many skilled labourers turned out good work.
J. Vollebregt (‘s-Hertogenbosch): organ-builder
The Vollebregt-organ was built in 1850 to the order of parish-priest-dean Zomers. Joannes Vollebregt with his son Jacobus and some organ-hands came to build the instrument. Vollebregt senior himself made the wood-carving with the angels and the satyr-head. The organ has about 1.100 pipes. Mgr. Zwijsen granted 500 guilders for the organ in 1852 (the organ cost 3.385 guilders in all). The first playing was on 15th August of that year, Assumption-day. As a protection of the costly instrument the choir-rules of1852 said that one had to pay a fine (two cents), if “one leans against the organ-case or dirty it in any other way”. One should also pay two cents “when one sits behind the organ during the instruction or the sermon”. In 1886 the organ was moved to the rood-loft of the new church.
Workshop C.H.Lommen (Roermond): original glazing
In the church-porch there is glass-in lead window with the “All-seeing eye” by Lommen. Further we can see there stained glass windows with the Alpha and Omega (the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet). In St. Mary’s chapel, until 1973 baptistery, we find a little window with the snake in Paradise. All the windows mentioned here are made in workshop Lommen (1882). Alas, nothing else is left of the original glazing of the church: it was destroyed by shell-fire in 1944.
Glazier L. van Hoek (Tilburg): present-day glazing
The post-war glass-in-lead windows were made by glazier Luc van Hoek (from Tilburg). In the stained glass windows behind the high altar we see from left to right: the Wedding at Kana, the Last Supper and the Miraculous Bread-Multiplication. Near St. Mary’s chapel we have from his hand windows with the themes: Annunciation, Visitation, Assumption and Immaculate Conception. These windows are tripartite and in Romano-Gothic style.
H. van der Geld: side altars and statues
The Odulphus’ church has two side altars: a St. Mary’s-altar and a St. Odulphus’- altar. The St. Mary’s-altar was made by Hendrik van der Geld (‘s-Hertogenbosch) in 1889. On the left we see, carved in wood, the Message of the Angel, on the right we see Mary visiting her niece Elisabeth. A tall statue of Holy Mother Mary with the Child is in the middle. The interior of Mary’s room is in great detail: a flower-vase, books and a casement window are clearly visible.
Also the Odulphus altar was made by Van der Geld (1890). It goes without saying that we find carved in wood an image of Saint Odulphus, with a monstrance. On the left we see Odulphus taking leave of his parents, on the right we see Odulphus on his deathbed, surrounded by colleagues. In the tabernacle of this altar there is – behind glass – the reliquary with the relic of Saint Odulphus. About1600 Bishop Sasbout Vosmeer had had the skeleton of the saint dug up. In 1620 Best got a phalanx of the dug up skeleton as a relic. Parish-priest Guilielmus Heerbeeck fetched this relic from Utrecht and had a suitable reliquary made: a silver hand. Herewith the Saint Odulphus’ church is in possession of a special relic of a Saint of its own soil. As stated by the Altar-Missal and the Book of Hours, the liturgical veneration of the Saint spread shortly after his death.
Very many statues in the church have also been made by Van der Geld and almost all of them date from the period 1880 – 1890: Saint Apollonia, Saint Elisabeth of Hungary, Saint Vincent a Paolo, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint John the Baptist and saint Joseph and the Holy Family (dating from about 1840). Against the back-wall on the left there is a mission-cross. Probably also from his hand. It was hung in the church on 21st November 1899.
J. Custers (Stratum, Eindhoven): retable of the high-altar and statues
The show-piece of the Saint Odulphus’ church must be the back-wall of the high-altar. The clever wood-carving has been made by Jan Custers (Stratum, Eindhoven) and the whole piece was put in place in 1917. On the four side-panels we see from left to right: Descent of the Holy Spirit at Whitsuntide, the Resurrection, the Last Supper and the Adoration by the shepherds. A particular detail on the panel with the Last Supper is Judas who, with the money-bag n his hand, turns away from Christ. The outer panels can be closed (e.g. during Lent).
At the top of the altar – over the tabernacle in Gothic niche – we see Mount Calvary with Christ on the Cross; beside the Cross are Mary and John. The tabernacle itself has an image of angels and the motto “Ecce panis angelorum factus cibus viatorum”. This Latin text is quoted from the sequence of Corpus Christi. The backsides of the outer panels of the retable have been painted with images of the prophets Zechariah And Malachi in 1938. Jan Oosterman (Blaricum) was the artist.
Furthermore Custers made statues of Saint Helen (1903) Saint Henry (1907) and Saint Gerard of Majella (1909) Also a statue of Saint Adrian of Hilvarenbeek was made by him. About 1915 this work of art was presented by parish-priest Prinsen, who was born in Hilvarenbeek.
L. van den Wildenberg: Stations of the Cross and banners
Lambertus van den Wildenberg painted the Stations of the Cross. They are coming from the former church and were hung there on 16th November 1850. It is very likely that he also painted some of the banners that are in the church-porch now: the Holy Family, the Sacred heart of Mary, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saint Joseph and Saint Odulphus (all about 1850).
Prof. J. B. van Hool (Antwerp): statues
Professor Jan B. van Hool made several statues for the former church. The statues of Saint Barbara, Saint Ambrosius ( patron-saint of the bee-keepers) and Saint Lucia date from 1828 and are made by him. His statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul got a place of honour near the sanctuary. Saint Peter can be recognized by the upside-down cross and the keys to the Heavenly Empire and Saint Paul by the sword that ended his life. Both statues were purchased by parish-priest Van Coll in 1822.
Pels: confessionals and (former) pulpit
Pels made two confessionals (1828), they are coming from the former church. In the confessional in the cross-arm on the left we find wood-carving with Saint Peter in relief (1828). Saint Peter can be recognized by the keys and the tiara. In the confessional on the other side we see in relief Christ with implements of suffering, a globe and a snake bearing the apple in its mouth. Both confessionals are probably purchased by parish-priest J. Zwijsen. It is a pity that the pulpit by Pels has got lost. Yet fragments of it are still found in the present church-building.
P. van den Boer (active in Tilburg): paintings
Van den Boer painted two scenes at the top in the transept in 1896 In the left transept we see the sacrifice by Melchisedech and in the right transept we see how Abraham wnts to sacrifice his son Isaac.
H.Geelen (Roermond): statues
Geelen was a sculptor in Roermond, in the 19th century. For our church he made a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Come to the church in 1887). This is a twin-statue of the Sacred Heart of Mary-statue, to be seen at the front in the row of female Saints in the mid-nave (also from 1887).
J.P. van der Mark (Eindhoven): stone-masonry
The high altar consists of a stone altar-table with a tomb underneath with a Christ-image of poly-chromed stone. It was made by Jan P. van der Mark (1882). Close to the high altar there are two particular columns. On the left a column with the portrait of architect Weber. On the right we see building-parish-priest Van der Velden cut in stone. The architect and the building-parish-priest have been immortalized by Van der Mark in 1882 and they “watch” the high altar. The choir-loft in white sandstone was made by him, too. It dates from 1886. In the balustrade above the rood-loft there are two upright rectangular frames with the psalmist David (with harp) and Saint-Cecilia, patron saint of the (church)music. Of course there is a lot more to see in the church 9Often granted by parishioners) and fortunately many liturgical objects have stood the wear and tear of time, excellently. So there is in the church a chalice from 1628, which is known as ‘the chalice of parish-priest Heerbeeck’. The baptismal font in freestone, marble and brass – a gift from parish-priest Pijnenburg in 1887, is still used and has its place in the right transept of the church, which is fixed up as a baptismal chapel. The silver thurible, dating from 1832, is also in use. The handsome neo-gothic procession-cross of gilded metal with glass-stones (from about 1870) has got a place of honour again in the sanctuary during the pastorate of Vincentius Blom – the present parish-priest. The old chasubles and copes (among which the Odulphus –cope from 1862, granted by the mayor in those days, and his spouse, are carefully preserved in the vestry.
Through the Diocesan Commission for Church Art our parish has been able to obtain a complete set of altar-seats. They are coming from the abbey-church of Koningshoeven (Tilburg) and have been made in neo-gothic style. After the baptismal font has been placed in the baptistery the new seats will get their place. Contrary to what is usual (in loan), our parish owns the seats by permission of the diocese. It will certainly be an embellishment of our church-building.
Of the statues we must certainly mention the splendid Christ-statue “Ecce Homo” – a sixteenth century statue from Brabant in poly-chromed terracotta, procured by parish-priest Henry Maas.
We now conclude the description of the inventory and continue the journey through time. We pick up the thread in the forties of last century.
5. The Saint-Odulphus’ church after the Second World War.
At first the church and the parish did not suffer much by the war. In 1943 the first sound – installation was put in (renovated in 1945 and a few more times later on). On 28th December 1942, by order of the German occupiers 3 of the 4 bells were removed from the church-tower to be melt down into guns. In September / October 1944 Best suffered a lot by the acts of war in around the village. On 17th October the spire was shot away from the tower. The huge affair fell on to the mid-nave and part of the roof collapsed. Besides that the church was struck by a number of direct hits with great damages as a consequence. Immediately after the liberation parishioners from The Vleut started to clear the rubble in and round the church and the church was cleaned as well as possible. Roof and windows were provisionally shut with straw which was soon afterwards replaced by slates and glass.From Mid-Lent 1946 the church could be used again for divine services.
Shortly after the war activities were started for new church-bells. Every month collections were made and three of the four bells were sponsored. At Easter 1949 four new bells together sounded across Best. They have the sweet-sounding names: Joseph, Odulphus, Peter Canisius and The Song of the Children and they were cast by Petit and Fritsen from Aarle-Rixtel. Since Easter 2006 The Song of the Children chimes the Angelus at noon and at 6 o’clock P.M. daily again. In 1951 the church-tower was restored, without a spire as yet. Eight years later – in 1959 – they started rebuilding the spire. In March 1960 the job was done. Around that time the presbytery was expanded and the church-square enlarged. The Sacred Heart-statue was moved to its present place, the Sacred Heart-square.
After the war the whole church was painted inside. Everything got a coat of paint: arches, walls, columns, joints included! A few years later this paint began to powder, the roof started leaking, in short, it was time for a big restoration. Calculations started then, whereby it was shown that, on balance, new-building would be cheaper than a thorough restoration. From an inquiry, done in 1967, it appeared that about 80 % of the parishioners was in for new-building and only 20 % for preserving the church that had been consecrated in 1882, which had even been dismantled during the sixties. Statues, Stations of the Cross and banners had disappeared from the church, (but, fortunately, had been preserved). Luckily, the diocese of ‘s-Hertogenbosch was against demolition of the Saint-Odulphus’ church. The diocese wanted to preserve the church and got a great supporter later: parish-priest Henry Maas, appointed in November 1970. Shortly after his appointment he spoke out for preservation and restoration and was able to convince the church-management of the Odulphus’ parish. Conclusion: to bring back the interior to its original state. The sanctuary would be adapted to the liturgical Order of post-Vaticanum II.
The first big restoration took place in the years 1972 / 1973, when church and interior were taken in hand thoroughly. The statues that had disappeared from the church during the sixties were put in place again. In 1975 “new old pews” were placed in the church. These pews from 1822 came from the closed-down Harbour-church at Schiedam. There are also pews from the pulled-down Sacred Heart-church in Tilburg. Some of the old pews from the Odulphus’ church have been places along the walls of the aisles. Then, in the years 1988 to 1991 the second big post-war restoration was executed. The cost of the restoration amounted to no less than two million guilders. But parishioners, private persons, municipality Best as well as trade and industry showed their best side. Apart from the church-management with its large parishioners’ members file, the Foundation Preservation Odulphus’ church and The Association Saint-Odulphus saw to the finances.
Since a few years the statue of Saint Odulphus (1901) embellishes the church-square. A striking element of this Odulphus – statue is the (gold) apple. Two stories about this gold apple have come down to us. The first can be read in an official report from 1840 which says that Odulphus “In His youth went to school in Oirschot and one day came back from there deeply sad, because at a share-out of prizes he had been left out, that then an Angel met Him, who gave Him as a reward for His zeal and for further encouragement, a gold apple (some say three), that He then had continued His studies, had become a priest and later bishop of Utrecht; he is the patron-saint of Best, in the church His statue with the apple on its head is still to see. This legend is generally believed there; the field where the meeting should have taken place, is still pointed out and is called the “St.-Odulphus’ field”.
The second story is, that Odulphus, during his stay with the canons in Utrecht, was conspicuous for his zeal and saintly life. As a monk he learned how to persevere in being silent. For that – according to the legend – he was rewarded with an apple. The latter, later on, became his attribute as a symbol of obedience. The children’s choir of the Saint-Odulphus’ church is therefore called “The Golden Apples”, a name thought out by parish-priest Henry Maas.
This Odulphus-statue comes from the Odulphus’ house that once stood next to the presbytery, but was pulled down in the sixties.This building was consecrated on Sunday 13th April 1902. It was among other things the accommodation for meetings of the members of the farmers’ association, the rural bank and the Saint-Vincentius’- and Paul’s union (a very live temperance movement). The local Odulphus’ fund (an illness- and accident insurance for labourers from Best) that started on 1st July 1902 was by all probability founded in the Odulphus’ house and will certainly have had their meetings in this building. The house had, in fact the same function as the present-day parish-centre.
6. The latest developments …
In 1999 the Odulphus’ church, the enjoining presbytery and the Odulphus-statue ( and some sepulchral monuments) have been pointed out as protected National Monuments by the State-secretary of Education, Culture and Science.
Translation: M. van den Heuvel
Last updated: 13 June 2026