Buren

A communication from Pol Herman to BSI (e-mail of 7 February 2022) notes: The Lambertus Church of Buren houses a special baptismal font. This is in fact a reused medieval holy water bowl. It is a hard stone object. The date is probably fifteenth century or older. Before the Reformation, the holy water bowl was at the back of the church, close to the portal. [...] When the Lambertus Church was transferred to the Reformed at the end of the sixteenth century, the holy water bowl lost its function and was lost. The bowl was accidentally found under the floor during the restoration of the church in the years 1976-1980. This gave the restoration architect a playful idea: he wanted to place the object back in the church and designed a black pedestal on which the bowl could be placed. So it became a baptismal font. On its sides were placed four bronze medals, depicting the symbols of the four evangelists. The Amsterdam artist Marianne Letterie (1945) designed the medals. The former holy water bowl has now been used as a baptismal font next to the pulpit for over forty years. The object symbolizes the transition from Catholic to Protestant use of the Church of Buren. Baptism is also done with water in the Protestant liturgy, but not consecrated. The former holy water bowl in Buren also symbolizes continuity of one of the most important rituals and symbols of Christianity: the ritual cleansing of the human spirit.