This neo-Gothic church was where Pey's most beloved cleric, Patricius Cramer, spent his days. When the Sint-Landricus parish in the municipality of Echt became too large for the number of churches in the nineteenth century, pastor Engelbertus van Haeff founded the new parish of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
The well-known architect Pierre Cuypers designed the church of Pey, built in a neo-Gothic style and consisting of a three-aisled cross shape, with stained glass windows by Jacques Verheijen and an advanced Johannes organ. Pey's most beloved cleric must have been Patricius Cramer, who was pastor of the village from 1937 to 1955.
He is known as a man who was always there for everyone, had the nicknames 'father of the poor', 'the toiler of God' and 'pastor who gave everything away' and spoke flawlessly the dialect of the inhabitants of Pey. Further down the Houtstraat, this pastor Cramer has been immortalized by means of a bust.
His pastoral ministry endured, among other things, the Second World War, in which the church took several blows in the form of direct hits and fights on the day of the liberation. At the time, the church lost its characteristic spire, which has since been replaced several times.
This text has been automatically translated using an online translation service.
