Belgian nun declared Righteous Among the Nations

The nun, Philomene Smeers, known as Sister Marie-Veronique, served as superior of the convent of the sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary in the town of Hulpe, in Belgium, from 1929 to 1951. During the German occupation, Mother Marie-Veronique hid Jewish girls in the convent at Overijse-Maleizen and thus saved them from deportation to the death camps. Conditions in war time were difficult. In the winter, the nuns chopped wood from the garden in order to heat the convent and food was scarce but he nuns shared what they had with the girls.

Mother Marie-Veronique died in 1973 at the age of 98.