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The church of Our Lady of Leliendaal was part of the 17th century convent of the nuns of the order of St. Norbertus. After the destruction of their priory in Hombeek during the Reformation wars, the nuns sought refuge in Malines and started a new convent.
The baroc church was built between 1662 and 1672, after a design by sculptor-archictect Lucas Faydherbe. This, his first big project, faced many problems, such as the first facade subsiding, which had to be rebuilt.

In 1783, Joseph II abolished all contemplative religious orders and this spelled the end of the nuns' presence in Malines. The Ursulin order briefly occupied the convent, but in 1798, during the French Revolution, the building was sold. Christian symbols in the facade were removed: the statue of St. Norbertus, the sculptured montrance in the recess, possibly also the cherub and garland. Most of the church furniture was sold and is now to be found in other churches in Malines, such as the beautiful pulpit and communion rail which are now in the St. Rombouts cathedral.
The church was used as store room and joinery, and in 1825 lost its baroc facade gable.

Ten years later, minds and moods changed and the church was turned into a chapel for the seminary. In 1900 the Jesuits bought the church and restored it to its former glory. They restored the facade and put a statue of Ignatius of Loyola in the gable. Architect Philippe van Boxmeer was responsible for the restoration of the church interior. To make the church better accessible, the chancel, the high altar and the organ loft, including three 17th century bas-reliefs were moved to the wall facing the street. The Jesuits also added beautiful confessionals and acquired paintings for the high altar. Noteworthy is the Lourdes grotto in a specially designed chapel. During the second world war the church roof burned down but the interior luckily survived.

Despite its turbulant history, the church projects peace and harmony through the perfect balance between the 17th century architecture, the remaining baroc art treasures and the art collection dating from a later period.

The church of Our Lady of Leliendaal is one of 7 historic churches in Malines, promoted by ”Torens aan de Dijle vzw”, in cooperation with the city of Malines.

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