Kortrijk experienced significant population growth in the 19th-century, necessitating new parish churches. The Passionist Fathers were establishing a monastery, a school, and the Sint-Antoniuskerk (Saint Anthony Church) in 1873. The church - built in the Neo-Romanesque style- is a much visited place of pilgrimage. The Sint-Antoniuskerk is well known for its colourful murals.

Brother Isidore was a professed religious from the Passionists. He had fragile health when he arrived in the area in 1912; after a year as a cook, he was given the less demanding task of porter. He tried to help everyone who came to him during World War I, earning the nickname ‘Brother Good’. Beatified brother Isidore died in 1916; his tomb is located in a side chapel