50th Anniversary of Lourdes Apparition marked at grotto

Fr. Nick Harnan blesses the grotto

Fifty years ago to mark the centenary of the apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes, in the south of France to the teenager Bernadette Soubirous, the then group of students - philosophers at Myross Wood - erected a grotto down in the ravine. The outdoor statues had been brought from the old Moyne Park student house in Galway. Some of the students who had worked in the building of this mini Lourdes arranged a re-union on February 11th, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Vincent Nally came all the way from the United States, Phil Chambers from Dublin, Fr. Gus O' Brien from Galway and the chief of celebrant of Healing Mass Fr. Nick Harnan came from Isoudun in France.

Pilgrims walking to the grotto

There was a wonderful response too from the friends of Myross Wood, who were happy to be part of this 50th Anniversary celebration Mass. After the anointing, the procession to the grotto was very impressive as the pilgrims/worshippers wound their way down the narrow path, bordered by primroses, daffodils and ferns, thanks to the expert landscaping of Fr. Brendan Hanley.

Pilgrims with a lovely view of the grotto

The firs, beech and oak that grow so tall in the warm fertile soil of the ravine, stand sentinel like, as if to protect the special setting of peace and tranquillity. The stream - bladh na gréine - (the ravine of the sun) always runs strongly to make the setting almost perfect.