A hundred years ago, a virulent
epidemic spread throughout St. Vincent’s Orphanage. Many orphans, members of
the Community and staff were affected by this dreaded epidemic. Fr. Charles CONRAD,
Superior of the Institute, realising the seriousness of the situation, was
considering the many remedies that should be taken. Being an Oblate of Mary
Immaculate, he, with the children, knelt before the statue of Our Blessed
Mother and prayed to Her, requesting Her motherly protection and intercession
before God to eradicate this disease. He promised the he would build a Grotto on
the premises. Our Blessed Mother responded to the pleading of the Superior and
children; the epidemic was eradicated.
In the meantime, Fr. Conrad was
transferred and a saintly Oblate, Fr. Charles CROCTAINE, was appointed as
Superior. He had a strong devotion to Our Blessed Mother and it fell upon him
to fulfil the promise made by Fr. Conrad. Fr. Croctaine was new to the environs
of the Institute and lacked finances to start this project. Placing his
confidence in God and Our Blessed Mother, Fr. Croctaine started to build the
Grotto. The brother of a Franciscan, Bro. Joseph Gonsal, offered financial
assistance to build the Grotto. Fr. Croctaine was grateful to God and Our
Blessed Mother for answering his prayers and chose the most beautiful place on
the property to build the Grotto. He requested that it be similar to the Grotto
at Lourdes, France.
He ordered a statue of Our Lady of
Lourdes from France and this statue arrived in August 1911. It was blessed and
kept at St Vincent’s Chapel until the Grotto was completed.
On November 3, 1911, the solemn
blessing of the Grotto and installation of the statue took place. The Oblate community,
staff and children of St Vincent’s Home, the Franciscan Brothers and the
children from their Institute were involved in the preparations to celebrate
this event with much grandeur. The processional route from the Chapel to the
Grotto, which was approximately three kilometres, was decorated and the parish priests
and parishioners of the neighbouring parishes and many others from the surrounding
villages participated in the celebrations.
Richly decorated, the statue of Our
Lady of Lourdes was taken in procession from the chapel to the Grotto and along
the route the faithful were praying and singing hymns to Our Lady unceasingly.
Fr. Jules COLLIN, Vicar of Missions,
solemnly blessed the Grotto and installed the statue amidst resounding acclamations
from the crowd and singing ‘Ave Maria’ as sung in Lourdes. On November 4, 1911,
the first Mass was celebrated at the grotto by Fr. Croctaine; it was then
decided to celebrate Mass every First Saturday at the Grotto.
The 75th Anniversary of
the Grotto commenced with a three day Novena (Triduum) to Our Blessed Mother
and celebrations were held on December 7-8, 1986. On December 7, the statue of
Our Lady of Lourdes was taken in procession and the Vespers was sung by the
then Superior of the Institute, Fr. John CAMILLUS.
On December 8, 2011, we will be
celebrating the centenary of the Grotto and we are grateful to Our Blessed
Mother for keeping us in her maternal care. (Bro.
John GILBERT; Sources: Diary of Bro. Leo RENAUD and the Codex Historicus of St.
Vincent’s Home)
