HCPT Blog 2 - Drawn to the Grotto

The natural environment of the Lourdes Grotto impresses first time visitors and those drawn back again and again. When our Chiswick HCPT group paid our first visit this afternoon, all eyes focused first on the statue of Our Lady in the niche where she appeared in 1858 and then the group took in its situation.

The shape of the Massabielle Grotto beautifully frames the niche, and surrounding woodland and greenery presents a very natural setting. The Lourdes water flows from the ground within the Grotto and the sound of the River Gave gurgling behind as it flows from the mountains is soothing. The Grotto is immediately recognisable from the photos of Bernadette herself at the site and it is easy to imagine the first day that Our Lady appeared as Bernadette was gathering wood with her sister and a friend.

The Grotto radiates a sense of peace. Our group gathered for our first prayers in Lourdes, and other HCPT groups around us were doing the same. We made our way into the Grotto to touch the stone that has been worn smooth by the kisses and caresses of millions visiting this place over the past 150 years. It was a time of silence and reflection, a time for thanking God for blessings over the past year and putting forward the petitions of family and friends. Our chaplain told us the story of the first time Bernadette saw Our Lady.

It is hard to take in that this place has been a place of direct human engagement with the divine. One can sense it, but exactly what it means for all of us will be explored during the week. For now, our children are most interested in the fact that Bernadette was the one chosen - a young girl, and a poor, uneducated one who suffered ill health.

HCPT is the biggest children's pilgrimage to Lourdes from the UK, and attracts thousands of young helpers who are very visibly committed to ensuring their even younger charges have a wonderful faith experience. This was very obvious today at the Grotto and around the town. Children who rarely venture far from their homes and schools for the rest of the year have the run of the town in Lourdes, where there are other children like them - perhaps in wheelchairs, perhaps disfigured or blind. Children with social problems or children bullied at school are listened to in Lourdes and valued. On this sunny afternoon, it was beautiful to see HCPT groups from Leicester, Hinckley and Rugby leading Rosary prayers at the Grotto and others playing on the grassy prairie opposite, across the river, with children's laughter drifting across the flowing waters to the quieter grotto vicinity.

On the way back to our hotel for supper, one of our children said she could hardly believe that we arrived just hours earlier. "It feels like we have been here for days" she said "it's a bit like coming home". We all feel a bit like that.

For more information see: www.hcpt.org.uk

`