Today is one of the most important Marian feasts celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, “the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, free from original sin by virtue of the foreseen merits of her son Jesus Christ”.
In 1858, Marian Apparitions came to a 14 year old Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. In the 16th appearance of Mary to Bernadette, the Blessed Virgin Mary stated “I am the Immaculate Conception”. Lourdes has become one of the greatest pilgrimage sites of the world visited by millions of Catholics each year.
A replica of the Lourdes Grotto can be found on St. Anne’s Hill in Plain, Wisconsin and it is a peaceful spot to visit. And if you search in the crevices in the rock, you might even find my stash of pennies (and a nickel) as we would hide a penny on our visits up the hill to the chapel and shrine.
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto
