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Grotto and Rose Garden
The beautiful grotto dedicated
to Our Lady Of Lourdes was built by Father Patrick
McAlea and dedicated on 21November 1954, with
funds donated by the parishoners, and with the
approval of Most Reverend Dr Mageean, then Bishop
of Down and Connor.
Today the grotto is a memorial
of all the apparitions of Our Lady - at Lourdes,
Knock and Fatima, and these events are beautifully
displayed in the stained glass windows at the
grotto, which are illuminated each evening at
about 5.30pm. Photos of each stained glass window,
and a description of what it depicts are given
below.
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| Bernadette
Soubirous is the Saint of Lourdes, France.
Visionary and messenger of the Immaculate
Conception, she told us the very words
of the Virgin Mary. She spoke words
teaching of the merits of prayer, penance,
poverty and church. In the first and
most widely recognized Marian apparition
of modern times, a personal message
was delivered also to Bernadette —
She would not find happiness in this
world, but only in the next. |
| She was
to die twenty–one years later
in 1879 after a prolonged and painful
illness. She remained hidden in a convent
about 300 miles from home, a refuge
from the interrogations and the pilgrims
that never ceased seeking her. At thirty–five,
her strong–willed manner gave
way to her frail body, and she finally
entered into her eternal happiness. |
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The Grotto Stained Glass Windows
The grotto displays eight specifically
designed stained glass windows. These are illuminated
each evening and are well worth a visit to appreciate
their beauty. Below you will find a photograph
of each window, with a short explanation of what
you are seeing.
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St Bernadette
and
the Beautiful Lady
Representing
the 18 apparitions of Our Lady
to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes.
The first apparition was on Thursday,
February 11th 1858 and the last
just 6 months later.
When
grotto was established there was
no money for a statue of Bernadette.
Father Paddy answered that we are
all Bernadette.. The parish collected
the funds for her statue some years
later. |
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Hungarian
Uprising - 1956
Many
refugees from the hungarian uprising
against the country's communist
government sought refuge in Ireland.
Many of the refugees came to Belfast
and were housed in camps at Bangor
and Ballykinlar. Paddy McAlee invited
them to St Mary's Church, and on
11 February 1957, feast of Our Lady
of Lourdes, the Hungarians walked
in procession to St Mary's bringing
with them a blood-stained flag riddled
with bullets which they presented
to Our Lady at the grotto.
This
is thought to be the only memorial
in Ireland to the Hungarian uprising.
The left hand window shows Father
McAlea with a Hungarisn child, and
the right window shows the Hungarian
people presenting the flag. |
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| Fatima
- 1917
The
left window depicts the Miracle of
the Sun, the Holy Eucharist and the
Crescent which is the symbol of Islam.
Fatima – is the name of the
daughter of the holy prophet Mohammad.
Was
that why our lady chose to appear
in Fatima? Was Mary perhaps a bridge
between Islam and Christianity?
The
Miracle Of The Sun –
The Miracle of the Sun is a claimed
miraculous event that is alleged to
have been seen by as many as 70,000
people on 13 October 1917 in the Cova
da Iria fields near Fátima,
Portugal.
The
miracle was attributed by believers
to Our Lady of Fatima, an apparition
of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three
young shepherd children in 1917, as
having been predicted in advance by
the three children on 13 July, 19
August , and 13 September 1917. The
children reported that the Lady had
promised them that at mid-day on 13
October in the Cova da Iria the Lady
would reveal her identity to the children
and perform a miracle "so that
all may believe."
According
to many witness statements, after
a downfall of rain, the clouds broke
and the sun appeared as an opaque,
spinning disk in the sky. It was said
to be significantly less bright than
normal, and cast multicolored lights
across the landscape, the shadows
on the landscape, the people, and
the surrounding clouds. The sun was
reported to have careened towards
the earth in a zigzag pattern, frightening
some of those present who thought
it meant the end of the world. Witnesses
reported that the ground and their
previously wet clothes became completely
dry. According to witness reports,
the miracle of the sun lasted approximately
ten minutes.
The
right window shows the old basilica
which was opened and blessed in 1950.
A new basilica is being built. Also
in the window are the three shepherd
children (the Three Seers") to
whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared
six times near the town of Fatima,
Portugal between May 13th and October
13th 1917.
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| Knock
- 1879
On
the evening of Thursday, 21 August
1879, two women from the small village
of Knock, Mary McLoughlin and Mary
Beirne, were walking near the local
church when they noticed luminous
figures at the gable end.
As
they got closer they realised there
were three moving figures and that
one of them looked like the Blessed
Virgin. They surmised that the others
were St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist,
and as it got darker Mary Beirne went
off to alert her family, and so soon
other neighbours joined them in the
pouring rain. As the crowd gathered
they could also see an altar, with
a young lamb on it, in front of a
cross, while one boy saw angels over
the altar, but they heard no sounds
and no verbal message was given.
The
apparition lasted for several hours,
and was witnessed independently, as
a globe of light, by a farmer who
lived about a half mile away.
The
left window shows the new Basilica
at Knock – Our Lady Queen of
Ireland, and a Celtic cross
The
right window depicts the Lamb of God
and the old Church gable end where
the apparition took place.
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