Carfin Grotto facts for kids
The Carfin Lourdes Grotto is a special Catholic place in Scotland. It is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, a title for the Virgin Mary. This shrine was built a long time ago, in the early 1900s.
People often call it the "Carfin Grotto." It was the idea of a priest named Canon Thomas N. Taylor (who died in 1963). He was the parish priest of St. Francis Xavier's Church in a small mining village called Carfin. Carfin is about two miles east of Motherwell in West Scotland.
Canon Taylor visited a famous Catholic shrine in France called Lourdes. He was inspired to build a similar religious place in Scotland to honor the Virgin Mary. He wanted it to look like the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes. Building this shrine became his life's goal.
Since it opened in the early 1920s, the "grotto" has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors. The area around it has been improved with many Catholic symbols and buildings. Each year, from May to September, the grotto holds a special pilgrimage season. This includes Sunday processions, prayers (called rosaries), outdoor Masses, and events for special Feast Days.
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How the Grotto Began
Work on the Carfin Grotto started in the early 1920s. Local church members built the shrine by hand. It was built on land across from St. Francis Xavier's church. Many of the builders were coal miners from Carfin and nearby villages. They were out of work because of a coal miners' strike in 1921.
Father Taylor wanted to keep these workers busy. He knew it would help their spirits during a tough time. He inspired them to work hard and with great dedication.
They started with an empty field in 1920. The volunteers worked very quickly, driven by their faith. Most of the shrine was finished within two years. It officially opened in 1922. The main part of the grotto showed a scene of the Virgin Mary appearing to Saint Bernadette. It had a brick garden and an altar for outdoor Mass, when the Scottish weather allowed.
Canon Taylor wrote a book about the shrine's first thirty years. He recorded that over 300 volunteers worked on the grotto in its first twenty years. He also wrote about one pilgrimage in 1924 where over fifty thousand people visited.
Growing and Developing the Shrine
After opening in late 1922, the shrine quickly became a popular place for pilgrims. People came from all over Scotland and other parts of the world. Special services were held for the Polish and Lithuanian communities living in Scotland. Hundreds of thousands of people, from different faiths, have visited Carfin.
The shrine grew from one field to many acres between 1922 and the 1960s. Later, a Glass Chapel was added. It sits on a raised area above the main path for visitors. The grotto grounds have many life-size statues of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and various saints. There is also a life-size scene showing Jesus' life with Mary and Joseph in their home and carpentry shop. This is shown inside a cave.
Other features include a Reliquary (a place for religious items) and a sunken garden. Many statues and items were added to the main Lourdes Grotto area. There is also a "Way of the Cross" (showing Jesus' final journey), many statues of saints, and a statue honoring Our Lady, Star of the Sea, with small lakes.
Every Sunday afternoon at 3 pm, from May to October, Rosary processions take place. Thousands of visitors usually attend these. The parish priest leads the rosary. This tradition was started by Father Taylor and continued by his successor, Father George Mullen. The priest would stand on the Glass Chapel's edge, where he could see the Grotto and the procession below. Each Sunday procession ended with a special blessing called Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the upper Glass Chapel.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Canon Taylor also greatly admired Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, known as the "Little Flower." He learned about her life during his trips to France in the early 1900s. Devotion to this Carmelite nun grew quickly after she died in 1897. Her autobiography, Story of A Soul, helped this growth.
Canon Taylor was very moved by her story. He contacted the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, France, where she lived. He became close with the Mother Superior and St. Thérèse's three sisters, who were also nuns there. He wanted to help share her amazing life story. Canon Taylor became an expert on St. Thérèse. Starting in 1902, he wrote articles in Catholic newspapers to make more people in the United Kingdom aware of her. Thanks to his efforts, her life of devotion to Jesus and her "little way" to God became very admired in Scotland, England, and Ireland.
Canon Taylor believed St. Thérèse would become a very important figure. He spoke to the Vatican Committee that considered her for sainthood. He was in Rome in 1925 when she was declared a Saint of the Church.
To show his devotion, Canon Taylor added a statue of St. Thérèse at the grotto. It was placed directly across from the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. The statue was put up just weeks after she was declared "Blessed" by Pope Pius XI on April 29, 1923. Canon Taylor attended this event.
Some visitors thought it was controversial to have this "new" Saint's statue so close to the Blessed Mother's. Canon Taylor collected these opinions and sent them to the Mother Superior of the Carmelite convent in France. She advised that the statue should stay. She predicted that the Carfin Lourdes Grotto would attract many pilgrims because of it.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux is now the second most important patron saint of the grotto, after Our Lady.
In August 2019, the relics (special items) of Bernadette of Lourdes were brought to Scotland. They visited the chapel and grotto, and 30,000 people came to see them. Students from Taylor High School, New Stevenston helped carry the relics.
Visitors from Near and Far
By the time Canon Taylor died in 1963, the Carfin Lourdes Grotto was very well known across Scotland. It attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims every year.
Each May, children making their First Communion from nearby churches visited for a procession. Girls wore white dresses, and boys wore school blazers. Many Irish immigrants live in the area, so local Irish groups also visited the shrine annually for processions. Lithuanian and Polish groups also came for their yearly pilgrimages.
New Additions to the Grotto
After the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival, a glass chapel used at the event was moved to Carfin Grotto. It was placed near the area of Our Lady, Star of the Sea, in the lower garden. This building became the grotto's second Glass Chapel. It was later dedicated to the victims of the Lockerbie Disaster.
Daily Mass is now held in this glass chapel. It is named Our Lady, Maid of the Seas. This name honors the plane from Pan Am Flight 103 that crashed near Lockerbie on December 21, 1988.
More recently, the Reliquary opened within the Grotto grounds. It displays many religious items used over the years during various processions and celebrations.
A new Pilgrimage Centre opened in 1997. It has an exhibition about the history of different faiths and beliefs. It also shows various religious items. The center also has a café and a shop. In 2019, there were plans to close the pilgrimage center, which led to a petition against the decision. This was discussed on BBC Radio 4's Sunday program on August 18, 2019. As of February 2024, the website says the center is closed but is being renovated to reopen.
See also
- Catholic Church in Scotland
