Our family, joined by my wife's late cousin and her husband went together on a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France in early September 2012. One of the pilgrim activites that we did was the 'Passing through the Grotto.' We walked towards the Grotto of the apparitions and enter beneath the rock where you will see the spring and the famous statue of Our Lady of Lourdes.
From the official website of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes:
The Grotto of the apparitions is the heart of the Sanctuary. The spring and the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes within it are the centre of attention of all the pilgrims. The Grotto, by itself, says much about the Message of Lourdes. A hollow in the rock, it echoes the words of the Bible: “The Lord is my rock, my salvation, my citadel” (Psalm 62:7). The rock is black and the sun never penetrates the Grotto, in contrast with the Apparition (the Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception), who is only light and smiling radiantly. The niche where the statue is placed marks the place where the Virgin Mary most often stood: it is like a window that opens onto the kingdom of God from this obscure world.It was an unforgettable experience for our family. As Roman Catholics, it is our wish to go on apparition-based Marian pilgrimages - to places where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to ordinary people, when and where possible. Locally, we have been to the Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk county.
The Grotto is a place of prayer, hope, peace, respect, unity and silence. When passing through the Grotto or standing in front of it, each person has his or her own personal understanding of what it means.
Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI both came to pray at this Grotto.
