Carfin Grotto
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Carfin Grotto, a shrine to Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes was the idea of Father, later Canon Thomas Taylor, parish priest of St. Francis Xavier's Parish in Carfin, two miles east of Motherwell, in the West of Scotland. This visionary priest wanted a shrine built to honour Our Lady, similar to the Grotto of Massabielle at the Lourdes shrine he had visited in France.
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[edit] Early Days
Work on the Carfin version of the Lourdes Grotto began in the early 1920s. The shrine was built, by hand, by local parishioners on a site opposite the Catholic Church. Many of the builders were coalminers from Carfin and neighbouring villages out of work during the 1921 Coal Miners' Strike. It is said that Father Taylor was aware of the need to keep these men occupied to minimize the effects of unemployment on their dignity. Inspired by their priest's visionary zeal, the mens' hard work and dedication grew the shrine from a bare field to a startling representation of the Lourdes Grotto. Within two years, the shrine depicted Our Lady's appearance to Saint Bernadette in a bricked, terraced scene which included an altar for outdoor mass, when the West of Scotland elements allowed. Canon Taylor's book of the shrine's first thirty years (see sources below) records over 300 volunteers working on the grotto in its first two decades. He also records a single pilgrimage of over fifty thousand pilgrims in 1924.
[edit] Growing Concern
Over the decades, the shrine property grew. The grotto later added a Glass Chapel situated on a raised "Headland" where Masses were conducted, a representation of Jesus' life with Mary and Joseph in their Loretto house-cum-carpentry shop, as well as a sunken garden. The shrine finally opened in late 1922 and it quickly became a Pilgrimage site for Catholics from across Scotland and the rest of the world. Services were held for the Polish and Lithuanian communities that had settled in Scotland. Pilgrims of many faiths have visited Carfin by the hundreds of thousands.
As stated, the Grotto expanded beyond a single field to many acres between 1922 and the 1960s. Many holy statues and artifacts were added to the Lourdes Grotto scene and Glass Chapel including the Way of the Cross and a veritable multitude of statues of Saints and a breathtaking depiction of Our Lady, Star of the Sea complete with miniature lakes. Seasonal Sunday afternoon rosary processions (at 3.00 PM from May until October) attracted thousands of visitors to the grotto. Parish priests from Canon Taylor to his successor Father, later Canon, George Mullen, and subsequent parish clergy led the Rosary from the parapet of the Glass Chapel from which both the full vista of the grotto could be seen and the progress of the snaking procession along the grotto's gravel paths could be observed. Each Sunday procession culminated in Benediction in the "Headland" Glass Chapel. Many local children well remember the gravel imprint from the grotto's pathways when kneeling at the moment of adoration in the Benedcition service.
[edit] St Therese of Lisieux
In addition to his great devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, Canon Taylor also greatly admired Saint Therese of Lisieux, the "Little Flower". This admiration stemmed from the Canon's visits to France where devotion to the Carmelite nun rose rapidly following her death. The main prtoagonist to his growth was the postumous publication of Saint Therese's autobiography, "The Story of A Soul".
In addition to the Lourdes Grotto scene, the Canon added a statue of the Little Flower directly across from that of the Our Lady of Lourdes. The shrine's statue to St. Therese was erected within weeks of her beatification on 29th April 1923, an event at which Father Taylor was present. This decision was not without controversy, as the Canon reports in his book on the first thirty years of the grotto (see sources below). Some pilgrims expressed the view that this "new" Saint's statue should not stand in such prximity to that of the Blessed Mother. The Canon took the extraordinary step of collecting such assessments and copying them to the Superior of the Carmelite convent in France where the Little Flower had lived her vocational life. The Mother Superior's advice was that the status should remain and that the Carfin Grotto would enjoy large numbers of pilgrims brought by Saint Therese to honour Our Lady.
St. Therese is the secondary patroness of the grotto after Our Lady.
[edit] National and International Pilgrims
By the time of Canon Taylor's death in 1963, the Carfin Lourdes Grotto enjoyed a high national profile and attracted tens of thousands of pilgrims annually. Among the many seasonal pilgirmages to the shrine, each May First Communicants from surrounding diocesan parishes visited for procession and adorned the Lourdes Grotto's terraces with lines of white-dressed girls and school-blazered boys. As expected from a region rich in Irish immigrants, local Hibernian groups attended the shrine on procession annually. As stated, Lithuanian and Polish groups also attended the shrine on yearly pilgrimage.
[edit] New Additions
Following the 1988 Glasgow Garden Festival[1], the glass chapel used at the event was relocated to Carfin Grotto where it was placed near the Our Lady, Star of the Sea arena. This building was sunsequently dedicated to the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. Daily mass is now celebrated in the glass chapel now named Our Lady Maid of the Seas after the aircraft used on the fateful Pan Am Flight 103 on that tragic December evening in 1988.
More recently, the "Reliquery" opened within the Grotto grounds and features many religious artifacts used throughout the years at various processions and celebrations.
In addition, a new Pilgrimage Centre opened in 1997 featuring a historical look at other faiths and beliefs as well as exhibiting various religious artifacts. Additionally, the center features a cafe and shop.
[edit] A Sign for Our Times
Despite, or perhaps because of, its many expansions, Carfin Grotto has retained a mystical quality befitting Britain's foremost Marian shrine. Its unique blend of geography, history and the Spiritual touches the heart of pilgims of all faiths and all locations who visit. Set in the midst of a small hamlet, surrounded by the rugged determination of working-class people, the Grotto represents the very best that can be achieved by dedicated, hard-working souls whose faith has been and continues to be willingly allied to God's plan to set a Spiritual gem in the middle of the industrial heartland of Scotland.
[edit] External Links
Sources: (1) Website of St Francis Xavier Church, Carfin, Scotland (see external links below) (2) Carfin Grotto - The First Thirty years (1922-1052) by Monsignor Thomas N Canon Taylor (3) Oral witness of contributor, resident parishioner in Carfin from 1957-1995.
