Following in the footsteps of villages, towns and cities the world over, Notre-Dame de Lourdes Church of Memramcook has constructed on its grounds a Lourdes Grotto replica. This grotto was built of local materials by local builders and craftsmen, with its dedication taking place on August 15, 1959. At the grotto are marble and granite dedication plaques, one dating the grotto, one dedicating the grotto and another dedicated to the Virgin Marie, from the parishioners of Notre-Dame de Lourdes Church.
The grotto has been placed at the rear of the church in a small grove of trees. One passes the grotto on the way to the church's cemetery, further to the north.
Lourdes Grotto
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Located on Aboujagane Road, near the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes church in Memramcook East, Lourdes Grotto is a reduced-scale quasi-replica of the Grotto of Lourdes in France.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Lourdes Grotto is designated a Local Historic Place in recognition of the parish’s patron saint and for its design by artisans from the Memramcook region.
The heritage value of the Lourdes Grotto lies in the initiative of Father Paul-Marie Thériault, c.s.c., who came up with the idea of its construction to pay tribute to the patron saint of the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes parish and to celebrate the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin at Lourdes, France in 1858. The blessing of the grotto took place on August 15, 1959.
The foundation of the Lourdes Grotto was laid during the summer of 1957, and the work was completed the following summer. Several tradespeople from the Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes parish contributed to its construction. Masonry foreman Laurie Boudreau and mason Honoré Dupuis crafted the altar; stonecutter Dismas Cormier built the outer wall of the monument; and tradesman Willie Sonier produced the wrought-iron structures. An integral part of the grotto, a gift from Mrs. Lumina LeBlanc, is the white marble stone bearing the inscription EN RECONNAISSANCE À LA VIERGE MARIE - LES PAROISSIENS DE LOURDES [In gratitude to the Virgin Mary – the parishioners of Lourdes].
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character-defining elements that describe the Lourdes Grotto include:
- statue of the Virgin in its niche;
- stone altar;
- white marble stone on the front of the altar;
- crucifix over the altar;
- neon-illuminated epigraph: JE SUIS L’IMMACULÉE CONCEPTION – PÉNITENCE [I am the Immaculate Conception – Penitence]);
- wrought iron supporting the candles and the neon light;
- opening to simulate the spring of water from the rock;
- statue of Bernadette Soubirous kneeling in front of the grotto.
From Historic Places Canada